Lastname1
Your Name
Course Name and Period
18 September 2008
Name of Assignment
Original Title of Paper
This is where you type your lead and your paper. Make sure it grabs the reader and leads into your thesis statement (Zwerdling 430). Notice that the entire page is double-spaced. You want your first paragraph to begin with a general idea, and with each consecutive sentence, bring the idea into more focus. The final sentence in your introduction paragraph should be a focused, direct thesis statement outlining your claim in one compact statement (Smith 82). This is your thesis statement.
This is the topic sentence of your first body paragraph. Notice that there is not an extra space between paragraphs (Boardman). From here, you make your first point using examples to support your claim. Always give clear support and be sure to cite your sources (Krake). After every example or piece of cited material, provide your own analysis and explain how it supports your claim from your thesis statement. Once you’ve made your first point using examples and citing sources as well as giving your analysis, close the paragraph with a clear conclusion sentence. This is your conclusion sentence in which you summarize the main point of the paragraph and clarify how that supports your thesis while leading in to the next paragraph.
This is the topic sentence of your next body paragraph in which you make sure to transition from your previous argument, bringing the reader along. From here, you make your point using examples to support your claim. Always give clear support and be sure to cite your sources (Dickens). After every example or piece of cited material, provide your own analysis and explain how it supports your claim from your thesis statement. Once you’ve made your first point using examples and citing sources as well as giving your analysis, close the paragraph with a clear conclusion sentence (David Copperfield). This is your conclusion sentence in which you summarize the main point of the paragraph and clarify how that supports your thesis while leading in to the next paragraph.
This is the topic sentence of your next body paragraph in which you make sure to transition from your previous argument, bringing the reader along. From here, you make your point using examples to support your claim. Always give clear support and be sure to cite your sources (Krake). After every example or piece of cited material, provide your own analysis and explain how it supports your claim from your thesis statement. Once you’ve made your first point using examples and citing sources as well as giving your analysis, close the paragraph with a clear conclusion sentence. This is your conclusion sentence in which you summarize the main point of the paragraph and clarify how that supports your thesis while leading in to the next paragraph.
This is where you conclude your paper by first restating the thesis. The conclusion paragraph works sort of in opposite order of the introduction. While the introduction begins with broad ideas, and becomes more focused—like a funnel, the conclusion works in reverse; beginning with the focused thesis statement, and then moving out to leave the reader with an open, more general thought (Miller). This is also where you quickly recap your arguments. Make sure in your conclusion paragraph, not to introduce any new arguments or evidence; the conclusion paragraph should be strictly for concluding what you have already established in your paper.
Works Cited
Boardman, Jonathan. "Using MLA Style." 18 Sep 2008 <
Dickens, Charles. Bleak House. 1852-1853. New York: Penguin,1985.
---. David Copperfield. 1849-1850. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1958.
Krake, Glenn. "Clear Expository Writing." The Krake Space. 05 October 2007. WestLinnHigh School. 18 Sep 2008 <
Miller, J. Hillis. Charles Dickens: The World and His Novels. Bloomington: U of Indiana P, 1958.
Zwerdling, Alex. “Esther Summerson Rehabilitated.” PMLA 88 (May1973): 429-439.