Writing for Success: Outlining

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

 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.

TIP

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 8 “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 7.1 “Order versus Purpose” shows the connection between order and purpose.

Table 7.1 Order versus Purpose

Order Purpose

To explain the history of an event or a topic

To tell a story or relate an experience

Chronological Order
To explain how to do or make something

To explain the steps in a process

To help readers visualize something as you want them to see it

Spatial Order
To create a main impression using the senses (sight, touch, taste, smell, and sound)

To persuade or convince
Order of Importance
To rank items by their importance, benefit, or significance

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.

TIP

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 7.2 “Topics and Thesis Statements” compares topics and thesis statements.

Table 7.2 Topics and Thesis Statements

Topic Thesis Statement

The recording industry fears that so-called music piracy will dim
Music piracy
cannot be more wrong.

The number of consumer choices available in media Everyone wants the newest and the best digital technology, but
gear specifications are often confusing.

E-books and online newspapers increasing their share

E-books and online newspapers will bring an end to print media
of the market

Online education and the new media Someday, students and teachers will send avatars to their onlin

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.

TIP

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.

TIP

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.

1. IntroductionThesis statement
2. Main point 1 → becomes the topic sentence of body paragraph 1
1. Supporting detail → becomes a support sentence of body paragraph 1
1. Subpoint
2. Subpoint
2. Supporting detail
1. Subpoint
2. Subpoint
3. Supporting detail
1. Subpoint
2. Subpoint
3. Main point 2 → becomes the topic sentence of body paragraph 2
1. Supporting detail
2. Supporting detail
3. Supporting detail
4. Main point 3 → becomes the topic sentence of body paragraph 3
1. Supporting detail
 2. Supporting detail
3. Supporting detail
5. Conclusion
TIP

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

TIP

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 “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.
Checklist

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.

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.
 TIP

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.

Writing at Work

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.

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.

EXERCISES

1. Using the topic you selected in “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.
2. Using the working thesis statement you wrote in #1 and the reading you did in “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. 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.
3. Expand the topic outline you prepared #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.
Introductions

WHAT THIS HANDOUT IS ABOUT

This handout will explain the functions of introductions, offer strategies for writing
effective ones, help you check your drafted introductions, and provide you with
examples of introductions to be avoided.

THE ROLE OF INTRODUCTIONS

Introductions and conclusions can be the most difficult parts of papers to write.
Usually when you sit down to respond to an assignment, you have at least some
sense of what you want to say in the body of your paper. You might have chosen a
few examples you want to use or have an idea that will help you answer the main
question of your assignment: these sections, therefore, are not as hard to write. But
these middle parts of the paper can’t just come out of thin air; they need to be
introduced and concluded in a way that makes sense to your reader.

Your introduction and conclusion act as bridges that transport your readers from their
own lives into the “place” of your analysis. If your readers pick up your paper about
education in the autobiography of Frederick Douglass, for example, they need a
transition to help them leave behind the world of Chapel Hill, television, e-mail, and
the The Daily Tar Heel and to help them temporarily enter the world of nineteenth-
century American slavery. By providing an introduction that helps your readers make
a transition between their own world and the issues you will be writing about, you
give your readers the tools they need to get into your topic and care about what you
are saying. Similarly, once you’ve hooked your reader with the introduction and
offered evidence to prove your thesis, your conclusion can provide a bridge to help
your readers make the transition back to their daily lives. (See our handout
on conclusions.)

WHY BOTHER WRITING A GOOD INTRODUCTION?

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. The opening
paragraph of your paper will provide your readers with their initial impressions of
your argument, your writing style, and the overall quality of your work. A vague,
disorganized, error-filled, off-the-wall, or boring introduction will probably create a
negative impression. On the other hand, a concise, engaging, and well-written
introduction will start your readers off thinking highly of you, your analytical skills,
your writing, and your paper. This impression is especially important when the
audience you are trying to reach (your instructor) will be grading your work.

Your introduction is an important road map for the rest of your paper. Your
introduction conveys a lot of information to your readers. You can let them know
what your topic is, why it is important, and how you plan to proceed with your
discussion. In most academic disciplines, your introduction should contain a thesis
that will assert your main argument. It should also, ideally, give the reader a sense of
the kinds of information you will use to make that argument and the general
organization of the paragraphs and pages that will follow. After reading your
introduction, your readers should not have any major surprises in store when they
read the main body of your paper.

Ideally, your introduction will make your readers want to read your paper. The
introduction should capture your readers’ interest, making them want to read the rest
of your paper. Opening with a compelling story, a fascinating quotation, an
interesting question, or a stirring example can get your readers to see why this topic
matters and serve as an invitation for them to join you for an interesting intellectual
conversation.

