if a thesis statement lists multiple supporting points

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Supporting an argumentative thesis, 1. thesis development.

Remember that a thesis is a single sentence that expresses the controlling idea of a written work. In other words, the thesis is the core of the essay. It guides the goals and structure of the work by letting the reader know what the writer will be discussing in the body paragraphs, and in what order.

Also remember that there is a significant difference between a thesis and a topic. A topic is the broad subject of a written work and can include multiple thesis statements. The thesis is a focused point or argument about something within the topic.

IN CONTEXT Suppose you were assigned the topic of pet ownership. You wouldn't be able to write an essay based on that topic—it's too broad. First, you must decide which aspect of pet ownership you want to write about or communicate to readers. You might, for example, make the following statement: Although many people assume that owning a pet is easy, it actually comes with a great deal of responsibility, such as grooming, feeding, and training. Here's another option: Due to their companionship, understanding nature, and ability to help during emergencies, pets can fit the definition of lifesavers. As you can see, these two thesis statements are very different and are only related through their very broad shared topic of pet ownership.

Once you've selected a topic and a thesis, you must support the thesis by developing your ideas effectively. This is accomplished through a process of clearly articulating your ideas and supporting them with evidence and reasoning throughout the essay.

So, when writers refer to development, they're not only referring to development of the essay as a whole, but also to the process that takes place at the paragraph level. Paragraphs function like mini essays: Each of them contains their own main ideas, topic sentences, and support.

2. Main Ideas and Claims

To effectively state and support a thesis, most essays must also promote related points—points that, together, prove or support the thesis. Recall that, in writing, these are called main ideas. A main idea is a point or concept that drives one or more body paragraphs of an essay. Each main idea in an essay should contribute to, or support, the thesis statement in some way.

A claim is a type of main idea in which the writer makes a statement that must be defended. A claim is an assertion made by the writer. The thesis statement is thus the primary claim of the essay—the object of all of the essay's support, ideas, and evidence.

A main idea, when coupled with a claim, is usually the controlling idea of the paragraph. When working on the level of the paragraph, the main idea and the controlling idea are synonymous.

hint A controlling idea is the core idea that drives the writing's goals and structure. Note that consecutive paragraphs will sometimes focus on one controlling idea. This can be a sign of a complex and fully realized main idea. Don't worry if you find this happening in your writing.

terms to know Main Idea In writing, a point or concept that drives one or more body paragraphs of an essay. Claim A type of main idea in which the writer makes a statement that must be defended.

3. Evidence and Support

The thesis statement is the main point of the essay, so it needs support in order to hold up. Support refers to any evidence, logic, or other technique (e.g., clarification, expansion of ideas) that bolsters an essay's claims. The purpose of support isn't only to prove that a thesis is true, but also to explain or strengthen the essay's main ideas.

• Facts and data
• Personal research
• Citation of the research of others
• Personal experience

Because essays consist of paragraphs that use forms of support to back up the thesis, it's important to consider paragraphs in order to understand the essay as a whole. As mentioned above, paragraphs are like miniature essays that include a topic sentence (i.e., the sentence that states the paragraph's thesis) and support—usually evidence for the topic sentence.

terms to know Support Any evidence, logic, or other technique that bolsters an essay's claims. Evidence Proof of the validity of a claim or claims.

4. Thesis Support in Action

Following are paragraphs from the same essay which demonstrate how an overall thesis might be introduced, developed, and supported. This first paragraph serves as the essay's introduction:

When you think about your goofy pet dog, your lazy house cat, or even your loud pet parrot, you might not consider that they could save your life. Mounting evidence suggests that pets are more than a playful mess to clean up after; they are key to a happy, healthy life. Due to their companionship, understanding nature, and ability to help during emergencies, pets can fit the definition of lifesavers.

The thesis appears as the last sentence of the paragraph: “Due to their companionship, understanding nature, and ability to help during emergencies, pets can fit the definition of lifesavers.”

Because of this thesis, we know that the main point and narrowed-down topic of the essay is that pets are lifesavers, and we know that the main ideas related to that point are companionship, an understanding nature, and ability to help during emergencies. That helps us to figure out what kind of evidence and support may be included in this essay: Perhaps the essay will use data about the health benefits of owning a pet, perhaps it will discuss research from others who have investigated this topic, or perhaps it will include descriptions of personal experience.

Now consider this next paragraph, keeping the essay's thesis in mind as you do:

The companionship of pets offers health benefits, demonstrating the lifesaving qualities of pets. There are all kinds of pets that individuals or families can adopt. Some of the most traditional pets are dogs, cats, birds, rodents (such as hamsters and guinea pigs), and fish. Less common pets include rabbits, small pigs, raccoons, and snakes and other reptiles. Exotic animals might also make excellent pets but may require a special permit and special care. There is an ideal type of pet for each individual or family.

The topic sentence of this is paragraph is “The companionship of pets offers health benefits, demonstrating the lifesaving qualities of pets,” which means that the support in this paragraph should focus on the main idea of companionship mentioned in the thesis. So, is the support here effective for the main idea of the paragraph and the essay's thesis?

No, it is not. All of the sentences that come after the topic sentence are discussing different types of pets that individuals and families can adopt. The author gives examples of different types of pets and simply states that there is an ideal pet for each individual or family. Even though this information is related to the broader topic of pet ownership, it does not belong in this essay. It does not support the idea that the companionship of pets offers health benefits (the main idea of this paragraph), and it does not support the overall claim of the thesis (that pets fit the definition of lifesavers) because it does not address pets' companionship, understanding nature, or ability to help during emergencies.

In order to better support the topic sentence “The companionship of pets offers health benefits, demonstrating the lifesaving qualities of pets,” and to therefore better support the thesis, here is a revised version of this paragraph:

The companionship of pets offers health benefits, demonstrating the lifesaving qualities of pets. Both mental and physical health can improve when owning a pet. Petting or caring for a dog or cat lowers levels of stress and combats loneliness. Dog owners in particular may find themselves socializing more often when taking their dog for walks and to dog parks. In addition, walking a dog can lower blood pressure and decrease the risk of heart disease (Fields, 2013). By improving the health of their owners through companionship, pets improve—and even save—these owners' lives.

In this version of the paragraph, the support provided directly relates to both the topic sentence and thesis. There are facts, such as that petting or caring for a dog or cat lowers levels of stress and combats loneliness, dog owners socialize more, and walking a dog can lower blood pressure and decrease the risk of heart disease. These facts help to support the idea that the companionship offered by pets comes with health benefits.

Additionally, the support in this paragraph supports the thesis, which lists companionship as one of its main ideas.

summary In this lesson, you learned that thesis development is the process in which thesis statements are represented throughout an essay by main ideas and claims , which are in turn backed up by different kinds of support , such as evidence . You then looked at examples of thesis support in action by reading an introductory and body paragraph from a sample essay. Best of luck in your learning!

Source: THIS TUTORIAL WAS AUTHORED BY SOPHIA LEARNING. PLEASE SEE OUR TERMS OF USE .

A type of main idea in which the writer makes a statement that must be defended.

Proof of the validity of a claim or claims.

In writing, a point or concept that drives one or more body paragraphs of an essay.

Any evidence, logic, or other technique that bolsters an essay's claims.

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• How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

Published on January 11, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on August 15, 2023 by Eoghan Ryan.

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . It usually comes near the end of your introduction .

Your thesis will look a bit different depending on the type of essay you’re writing. But the thesis statement should always clearly state the main idea you want to get across. Everything else in your essay should relate back to this idea.

You can write your thesis statement by following four simple steps:

• Start with a question
• Write your initial answer
• Develop your answer
• Refine your thesis statement

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Table of contents

What is a thesis statement, placement of the thesis statement, step 1: start with a question, step 2: write your initial answer, step 3: develop your answer, step 4: refine your thesis statement, types of thesis statements, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about thesis statements.

A thesis statement summarizes the central points of your essay. It is a signpost telling the reader what the essay will argue and why.

