Expository Essay Outline

It's the Essay Cat
Originally uploaded by Alexander Somma.

1. Introduction
1. Attention getter
• Get the reader's attention. Examples:
  
• Quotation
• Anecdote
• Stunning fact
  
• Explain how it relates to your thesis sentence
2. Background
• Pertinent information on your topic and/or thesis
• Should be more than one sentence
  
3. Thesis sentence
• The first thing you should write
• Sentence that describes the main point of your essay
• List the 3 main arguments used in your 3 body paragraphs
  


2. Body paragraph 1
1. Topic sentence
• Introduce the main argument of this paragraph while relating it to the thesis
  
2. Example 1
   
1. Introduce
   
2. Give the example
3. Explanation of how this example relates to the thesis or topic sentence
3. Example 2
1. Transition and introduce
• Same steps as example 1
4. Example 3
   
• Same steps as example 2
  
5. Closing sentence
• Summarize the paragraph and relate it to the thesis
  


3. Body paragraph 2
1. Transition and topic sentence
   
• Same as body paragraph 1 for the rest
  


4. Body paragraph 3
1. Transition and topic sentence
   
• Same as body paragraph 1 for the rest
  


5. Conclusion
• Summarize your main points while relating them to your thesis
• Give future work that may need to be done
  
• Extend your thesis into other areas