Basic Guide to Essay Writing

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Basic Guide to Essay Writing
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Writing the Introduction

• Your introductory paragraph should start out very
  broad and narrow down to your topic, position,
  and reasons.
• An introductory paragraph should be at least 4
  sentences in length.

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Writing the Introduction

• Start with a HOOK!
• Need to have something that grabs your readers
  attention.
• Story
• Description
• Quote
• Question
• Statistic

4
Writing the Introduction

• Examples
• 5.85 can buy a gallon and a half of gas. It can
  buy a sandwichnot a mealat Subway. It can buy
  a movie ticket, but only if its a matinee.
  5.85 is how much a minimum wage worker makes in
  an hour in the United States.
• How much is an hour of manual labor worth?
  Shoveling rocks, laying grass, or planting bushes
  in the hot sun might feel like its worth at
  least 10.00 an hour, but for many minimum wage
  workers, its only about half that.

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Writing the Introduction

• THEN you need to ELABORATE as you narrow to the
  topic.
• 5.85 can buy a gallon and a half of gas. It can
  buy a sandwichnot a mealat Subway. It can buy
  a movie ticket, but only if its a matinee.
  5.85 is how much a minimum wage worker makes in
  an hour in the United States. That amount of
  money doesnt go very far, and in todays society
  its getting even more difficult to stretch a
  paycheck to cover all the bills.

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Writing the Introduction

• THEN you need to ELABORATE as you narrow to the
  topic.
• How much is an hour of manual labor worth?
  Shoveling rocks, laying grass, or planting bushes
  in the hot sun might feel like its worth at
  least 10.00 an hour, but for many minimum wage
  workers, its only about half that. Is it really
  fair that a worker in this country should earn so
  little money for putting in such effort?

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Writing the Introduction

• FINALLY, you need a THESIS statementthis is your
  topic, position, and main points.
• I strongly believe that the minimum wage should
  be raised because the cost of living has
  increased, people work much harder than they are
  paid, and more money will equal better work.
• This is the last sentence in your introduction.

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Full Introduction Example

• 5.85 can buy a gallon and a half of gas. It can
  buy a sandwichnot a mealat Subway. It can buy
  a movie ticket, but only if its a matinee.
  5.85 is how much a minimum wage worker makes in
  an hour in the United States. That amount of
  money doesnt go very far, and in todays society
  its getting even more difficult to stretch a
  paycheck to cover all the bills. I strongly
  believe that the minimum wage should be raised
  because the cost of living has increased, people
  work much harder than they are paid, and more
  money will equal better work.

9
Full Introduction Example

• How much is an hour of manual labor worth?
  Shoveling rocks, laying grass, or planting bushes
  in the hot sun might feel like its worth at
  least 10.00 an hour, but for many minimum wage
  workers, its only about half that. Is it really
  fair that a worker in this country should earn so
  little money for putting in such effort? I
  strongly believe that the minimum wage should be
  raised because the cost of living has increased,
  people work much harder than they are paid, and
  more money will equal better work.

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Main Points

• Each of the reasons listed in your thesis, should
  make up one of your body paragraphs.
• You need a clear topic sentence
• One reason that the United States needs to raise
  the minimum wage is because the cost of living
  has increased.
• THEN you need to add information, statistics, and
  analysis to support this point.

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Writing the Conclusion

• At the end of your paper, you need a clear
  conclusion. The purpose of the conclusion is to
  give a sense of wrap-up to your paper.
• Start by re-stating your thesis This often is
  re-worded from your original statement.
• Example
• Overall, I strongly believe that the United
  States should raise the minimum wage. The
  increase is needed to support the increasing cost
  of living, to compensate people for their hard
  work, and to inspire people to produce a better
  product.

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Writing the Conclusion

• The rest of the conclusion should continue to
  offer wrap-upmoving away from the specifics and
  possibly making a connection to your
  introduction.
• Example
• If the minimum wage was raised, people would
  finally be able to afford more than a sandwich or
  a matinee movie ticket. People would be able to
  support their family and pay their billswhich is
  really the most important thing of all.

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Final Conclusion Example

• Overall, I strongly believe that the United
  States should raise the minimum wage. The
  increase is needed to support the increasing cost
  of living, to compensate people for their hard
  work, and to inspire people to produce a better
  product. If the minimum wage was raised, people
  would finally be able to afford more than a
  sandwich or a matinee movie ticket. People would
  be able to support their family and pay their
  billswhich is really the most important thing of
  all.