Part 1: Perfecting Standard Essay Structure for Standardized Testing

For essay prompts that ask you to answer a question, such as Of the books you have read in the past year, which one made the biggest impression on you and why?, your goal is to structure an essay that answers the question and presents paragraphs with supporting evidence. Your essay should have four paragraphs: the introduction, two supporting paragraphs, and the conclusion.

Your answer to the given question will form the thesis of your essay and will be the first sentence in your essay. It is simply rephrasing the question so that you are answering it. For example, This year I read The Giver, and it made a big impression on me because _________.” What you put in that blank will be your thesis. For example, …it made a big impression on me because I could relate to how Jonas wanted more choices over how he lived his life, or …it made a big impression on me because like Jonas, I don’t always agree with all the rules that I have to follow.

You then need to write two supporting paragraphs about your thesis. Each supporting paragraph should be a different reason why you have made your claim. For example, if you wanted Jonas to have more choices over how he lived his life, you could give two different of examples of times when he did not have choices in his life, each one its own paragraph.

Or, if you don’t always agree with the rules you have to follow, like Jonas, you could have two separate paragraphs citing two separate rules that you don’t agree with in your own life. Notice how you can take this essay prompt in two different ways: you can directly use examples from the book, or you can make your thesis about your own life and how you relate to the book. Either way is fine, as long as you can come up with two supporting paragraphs, each its own reason to back up your thesis.

Your conclusion will remind the reader of your thesis and will summarize the two supporting paragraphs, showing the reader why you chose them to back up your thesis.

Structuring Your Standard Essay

Here’s the general format for a successful standard essay:

Introduction
Sentence 1: Thesis/Answering the question
Sentence 2: Introduce your first supporting paragraph (what you’re going to say in the second paragraph)
Sentence 3: Introduce your second supporting paragraph (what you’re going to say in the third paragraph)
Sentence 4: Sum up your ideas and transition into the next paragraph

First supporting paragraph
Sentence 1: Topic sentence, introducing your idea
Sentence 2: Detail backing up your idea
Sentence 3: Detail backing up your idea (either another idea, or expanding on your first idea)
Sentence 4: Sum up your ideas and transition into the next paragraph

Second supporting paragraph
Sentence 1: Topic sentence, introducing your idea
Sentence 2: Detail backing up your idea
Sentence 3: Detail backing up your idea (either another idea, or expanding on your first idea)
Sentence 4: Sum up your ideas and transition into the next paragraph

Conclusion
Sentence 1: Restate your topic sentence, but reword it slightly
Sentence 2: Mention again the idea in your first supporting paragraph
Sentence 3: Mention again the idea in your second supporting paragraph
Sentence 4: Summarize your ideas and leave the reader with your final thoughts

To see a sample essay that follows this structure, make sure to look out for Part 2 of this blog on January 16th!