Review of Essay Rules
Listed below is the list of rules for writing an essay for most assignments you will ever come across in your college career.

Refer to this list often for this class as your grade will reflect the adherence or neglect of these rules.

Or, watch this video that is 12 minutes long.  This will give you some good tips to correctly write a 5 paragraph paper.

How to Write an Effective Essay


Introductory Paragraph:
~The intro paragraph should have an attention getter and lead the reader toward the topic (thesis statement)
~The thesis (which is a sentence that includes the topic and YOUR opinion on the topic) MUST be the second to the last sentence of the intro paragraph
~The essay map (a sentence that contains 3 points to support your opinion) MUST be the last sentence of the intro paragraph
~The essay map MUST have the points you are going to cover in the paper (either 2 or 3 points depending on the assignment)

Main Body Paragraphs:
~The first sentences of each of the "main body paragraphs" (all paragraphs between the first and last) MUST be the topic sentences and MUST include each of the main points from the essay map
~If there are three points in the essay map that you have in the intro paragraph, then you must have three "main body paragraphs" that each discuss one of the three points from the essay map

Concluding Paragraph:
~The conclusion must sum up the paper and wrap the paper up.
~The conclusion MUST also include the thesis statement in a reworded fashion that is different than what you wrote in the intro paragraph
~The conclusion MUST also include the points of the essay map in a reworded fashion that is different than what you wrote in the intro paragraph
~The conclusion must not introduce any new information, but must bring the paper to a close.

EVERY paragraph must be 5-7 sentences long.