STRATEGIES FOR WRITING AN EFFECTIVE INTRODUCTION

Start by thinking about the question (or questions) you are trying to answer.
Your entire essay will be a response to this question, and your introduction is the first
step toward that end. Your direct answer to the assigned question will be your thesis,
and your thesis will be included in your introduction, so it is a good idea to use the
question as a jumping off point. Imagine that you are assigned the following
question:

Education has long been considered a major force for American social change,
righting the wrongs of our society. Drawing on theNarrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass, discuss the relationship between education and slavery in 19th-century
America. Consider the following: How did white control of education reinforce
slavery? How did Douglass and other enslaved African Americans view education
while they endured slavery? And what role did education play in the acquisition of
freedom? Most importantly, consider the degree to which education was or was not
a major force for social change with regard to slavery.

You will probably refer back to your assignment extensively as you prepare your
complete essay, and the prompt itself can also give you some clues about how to
approach the introduction. Notice that it starts with a broad statement, that education
has been considered a major force for social change, and then narrows to focus on
specific questions from the book. One strategy might be to use a similar model in
your own introduction —start off with a big picture sentence or two about the power
of education as a force for change as a way of getting your reader interested and
then focus in on the details of your argument about Douglass. Of course, a different
approach could also be very successful, but looking at the way the professor set up
the question can sometimes give you some ideas for how you might answer it.

Decide how general or broad your opening should be. Keep in mind that even a
“big picture” opening needs to be clearly related to your topic; an opening sentence
that said “Human beings, more than any other creatures on earth, are capable of
learning” would be too broad for our sample assignment about slavery and
education. If you have ever used Google Maps or similar programs, that experience
can provide a helpful way of thinking about how broad your opening should be.
Imagine that you’re researching Chapel Hill. If what you want to find out is whether
Chapel Hill is at roughly the same latitude as Rome, it might make sense to hit that
little “minus” sign on the online map until it has zoomed all the way out and you can
see the whole globe. If you’re trying to figure out how to get from Chapel Hill to
Wrightsville Beach, it might make more sense to zoom in to the level where you can
see most of North Carolina (but not the rest of the world, or even the rest of the
United States). And if you are looking for the intersection of Ridge Road and
Manning Drive so that you can find the Writing Center’s main office, you may need to
zoom all the way in. The question you are asking determines how “broad” your view
should be. In the sample assignment above, the questions are probably at the “state”
or “city” level of generality. But the introductory sentence about human beings is
mismatched—it’s definitely at the “global” level. When writing, you need to place your
ideas in context—but that context doesn’t generally have to be as big as the whole
galaxy! (See our handout on understanding assignments for additional information
on the hidden clues in assignments.)

Try writing your introduction last. You may think that you have to write your
introduction first, but that isn’t necessarily true, and it isn’t always the most effective
way to craft a good introduction. You may find that you don’t know what you are
going to argue at the beginning of the writing process, and only through the
experience of writing your paper do you discover your main argument. It is perfectly
fine to start out thinking that you want to argue a particular point, but wind up arguing
something slightly or even dramatically different by the time you’ve written most of
the paper. The writing process can be an important way to organize your ideas, think
through complicated issues, refine your thoughts, and develop a sophisticated
argument. However, an introduction written at the beginning of that discovery
process will not necessarily reflect what you wind up with at the end. You will need to
revise your paper to make sure that the introduction, all of the evidence, and the
conclusion reflect the argument you intend. Sometimes it’s easiest to just write up all
of your evidence first and then write the introduction last—that way you can be sure
that the introduction will match the body of the paper.

Don’t be afraid to write a tentative introduction first and then change it

later. Some people find that they need to write some kind of introduction in order to
get the writing process started. That’s fine, but if you are one of those people, be
sure to return to your initial introduction later and rewrite if necessary.

