Parts of an Essay

An essay is an extended piece of writing that a writer uses to communicate some information or a series of ideas to a particular reader. There are a lot of types of essay such as argumentative, descriptive, compare, contrast, cause and effect etc. However, all of them need to follow a structure in order to be fluid and logical. Usually, essays are divided in three parts the Introduction, the body and the conclusion.

Introduction

The introductory paragraph is the first contact the reader will have with your essay, so it is very important. This paragraph is used to introduce the reader to the topic, catch the reader attention and present the main points or ideas you will developed in the essay. Any introduction or introductory paragraph must have the following parts.

Hook: The hook is a sentence that serve to capture readers attention. It should be at the beginning of the paragraph and it should be written in an interesting and attractive way like a question or a statement.

Background: The background is information that is added in the paragraph to help the reader get familiar with the topic. It may not be developed deeply in the essay but it helps to make it more fluid and easier to read. 

Thesis statement: The thesis statement is the most important part in the introduction. Is a sentence that tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the essay. This sentence should include the topic you are going to talk about and the main points you are going to use to develop the next paragraphs of the essay. It should be the last sentence of the introductory paragraph.

Main points: The main points are a part of the thesis statement and are the main ideas to develop each of the next paragraphs. It is recommended to write three to develop the body of the essay.

Example:

Body

The body of the essay in most of the cases consists in three paragraphs. These paragraphs are developed based on the main points of the thesis statement. Each body paragraph should contain the following parts.

Hook: Is sentence used to catch the readers attention. It should be the first sentence of the paragraph and written in a striking way.

Topic sentence: The topic sentence is the most important sentence of the paragraph. It must be the second sentence of the paragraph. This sentence tells the reader what the whole paragraph is about (should be relate it to the thesis statement and the main points).

Supporting sentences: The supporting sentences develop the main idea you presented in the topic sentence. Every paragraph should have at least two controlling ideas.

Details: Details are extra information added to make the paragraph more complete like examples, percentages or characteristics.

Concluding sentence: It is a sentence at the end of the paragraph that summarizes everything was said in the paragraph. It helps the reader to review the most important points or ideas of the paragraph.

Example:

Conclusion

The conclusion paragraph is the last paragraph of the essay. It is used to summarize everything was said in the previous paragraphs. All the ideas should be sum up in the same order the paragraphs were developed 

Example: 

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