The best thesis statements are:

• Concise: A good thesis statement is short and sweet—don’t use more words than necessary. State your point clearly and directly in one or two sentences.
• Contentious: Your thesis shouldn’t be a simple statement of fact that everyone already knows. A good thesis statement is a claim that requires further evidence or analysis to back it up.
• Coherent: Everything mentioned in your thesis statement must be supported and explained in the rest of your paper.

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The thesis statement generally appears at the end of your essay introduction or research paper introduction .

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts and among young people more generally is hotly debated. For many who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education: the internet facilitates easier access to information, exposure to different perspectives, and a flexible learning environment for both students and teachers.

You should come up with an initial thesis, sometimes called a working thesis , early in the writing process . As soon as you’ve decided on your essay topic , you need to work out what you want to say about it—a clear thesis will give your essay direction and structure.

You might already have a question in your assignment, but if not, try to come up with your own. What would you like to find out or decide about your topic?

For example, you might ask:

After some initial research, you can formulate a tentative answer to this question. At this stage it can be simple, and it should guide the research process and writing process .

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Now you need to consider why this is your answer and how you will convince your reader to agree with you. As you read more about your topic and begin writing, your answer should get more detailed.

In your essay about the internet and education, the thesis states your position and sketches out the key arguments you’ll use to support it.

The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education because it facilitates easier access to information.

In your essay about braille, the thesis statement summarizes the key historical development that you’ll explain.

The invention of braille in the 19th century transformed the lives of blind people, allowing them to participate more actively in public life.

A strong thesis statement should tell the reader:

• Why you hold this position
• What they’ll learn from your essay
• The key points of your argument or narrative

The final thesis statement doesn’t just state your position, but summarizes your overall argument or the entire topic you’re going to explain. To strengthen a weak thesis statement, it can help to consider the broader context of your topic.

These examples are more specific and show that you’ll explore your topic in depth.

Your thesis statement should match the goals of your essay, which vary depending on the type of essay you’re writing:

• In an argumentative essay , your thesis statement should take a strong position. Your aim in the essay is to convince your reader of this thesis based on evidence and logical reasoning.
• In an expository essay , you’ll aim to explain the facts of a topic or process. Your thesis statement doesn’t have to include a strong opinion in this case, but it should clearly state the central point you want to make, and mention the key elements you’ll explain.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy

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A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

• It gives your writing direction and focus.
• It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

Follow these four steps to come up with a thesis statement :

• Ask a question about your topic .
• Write your initial answer.
• Develop your answer by including reasons.
• Refine your answer, adding more detail and nuance.

The thesis statement should be placed at the end of your essay introduction .

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Once you construct a viable thesis, develop it by writing several topic sentences to support it. At this point, do not concern yourself with whether or how the ideas of support are connected. Your goal here is to uncover every major idea you need to argue or explain to thoroughly support your thesis. (Sometimes ideas for thesis support come from your research. Review critical pieces to remember important points you wanted to discuss.) These topic sentences should represent what you believe to be the component parts of your thesis. You will create at least one topic sentence for each of the component parts. You may create a series of topic sentences that support other topic sentences.

In the end, you may have created a "tree" of ideas that all lead back to the thesis. At this point, many students want to begin writing the text of their papers. They believe they have discovered a viable thesis and the support they need to argue their position or explain their points. Before writing text, however, another important step needs to occur.

When you believe you have exhausted the necessary points of support for your thesis, begin arranging topic sentences in a meaningful order. Select an order that best fits the nature of your topic and your support. Your job is to fit the sentences into a viable order and edit the specific wording of each topic sentence to explicitly connect to your thesis. Rewrite the topic sentences until they effectively capture the "line of thought" you want to demonstrate in your paper. That line should extend from the statement of the thesis at the beginning of the paper to the conclusions you draw at the end. Be sure you have plotted that course in such a way that the reader can move without confusion from the statement of your thesis through each of your supporting topic sentences to the conclusion you draw. That course may be determined in large measure by the argument you choose to pursue.

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Module 1: Research and the Writing Process

Learning objectives.

• Identify the steps in constructing an outline.
• Construct a topic outline and a sentence outline.

Your prewriting activities and readings have helped you gather information for your assignment. The more you sort through the pieces of information you found, the more you will begin to see the connections between them. Patterns and gaps may begin to stand out. But only when you start to organize your ideas will you be able to translate your raw insights into a form that will communicate meaning to your audience.

Longer papers require more reading and planning than shorter papers do. Most writers discover that the more they know about a topic, the more they can write about it with intelligence and interest.

Organizing Ideas

When you write, you need to organize your ideas in an order that makes sense. The writing you complete in all your courses exposes how analytically and critically your mind works. In some courses, the only direct contact you may have with your instructor is through the assignments you write for the course. You can make a good impression by spending time ordering your ideas.

Order refers to your choice of what to present first, second, third, and so on in your writing. The order you pick closely relates to your purpose for writing that particular assignment. For example, when telling a story, it may be important to first describe the background for the action. Or you may need to first describe a 3-D movie projector or a television studio to help readers visualize the setting and scene. You may want to group your support effectively to convince readers that your point of view on an issue is well reasoned and worthy of belief.

In longer pieces of writing, you may organize different parts in different ways so that your purpose stands out clearly and all parts of the paper work together to consistently develop your main point.

Methods of Organizing Writing

The three common methods of organizing writing are chronological order , spatial order , and order of importance . You will learn more about these in Chapter 9 “Writing Essays: From Start to Finish”; however, you need to keep these methods of organization in mind as you plan how to arrange the information you have gathered in an outline. An outline is a written plan that serves as a skeleton for the paragraphs you write. Later, when you draft paragraphs in the next stage of the writing process, you will add support to create “flesh” and “muscle” for your assignment.

When you write, your goal is not only to complete an assignment but also to write for a specific purpose—perhaps to inform, to explain, to persuade, or for a combination of these purposes. Your purpose for writing should always be in the back of your mind, because it will help you decide which pieces of information belong together and how you will order them. In other words, choose the order that will most effectively fit your purpose and support your main point.

Table 8.1 “Order versus Purpose” shows the connection between order and purpose.

Table 8.1 Order versus Purpose

Writing a Thesis Statement

One legitimate question readers always ask about a piece of writing is “What is the big idea?” (You may even ask this question when you are the reader, critically reading an assignment or another document.) Every nonfiction writing task—from the short essay to the ten-page term paper to the lengthy senior thesis—needs a big idea, or a controlling idea, as the spine for the work. The controlling idea is the main idea that you want to present and develop.

For a longer piece of writing, the main idea should be broader than the main idea for a shorter piece of writing. Be sure to frame a main idea that is appropriate for the length of the assignment. Ask yourself, “How many pages will it take for me to explain and explore this main idea in detail?” Be reasonable with your estimate. Then expand or trim it to fit the required length.

The big idea, or controlling idea, you want to present in an essay is expressed in a thesis statement . A thesis statement is often one sentence long, and it states your point of view. The thesis statement is not the topic of the piece of writing but rather what you have to say about that topic and what is important to tell readers.

Table 8.2 “Topics and Thesis Statements” compares topics and thesis statements.

Table 8.2 Topics and Thesis Statements

The first thesis statement you write will be a preliminary thesis statement, or a working thesis statement . You will need it when you begin to outline your assignment as a way to organize it. As you continue to develop the arrangement, you can limit your working thesis statement if it is too broad or expand it if it proves too narrow for what you want to say.

Using the topic you selected in Section 8.1 “Apply Prewriting Models”, develop a working thesis statement that states your controlling idea for the piece of writing you are doing. On a sheet of paper, write your working thesis statement.

You will make several attempts before you devise a working thesis statement that you think is effective. Each draft of the thesis statement will bring you closer to the wording that expresses your meaning exactly.

Writing an Outline

For an essay question on a test or a brief oral presentation in class, all you may need to prepare is a short, informal outline in which you jot down key ideas in the order you will present them. This kind of outline reminds you to stay focused in a stressful situation and to include all the good ideas that help you explain or prove your point.

