Introductory Paragraph
Attention getter:
This is where you want to grab the reader’s attention. One sentence is all that is necessary. Some suggestions - you can start off with a thought-provoking question, or a fascinating quote. It needs to be interesting enough so that the reader will want to keep reading your paper.
Introductory paragraph details (who, what, when, where, why):
Provide context/background for your reader. What is imperialism? Why did countries want to imperialize? Which countries were involved in imperializing? Which regions of the world got imperialized? What’s a general time frame for when this was happening? (These details can be written in any order but should be mentioned somewhere in the intro paragraph)
Thesis statement:
This is the last sentence of your intro. This is the main point you will prove in your essay.
(Example: The policy of imperialism in the late 19th and early 20th century was/was not justified because…)
Look at your t-chart warm up from yesterday. What are the strongest arguments on there? I would recommend picking 1-3 to end the thesis statement with.
Body Paragraph Format
Main Idea:
Your main idea will eventually become your topic sentence. What will you be talking about in this paragraph? Make sure that this idea supports your thesis statement.
Evidence:
Pull a quote or an idea from one of the primary or secondary source documents we looked at in class, or you can even use the textbook.
For your outline you just need to find a quote or idea, but for your essay you should always introduce the quote or idea – where is this coming from/who said this?
Explanation of evidence/analysis/significance of evidence:
Spend a few sentences providing commentary on your quote by answering “why is this quote important?”
Concluding Sentence:
Summarize the information that has been presented in the previous part. Don’t be repetitive!