A crucial part of writing effectively is using the appropriate page formatting

expected by the audience, but ethos does not stop there. It extends to all
aspects of the essay, including its structure. Most academic audience expect
paperswhether they are called essays, term papers, research papers, master's
theses, or doctoral dissertationsto be written with an introduction, a body, a
conclusion, and a title. Of course, some papers are longer than others
sometimes much longerbut if the paper does not follow this organization, the
readers wonder about the student's competence. For that reason, every paper
you write for this class will help you practice using this essay structure.

In addition, most academic readers expect the thesis statement to come at the
end of the introduction. If academic readers want a quick summary of the paper's
topic and main point, that's where they look. When I grade your essays, I also
expect that your introductions will capture my attention with a lead-in and then
present a concise thesis statement at the end.

Just a quick reminder: A thesis statement is a single sentence that gives the
essay's restricted topic and its debatable point.

Likewise, I will also expect a conclusion that does not add new ideas that support
the thesis. Despite what some of you were taught in high school, I hope that your
conclusions will not summarize the points from the essay's body. This technique
works well for long essays, but in short essay such as the ones assigned for this
class, summarizing the body points in the conclusion can be dull. Although
summaries in the conclusion are not evil, I want to see you increase the
sophistication of your writing by trying out some more interesting techniques.
By this time, you should have a working thesis statement and an idea of what
points you plan to make in the body of your narrative essay. The purpose of
having a body in an essay is to make the main point in your thesis statement
believable. This concept is the "support" part of a thesis-and-support essay.
For instance, if you were writing about one day during a vacation in Corpus
Christi, you might support the opinion that your family made unforgettable
memories by using examples, such as having a gourmet dinner together at an
ocean-front caf. You might tell how you explored the Texas State Aquarium,
giving specific details what the site looked like and sounded like. Another point in
the essay's body might be a before-and-after explanation about how some family
members were not eager about visiting Corpus Christi early in the day, but after
an afternoon at McGee Beach, they changed their minds. This section might use
dialogue to help the reader "hear" what happened. Each point should be
developed into its own paragraph and give evidence that the opinion in the thesis
statement is valid, and after reading the body, readers should be able to nod their
heads and think, "I see what you mean.
After you know what you want to put in the essay's body, the next step is to put
the points in their most effective order. This step is a key ingredient to good
writing that some students overlook. The order in which you first think of the
points you want to make may not be the most effective way to reach your
audience.

A key feature of good organization is to group similar ideas together in the same
paragraph.

Although some variations exist, most academic writing is structured according to

one of three principles:

Chronological order

Spatial order

Emphatic order
All three are logical ways to present your ideas, but like so much in composition,
some essays work better with one organization, and other essays call for
another. Good writers make conscious decisions about which organization works
best for any particular composition.

Chronological order means the ideas are organized by time. Spatial order means
the ideas are organized by location. Emphatic order means the ideas are
organized by importance.

A chronological order puts the points of an essay's body together based on time;
in order words, the first event comes first, the second event comes second, and
so forth. If you were writing about a particular day on a family vacation, you might
start with an early morning walk along the shore, then a morning of site-seeing,
then a lunch at a sidewalk bistro, then an afternoon at the beach, and finally a
gourmet dinner that lasted all evening.

Although the chronological order makes sense for many writing situations,
sometimes it doesn't fit well. For instance, if you were describing a living room, a
spatial order makes more sense. The couch, television, tables, drapes, and
chairs all "happen" at the same time, and the reader will be better able to
visualize the location if you begin at one spot (the front door?) and move around
the room systematically, for example, in a clockwise order.

Sometimes, neither a spatial order nor a chronological order fits a writing

situation well. For instance, if you were writing about a certain candidate who is
running for a federal political office, you might consider the candidate's stance on
foreign policy, domestic policy, and taxes. Obviously, all three considerations
happen at the same time, so a chronological order doesn't work well. Also, these
issues are not affected by different locations, so the spatial method is not
appropriate. In this case, the emphatic method is the best choice.

An emphatic organization builds to a climax by using the least important idea first
and the most important idea last. The other ideas are arranged in the middle
according to the writer's opinion of which points are likely to have the most
impact. You might think of it as the good-better-best plan.

The emphatic order in academic writing is different from the emphatic order
journalists often use. They are taught to put the most important ideas first. To see
why, think about the difference between a newspaper's audience and an
academic essay's audience. Most newspaper readers don't read every word of
the entire issue, front to back, every day. Instead, they glance at the headlines
and maybe the first few paragraphs to catch the gist. If the subject of an article is
particularly significant to the readers, they will read more. If not, they move on to
the next article or else grab their coffee and head out for the day. If the most
important points were delayed to the end of the article, they would be missed
altogether. On the other hand, academic audiences generally read the entire
paper. If they are bored by the introduction, they don't toss it aside and move on,
but persevere throughout the entire document. Even if the essay is scintillating,
the reader would lose enthusiasm if all the important ideas were crammed into
the first few paragraphs. Like a movie or a novel, academic essays should put
the most compelling part near the end, leaving a short conclusion to tie up the
loose ends, to keep the reader engaged

Outline for an Essay with a Chronological Order

I. Introduction

A. Lead-in

B. Thesis statement (includes the restricted topic and the debatable main
point)

II. First event

A. Supporting detail

B. Supporting detail
 C. Supporting detail

III. Second event

A. Supporting detail

B. Supporting detail

C. Supporting detail

IV. Third event

A. Supporting detail

B. Supporting detail

C. Supporting detail

V. Fourth event

A. Supporting detail

B. Supporting detail

C. Supporting detail

V. Conclusion

A. Restatement of the thesis, but not the body's points

B. Other concluding techniques

Outline for an Essay with a Spatial Order

I. Introduction
 A. Lead-in

B. Thesis statement (includes the restricted topic and the debatable main
point)

II. One area in a specific location

A. Supporting detail

B. Supporting detail

C. Supporting detail

III. The area located next to the location in II.

A. Supporting detail

B. Supporting detail

C. Supporting detail

IV. The area located next to the location in III.

A. Supporting detail

B. Supporting detail

C. Supporting detail

V. The area located next to the location in IV.

A. Supporting detail

B. Supporting detail

C. Supporting detail
VI. Conclusion

A. Restatement of the thesis, but not the body's points

B. Other concluding techniques

Outline for an Essay with an Emphatic Order

I. Introduction

A. Lead-in

B. Thesis statement (includes the restricted topic and the debatable

main point)

II. Good major point

A. Supporting detail

B. Supporting detail

C. Supporting detail

III. Better major point

A. Supporting detail

B. Supporting detail

C. Supporting detail

IV. Even better major point

A. Supporting detail
 B. Supporting detail

C. Supporting detail

V. Best major point

A. Supporting detail

B. Supporting detail

C. Supporting detail

VI. Conclusion

A. Restatement of the thesis, but not the body's points

B. Other concluding techniques

Beginning writers often submit their work without considering how it is structured.
The ideas in the "final" draft are in the same order as they occurred to the writer,
whether or not this order is effective in helping the reader understand the
message. Experienced writers know that the work is more successful if the ideas
are organized into logical, unified paragraphs and that the paragraphs are artfully
arranged.