For a longer assignment, like an essay or a research paper, many college instructors require students to submit a formal outline before writing a major paper as a way to be sure you are on the right track and are working in an organized manner. A formal outline is a detailed guide that shows how all your supporting ideas relate to each other. It helps you distinguish between ideas that are of equal importance and ones that are of lesser importance. You build your paper based on the framework created by the outline.

Instructors may also require you to submit an outline with your final draft to check the direction of the assignment and the logic of your final draft. If you are required to submit an outline with the final draft of a paper, remember to revise the outline to reflect any changes you made while writing the paper.

There are two types of formal outlines: the topic outline and the sentence outline. You format both types of formal outlines in the same way.

• Place your introduction and thesis statement at the beginning, under roman numeral I.
• Use roman numerals (II, III, IV, V, etc.) to identify main points that develop the thesis statement.
• Use capital letters (A, B, C, D, etc.) to divide your main points into parts.
• Use arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.) if you need to subdivide any As, Bs, or Cs into smaller parts.
• End with the final roman numeral expressing your idea for your conclusion.

Here is what the skeleton of a traditional formal outline looks like. The indention helps clarify how the ideas are related.

• IntroductionThesis statement
• Supporting detail

In an outline, any supporting detail can be developed with subpoints. For simplicity, the model shows them only under the first main point.

Formal outlines are often quite rigid in their organization. As many instructors will specify, you cannot subdivide one point if it is only one part. For example, for every roman numeral I, there must be a For every A, there must be a B. For every arabic numeral 1, there must be a 2. See for yourself on the sample outlines that follow.

Constructing Topic Outlines

A topic outline is the same as a sentence outline except you use words or phrases instead of complete sentences. Words and phrases keep the outline short and easier to comprehend. All the headings, however, must be written in parallel structure. (For more information on parallel structure, see Chapter 7 “Refining Your Writing: How Do I Improve My Writing Technique?”.)

Here is the topic outline that Mariah constructed for the essay she is developing. Her purpose is to inform, and her audience is a general audience of her fellow college students. Notice how Mariah begins with her thesis statement. She then arranges her main points and supporting details in outline form using short phrases in parallel grammatical structure.

Writing an Effective Topic Outline

This checklist can help you write an effective topic outline for your assignment. It will also help you discover where you may need to do additional reading or prewriting.

• Do I have a controlling idea that guides the development of the entire piece of writing?
• Do I have three or more main points that I want to make in this piece of writing? Does each main point connect to my controlling idea?
• Is my outline in the best order—chronological order, spatial order, or order of importance—for me to present my main points? Will this order help me get my main point across?
• Do I have supporting details that will help me inform, explain, or prove my main points?
• Do I need to add more support? If so, where?
• Do I need to make any adjustments in my working thesis statement before I consider it the final version?

Writing at Work

Word processing programs generally have an automatic numbering feature that can be used to prepare outlines. This feature automatically sets indents and lets you use the tab key to arrange information just as you would in an outline. Although in business this style might be acceptable, in college your instructor might have different requirements. Teach yourself how to customize the levels of outline numbering in your word-processing program to fit your instructor’s preferences.

Using the working thesis statement you wrote in Note 8.32 “Exercise 1” and the reading you did in Section 8.1 “Apply Prewriting Models”, construct a topic outline for your essay. Be sure to observe correct outline form, including correct indentions and the use of Roman and arabic numerals and capital letters.

Collaboration

Please share with a classmate and compare your outline. Point out areas of interest from their outline and what you would like to learn more about.

Constructing Sentence Outlines

A sentence outline is the same as a topic outline except you use complete sentences instead of words or phrases. Complete sentences create clarity and can advance you one step closer to a draft in the writing process.

Here is the sentence outline that Mariah constructed for the essay she is developing.

The information compiled under each roman numeral will become a paragraph in your final paper. In the previous example, the outline follows the standard five-paragraph essay arrangement, but longer essays will require more paragraphs and thus more roman numerals. If you think that a paragraph might become too long or stringy, add an additional paragraph to your outline, renumbering the main points appropriately.

PowerPoint presentations, used both in schools and in the workplace, are organized in a way very similar to formal outlines. PowerPoint presentations often contain information in the form of talking points that the presenter develops with more details and examples than are contained on the PowerPoint slide.

Expand the topic outline you prepared in Note 8.41 “Exercise 2” to make it a sentence outline. In this outline, be sure to include multiple supporting points for your main topic even if your topic outline does not contain them. Be sure to observe correct outline form, including correct indentions and the use of Roman and arabic numerals and capital letters.

Key Takeaways

• Writers must put their ideas in order so the assignment makes sense. The most common orders are chronological order, spatial order, and order of importance.
• After gathering and evaluating the information you found for your essay, the next step is to write a working, or preliminary, thesis statement.
• The working thesis statement expresses the main idea that you want to develop in the entire piece of writing. It can be modified as you continue the writing process.
• Effective writers prepare a formal outline to organize their main ideas and supporting details in the order they will be presented.
• A topic outline uses words and phrases to express the ideas.
• A sentence outline uses complete sentences to express the ideas.
• The writer’s thesis statement begins the outline, and the outline ends with suggestions for the concluding paragraph.
• Successful Writing Section 8.2, Outlining. Authored by : Anonymous. Located at : http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/successful-writing/s12-02-outlining.html . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

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Organizing Your Ideas

Your prewriting activities and readings have helped you gather information for your assignment. The more you sort through the pieces of information you found, the more you will begin to see the connections between them. Patterns and gaps may begin to stand out. But only when you start to organize your ideas will you be able to translate your raw insights into a form that will communicate meaning to your audience.

Simply passing your eyes over an article or textbook chapter one time through is not sufficient to learn the material. Organizing information after you read it is the way to make sure you both understand it and remember it, whether for class discussion, for a test, or for an essay assignment. With practice, you will learn to organize what you read in ways that best suit your own learning style and the materials you are reading.

How do I do this?

Review your annotations and class notes and find some of the following information that you may need.

• Supporting details
• Information that supports your inferences
• Information you find interesting or important
• Information you find confusing
• Information you could use in your essay

Longer papers require more reading and planning than shorter papers do. Most writers discover that the more they know about a topic, the more they can write about it with intelligence and interest.

When you write, you need to organize your ideas in an order that makes sense. The writing you complete in all your courses exposes how analytically and critically your mind works. In some courses, the only direct contact you may have with your instructor is through the assignments you write for the course. You can make a good impression by spending time ordering your ideas.

Order refers to your choice of what to present first, second, third, and so on in your writing. The order you pick closely relates to your purpose for writing that particular assignment. For example, when telling a story, it may be important to first describe the background for the action. Or you may need to first describe a 3-D movie projector or a television studio to help readers visualize the setting and scene. You may want to group your support effectively to convince readers that your point of view on an issue is well reasoned and worthy of belief.

In longer pieces of writing, you may organize different parts in different ways so that your purpose stands out clearly and all parts of the paper work together to consistently develop your main point.

Methods of Organizing Writing

The three common methods of organizing writing are chronological order, spatial order, and order of importance. Another common way to order your ideas is background/problem/solution. You need to keep these organizational structures in mind as you plan how to arrange the information you have gathered in an outline. An outline is a written plan that serves as a skeleton for the paragraphs you write. Later, when you draft paragraphs in the next stage of the writing process, you will add support to create “flesh” and “muscle” for your assignment.

When you write, your goal is not only to complete an assignment but also to write for a specific purpose—perhaps to inform, to explain, to persuade, or for a combination of these purposes. Your purpose for writing should always be in the back of your mind because it will help you decide which pieces of information belong together and how you will order them. In other words, choose the order that will most effectively fit your purpose and support your main point.

Table 8.1 “Order versus Purpose” shows the connection between order and purpose.

Table 8.1 Order versus Purpose

Chronological Order

Chronological arrangement has the following purposes:

• To explain the history of an event or a topic
• To tell a story or relate an experience
• To explain how to do or to make something
• To explain the steps in a process

Chronological order is mostly used in expository writing, which is a form of writing that narrates, describes, informs, or explains a process. When using chronological order, arrange the events in the order that they actually happened, or will happen if you are giving instructions. This method requires you to use words such as first , second , then , after that , later , and finally . These transition words guide you and your reader through the paper as you expand your thesis.