Open with an attention grabber. Sometimes, especially if the topic of your paper is

somewhat dry or technical, opening with something catchy can help. Consider these
options:

1. an intriguing example (for example, the mistress who initially teaches Douglass
but then ceases her instruction as she learns more about slavery)
2. a provocative quotation (Douglass writes that “education and slavery were
incompatible with each other”)
3. a puzzling scenario (Frederick Douglass says of slaves that “[N]othing has
been left undone to cripple their intellects, darken their minds, debase their
moral nature, obliterate all traces of their relationship to mankind; and yet how
wonderfully they have sustained the mighty load of a most frightful bondage,
under which they have been groaning for centuries!” Douglass clearly asserts
that slave owners went to great lengths to destroy the mental capacities of
slaves, yet his own life story proves that these efforts could be unsuccessful.)
 4. a vivid and perhaps unexpected anecdote (for example, “Learning about
slavery in the American history course at Frederick Douglass High School,
students studied the work slaves did, the impact of slavery on their families,
and the rules that governed their lives. We didn’t discuss education, however,
until one student, Mary, raised her hand and asked, ‘But when did they go to
school?’ That modern high school students could not conceive of an American
childhood devoid of formal education speaks volumes about the centrality of
education to American youth today and also suggests the significance of the
deprivation of education in past generations.”)
5. a thought-provoking question (given all of the freedoms that were denied
enslaved individuals in the American South, why does Frederick Douglass
focus his attentions so squarely on education and literacy?)

Pay special attention to your first sentence. Start off on the right foot with your
readers by making sure that the first sentence actually says something useful and
that it does so in an interesting and error-free way.

Be straightforward and confident. Avoid statements like “In this paper, I will argue
that Frederick Douglass valued education.” While this sentence points toward your
main argument, it isn’t especially interesting. It might be more effective to say what
you mean in a declarative sentence. It is much more convincing to tell us that
“Frederick Douglass valued education” than to tell us that you are going to say that
he did. Assert your main argument confidently. After all, you can’t expect your reader
to believe it if it doesn’t sound like you believe it!

HOW TO EVALUATE YOUR INTRODUCTION DRAFT

Ask a friend to read it and then tell you what he or she expects the paper will
discuss, what kinds of evidence the paper will use, and what the tone of the paper
will be. If your friend is able to predict the rest of your paper accurately, you probably
have a good introduction.

FIVE KINDS OF LESS EFFECTIVE INTRODUCTIONS

1. The place holder introduction. When you don’t have much to say on a given
topic, it is easy to create this kind of introduction. Essentially, this kind of weaker
introduction contains several sentences that are vague and don’t really say much.
They exist just to take up the “introduction space” in your paper. If you had
something more effective to say, you would probably say it, but in the meantime this
paragraph is just a place holder.

Example: Slavery was one of the greatest tragedies in American history. There were
many different aspects of slavery. Each created different kinds of problems for
enslaved people.

2. The restated question introduction. Restating the question can sometimes be

an effective strategy, but it can be easy to stop at JUST restating the question
instead of offering a more specific, interesting introduction to your paper. The
professor or teaching assistant wrote your questions and will be reading ten to
seventy essays in response to them—he or she does not need to read a whole
paragraph that simply restates the question. Try to do something more interesting.

Example: Indeed, education has long been considered a major force for American
social change, righting the wrongs of our society. The Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass discusses the relationship between education and slavery in
19th century America, showing how white control of education reinforced slavery
and how Douglass and other enslaved African Americans viewed education while
they endured. Moreover, the book discusses the role that education played in the
acquisition of freedom. Education was a major force for social change with regard to
slavery.

3. The Webster’s Dictionary introduction. This introduction begins by giving the

dictionary definition of one or more of the words in the assigned question. This
introduction strategy is on the right track—if you write one of these, you may be
trying to establish the important terms of the discussion, and this move builds a
bridge to the reader by offering a common, agreed-upon definition for a key idea.
You may also be looking for an authority that will lend credibility to your paper.
However, anyone can look a word up in the dictionary and copy down what Webster
says—it may be far more interesting for you (and your reader) if you develop your
own definition of the term in the specific context of your class and assignment, or if
you use a defintion from one of the sources you’ve been reading for class. Also
recognize that the dictionary is also not a particularly authoritative work—it doesn’t
take into account the context of your course and doesn’t offer particularly detailed
information. If you feel that you must seek out an authority, try to find one that is very
relevant and specific. Perhaps a quotation from a source reading might prove better?
Dictionary introductions are also ineffective simply because they are so overused.
Many graders will see twenty or more papers that begin in this way, greatly
decreasing the dramatic impact that any one of those papers will have.

Example: Webster’s dictionary defines slavery as “the state of being a slave,” as “the
practice of owning slaves,” and as “a condition of hard work and subjection.”

4. The “dawn of man” introduction. This kind of introduction generally makes

broad, sweeping statements about the relevance of this topic since the beginning of
time. It is usually very general (similar to the place holder introduction) and fails to
connect to the thesis. You may write this kind of introduction when you don’t have
much to say—which is precisely why it is ineffective.

Example: Since the dawn of man, slavery has been a problem in human history.

