Essay Outline

Paragraph 1: Introduction

Start by discussing the topic in a general way

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Start narrowing down what you are going to talk about and introduce the title and author of the
reading you are responding to and briefly state what the reading is about
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State your thesis statement. This should clearly respond to the prompt, and you can even
use the wording of the prompt.
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Paragraph 2: Body Paragraph

Start with a topic sentence that clearly states the main idea of this paragraph and ties back to your
thesis statement
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Give plenty of details to EXPLAIN the point you are making and how this point relates to your
thesis:
o Examples from your own life or your observations
o Examples or quotes from the reading
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Paragraph 3: Body Paragraph

Start with a topic sentence that clearly states the main idea of this paragraph and ties back to your
thesis statement
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Give plenty of details to EXPLAIN the point you are making and how this point relates to your
thesis:
o Examples from your own life or your observations
o Examples or quotes from the reading
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Paragraph 4: Conclusion

Remind the reader what the topic was and the title and author of the reading you are responding to
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Remind the reader what your thesis statement is

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Conclude with some new insight about the topic or look to the future
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