For example, if you are writing an essay about the history of the airline industry, you would begin with its conception and detail the essential timeline events up until present day. You would follow the chain of events using words such as first , then , next , and so on.

Writing at Work

At some point in your career you may have to file a complaint with your human resources department. Using chronological order is a useful tool in describing the events that led up to your filing the grievance. You would logically lay out the events in the order that they occurred using the key transition words. The more logical your complaint, the more likely you will be well received and helped.

Choose an accomplishment you have achieved in your life. The important moment could be in sports, schooling, family, or extracurricular activities. On your own sheet of paper, list the steps you took to reach your goal. Try to be as specific as possible with the steps you took. Pay attention to using transition words to focus your writing.

Keep in mind that chronological order is most appropriate for the following purposes:

• Writing essays containing heavy research
• Writing essays with the aim of listing, explaining, or narrating
• Writing essays that analyze literary works such as poems, plays, or books

When using chronological order, your introduction should indicate the information you will cover and in what order, and the introduction should also establish the relevance of the information. Your body paragraphs should then provide clear divisions or steps in chronology. You can divide your paragraphs by time (such as decades, wars, or other historical events) or by the same structure of the work you are examining (such as a line-by-line explication of a poem).

On a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph that describes a process you are familiar with and can do well. Assume that your reader is unfamiliar with the procedure. Remember to use the chronological key words, such as first , second , then , and finally.

Spatial Order

Spatial order is best used for the following purposes:

• Helping readers visualize something as you want them to see it
• Evoking a scene using the senses (sight, touch, taste, smell, and sound)
• Writing a descriptive essay

Spatial order means that you explain or describe objects as they are arranged around you in your space, for example in a bedroom. As the writer, you create a picture for your reader, and their perspective is the viewpoint from which you describe what is around you.

The view must move in an orderly, logical progression, giving the reader clear directional signals to follow from place to place. The key to using this method is to choose a specific starting point and then guide the reader to follow your eye as it moves in an orderly trajectory from your starting point.

Pay attention to the following student’s description of her bedroom and how she guides the reader through the viewing process, foot by foot.

Attached to my bedroom wall is a small wooden rack dangling with red and turquoise necklaces that shimmer as you enter. Just to the right of the rack is my window, framed by billowy white curtains. The peace of such an image is a stark contrast to my desk, which sits to the right of the window, layered in textbooks, crumpled papers, coffee cups, and an overflowing ashtray. Turning my head to the right, I see a set of two bare windows that frame the trees outside the glass like a 3D painting. Below the windows is an oak chest from which blankets and scarves are protruding. Against the wall opposite the billowy curtains is an antique dresser, on top of which sits a jewelry box and a few picture frames. A tall mirror attached to the dresser takes up most of the wall, which is the color of lavender.

This paragraph incorporates both an implied topic sentence and spatial order. Often in a descriptive essay, the two work together.

The following are possible transition words to include when using spatial order:

• Just to the left or just to the right
• On the left or on the right
• Across from
• A little further down
• To the south, to the east, and so on
• A few yards away
• Turning left or turning right

On a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph using spatial order that describes your commute to work, school, or another location you visit often.

Collaboration

Please share with a classmate and compare your answers

Order of Importance

The order of importance is best used for the following purposes:

• Persuading and convincing
• Ranking items by their importance, benefit, or significance
• Illustrating a situation, problem, or solution

Most essays move from the least to the most important point, and the paragraphs are arranged in an effort to build the essay’s strength. Sometimes, however, it is necessary to begin with your most important supporting point, such as in an essay that contains a thesis that is highly debatable. Depending on your audience, when writing a persuasive essay, it is best to begin with the most important point because it immediately captivates your readers and compels them to continue reading.

For example, if you were supporting your thesis that homework is detrimental to the education of high school students, you would want to present your most convincing argument first, and then move on to the less important points for your case.

Some key transitional words you should use with this method of organization are most importantly , almost as importantly , just as importantly , and finally .

During your career, you may be required to work on a team that devises a strategy for a specific goal of your company, such as increasing profits. When planning your strategy you should organize your steps in order of importance. This demonstrates the ability to prioritize and plan. Using the order of importance technique also shows that you can create a resolution with logical steps for accomplishing a common goal.

On a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph that discusses a passion of yours. Your passion could be music, a particular sport, filmmaking, and so on. Your paragraph should be built upon the reasons why you feel so strongly. Briefly discuss your reasons in the order of least to greatest importance

Cause and Effect

Cause and effect is best used when you:

• Want to explain why a problem occurs, or
• Want to explain a phenomenon (i.e., why tornadoes happen).

It always usually makes sense to discuss and explain the causes before writing about the effects because generally they are chronological in order. Sometimes, however, the logic may be conditional (i.e., under these conditions, this effect occurs). Therefore, when writing about cause and effect, many different logical joiners may be used to indicate the logic. Please see Joining Words . 

Sometimes, however, the effect is what will motivate the reader, especially when that effect is a problem, and it's something you would like the reader to act upon. In this case, sometimes the effect is demonstrated through an example first -- in the introduction. This is a common way that writers of feature articles for newspapers and magazines begin their essays.

A common need for writing at work is to propose alternative or better ways of doing things, whether that be a process or policy improvement (for efficiency or quality control, etc.) These are basically problem/solution "papers" that must show the cause and effect of the "problem" before providing potential solutions. Ordering your writing with the problem before the solution is always best to keep your reader engaged with yoru proposal.

Exercise 5 

On a separate piece of paper, think of a problem in society (yes, there are many from which to choose). This problem is the effect of something. Now think of some of the causes of that problem/effect. While one thing may not be a cause in and of itself, combined with other causes, they may together create an effect that is a problem.  Careful though!   Just because one event occurs before another doesn't mean that the first event caused  the second event. It could just be a concidence. Assuming this is called a fallacy of the consequent (see logical fallacies ). But write downa list of things that may -- together or individually -- help cause the effect. Then think about how those causes relate to each other to create the effect. 

Writing an Outline

For an essay question on a test or a brief oral presentation in class, all you may need to prepare is a short, informal outline in which you jot down key ideas in the order you will present them. This kind of outline reminds you to stay focused in a stressful situation and to include all the good ideas that help you explain or prove your point.

For a longer assignment, like an essay or a research paper, many college instructors require students to submit a formal outline before writing a major paper as a way to be sure you are on the right track and are working in an organized manner. A formal outline is a detailed guide that shows how all your supporting ideas relate to each other. It helps you distinguish between ideas that are of equal importance and ones that are of lesser importance. You build your paper based on the framework created by the outline.

Drafting an Outline

While there are distinct differences between developing and organizing support, and between developing/organizing support and drafting the essay, differentiating these steps can sometimes be difficult – in many cases, they blend into one another. As you develop support, you may find that you are also organizing that support into categories, thus creating a draft in outline form.

If outlining seems logical to your way of thinking and approaching a writing project, know that there are several different kinds of outlines:

• Roman or Arabic Numeral (highly structured, more formal). You can use this for full sentence outlines.
• bullet point (less structured, more informal)
• mind map (less structured, more informal)
• other methods as appropriate, such as a timeline, PowerPoint slides, or whatever method works for the topic and your own way of thinking about the topic

Instructors may also require you to submit an outline with your final draft to check the direction of the assignment and the logic of your final draft. If you are required to submit an outline with the final draft of a paper, remember to revise the outline to reflect any changes you made while writing the paper.

There are two types of formal outlines: the topic outline and the sentence outline. Format both types of formal outlines in the same way.

• Place your introduction and thesis statement at the beginning, under roman numeral I.
• Use roman numerals (II, III, IV, V, etc.) to identify main points that develop the thesis statement.
• Use capital letters (A, B, C, D, etc.) to divide your main points into parts.
• Use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.) if you need to subdivide any As, Bs, or Cs into smaller parts.
• End with the final roman numeral expressing your idea for your conclusion.

Here is what the skeleton of a traditional formal outline looks like. The indention helps clarify how the ideas are related.

