{"id":437334,"date":"2018-08-17T18:14:13","date_gmt":"2018-08-17T18:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essaypaper.org\/writing-an-introductory-paragraph-with-a-thesis\/"},"modified":"2018-10-24T08:57:54","modified_gmt":"2018-10-24T08:57:54","slug":"writing-an-introductory-paragraph-with-a-thesis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/writing-an-introductory-paragraph-with-a-thesis\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing an introductory paragraph with a thesis"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t \"Order\n\t\t<\/div>\n
\"Writing<\/div>\n

A classic format for compositions is the five-paragraph 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. It is used here with his permission.<\/p>\n

Introduction:<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Introductory Paragraph<\/h3>\n

See, first, Writing Introductory Paragraphs<\/b> for different ways of getting your reader involved in your essay. 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 \u201chook\u201d which moves the reader to the first paragraph of the body of the paper.<\/p>\n

Body:<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Body \u2014 First paragraph:<\/h3>\n

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 \u201creverse hook\u201d which ties in with the transitional hook at the end of the introductory paragraph. The topic for this paragraph should be in the first or second sentence. This topic should relate to the thesis statement in the introductory paragraph. The last sentence in this paragraph should include a transitional hook to tie into the second paragraph of the body.<\/p>\n

\"Low<\/div>\n

Body \u2014 Second paragraph:<\/h3>\n

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.\n<\/p>\n

The first sentence of this paragraph should include the reverse hook which ties in with the transitional hook at the end of the first paragraph of the body. The topic for this paragraph should be in the first or second sentence. This topic should relate to the thesis statement in the introductory paragraph. The last sentence in this paragraph should include a transitional hook to tie into the third paragraph of the body.<\/p>\n

Body \u2014 Third paragraph:<\/h3>\n

The third paragraph of the body should contain the weakest argument, weakest example, weakest illustration, or an obvious follow up to the second paragraph in the body. The first sentence of this paragraph should include the reverse hook which ties in with the transitional hook at the end of the second paragraph. The topic for this paragraph should be in the first or second sentence. This topic should relate to the thesis statement in the introductory paragraph. The last sentence in this paragraph should include a transitional concluding hook that signals the reader that this is the final major point being made in this paper. This hook also leads into the last, or concluding, paragraph.<\/p>\n

Conclusion:<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Concluding paragraph:<\/h3>\n

This paragraph should include the following:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. an allusion to the pattern used in the introductory paragraph,<\/li>\n
  2. a restatement of the thesis statement, using some of the original language or language that \u201cechoes\u201d the original language. (The restatement, however, must not be a duplicate thesis statement.)<\/li>\n
  3. a summary of the three main points from the body of the paper.<\/li>\n
  4. a final statement that gives the reader signals that the discussion has come to an end. (This final statement may be a \u201ccall to action\u201d in an persuasive paper.)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \n<\/p>\n

    \"Writing<\/div>\n

    A Sample Paper<\/h3>\n

    1 Stephen King, creator of such stories as Carrie<\/i> and Pet Sematary<\/i>. stated that the Edgar Allan Poe stories he read as a child gave him the inspiration and instruction he needed to become the writer that he is. 2 Poe, as does Stephen King, fills the reader\u2019s imagination with the images that he wishes the reader to see, hear, and feel. 3 His use of vivid, concrete visual imagery to present both static and dynamic settings and to describe people is part of his technique. 4 Poe\u2019s short story \u201cThe Tell-Tale Heart\u201d is a story about a young man who kills an old man who cares for him, dismembers the corpse, then goes mad when he thinks he hears the old man\u2019s heart beating beneath the floor boards under his feet as he sits and discusses the old man\u2019s absence with the police. 5 In \u201cThe Tell-Tale Heart,\u201d a careful reader can observe Poe\u2019s skillful manipulation of the senses.<\/p>\n

    The introductory paragraph<\/b> includes a paraphrase of something said by a famous person in order to get the reader\u2019s attention. The second sentence leads up to the thesis statement which is the third sentence. The thesis statement (sentence 3) presents topic of the paper to the reader and provides a mini- outline. The topic is Poe\u2019s use of visual imagery. The mini- outline tells the reader that this paper will present Poe\u2019s use of imagery in three places in his writing: (1) description of static setting; (2) description of dynamic setting; and (3) description of a person. The last sentence of the paragraph uses the words \u201cmanipulation\u201d and \u201csenses\u201d as transitional hooks.<\/p>\n

