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Academic Writing Skills

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Academic Writing Skills
UNIT

1
Writing an Expository Essay
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Essay structure and the introductory paragraph Body paragraphs, concluding paragraphs, and outlining Improving your work

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P a r t

1

Essay structure and the introductory paragraph
Essay structure
An essay is a piece of writing made up of a number of paragraphs. Each paragraph has a specific role in an essay. In a five-paragraph essay, the first paragraph is an introduction; the second, third, and fourth paragraphs form the body of the essay; and the fifth paragraph is a conclusion (see diagram on page 4). This book will focus exclusively on the five-paragraph essay. Although essays may vary in length, the five-paragraph essay structure can be adapted for longer or shorter essays.

Section 1

1. Introductory paragraph
The first paragraph of an essay should introduce the reader to the essay topic. It should create interest in the essay, outline the writer’s main ideas, and suggest how these ideas will be presented within the body of the essay. The introduction consists of three main elements: a hook, building sentences, and a thesis statement. 1. Hook The first sentence (or sentences) of an essay should catch the reader’s attention. It introduces the topic of the essay in an interesting way. 2. Building sentences After the hook, the following sentences should provide background information to give readers some context about the topic. They should ”build“ towards the thesis statement. 3. Thesis statement The thesis statement comes at the end of the introduction. It is the most important sentence in the entire essay because it presents the essay topic and the writer’s position on that topic. It also indicates the main ideas that will be discussed in the body paragraphs.

2

© Cambridge University Press

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Unit 1 • Part 1

2. Body paragraphs
The body of an essay consists of three paragraphs. Each body paragraph explains in
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