• Introduction: Thesis statement
• Supporting detail

In an outline, any supporting detail can be developed with subpoints. For simplicity, the model shows them only under the first main point.

Formal outlines are often quite rigid in their organization. As many instructors will specify, you cannot subdivide one point if it is only one part. For example, for every roman numeral I, there must be a II. For every A, there must be a B. For every Arabic numeral 1, there must be a 2. See for yourself on the sample outlines above.

Constructing Topic Outlines

A topic outline is the same as a sentence outline except you use words or phrases instead of complete sentences. Words and phrases keep the outline short and easier to comprehend. All the headings, however, must be written in parallel structure. (For more information on parallel structure, see Chapter 12 “ Grammatical Parallelism ".)

Here is the topic outline that Mariah constructed for the essay she is developing. Her purpose is to inform, and her audience is a general audience of her fellow college students. Notice how Mariah begins with her thesis statement. She then arranges her main points and supporting details in outline form using short phrases in parallel grammatical structure.

1.Writing an Effective Topic Outline

This checklist can help you write an effective topic outline for your assignment. It will also help you discover where you may need to do additional reading or prewriting.

• Do I have a controlling idea that guides the development of the entire piece of writing?
• Do I have three or more main points that I want to make in this piece of writing? Does each main point connect to my controlling idea?
• Is my outline in the best order—chronological order, spatial order, or order of importance—for me to present my main points? Will this order help me get my main point across?
• Do I have supporting details that will help me inform, explain, or prove my main points?
• Do I need to add more support? If so, where?
• Do I need to make any adjustments in my working thesis statement before I consider it the final version?

Bullet Point/Topic Outline

Word processing programs generally have an automatic numbering feature that can be used to prepare outlines. This feature automatically sets indents and lets you use the tab key to arrange information just as you would in an outline. Although in business this style might be acceptable, in college your instructor might have different requirements. Teach yourself how to customize the levels of outline numbering in your word-processing program to fit your instructor’s preferences.

Using the working thesis statement you wrote and the reading you did in Section 4.6 “ Prewriting Strategies ”, construct a topic outline for your essay. Be sure to observe correct outline form, including correct indentions and the use of Roman and Arabic numerals and capital letters.

2. Constructing Sentence Outlines

A sentence outline is the same as a topic outline except you use complete sentences instead of words or phrases. Complete sentences create clarity and can advance you one step closer to a draft in the writing process. Here is the sentence outline that Mariah constructed for the essay she is developing.

Thesis statement : E-mail and internet monitoring, as currently practiced, is an invasion of employees’ rights in the workplace.

• To prevent fraudulent activities, theft, and other workplace related violations.
• To more efficiently monitor employee productivity.
• To prevent any legal liabilities due to harassing or offensive communications.
• There are no federal or state laws protecting employees.
• Employees may assert privacy protection for their own personal effects.
• Workplace communications should be about work; anything else is a misuse of company equipment and company time.
• Employers have a right to prevent misuse by monitoring employee communications.

The information compiled under each Roman numeral will become a paragraph in your final paper. In the previous example, the outline follows the standard five-paragraph essay arrangement, but longer essays will require more paragraphs and thus more roman numerals. If you think that a paragraph might become too long or stringy, add an additional paragraph to your outline, renumbering the main points appropriately.

3. Mind Map Outline

Wrapping Up

Whichever type of outline you’ve started with, it can conveniently morph into an essay draft, simply by choosing a portion of the outline as a place to start writing. Start developing that portion with topic sentences, full sentences, complete thoughts, details, examples, facts, opinions, and all appropriate types of support. Remember that an outline identifies the ideas you intend to use in the essay; you develop the actual essay draft by adding support and explanation to those ideas.

One of the many advantages to working from an outline is that you create an idea structure and can see visually how/whether those ideas relate, so you can see what needs to be added or edited. Because outlines capture ideas, they also allow you to begin your draft with whatever section or group of ideas you choose. Pick a section you feel strongly about, and start there. Move around your outline in whatever order you choose, in order to keep the momentum going to develop your essay draft.

PowerPoint presentations, used both in schools and in the workplace, are organized in a way very similar to formal outlines. PowerPoint presentations often contain information in the form of talking points that the presenter develops with more details and examples than are contained on the PowerPoint slide.

Expand the topic outline you prepared to make it a sentence outline. In this outline, be sure to include multiple supporting points for your main topic even if your topic outline does not currently contain them. Be sure to observe correct outline form, including correct indentions and the use of Roman and Arabic numerals and capital letters.

The following video explains a little more about outlining.

Outlines . Authored By: University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Writing Center. License: All Rights Reserved. License Terms: Standard YouTube License.

Post-Outlining

Some people have to write a complete draft first. If you must do this, you should do a post-outline. The process of writing a post-outline involves going through your very rough draft and writing down the thesis (if there is one -- it may appear at the beginning of the conclusion), the main idea of each paragraph, and the major subpoints of each paragraph in a formal outline form. Then, make sure that each subpoint actually relates to the main idea of each paragraph and that each main idea/topic sentence relates to your thesis. You may find that you need to move some parts of paragraphs to different paragraph or delete some parts of paragraphs that are completely off-topic. Then, do the same thing with the major subpoints and the supporting information. Be sure that each quote or paraphrase supports the major subpoint. If it doesn't, find more appropriate support. This process can take a lot longer than writing an outline before you draft and really only works if you are writing a shorter paper. Do try to write an outline first before drafting longer papers.

Contributors

• Adapted from English Compostion II . Provided by: Saylor Academy. License: CC BY: Attribution
• Adapted from Writing for Success. Provided by: The Saylor Foundation. License: CC-NC-SA 3.0

This page most recently updated on June 3, 2020.

Writing a Multi-paragraph Analysis Essay

LESSON One of the most common college writing assignments is the analysis essay A written evaluation of a topic, such as an article, piece of art, person’s life, etc. An analysis essay may include a summary of the subject, but is mostly used to evaluate and discuss: Is it good? Is it bad? Is it poorly written? Was the author misguided or very accurate? . Analysis is the investigation of a topic The subject of a reading. . In an analysis essay, instructors expect you to closely examine a given topic and then present your own perspective The point of view from which an author considers a subject or issue. . Analysis essays may contain a summary A brief restatement of an author’s main idea and major supporting details. Summaries are factual and should be written in the third-person with an objective point of view. of the topic to provide readers with context The larger setting in which something happens; the "big picture." , but they are not merely summaries. For example, if you are analyzing the novel Moby Dick , you might sum up the plot of the book before you give your slant Information presented with a particular focus or from a certain perspective, such as a writer's angle on a topic. on the text. In this lesson, you will follow these seven steps to writing an analysis essay, complete with an introduction The first paragraph of an essay. It must engage the reader, set the tone, provide background information, and present the thesis. , a body The main portion of a writing that contains the main ideas and supporting details of the writing. This is where the author's purpose and thesis statement are supported and/or developed. , and a conclusion The end portion of a writing that contains a summary or synthesis of the idea in the work. This includes a recap of key points and reminders of the author's purpose and thesis statement. :

• Understand your assignment.
• Gather ideas.
• Create a working thesis.
• Develop paragraphs that support your thesis.
• Write a conclusion.
• Write an introduction.
• Revise the essay.

Step 1: Understand your assignment.

The first step in developing any essay A short piece of writing that focuses on at least one main idea. Some essays are also focused on the author's unique point of view, making them personal or autobiographical, while others are focused on a particular literary, scientific, or political subject. is making sure you understand the focus and scope of your assignment. Remember, the heart of an analysis essay is your own perspective on someone else's work. It is closely tied to that person's work, but it is not a summary. Be sure to read your assignment carefully before you begin and refer to it often throughout development to make sure you have stayed on track.

Step 2: Gather ideas.