    1 The sense of sight, the primary sense, is particularly susceptible to manipulation. 2 In \u201cThe Tell-Tale Heart,\u201d Poe uses the following image to describe a static scene: \u201cHis room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness. \u201d Poe used the words \u201cblack,\u201d \u201cpitch,\u201d and \u201cthick darkness\u201d not only to show the reader the condition of the old man\u2019s room, but also to make the reader feel the darkness.\u201d 3 \u201cThick\u201d is a word that is not usually associated with color (darkness), yet in using it, Poe stimulates the reader\u2019s sense of feeling as well as his sense of sight.<\/p>\n

    In the first sentence of the second paragraph (first paragraph of the body)<\/b> the words \u201csense\u201d and \u201cmanipulation\u201d are used to hook into the end of the introductory paragraph. The first part of the second sentence provides the topic for this paragraph\u2013imagery in a static scene. Then a quotation from \u201cThe Tell-Tale Heart\u201d is presented and briefly discussed. The last sentence of this paragraph uses the expressions \u201csense of feeling\u201d and \u201csense of sight\u201d as hooks for leading into the third paragraph.<\/p>\n

    1 Further on in the story, Poe uses a couple of words that cross not only the sense of sight but also the sense of feeling to describe a dynamic scene. 2 The youth in the story has been standing in the open doorway of the old man\u2019s room for a long time, waiting for just the right moment to reveal himself to the old man in order to frighten him. 3 Poe writes: \u201cSo I opened it [the lantern opening]\u2013you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily\u2013until, at length, a single dim ray, like the thread of the spider, shot from out the crevice and fell full upon the vulture eye.\u201d 4 By using the metaphor of the thread of the spider (which we all know is a creepy creature) and the word \u201cshot,\u201d Poe almost makes the reader gasp, as surely did the old man whose one blind eye the young man describes as \u201cthe vulture eye.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The first sentence of the third paragraph (second paragraph of the body)<\/b> uses the words \u201csense of sight\u201d and \u201csense of feeling\u201d to hook back into the previous paragraph. Note that in the second paragraph \u201cfeeling\u201d came first, and in this paragraph \u201csight\u201d comes first. The first sentence also includes the topic for this paragraph\u2013imagery in a dynamic scene. Again, a quotation is taken from the story, and it is briefly discussed. The last sentence uses the words \u201cone blind eye\u201d which was in the quotation. This expression provides the transitional hook for the last paragraph in the body of the paper.<\/p>\n

    1 The reader does not know much about what the old man in this story looks like except that he has one blind eye. 2 In the second paragraph of \u201cThe Tell-Tale Heart,\u201d Poe establishes the young man\u2019s obsession with that blind eye when he writes: \u201cHe had the eye of the vulture\u2013a pale blue eye, with a film over it.\u201d 3 This \u201cvulture eye\u201d is evoked over and over again in the story until the reader becomes as obsessed with it as does the young man. 4 His use of the vivid, concrete word \u201cvulture\u201d establishes a specific image in the mind of the reader that is inescapable.<\/p>\n

    In the first sentence of the fourth paragraph (third paragraph in the body)<\/b>. \u201cone blind eye\u201d is used that hooks into the previous paragraph. This first sentence also lets the reader know that this paragraph will deal with descriptions of people: \u201c. what the old man looks like. \u201d Once again Poe is quoted and discussed. The last sentence uses the word \u201cimage\u201d which hooks into the last paragraph. (It is less important that this paragraph has a hook since the last paragraph is going to include a summary of the body of the paper.)<\/p>\n

    1 \u201cThick darkness,\u201d \u201cthread of the spider,\u201d and \u201cvulture eye\u201d are three images that Poe used in \u201cThe Tell-Tale Heart\u201d to stimulate a reader\u2019s senses. 2 Poe wanted the reader to see and feel real life. 3 He used concrete imagery rather than vague abstract words to describe settings and people. 4 If Edgar Allan Poe was one of Stephen King\u2019s teachers, then readers of King owe a debt of gratitude to that nineteenth-century creator of horror stories.<\/p>\n

    The first sentence of the concluding paragraph<\/b> uses the principal words from the quotations from each paragraph of the body of the paper. This summarizes those three paragraph. The second and third sentences provide observations which can also be considered a summary, not only of the content of the paper, but also offers personal opinion which was logically drawn as the result of this study. The last sentence returns to the Edgar Allan Poe-Stephen King relationship which began this paper. This sentence also provides a \u201cwrap-up\u201d and gives the paper a sense of finality.<\/p>\n