Essay structuring

An interesting thought, fact, or question at the beginning to catch your reader's interest is called:

• hook

• contention

• evidence

• evaluation

The circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood.

• thesis

• hook

• context

• argument

What is a contention?

• evidence

• an assertion, especially one maintained in argument.

• evaluation

• a disagreement that results from opposing arguments

• All of these

What is a thesis statement?

• the same as a contention

• your main argument

• short for "the sister"

• none of these

What shouldn't be in your paragraph?

• a thesis

• evidence

• evaluation

• none of these

What are you supposed to do with evidence?

• support a thesis statement/contention

• beef up your word count

• show how much of the story you remember

• provide examples of your contention/thesis in action

How do you evaluate evidence?

• Make judgements about it.

• Interpret it.

• Explain it.

• It's not necessary in an essay.

Paragraph thesis statements vs introduction thesis statements.

• In the introduction, the thesis statement encompasses the whole essay.

• Paragraph thesis statements are sub-categories of the introduction thesis statement.

• Paragraph thesis statements are stand-alone arguments.

• Paragraph thesis statements are examples of the overall thesis in action.

The purpose of an essay conclusion is to...

• Check that you've answered the question

• Include new ideas

• Summarise the main points of your essay

• Say something mean about someone's ideas

An exemplary conclusion structure:

• 1. Thesis statement

  2. Evidence

  3. Evaluation

  4. Link

• 1. Restate the overarching thesis

  2. Summarise your key points

  3. State what your argument helps you to conclude

• 1. Context

  2. Argument

  3. Thesis statement

• None of these