The next step is establishing your topic and gathering ideas about it. To begin gathering ideas, you might want to do some reading to help you develop a clear idea of how you want to approach the topic. Remember, though, that your instructor will want to know what you think about the topic, so while you can read others' ideas about it, ultimately your ideas are what matter most. After doing such secondary reading, brainstorming A prewriting technique where the author lists multiple ideas as he or she thinks of them, not considering one more than another until all ideas are captured. The objective is to create one great idea, or many ideas, on which to base a writing. techniques such as outlining A preliminary plan for a piece of a writing, often in the form of a list. It should include a topic, audience, purpose, thesis statement, and main and supporting points. , freewriting A prewriting technique where the author begins writing without regard to spelling or grammar about ideas, topics, or even characters, descriptions of events, and settings. Often the writer will freewrite for a set period of time. The objective is to develop a storyline through the writing process itself. , clustering A prewriting technique where the author creates an informal visual layout of possible ideas, grouping them together. The objective is to create visual clusters of information on which to base a writing. , mind mapping A prewriting technique where the author brainstorms and writes down his or her ideas by grouping and connecting ideas into a type of visual map. , and listing A prewriting technique where the author writes down ideas in categorized lists in order to gather ideas. are all good ways to develop ideas.

Step 3: Create a working thesis.

Once you have conducted some research, you probably have a general idea of what your thesis An overall argument, idea, or belief that a writer uses as the basis for a work. will be. You can write a tentative thesis statement An early form of a thesis statement that can be developed into a more formal thesis statement by creating supporting details. , keeping in mind that the actual wording and emphasis may change as you gather more information and think more deeply about your topic. In an analysis essay, your thesis statement A brief statement that identifies a writer's thoughts, opinions, or conclusions about a topic. Thesis statements bring unity to a piece of writing, giving it a focus and a purpose. You can use three questions to help form a thesis statement: What is my topic? What am I trying to say about that topic? Why is this important to me or my reader? should include the topic, subject, or item that you are analyzing and the point that you are making about it.

Step 4: Develop paragraphs that support your thesis.

Now, pick the two or three ideas that you developed in Step 2 that relate to your thesis the best and write the body paragraphs The part of an essay that comes after the introduction and before the conclusion. Body paragraphs lay out the main ideas of an argument and provide the support for the thesis. All body paragraphs should include these elements: a topic sentence, major and minor details, and a concluding statement. Each body paragraph should stand on its own but also fit into the context of the entire essay, as well as support the thesis and work with the other supporting paragraphs. on them. If it is difficult to decide what ideas to write about, you should choose the ones that you know the most about and that interest you the most. Writing tends to be easier when you know about and enjoy a topic. In addition, limiting the scope of your writing to the most powerful and interesting points will make the writing of greater interest to the reader. Nobody wants to read everything you know about the topic; be selective, and your writing will be more powerful.

Once you have narrowed down how you want to support your thesis, you might need to brainstorm a bit more and develop evidence Facts, statistics, or expert testimony that supports a claim. for your major supporting details Statements within a reading that tie directly to the work's main idea. These can be provided in examples, statistics, anecdotes, definitions, descriptions, or comparisons within the work. . You may also find it helpful to conduct additional research and look at other analyses that people have done on the topic.

Remember that your essay must include enough context for your reader to understand your analysis. If, for example, you are writing about a character from a classic novel, you will need to provide enough information about that novel so that someone who has never read it will still enjoy and understand your analysis. However, avoid making the summary the center of your essay. Provide just enough context, then move on to your own ideas.

Step 5: Write a conclusion.

It may seem strange to write your conclusion before your introduction, but sometimes doing this can help you focus your ideas. It is like giving directions—you need to know where you want your reader to end up before you can lead him or her there. Remember that a strong conclusion reflects the main idea The most important or central thought of a reading selection. It also includes what the author wants the reader to understand about the topic he or she has chosen to write about. of your essay without repeating it.

Step 6: Write an introduction.

Now that you know where you want your reader to end up, go back to the introduction and prepare the way. Remember that a good introduction hooks In writing, a device used to grab a readers' attention, often in the form of interesting, surprising, or provocative information. the reader, introduces the topic, sets the tone The feeling or attitude that a writer expresses toward a topic. The words the writer chooses express this tone. Examples of tones can include: objective, biased, humorous, optimistic, and cynical, among many others. , and presents the thesis.

Step 7: Revise the essay.

After you write your introduction, there is just one step left: revising your essay. Some people like to take a break at this point so that they can review their essays with fresh eyes. Remember that revision involves content The text in a writing that includes facts, thoughts, and ideas. The information that forms the body of the work. and organization. You will edit The process of improving a writing by reviewing content and making changes that affect its overall meaning and clarity. and proofread The process of carefully searching a writing draft for mistakes at the sentence- and word-level in order to correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes. at the sentence and word level after you have revised your essay. To revise your essay, ask yourself the following questions:

• Have I followed the assignment?
• Is this an analysis essay? Have I examined a topic and provided my own perspective on it?
• Does the body of my essay support my thesis?
• Is all of my support relevant?
• Do I need more or less support?
• Have I included the transitions Tying two events, passages, or pieces of information together in a smooth way. In writing, transitions are sometimes called links. necessary to guide the reader from point to point?
• Does my conclusion summarize and synthesize To combine ideas, as in the writing at the end of an essay that ties all the discussion and evidence together into a unified concept. the important details?
• Does my introduction hook the reader and provide adequate background Information that describes the history or circumstances of a topic. on/introduction to my topic?

Review your entire essay with these questions in mind. Remember, you may need to add or remove information or reorganize your writing. Being a careful reviewer of your own work is crucial in writing a quality essay. When you have completed this step, be sure to go back one more time to make sure your grammar, spelling, and punctuation Marks such as such as a comma (,), period (.), question mark (?), and exclamation mark (!), among others, that help break a writing into phrases, clauses, and sentences. Different types of punctuation marks give the reader different impressions of the writer’s purpose in that sentence. are correct. It is always a good idea to have another person read your essay since even the best speller and grammarian can miss his or her own mistakes.

The ability to analyze and write about a given topic is fundamental to both academic and career success. In school, a well-written analysis proves that you have internalized what you have learned, thought deeply about it, and developed your own opinion of it. In a career, analysis skills allow you to solve problems creatively and persuade others that your ideas are sound. These are truly the skills of a leader.

The example below demonstrates how to follow the seven steps to writing an analysis essay.

Use the following topic:

Analyze whether someone's motivations are largely noble or largely selfish. You could write about a character in a novel, movie, or television show, or you could write about a public figure.

Sample idea: Analyzing the motivations of Morgan Spurlock, who wrote, starred in, and directed the documentary film Supersize Me . In this case, the assignment is an analysis essay, which means that it must provide sufficient context for the reader and present a perspective on Spurlock's motivations.

One possible way to get some ideas is to look at the different motivations that Spurlock may have had and break them into two groups, positive and negative.

Spurlock's motivations were good

He wanted to educate people to change their habits, which are killing them (he presents statistics and talks to many experts; he gets people's attention by shocking them, he tries to show that McDonald's is a powerful company that is dangerous to people).

Spurlock's motivations were self-serving

He created a shocking situation, with himself at the center, in order to gain publicity and, eventually, fame. What he did exaggerates how most people live and is not realistic. Because it was so shocking, it was a big hit, and he went on to make many other films and even got his own HBO show.

Does it matter?

Maybe what matters most is the outcome of what he did, rather than his motivations.

Spurlock's motivations were both pure and self-serving; ultimately this is irrelevant if people benefited from his work.

Spurlock called attention to a national health crisis. It is interesting that he had to say "yes" anytime he was asked if he wanted to "Supersize" his meal. That's where the title of the film came from. He knew that the best way to really get people's attention is by shocking them. He gained 24.5 pounds in one month and nearly brought himself to liver failure. That brought attention to the problem and to Spurlock.

Because of its shock value, the film quickly became popular. All of the attention focused on Spurlock and what he did. Ultimately, this notoriety led to more filmmaking, his own television show, and even a stint on The Simpsons .

It does not matter if Spurlock's intentions were selfish because the film did educate people about the dramatic health risks of a fast-food diet. By gaining weight and hurting his own health, Spurlock made the dangers of a fast-food diet horribly real to his audience. By getting his audience's attention, Spurlock increased the possibility that his audience would change their diets, too.

