What is Standard Essay Structure?

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What is Standard Essay Structure?

• Brad Hutchinson

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What is standard essay structure?

• Standard essay structure is a specific essay form
  that has a clear introduction, body and
  conclusion. Even though the structure can have
  more than five paragraphs, it is often called a
  five-paragraph essay. Each main piece of support
  needs its own body paragraph.

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Types of Essays

• There are three main types of essays
• Narrative essaysessays that tell a story
• Persuasive or argumentative essaysessays that
  attempt to convince the audience to believe,
  think or do something
• Expository essaysessays that define, explain, or
  analyze.

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Types of Essays

• Many essays use techniques or structures from two
  or all three of the main types of essays.
•  
• The basic structure of all essays has three
  sections the introduction, the body and the
  conclusion

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Introduction

• The introduction serves two main functions
• 1. To engage the readercatch the readers
  interest
• 2. To introduce the main idea

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Introduction

• There are six main ways to engage your audience
• 1. Ask a question (the weakest of the methods)
• 2. Tell an anecdote
• 3. Provide a relevant quotation
• 4. Share some dialogue
• 5. Reveal a startling or unusual fact
• 6. Paint a vivid description (use sensory
  detail)

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Introduction

• There are five main ways to introduce your main
  idea
• 1. State the problem
• 2. Present the information you are going
  to compare/contrast
• 3. Give background for your story
• 4. State your thesis
• 5. Introduce the idea/object/process
• person/place that you are going to
  describe

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Body

• In the body, the writer presents at least three
  paragraphs. Each paragraph has a main supporting
  idea that directly relates to the thesis, main
  idea or topic of the paper as presented in the
  introduction. For these main supporting ideas,
  the writer supplies additional details
  explanations and proof related to the supporting
  main ideas.

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Body

• Goalthe body serves one or more of the following
  purposes
• 1. Tell your story in a narrative essay
• 2. Compare and contrast your information in
  an expository essay
• 3. Describe your idea/object/process/person/
• place in an expository essay
• 4. Prove your point or thesis in an
  argumentative essay
• 5. Explain your solution to a problem in an
  argumentative essay

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Body

• Use a specific order or orders in the body of an
  essay
• 1. Spatial orderorder based on locationuse for
  descriptions
• 2. Chronological orderorder based on timeuse
  for events in a narrative essay

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Body

• 3. Logical orderorder based on ways of
  thinkinguse for cause/effect, problem/solution,
  main idea/support in argumentative and expository
  essays
• 4. Order of Importanceorder based on most
  important information to least important/ least
  important to most importantuse in argumentative
  and expository essays

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Conclusion

• The goal of the conclusion is to signal to the
  audience that the piece is complete

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Conclusion

• There are nine basic ways to write a conclusion
• 1. Restate (put in new words) the main
  idea show chain of main ideas
• 2. Answer a question from the body or
  introduction
• 3. Ask an additional question that extends your
  main idea
• 4. Make a call to action

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Conclusion

• 5. Make a suggestion
• 6. Make a prediction
• 7. Explain the importance of the information in
  the piece
• 8. In a narrative, end with the last event
• 9. Extend the specific to the general and/or
  universal

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However!

• Remember, this is not exhaustive. If you can
  figure out a way to organize or present your
  piece that grows out of the information itself,
  use that.