5 Elements Of A Good Essay

It is not the only format for writing an essay, of course, but it is a useful model for you to keep in mind, especially as you begin to develop your composition skills.The following material is adapted from a handout prepared by Harry Livermore for his high school English classes at Cook High School in Adel, Georgia. See, first, Writing Introductory Paragraphs for different ways of getting your reader involved in your essay.

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Furthermore, a verbal argument often focuses on who is right regarding a specific issue, while a well-written, researched argument essay focuses on what is the right side of a particular issue.

In short, an argument essay must be logical from beginning to end.

Most of us have experience with arguing, but an argumentative essay is quite different than a verbal argument that arises out of the blue.

Verbal arguments often become heated and unreasonable, while the goal of an argumentative essay is the opposite: the argument must be specific, reasoned, detailed and supported with a variety of evidence.

The first paragraph of the body should contain the strongest argument, most significant example, cleverest illustration, or an obvious beginning point.

The first sentence of this paragraph should include the "reverse hook" which ties in with the transitional hook at the end of the introductory paragraph.A manageable topic is one that can be successfully performed within the page requirements of the essay.Writing about widespread issues such as national or global problems is often unmanageable in just a few pages.The last sentence in this paragraph should include a transitional hook to tie into the second paragraph of the body.The second paragraph of the body should contain the second strongest argument, second most significant example, second cleverest illustration, or an obvious follow up the first paragraph in the body.The introductory paragraph should also include the thesis statement, a kind of mini-outline for the paper: it tells the reader what the essay is about.The last sentence of this paragraph must also contain a transitional "hook" which moves the reader to the first paragraph of the body of the paper.A researchable topic is one in which the writer can find a variety of credible and current sources.In other words, the writer needs to be able to find a multitude of research performed by qualified individuals to support the overall argument.Using the above criteria as a basic guideline should allow a writer to find a suitable topic.A classic format for compositions is the five-paragraph essay.