6. Write an introduction.

Every day, Americans eat at fast-food restaurants. McDonald's is probably one of the first picks for many of them. In Morgan Spurlock’s documentary film Supersize Me , he goes on a 30-day McDonald's-only diet to show how dangerous fast foods can be. It shocked a lot of people, and Spurlock became famous. This essay analyzes whether his motivations were selfish or noble.

7. Revise the essay.

Every day, 1 in 4 Americans goes to a fast-food restaurant, and that restaurant is likely to be McDonald's, which holds nearly 50 percent of the fast-food market share in the United States. In Morgan Spurlock's 2004 documentary film Supersize Me , the filmmaker goes on a 30-day McDonald's-only diet to show the dangers of fast food. The film received a lot of attention and Spurlock became famous. But did he do it for the sake of others, or to further his own career?

Spurlock called attention to a national health crisis through his shocking 30-day transformation. While he included statistics and expert testimony to support his argument, he knew that that alone would not be enough to effect change. The best way to really get people's attention is by shocking them. By both restricting his diet to McDonald's meals and reducing his amount of physical activity, he gained 24.5 pounds in one month and nearly brought himself to liver failure. That brought attention to the problem, but also to Spurlock.

Because of its shock value, the film was a hit at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. Spurlock was the writer, director, producer, and star, so all of the attention focused on him and his dramatic acts. Even his recovery fed into his fame: his then-girlfriend supervised it, following a regimen that became the basis for a later book. Ultimately, this notoriety led to more filmmaking, his own television show, and even a stint on The Simpsons .

It is difficult to say how much of an effect the documentary had on public health, but these things are certain: within about six weeks of the movie’s premiere, McDonald's discontinued the "Supersize" meals. They (and other fast-food restaurants) have increased the number of healthy options available, and federal law requires major fast-food restaurants to post the calorie content of their menu items. In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that fast food consumption had decreased during the period of 2007-2010.

When thinking about Morgan Spurlock and Supersize Me , the question we need to ask is not "Did Spurlock have selfish motives?" but "Did Spurlock’s film help anyone?" Clearly, both noble and selfish motivations were at play. Ultimately, perhaps, it does not matter if Spurlock's intentions were selfish, because the film did educate people about the dramatic health risks of a fast-food diet. It was a significant part of an overall trend; a trend that seems to be headed in right direction.

Now it is your turn to follow the seven steps to write a well-organized, multi-paragraph analysis essay. Develop a least two body paragraphs to support your thesis.

Analyze whether the popularity of a piece of art is justified—is it as good as everyone says it is? You can explore movies, books, albums, works of art, or similar subjects.

Sample Answer

The assignment is an analysis essay, which means that it must provide sufficient context for the reader and present a perspective on whether or not the popularity of a piece of art is justified.

I'd like to write about the movie, Avatar. While I know there are some people who dislike it, I think they mainly object to everyone loving it because it is a fabulous movie.

Here is why I think it was fantastic (freewriting):

• The special effects were amazing.
• Sam Worthington played a paraplegic really well.
• The blue people (what were they called again?) were very sympathetic characters. I loved rooting for them.
• It's not just a small number of people who like the movie. It broke a zillion box office records.
• It was recognized by the Academy as being wonderful. Nominated for 9 Academy Awards and won 3.
• They are making another movie.
• Compelling love story.
• Also a story about the environment.

While the film Avatar may have a few detractors, they are deservedly few and far between.

Avatar had special effects that no other movie had ever used before. To produce the movie, James Cameron built the largest motion capture stage ever built, which allowed for over one hundred cameras to film the actors' every movement. This stage is just one of the many pieces of technology that Cameron spent more than a decade developing so that he could create the movie as he envisioned it in his mind. No doubt, it was due to these technological innovations that the movie won the Academy Award for Special Effects.

Avatar has much more to offer than just special effects because special effects alone do not guarantee box office success. Despite focus on "non-human" protagonists, the story addresses a number of issues that are familiar to the human condition. The most important is the love story between two species, a human and one of the Navi (the big, blue people). While it may seem an odd pairing, it does not take long for the audience to turn on the humans and root for this relationship. Avatar's ability to develop a believable cross-species connection is reason enough to explain its popularity.

It is impossible to understand how anyone could have not enjoyed Avatar. Between the special effects and the compelling love story, the two-hour long movie flies by. While it is disappointing that the Academy did not recognize its brilliance by awarding it the Best Picture award, fans can only hope that Avatar 2, set to begin filming in late 2014, will live up to its predecessor.

The movie Avatar tells the story of a paraplegic marine who goes to work on another planet with the promise that he will regain the use of his legs after his service. In short, the other military personnel are evil and try to wipe out another intelligent species, called the Navi, who are native to the planet. The marine is sympathetic with the Navi and fights the military forces. While Avatar may have a few detractors, they are deservedly few and far between.

As of January 2014, the movie Avatar has made more money than any other film with a worldwide gross of nearly $2.8 billon. This is quite impressive as the number two film, Titanic , had a twelve year head start. Avatar tells the story of a paraplegic marine who goes to work on another planet with the promise that he will regain the use of his legs after his service. In short, the other military personnel are evil and try to wipe out another intelligent species, called the Navi, who are native to the planet. The marine is sympathetic with the Navi and fights with them against the military forces. Avatar is deservedly well-loved by many and should have won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Picture.

Avatar has much more to offer than just special effects because special effects alone do not guarantee box office success. Despite focus on "non-human" protagonists, the story addresses a number of issues that are familiar to the human condition, including a love story between two species, a human and one of the Navi (the big, blue people). While it may seem an odd pairing, it does not take long for the audience to turn on the humans and root for this relationship. Avatar's ability to develop a believable cross-species connection is reason enough to explain its popularity.

It is impossible to understand how anyone could have not enjoyed Avatar. Between the outstanding special effects and the compelling love story, the two-hour long movie flies by. While it is disappointing that the Academy did not recognize its brilliance by awarding it the Best Picture award, fans expect that Avatar 2 , set to begin filming in late 2014, will live up to its predecessor. And who knows—maybe win best picture?

A summary pulls together the most important information from someone's work. If it is a novel, it might tell the most important events and characteristics of the main characters. But an analysis is looking at some aspect of that work and developing an opinion about it. For example, you might write about whether a character is a hero or a villain.

Analysis essays are relevant to all subject areas in school, whether history or communications or mathematics. Being able to analyze situations, ideas, and other people's thoughts is key to being a successful student or employee.

An essay will go through revisions before it is complete, and sometimes the most important ideas aren't clear until further in the process. Your introduction is your hook to draw in the reader and should be a powerful, well-crafted paragraph that links directly to the writing. Waiting until the end to write it helps to ensure that these qualities are reflected in it.

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8.2 Outlining

Learning objectives.

• Identify the steps in constructing an outline.
• Construct a topic outline and a sentence outline.

Your prewriting activities and readings have helped you gather information for your assignment. The more you sort through the pieces of information you found, the more you will begin to see the connections between them. Patterns and gaps may begin to stand out. But only when you start to organize your ideas will you be able to translate your raw insights into a form that will communicate meaning to your audience.

Longer papers require more reading and planning than shorter papers do. Most writers discover that the more they know about a topic, the more they can write about it with intelligence and interest.

Organizing Ideas

When you write, you need to organize your ideas in an order that makes sense. The writing you complete in all your courses exposes how analytically and critically your mind works. In some courses, the only direct contact you may have with your instructor is through the assignments you write for the course. You can make a good impression by spending time ordering your ideas.

Order refers to your choice of what to present first, second, third, and so on in your writing. The order you pick closely relates to your purpose for writing that particular assignment. For example, when telling a story, it may be important to first describe the background for the action. Or you may need to first describe a 3-D movie projector or a television studio to help readers visualize the setting and scene. You may want to group your support effectively to convince readers that your point of view on an issue is well reasoned and worthy of belief.

In longer pieces of writing, you may organize different parts in different ways so that your purpose stands out clearly and all parts of the paper work together to consistently develop your main point.

