ESSAY WRITING

When writing a traditional essay, one must follow specific guidelines to ensure that the structure
is sound and meets conventional requirements. Accordingly, an essay must include three
primary sections: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Below we look at each section and
what it entails.
***IMPORTANT NOTE***
As a beginner, read this entire tutorial at least once before you start writing an essay. Once you
are familiar with what it entails, begin writing one section of your essay at a time while referring
to the material. e.g., when writing the thesis statement, read all the types of theses provided in the
tutorial and choose the most appropriate for your paper. When writing a paragraph, check what it
entails to ensure you write proper topic and concluding sentences. This way you will not miss
crucial aspects required for different parts of essays. Once you are experienced, it will be easy to
write without referring to the tutorial each time.
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INTRODUCTION
The introduction is the first section of the paper, which provides an overview of the topic you are
going to discuss and the thesis statement. It should not be more than 10 % of the entire paper. It
is reasonable to start an introduction with a “hook” - a sentence or two which grab the reader’s
attention (may as well be: a question, a little-known fact, a meaningful quote). Instead of
focusing on details, introductions should only contain basic background information and end
with a proper thesis statement. The thesis statement is the most important part of the introduction
since it presents the focus of the paper.

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Most writers struggle with writing a thesis statement. Therefore, be very keen while examining
the proceeding section
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THESIS STATEMENT
The THESIS STATEMENT is the core of the essay. Every part of the essay expands on the
thesis statement, using argumentation and evidence to show that it is correct.
It:
 is a direct answer to the assignment question, or response to the assignment topic;
 is usually only one sentence long;
 is the last sentence of an introduction;
 describes a position; here “position” means an opinion or perspective that answers
the question; also known as the argument;
 summarizes the evidence and analysis that supports that position.
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Below are the two main approaches to developing a thesis for your essay, you can choose any
one but the flow method comes recommended
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GUIDELINES FOR WRITING A THESIS STATEMENT

 State the outcome of your essay, not just your intention to investigate (AVOID “this
essay will”, “this essay intends to”, or “I will”).
 Give a short summary of the reasons for your outcome (using “because”, “as”, “due to”)
in the same sentence.
 Keep the thesis statement clear and specific; avoid language such as “perhaps” and
“may” and do not give too much detail (that is what the rest of the essay is for!).
 The thesis statement is short: in most essays, one sentence is all you need.
 The thesis statement should be realistic: do not exaggerate or overstate your position.
 Make sure that your thesis statement answers the essay question directly.

A sample approach to writing a thesis statement on obesity. (Ask the following questions for
your topic, the answers can help you write an appropriate thesis statement)
1. What is your topic?
Who is to blame for the obesity pandemic?
2. What is your stance or claim?
Parents should teach their children healthy eating habits
 3. What is your rationale for this claim?
…. Since parents are the first to teach and model their children’s eating habits
4. What concessions will you make to qualify your claim and acknowledge opposition?
… although some want to blame the fast-food industry
5. Combining the four above will result in an adequate thesis statement (qualification +
stance + rationale= thesis statement)
While some blame the fast-food industry for the obesity epidemic, parents are more at
fault since they are the first to teach and model their children’s eating habits.

TYPES OF THESIS STATEMENTS AND EXAMPLES

Many types of thesis statements exist. When presented with an assignment, choose the most
appropriate to use from the ones below

EXPLANATORY

ANALYTICAL

PERSONAL AND BRIEF STATEMENT

PURPOSE STATEMENT

BODY (A BODY PARAGRAPH)

The body section of the essay must build on the thesis statement and have well-structured
paragraphs. Acquiring effective paragraph development skills is an essential skill since it spans
most aspects of writing. The key defining factor of a paragraph is that it must cover only one
idea. Paragraphs must be arranged in some order that can be easily identified by the reader. for
instance, you could arrange your points in order of importance, beginning from the most at least
important point. Perhaps you could arrange your points chronologically. Use transitional phrases
to help you show the order you have chosen. A paragraph entails three main parts covered
below: topic sentence, supporting evidence, concluding/linking sentence.
TOPIC SENTENCE
 A topic sentence is the very first sentence of a paragraph and must be your OWN IDEA.
this means that a topic sentence MUST NEVER have an INTEXT CITATION. (Intext
citations indicate that you have borrowed ideas.) the topic sentence must only cover ONE
IDEA. e.g., if your essay is about your best friend and your topic sentence indicates you
are going to talk about their honesty, do not talk about any other aspects such their loving
nature in the same paragraph. In such a case, you should either UPDATE the topic
sentence and indicate that you will be covering their honesty and loving nature OR
CREATE A NEW PARAGRAPH to cover their loving nature.
  A topic sentence clearly IDENTIFIES what is going to be discussed in the paragraph and
CONNECTS it to the central idea of the paper (the thesis). For instance, if your thesis
statement is "Although Christianity was associated with mass killings during the dark
ages, it is an important part of society since it promotes morality, offers people hope, and
encourages healthy living" the topic sentence for the first paragraph could be "The FIRST
and most important reason Christianity is desirable is that it promotes morality by
outlining the advantages of being moral and punishment of immorality."
 Note that the topic sentence is linked to the thesis statement. Avoid just making
statements such as “Firstly, Christianity promotes morality.” As you note, this topic
sentence not tied to the thesis statement. Moreover, it does not give the reader an idea of
what is going to be discussed in the paper as the other one does. Comparatively, the
former topic sentence is linked to the thesis statement since it notes that Christianity is
essential since it promotes morality “…most important reason Christianity is
desirable…”. Additionally, it shows the reader that the paragraph will cover how
Christianity teaches people about the importance of being moral and punishment
associated with immorality “it promotes morality by outlining the advantages of being
moral and punishment of immorality”.
 Topic sentences should be AT LEAST one and a half lines long.
 Also note that the topic sentence has utilized a transitional phrase "firstly" (highlighted
and capitalized). Always use transitional phrases to make your ideas easy to follow. It is
important to make transitions not only between paragraphs, but within paragraphs as
well. Instead of using linking phrases all the time, you can also use pronouns, articles,
repetitions, and synonyms to make transitions.
 For question answer (QA) assignments, the topic sentence MUST answer the question
directly before one proceeds to offer support for the answer. e.g., if the question is “From
the excerpt, which model should the company adopt to ensure maximum returns?” Your
answer topic sentence could be: “The XYZ model promises to offer the highest returns
for Coca-Cola since it leverages employee creativity. According to________ (the go on
to offer support for your claim.)”
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note that if the question requires a short answer, the topic sentence is enough. However,
if it requires a paragraph. Then you must follow the proper paragraph structure
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SUPPORTING EVIDENCE
 once you have written the topic sentence, the next part is to provide relevant support for
the claim you have made. You do this in the body of the paragraph so that by the end of
it, the reader agrees with your claim.
 Assume your topic sentence notes that smoking is bad for an individual’s health since it
predisposes them to dangerous diseases. Your supporting evidence section should
provide information to back your claim. This could be statistics, research findings, etc.
 that indicate the dangers of smoking. Note that properly integrated evidence does not
randomly appear in your text. In fact, citations are used to back up your own thoughts and
opinions. In other words, you should provide context before using citations from the
external sources. Following the evidence, you must provide an analysis of the evidence
that has been provided and explain how the evidence supports the paragraph’s main idea.