5. The book report introduction. This introduction is what you had to do for your
elementary school book reports. It gives the name and author of the book you are
writing about, tells what the book is about, and offers other basic facts about the
book. You might resort to this sort of introduction when you are trying to fill space
because it’s a familiar, comfortable format. It is ineffective because it offers details
that your reader already knows and that are irrelevant to the thesis.
Example: Frederick Douglass wrote his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, in the 1840s. It was published in 1986 by
Penguin Books. In it, he tells the story of his life.

WORKS CONSULTED

We consulted these works while writing the original version of this handout. This is
not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you
to do your own research to find the latest publications on this topic. Please do not
use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match
the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see
the UNC Libraries citation tutorial.

All quotations are from Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick

Douglass, An American Slave, edited and with introduction by Houston A. Baker, Jr.,
New York: Penguin Books, 1986.

Conclusions

WHAT THIS HANDOUT IS ABOUT

This handout will explain the functions of conclusions, offer strategies for writing
effective ones, help you evaluate your drafted conclusions, and suggest conclusion
strategies to avoid.

ABOUT CONCLUSIONS

Introductions and conclusions can be the most difficult parts of papers to write. While
the body is often easier to write, it needs a frame around it. An introduction and
conclusion frame your thoughts and bridge your ideas for the reader.

Just as your introduction acts as a bridge that transports your readers from their own
lives into the “place” of your analysis, your conclusion can provide a bridge to help
your readers make the transition back to their daily lives. Such a conclusion will help
them see why all your analysis and information should matter to them after they put
the paper down.

Your conclusion is your chance to have the last word on the subject. The conclusion
allows you to have the final say on the issues you have raised in your paper, to
synthesize your thoughts, to demonstrate the importance of your ideas, and to propel
your reader to a new view of the subject. It is also your opportunity to make a good
final impression and to end on a positive note.

Your conclusion can go beyond the confines of the assignment. The conclusion
pushes beyond the boundaries of the prompt and allows you to consider broader
issues, make new connections, and elaborate on the significance of your findings.
Your conclusion should make your readers glad they read your paper. Your
conclusion gives your reader something to take away that will help them see things
differently or appreciate your topic in personally relevant ways. It can suggest
broader implications that will not only interest your reader, but also enrich your
reader’s life in some way. It is your gift to the reader.

STRATEGIES FOR WRITING AN EFFECTIVE CONCLUSION

One or more of the following strategies may help you write an effective conclusion.

 Play the “So What” Game. If you’re stuck and feel like your conclusion isn’t
saying anything new or interesting, ask a friend to read it with you. Whenever
you make a statement from your conclusion, ask the friend to say, “So what?”
or “Why should anybody care?” Then ponder that question and answer it.
Here’s how it might go:

You: Basically, I’m just saying that education was important to Douglass.

Friend: So what?

You: Well, it was important because it was a key to him feeling like a free and
equal citizen.

Friend: Why should anybody care?

You: That’s important because plantation owners tried to keep slaves from

being educated so that they could maintain control. When Douglass obtained
an education, he undermined that control personally.

You can also use this strategy on your own, asking yourself “So What?” as you
develop your ideas or your draft.

 Return to the theme or themes in the introduction. This strategy brings the
reader full circle. For example, if you begin by describing a scenario, you can
end with the same scenario as proof that your essay is helpful in creating a
new understanding. You may also refer to the introductory paragraph by using
key words or parallel concepts and images that you also used in the
introduction.
 Synthesize, don’t summarize: Include a brief summary of the paper’s main
points, but don’t simply repeat things that were in your paper. Instead, show
your reader how the points you made and the support and examples you used
fit together. Pull it all together.
 Include a provocative insight or quotation from the research or reading you did
for your paper.
 Propose a course of action, a solution to an issue, or questions for further
study. This can redirect your reader’s thought process and help her to apply
your info and ideas to her own life or to see the broader implications.
  Point to broader implications. For example, if your paper examines the
Greensboro sit-ins or another event in the Civil Rights Movement, you could
point out its impact on the Civil Rights Movement as a whole. A paper about
the style of writer Virginia Woolf could point to her influence on other writers or
on later feminists.

STRATEGIES TO AVOID
 Beginning with an unnecessary, overused phrase such as “in conclusion,” “in
summary,” or “in closing.” Although these phrases can work in speeches, they
come across as wooden and trite in writing.
 Stating the thesis for the very first time in the conclusion.
 Introducing a new idea or subtopic in your conclusion.
 Ending with a rephrased thesis statement without any substantive changes.
 Making sentimental, emotional appeals that are out of character with the rest of
an analytical paper.
 Including evidence (quotations, statistics, etc.) that should be in the body of the
paper.