Methods of Organizing Writing

The three common methods of organizing writing are chronological order , spatial order , and order of importance . You will learn more about these in Chapter 9 “Writing Essays: From Start to Finish” ; however, you need to keep these methods of organization in mind as you plan how to arrange the information you have gathered in an outline. An outline is a written plan that serves as a skeleton for the paragraphs you write. Later, when you draft paragraphs in the next stage of the writing process, you will add support to create “flesh” and “muscle” for your assignment.

When you write, your goal is not only to complete an assignment but also to write for a specific purpose—perhaps to inform, to explain, to persuade, or for a combination of these purposes. Your purpose for writing should always be in the back of your mind, because it will help you decide which pieces of information belong together and how you will order them. In other words, choose the order that will most effectively fit your purpose and support your main point.

Table 8.1 “Order versus Purpose” shows the connection between order and purpose.

Table 8.1 Order versus Purpose

Writing a Thesis Statement

One legitimate question readers always ask about a piece of writing is “What is the big idea?” (You may even ask this question when you are the reader, critically reading an assignment or another document.) Every nonfiction writing task—from the short essay to the ten-page term paper to the lengthy senior thesis—needs a big idea, or a controlling idea, as the spine for the work. The controlling idea is the main idea that you want to present and develop.

For a longer piece of writing, the main idea should be broader than the main idea for a shorter piece of writing. Be sure to frame a main idea that is appropriate for the length of the assignment. Ask yourself, “How many pages will it take for me to explain and explore this main idea in detail?” Be reasonable with your estimate. Then expand or trim it to fit the required length.

The big idea, or controlling idea, you want to present in an essay is expressed in a thesis statement . A thesis statement is often one sentence long, and it states your point of view. The thesis statement is not the topic of the piece of writing but rather what you have to say about that topic and what is important to tell readers.

Table 8.2 “Topics and Thesis Statements” compares topics and thesis statements.

Table 8.2 Topics and Thesis Statements

The first thesis statement you write will be a preliminary thesis statement, or a working thesis statement . You will need it when you begin to outline your assignment as a way to organize it. As you continue to develop the arrangement, you can limit your working thesis statement if it is too broad or expand it if it proves too narrow for what you want to say.

Using the topic you selected in Section 8.1 “Apply Prewriting Models” , develop a working thesis statement that states your controlling idea for the piece of writing you are doing. On a sheet of paper, write your working thesis statement.

You will make several attempts before you devise a working thesis statement that you think is effective. Each draft of the thesis statement will bring you closer to the wording that expresses your meaning exactly.

Writing an Outline

For an essay question on a test or a brief oral presentation in class, all you may need to prepare is a short, informal outline in which you jot down key ideas in the order you will present them. This kind of outline reminds you to stay focused in a stressful situation and to include all the good ideas that help you explain or prove your point.

For a longer assignment, like an essay or a research paper, many college instructors require students to submit a formal outline before writing a major paper as a way to be sure you are on the right track and are working in an organized manner. A formal outline is a detailed guide that shows how all your supporting ideas relate to each other. It helps you distinguish between ideas that are of equal importance and ones that are of lesser importance. You build your paper based on the framework created by the outline.

Instructors may also require you to submit an outline with your final draft to check the direction of the assignment and the logic of your final draft. If you are required to submit an outline with the final draft of a paper, remember to revise the outline to reflect any changes you made while writing the paper.

There are two types of formal outlines: the topic outline and the sentence outline. You format both types of formal outlines in the same way.

• Place your introduction and thesis statement at the beginning, under roman numeral I.
• Use roman numerals (II, III, IV, V, etc.) to identify main points that develop the thesis statement.
• Use capital letters (A, B, C, D, etc.) to divide your main points into parts.
• Use arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.) if you need to subdivide any As, Bs, or Cs into smaller parts.
• End with the final roman numeral expressing your idea for your conclusion.

Here is what the skeleton of a traditional formal outline looks like. The indention helps clarify how the ideas are related.

Introduction

Thesis statement

Main point 1 → becomes the topic sentence of body paragraph 1

Main point 2 → becomes the topic sentence of body paragraph 2

Main point 3 → becomes the topic sentence of body paragraph 3

In an outline, any supporting detail can be developed with subpoints. For simplicity, the model shows them only under the first main point.

Formal outlines are often quite rigid in their organization. As many instructors will specify, you cannot subdivide one point if it is only one part. For example, for every roman numeral I, there must be a For every A, there must be a B. For every arabic numeral 1, there must be a 2. See for yourself on the sample outlines that follow.

Constructing Topic Outlines

A topic outline is the same as a sentence outline except you use words or phrases instead of complete sentences. Words and phrases keep the outline short and easier to comprehend. All the headings, however, must be written in parallel structure. (For more information on parallel structure, see Chapter 7 “Refining Your Writing: How Do I Improve My Writing Technique?” .)

Here is the topic outline that Mariah constructed for the essay she is developing. Her purpose is to inform, and her audience is a general audience of her fellow college students. Notice how Mariah begins with her thesis statement. She then arranges her main points and supporting details in outline form using short phrases in parallel grammatical structure.

Writing an Effective Topic Outline

This checklist can help you write an effective topic outline for your assignment. It will also help you discover where you may need to do additional reading or prewriting.

• Do I have a controlling idea that guides the development of the entire piece of writing?
• Do I have three or more main points that I want to make in this piece of writing? Does each main point connect to my controlling idea?
• Is my outline in the best order—chronological order, spatial order, or order of importance—for me to present my main points? Will this order help me get my main point across?
• Do I have supporting details that will help me inform, explain, or prove my main points?
• Do I need to add more support? If so, where?
• Do I need to make any adjustments in my working thesis statement before I consider it the final version?

Writing at Work

Word processing programs generally have an automatic numbering feature that can be used to prepare outlines. This feature automatically sets indents and lets you use the tab key to arrange information just as you would in an outline. Although in business this style might be acceptable, in college your instructor might have different requirements. Teach yourself how to customize the levels of outline numbering in your word-processing program to fit your instructor’s preferences.

Using the working thesis statement you wrote in Note 8.32 “Exercise 1” and the reading you did in Section 8.1 “Apply Prewriting Models” , construct a topic outline for your essay. Be sure to observe correct outline form, including correct indentions and the use of Roman and arabic numerals and capital letters.

Collaboration

Please share with a classmate and compare your outline. Point out areas of interest from their outline and what you would like to learn more about.

Constructing Sentence Outlines

A sentence outline is the same as a topic outline except you use complete sentences instead of words or phrases. Complete sentences create clarity and can advance you one step closer to a draft in the writing process.

Here is the sentence outline that Mariah constructed for the essay she is developing.

The information compiled under each roman numeral will become a paragraph in your final paper. In the previous example, the outline follows the standard five-paragraph essay arrangement, but longer essays will require more paragraphs and thus more roman numerals. If you think that a paragraph might become too long or stringy, add an additional paragraph to your outline, renumbering the main points appropriately.

PowerPoint presentations, used both in schools and in the workplace, are organized in a way very similar to formal outlines. PowerPoint presentations often contain information in the form of talking points that the presenter develops with more details and examples than are contained on the PowerPoint slide.

Expand the topic outline you prepared in Note 8.41 “Exercise 2” to make it a sentence outline. In this outline, be sure to include multiple supporting points for your main topic even if your topic outline does not contain them. Be sure to observe correct outline form, including correct indentions and the use of Roman and arabic numerals and capital letters.

Key Takeaways

• Writers must put their ideas in order so the assignment makes sense. The most common orders are chronological order, spatial order, and order of importance.
• After gathering and evaluating the information you found for your essay, the next step is to write a working, or preliminary, thesis statement.
• The working thesis statement expresses the main idea that you want to develop in the entire piece of writing. It can be modified as you continue the writing process.
• Effective writers prepare a formal outline to organize their main ideas and supporting details in the order they will be presented.
• A topic outline uses words and phrases to express the ideas.
• A sentence outline uses complete sentences to express the ideas.
• The writer’s thesis statement begins the outline, and the outline ends with suggestions for the concluding paragraph.

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