Evidence: Smoking is directly connected to dangerous health problems. According to the

Centers for Disease and Control, smoking is the cause of almost 500,000 deaths a year in
the United States. The CDC notes that tobacco causes more deaths annually as compared
to all deaths by HIV, suicides, murders, moto vehicle injuries, and illegal drug use. (note
that the first sentence which is your idea tells the reader that smoking is dangerous. After
that, evidence from the CDC backs your claim)

Analysis: All evidence clearly states that smoking is detrimental to an individual’s health,
and with the negative consequences, it is difficult to believe that any university would
support such a death sentence. (After providing evidence for your claims, you do not stop
there. As indicated above, analyze the evidence and link it to the issue at hand)

 A solid paragraph should present at least 2 supporting details. Studies, statistics, reports,
interviews, anecdotes can be used to support the topic sentence. AGAIN, all evidence
must be analyzed to tie it to the essay topic.
 NEVER fake any source, this will attract dire consequences.
 You must paraphrase all the information borrowed from external sources such that no
three words follow each other as presented in the source. This will be key in helping you
avoid plagiarism.
 all external sources used must be properly cited in the format requested by the customer.
 You must not cite your own opinion. If you mix your opinion and what an external author
says, providing an intext citation at the end is erroneous as it amounts to citing your own
opinion. Separate what is borrowed from your input so that it is easy to cite what is
borrowed without mixing it with your opinion. Alternatively, use the prose citation
approach to cite borrowed opinion as you can easily separate it from your input. E.g.

- According to James (2020), athletes must train daily to remain competitive, which is
the reason I work out every day. Or
- Athletes must train every day to remain competitive (James, 2020). Therefore, I work
out daily to compete effectively in my sport.
(In the two sentences, the writer has not cited their own opinion).

- As an athlete, I train daily to remain competitive (James, 2020).

 (Contrastingly, in the sentence above, although the writer might have gotten the idea of
training to be competitive from James’ article, they have cited their own opinion.
Although they provide an intext citation, they have not credited James in the sentence
itself)

CONCLUDING/LINKING SENTENCE
 this sentence can either offer an overview of what was covered in the paragraph or link to
the next point. Like the topic sentence, it must be your own idea since you cannot use
someone else’s idea to conclude your thoughts. Therefore, you must never have intext
citations. (No intext citations)
 consider the example below for when the concluding sentence acts as a link to the other
paragraph.

Analysis in the current paragraph: All evidence clearly states that smoking is detrimental
to an individual’s health, and with the negative consequences, it is difficult to believe that
any university would support such a death sentence.

The current paragraph’s concluding/Linking sentence: Smoking not only causes serious
health problems for the individual but also affects those who choose not to smoke.

Topic Sentence in the Following Paragraph: Non-smokers should not be subjected to

secondhand smoke.
CONCLUSION
Conclusions serve to finish the discussion and to sum-up the main idea. They should
begin with the reworded version of a thesis statement. They should not contain citations or any
new information. Apart from summarizing the main points of the paper, a proper conclusion
should end with a closing statement. This statement should encourage the reader to think,
creating a strong final impression. In sum, a conclusion should entail
 A restate of the thesis: here you must pick the thesis statement you wrote at the end of the
introduction and RESTATE/PARAPHRASE IT. Note that you cannot begin a conclusion
any other way
 An overview of the main points: After restating the thesis, one must then proceed to
provide an overview of the main point. This means that you must mention at least each
point in the thesis statement (at least something from all the paragraphs/topic sentences).
 The final part of a concluding sentence is an afterthought.