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Basic Elements of the Essay. The Introductory Paragraph. The basic elements of the introductory paragraph consists of the following elements: The “wow” or “hook” sentence—the purpose of this sentence is to capture the reader’s attention. There are six ways to write a hook sentence:
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The Introductory Paragraph The basic elements of the introductory paragraph consists of the following elements: • The “wow” or “hook” sentence—the purpose of this sentence is to capture the reader’s attention. There are six ways to write a hook sentence: • Rhetorical Question Quotation • Analogy Anecdote • Description Provocative assertion
The Introductory Paragraph continued • The thesis statement—the purpose of this statement is to tell the reader what they should expect to learn, understand, or agree with while reading the essay. • The plan of action—is a brief listing of the main points the essay will cover. This is not the place to include specific details or facts. • Transition sentence—leads the reader into the body of the essay.
The Body Paragraph (the “chunk” of a paragraph) The “chunk” of a paragraph is a basic paragraph structure that is found in most essays and articles. This structure consists of four parts. • The topic sentence (TS)—is the main idea (or topic) for that particular paragraph. Ex: The latest craze in telephone technology is the I-Phone.
The Body Paragraph (the “chunk” of a paragraph) cont. • Supporting detail 1(SD-1)—is one fact that is directly related to the topic sentence. It provides more detail or description about the topic sentence. Ex: One of the coolest features of the I-phone is the way it looks. • Example/Explanation 1 (EE-1)—is comments, description, details, and information that adds to SD-1 and provides additional information about the topic sentence.
The Body Paragraph (the “chunk” of a paragraph) cont. • Example/Explanation 2 (EE-2)—are additional explanations, comments, descriptions, and information that adds to and provides additional information about the topic sentence. EE-2 also contains the transition sentence. Body paragraphs can have unlimited “chunks” as long as they are related to the topic sentence. Each body paragraph repeats the same “chunk” of a paragraph pattern.
The Transition Sentence • The transition sentence serves the purpose of connecting the current paragraph to the following paragraph. • It does this by providing a one sentence hint as to the topic of the next paragraph. Ex: In addition to having a cool look, the I-phone also has lightning fast Internet features. • As the example topic sentence suggests, the next paragraph is going to explain the Internet features of the I-phone.
The Transition Sentence • A little practice--- If the next paragraph of the I-phone essay is going to reveal it’s game features, how would you develop a great transition sentence?