FOUR KINDS OF INEFFECTIVE CONCLUSIONS

1. The “That’s My Story and I’m Sticking to It” Conclusion. This conclusion just
restates the thesis and is usually painfully short. It does not push the ideas
forward. People write this kind of conclusion when they can’t think of anything
else to say. Example: In conclusion, Frederick Douglass was, as we have
seen, a pioneer in American education, proving that education was a major
force for social change with regard to slavery.
2. The “Sherlock Holmes” Conclusion. Sometimes writers will state the thesis for
the very first time in the conclusion. You might be tempted to use this strategy
if you don’t want to give everything away too early in your paper. You may think
it would be more dramatic to keep the reader in the dark until the end and then
“wow” him with your main idea, as in a Sherlock Holmes mystery. The reader,
however, does not expect a mystery, but an analytical discussion of your topic
in an academic style, with the main argument (thesis) stated up front. Example:
(After a paper that lists numerous incidents from the book but never says what
these incidents reveal about Douglass and his views on education): So, as the
evidence above demonstrates, Douglass saw education as a way to undermine
the slaveholders’ power and also an important step toward freedom.
3. The “America the Beautiful”/”I Am Woman”/”We Shall Overcome” Conclusion.
This kind of conclusion usually draws on emotion to make its appeal, but while
this emotion and even sentimentality may be very heartfelt, it is usually out of
character with the rest of an analytical paper. A more sophisticated
commentary, rather than emotional praise, would be a more fitting tribute to the
topic. Example: Because of the efforts of fine Americans like Frederick
Douglass, countless others have seen the shining beacon of light that is
 education. His example was a torch that lit the way for others. Frederick
Douglass was truly an American hero.
4. The “Grab Bag” Conclusion. This kind of conclusion includes extra information
that the writer found or thought of but couldn’t integrate into the main paper.
You may find it hard to leave out details that you discovered after hours of
research and thought, but adding random facts and bits of evidence at the end
of an otherwise-well-organized essay can just create confusion. Example: In
addition to being an educational pioneer, Frederick Douglass provides an
interesting case study for masculinity in the American South. He also offers
historians an interesting glimpse into slave resistance when he confronts
Covey, the overseer. His relationships with female relatives reveal the
importance of family in the slave community.

WORKS CONSULTED

We consulted these works while writing the original version of this handout. This is
not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you
to do your own research to find the latest publications on this topic. Please do not
use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match
the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see
the UNC Libraries citation tutorial.

All quotations are from:

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,

edited and with introduction by Houston A. Baker, Jr., New York: Penguin Books,
1986.

Strategies for Writing a Conclusion. Literacy Education Online, St. Cloud State
University. 18 May 2005 <http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/conclude.html>.

Conclusions. Nesbitt-Johnston Writing Center, Hamilton College. 17 May 2005

<http://www.hamilton.edu/academic/Resource/WC/SampleConclusions.html>.

Discussion: Post-Draft Outline

A big huzzah—the rough drafts are done, which is a major hurdle. I know
there’s still a lot to do, but I think the hardest part’s out of the way. 

Now it’s time to turn away from the raw content creation of writing a draft,
and towards the fine-tuning that does into polishing and shaping an
effective essay.  To start with, I’d like you to review this Post Draft Outline
presentation.  

Create a post-draft outline (PDO) for your own essay in its most current
form.  Share that PDO with us here.  
After you’ve laid out the summary sentences for us to see, follow this with a
short paragraph of personal response and analysis of what this activity told
you.  Make at least two observations of how you’ll change, add, subtract, or
divide content as you move forward in the writing process.

Your posts will vary in length this week.  Just make sure a full PDO is
included and followed by at least a 3-sentence paragraph of observation.  It
doesn’t have to be grammatically perfect, but should use standard English
(no text-speak, please) and normal capitalization rules.

You will also need to return to this Discussion to reply to at least two of
your classmates’ posts.  Content could include, but is not limited to, any of
the following: Do you get a full sense of what that paper will be about? 
Does anything strike you as repetitive, or do you feel there is content that
needs to be covered in more depth?  Offer at least 2 suggestions that come
out of your reflections on their post-draft outline content.

Responses are weighed as heavily as your initial posting, and should be

roughly as long (150-200 words) in combination.  Responses should
indicate you’ve read your classmate’s post carefully.  Include specific
details from the post you’re responding to in your reply.

Grading Rubric

Criteria

The outline has a strong controlling idea/thesis statement that guides the development of the entire piece of writing

The outline has three or more main points that connect to the controlling idea.

