1 00:00:00,734 --> 00:00:02,364 Before you write an essay, it's important 2 00:00:02,364 --> 00:00:05,433 to understand basic essay structure. 3 00:00:05,433 --> 00:00:07,484 Now every essay has the same core 4 00:00:07,484 --> 00:00:10,224 structure regardless of the kind of essay 5 00:00:10,224 --> 00:00:12,394 you're writing. Now an opinion essay, 6 00:00:12,394 --> 00:00:14,113 comparison and contrast essay, or 7 00:00:14,113 --> 00:00:16,224 narrative essay will all have slight 8 00:00:16,224 --> 00:00:19,164 differences, but the basic structure will 9 00:00:19,164 --> 00:00:22,743 always be the same. It will consist of 10 00:00:22,743 --> 00:00:26,534 three main parts. You have your introduction, body, 11 00:00:26,534 --> 00:00:28,294 and conclusion. 12 00:00:28,294 --> 00:00:30,075 The introduction and conclusion will each 13 00:00:30,075 --> 00:00:32,714 be one paragraph, and the body can be any 14 00:00:32,714 --> 00:00:36,324 number of paragraphs depending on the 15 00:00:36,324 --> 00:00:38,583 length of the essay you're writing. Now the 16 00:00:38,583 --> 00:00:40,714 introductory paragraph can be split into 17 00:00:40,714 --> 00:00:43,171 three parts. The first part is what 18 00:00:43,171 --> 00:00:45,525 we call the hook. And all that means is 19 00:00:45,525 --> 00:00:47,872 the first sentence of your essay should 20 00:00:47,872 --> 00:00:50,602 engage the reader, grab their attention, 21 00:00:50,602 --> 00:00:52,682 and introduce the subject in an 22 00:00:52,682 --> 00:00:55,464 interesting way. Students often think 23 00:00:55,464 --> 00:00:57,444 that the best way to do this is to 24 00:00:57,444 --> 00:00:59,734 ask a question at the beginning of their 25 00:00:59,734 --> 00:01:02,553 essay, but that's overused and I 26 00:01:02,553 --> 00:01:04,715 recommend that you do something else 27 00:01:04,715 --> 00:01:07,284 instead. I would highly recommend a 28 00:01:07,284 --> 00:01:10,456 strong statement or a surprising fact. 29 00:01:10,456 --> 00:01:13,424 After you've engaged the reader with 30 00:01:13,424 --> 00:01:15,272 with a good opening sentence, you want 31 00:01:15,272 --> 00:01:17,604 to give some background information. Now 32 00:01:17,604 --> 00:01:19,284 that just means any information that's 33 00:01:19,284 --> 00:01:21,574 essential for the reader to have in order to 34 00:01:21,574 --> 00:01:24,294 understand your main idea or to understand 35 00:01:24,294 --> 00:01:28,064 the topic. So this could be context, 36 00:01:28,064 --> 00:01:30,515 like where and when, it could be a brief 37 00:01:30,515 --> 00:01:33,203 history of the topic, or it could be an 38 00:01:33,203 --> 00:01:36,843 explanation of why the topic is 39 00:01:36,843 --> 00:01:39,083 controversial to begin with, or why it's 40 00:01:39,083 --> 00:01:41,622 important. Ok, now once you've given 41 00:01:41,622 --> 00:01:43,974 the background information it's time 42 00:01:43,974 --> 00:01:47,212 to give your thesis. Which is the 43 00:01:47,212 --> 00:01:48,916 single most important sentence in 44 00:01:48,916 --> 00:01:51,605 your entire essay. It is always the last 45 00:01:51,605 --> 00:01:54,153 sentence of your introductory paragraph. 46 00:01:54,153 --> 00:01:56,782 and it is the main idea of your entire 47 00:01:56,782 --> 00:02:00,924 essay. After you've presented your thesis 48 00:02:00,924 --> 00:02:03,803 you can then move on and write your body. 49 00:02:03,803 --> 00:02:07,053 Now the body paragraph or paragraphs is meant to 50 00:02:07,053 --> 00:02:10,733 support the thesis development, such as 51 00:02:10,733 --> 00:02:14,594 arguments, details, examples, descriptions 52 00:02:14,594 --> 00:02:17,224 narration, depending on the kind of 53 00:02:17,224 --> 00:02:19,134 essay you are writing. Now a longer 54 00:02:19,134 --> 00:02:22,084 essay may include expert opinion, 55 00:02:22,084 --> 00:02:25,185 quotations, secondary sources, that kind 56 00:02:25,185 --> 00:02:27,454 of thing. But obviously if you're writing 57 00:02:27,454 --> 00:02:29,493 an essay for a test, or you're writing 58 00:02:29,493 --> 00:02:33,933 a short 250 to 300 word essay in class 59 00:02:33,933 --> 00:02:35,944 you probably won't need to include 60 00:02:35,944 --> 00:02:39,625 secondary sources. After you've written 61 00:02:39,625 --> 00:02:42,071 a strong body, it's time to write your 62 00:02:42,071 --> 00:02:46,253 concluding paragraph. In the conclusion 63 00:02:46,253 --> 00:02:48,955 you should summarize your main points. 64 00:02:48,955 --> 00:02:51,993 and restate the thesis. It's important 65 00:02:51,993 --> 00:02:53,844 to think of the reader as a person with 66 00:02:53,844 --> 00:02:57,085 a very short memory. So at the end of 67 00:02:57,085 --> 00:02:59,381 your essay you want to remind them what 68 00:02:59,381 --> 00:03:02,715 is your main idea. And then at the end, 69 00:03:02,715 --> 00:03:06,624 you also want to end your essay with as 70 00:03:06,624 --> 00:03:09,295 strong a statement as you started. So you 71 00:03:09,295 --> 00:03:11,384 want to make sure that the final comment 72 00:03:11,384 --> 00:03:14,964 or statement of your concluding paragraph 73 00:03:14,964 --> 00:03:18,673 is emphatic or interesting in some 74 00:03:18,673 --> 00:03:21,744 way. And that's the basic structure of an 75 00:03:21,744 --> 00:03:24,323 essay. If you want more practice with 76 00:03:24,323 --> 00:03:26,044 essay structure, follow the link at the 77 00:03:26,044 --> 00:03:27,225 end of this video.