The outline uses college-level research sources to support the claims made in the outline.

The outline has a considered order (chronological order, spatial order, or order of importance) that aids to the development
the argument.
 Criteria

In the body of the outline, the research used is documented using correct APA or MLA parenthetical citation.

On a seperate page at the end of the outline, the research used is cited in an accurately formatted Works Cited/Reference
Page

Total Points: 40

Outline Rubric

Writing Process: Organizing

Search
Search for:

Outcome: Organizing

Evaluate essay organizational techniques

Destination set, supplies gathered . . . now, how do we get to where we’re going?
The organizing stage of the writing process will help us determine this. Some
students may have had bad experiences with writing outlines for assignments in the
past, or failed to see the need to map out every detail ahead of time. However, the
organizing stage encompasses much more than outlining, and is more flexible than it
might have seemed while in high school.

The organizing stage is also very profitable in time management, as well. A bit of
time invested in organizing, will have huge payoffs later during drafting. If you’re
pressed for time you might feel tempted to skip this step, but please don’t! Skipping
the organizing stage will mean you end up spending much more time during drafting
and revising than you would have otherwise.

What You Will Learn To Do

 evaluate appropriate rhetorical pattern for the topic and the task
 evaluate components of an effective thesis statement
 evaluate components of an effective logical argument
 evaluate components of an effective paragraph
 evaluate components of an effective essay body
 evaluate components of an effective introduction
  evaluate components of an effective conclusion

 Moving Beyond the Five-Paragraph Theme

One of the major transitions between high-school writing and college writing involves
a wider set of options of how to organize an essay. Choosing the right structure is up
to you, and depends on the application of critical thinking skills to select the best fit
for your purpose.

In high school, the SAT and other standardized testing formats value a very
formulaic, rigid approach to essay writing. Some students who have mastered that
form, and enjoyed a lot of success from doing so, assume that college writing is
simply more of the same. The skills that go into a very basic kind of essay—often
called the five-paragraph theme—are indispensable. If you’re good at the five-
paragraph theme, then you’re good at identifying a clear and consistent thesis,
arranging cohesive paragraphs, organizing evidence for key points, and situating an
argument within a broader context through the intro and conclusion.
In college you need to build on those essential skills. The five-paragraph theme, as
such, is bland and formulaic; it doesn’t compel deep thinking. Your professors are
looking for a more ambitious and arguable thesis, a nuanced and compelling
argument, and real-life evidence for all key points, all in an organically-structured
paper.

Figures 3.1 and 3.2 contrast the standard five-paragraph theme and the organic
college paper. The five-paragraph theme, outlined in Figure 3.1, is probably what
you’re used to: the introductory paragraph starts broad and gradually narrows to a
thesis, which readers expect to find at the very end of that paragraph. In this
idealized format, the thesis invokes the magic number of three: three reasons why a
statement is true. Each of those reasons is explained and justified in the three body
paragraphs, and then the final paragraph restates the thesis before gradually getting
broader. This format is easy for readers to follow, and it helps writers organize their
points and the evidence that goes with them. That’s why you learned this format.

Figure 3.2, in contrast, represents a paper on the same topic that has the more
organic form expected in college. The first key difference is the thesis. Rather than
simply positing a number of reasons to think that something is true, it puts forward an
arguable statement: one with which a reasonable person might disagree. An
arguable thesis gives the paper purpose. It surprises readers and draws them in.
You hope your reader thinks, “Huh. Why would they come to that conclusion?” and
then feels compelled to read on. The body paragraphs, then, build on one another to
carry out this ambitious argument. In the classic five-paragraph theme (Figure 3.1) it
hardly matters which of the three reasons you explain first or second. In the more
organic structure (Figure 3.2) each paragraph specifically leads to the next.
Figure 3.1, The five-paragraph “theme”

The last key difference is seen in the conclusion. Because the organic essay is
driven by an ambitious, non-obvious argument, the reader comes to the concluding
section thinking “OK, I’m convinced by the argument. What do you, author, make of
it? Why does it matter?” The conclusion of an organically structured paper has a real
job to do. It doesn’t just reiterate the thesis; it explains why the thesis matters.
Figure 3.2, The organic college paper

The substantial time you spent mastering the five-paragraph form in Figure 3.1 was
time well spent; it’s hard to imagine anyone succeeding with the more organic form
without the organizational skills and habits of mind inherent in the simpler form. But if
you assume that you must adhere rigidly to the simpler form, you’re blunting your
intellectual ambition. Your professors will not be impressed by obvious theses,
loosely related body paragraphs, and repetitive conclusions. They want you to
undertake an ambitious independent analysis, one that will yield a thesis that is
somewhat surprising and challenging to explain.

Introduction to Argument

The 5 Questions
Questions are at the core of arguments. In academic writing, we tend to build
arguments from the answers to just five kinds of questions:

1. What do you want me to do or think?

2. Why should I do or think that?
3. How do I know that what you say is true?
4. What about this other idea, fact, or consideration?
5. What general principles ground your argument?

In a Nutshell

When you ask people to do or think something they otherwise would not, they quite
naturally want to know why they should do so. In fact, people tend to ask the same
five questions. When you make a good argument, you anticipate and respond to
each of these questions with a particular part of argument:

1. The answer to What do you want me to do or think? is your claim: “I claim that

you should do or think X.”
2. The answer to Why should I do or think that? states your reasons: “You should
do or think X because . . .”
3. The answer to How do I know that what you say is true? presents
your evidence: “You can believe my reasons because they are supported by
these facts . . .”
4. The answer to What about this other idea, fact, or
conclusion? acknowledges that your readers might see things differently and
then responds to that alternative view.
5. The answer to Why should I accept that your reasons support your
claim? states your general principle of reasoning, called a warrant: “My
specific reason supports my specific claim because whenever this general
condition is true, we can generally draw a conclusion like mine.”

The Principle

Academics, business people, scientists, and other professionals all make arguments
to determine what to do or think, or to solve a problem by enlisting others to do or
believe something they otherwise would not. What matters is not just that you
believe that what you have to say is true, but that you give others good reasons to
believe it as well—and also show them that you have considered the issue from
multiple angles. To do that, build your argument out of the answers to the five
questions any rational person will expect you to answer.

The Five Questions That Every Reader Will Ask

Question #1—“What do you want me to do or think?”

This question means that the reader is ready to hear your claim. You know how to
answer this question because you make arguments like this every day. Suppose, for
example, that Sally is having coffee with her friend Jim. Jim points out a story on the
front page of his newspaper:

Jim: So did you hear about the hurricane that’s headed for New Orleans?
Sally: Yes, I think they should evacuate the city as soon as possible.

Sally has made a claim: a statement of her view of what someone should do: New
Orleans should be evacuated. Note that this is not a statement of fact but of Sally’s
idea, her judgment about the best course of action. She takes a position on a
problem without an obvious solution; other rational people could disagree. Some
might claim that the hurricane is not strong enough to warrant evacuation or that this
time New Orleans is properly prepared for a hurricane. Sally has made a claim
because her statement is up for debate.

Question #2—“Why should I think that?”

This question is about what reasons support your claim. Most readers won’t

question your argument until they know your reasons. Let’s look at how Jim
responds to Sally’s claim:

Jim: Really? Why do you say that?

Sally: Well, New Orleans is surrounded by water and it’s mostly below sea
level. If a hurricane breaks the levees that keep the water out, the city will
flood. Houses could be destroyed, and people would be at risk.

Sally answers Jim’s question by giving him a few reasons why she thinks New
Orleans should be evacuated. New Orleans is (1) surrounded by water, (2) mostly
below sea level, and (3) protected by levees. So if the levees break and let the water
in, (4) houses will be destroyed, and (5) people will be at risk.

Question #3—“How do I know that your reasons are true?”

This question asks for factual evidence to support the given reasons. Jim asks Sally
a version of this question to push her for more information:

Jim: Will the levees actually break? Why do you think that they’re in danger of
failing?
Sally: Remember Hurricane Katrina in 2005? The levees failed then, and the
city was almost ruined. It’s right there in the newspaper story: many of the
levees have been rebuilt or reinforced since Katrina, but the government is
way behind and there are a lot of levees that are just like the ones that failed
after Katrina. And even the ones that have been rebuilt will not protect
against the worst storm surges.

When Jim asks what makes Sally believe that the levees are in danger of failing, she
must respond with facts. For her factual evidence, Sally points to a real, historical
event as a precedent, and she cites facts she found in a reliable newspaper. In an
academic argument, you’ll also need to give evidence that your ideas are based on
real-world facts. These facts can take the form of quotations, events, statistics,
dates, or other data that you found in a reliable source, but they must be something
that your readers accept as true in order for your readers to see them as evidence.
Taken together, your claim, reasons, and evidence make up the core of your
argument. While your claims, reasons, and evidence do answer your readers’
questions, they are also mostly about you, what you think and why. Your argument
may be complete with just these three parts, but to fully address your readers’
concerns, you also need to address what they think and why.

Question #4—“What about this other idea, fact, or conclusion? Or: What if I think
about this topic differently than you do?”

You can expect that for any serious claim about a significant problem, there will be
some readers who don’t see things the way you do. They may take a different
approach to the problem; they may want to consider different evidence; or they may
even think that your reasons and evidence point to a different conclusion. If so, you
have to anticipate that they will ask, “What about my way of thinking about this?” In
order for your argument to be the most effective, you have to address these
objections, counterarguments, varying perspectives, and so on. The best way to do
this is to acknowledge your readers’ possible alternative positions and
then respond to them. Here, Jim raises a question based on a fact that he thinks
Sally has not fully considered:

Jim: Sure, the Katrina flood was a disaster. But this new hurricane is not as
strong as Katrina. It poses much less danger. And evacuation is expensive.
Sally: That’s true; the hurricane is weaker than Katrina now. But hurricanes
often get stronger as they approach land, and you can’t wait until the last
minute to evacuate—people will just get stuck out on the roads. So I think
that everyone should evacuate even if it is expensive and at the moment
seems that it may not be necessary. Better safe than sorry.

Sally acknowledges that Jim has a point: the current danger may in fact be less than
that posed by Katrina. But she responds with more facts: hurricanes can get stronger
and evacuation takes time, so that it will be too late to evacuate if the hurricane
intensifies as it approaches land. She then restates her claim: people should
evacuate.

Question #5—“Why should I accept that your reasons support your claim?”

This last question forces us to consider the logical assumptions on which we base
our arguments. Many arguments never address these assumptions because writers
assume that their readers will reason as they do. So we rarely see the answer to the
fifth question, a statement of a general principle of reasoning or warrant. But if you
think your readers may not share your general principles, you should state them in
your argument. In Sally’s response to Jim’s point about balancing the risk of flooding
against the cost of evacuation, we see that they are following different principles:

Jim: I don’t know. Being too safe may not be smart. I’m not sure that the risk
of flooding is enough to force an evacuation.
 Sally: Well, I believe that no cost is too high to save lives. So whenever we
can anticipate a reasonable possibility that lives will be endangered, we
should be willing to accept a reasonable cost to avoid the loss of life. Even
though the hurricane may not cause flooding, there is enough chance that it
will. The cost of an evacuation is not too high a price to pay to save lives.

Jim may still not accept Sally’s principle: he may think that the costs are too high. But
what is important is that he can now see the complete basis of Sally’s argument: he
knows her claim, her reasons, her evidence, how she responds to his alternative
views, and what principle she applies to connect her reasons to her claim.

Logic and Structure

Big picture, there are several key components that are required for any effective
argumentative essay. This video discusses what they are, and options for what order
to present them in.

The Perfect Paragraph

As Michael Harvey writes, paragraphs are “in essence—a form of punctuation, and
like other forms of punctuation they are meant to make written material easy to
read.”[1] Effective paragraphs are the fundamental units of academic writing;
consequently, the thoughtful, multifaceted arguments that your professors expect
depend on them. Without good paragraphs, you simply cannot clearly convey
sequential points and their relationships to one another. 
Many novice writers tend to make a sharp distinction between content and style,
thinking that a paper can be strong in one and weak in the other, but focusing on
organization shows how content and style converge in deliberative academic writing.
Your professors will view even the most elegant prose as rambling and tedious if
there isn’t a careful, coherent argument to give the text meaning. Paragraphs are the
“stuff ” of academic writing and, thus, worth our attention here.
Key Sentences (a.k.a. Topic Sentences)

In academic writing, readers expect each

paragraph to have a sentence or two that captures its main point. They’re often
called “topic sentences,” though many writing instructors prefer to call them “key
sentences.” There are at least two downsides of the phrase “topic sentence.” First, it
makes it seem like the paramount job of that sentence is simply to announce the
topic of the paragraph. Second, it makes it seem like the topic sentence must always
be a single grammatical sentence. Calling it a “key sentence” reminds us that it
expresses the central idea of the paragraph. And sometimes a question or a two-
sentence construction functions as the key.
Key sentences in academic writing do two things. First, they establish the main point
that the rest of the paragraph supports. Second, they situate each paragraph within
the sequence of the argument, a task that requires transitioning from the prior
paragraph. Consider these two examples:[2]
Version A:
Now we turn to the epidemiological evidence.
Version B:
The epidemiological evidence provides compelling support for the hypothesis
emerging from etiological studies.
Both versions convey a topic; it’s pretty easy to predict that the paragraph will be
about epidemiological evidence, but only the second version establishes an
argumentative point and puts it in context. The paragraph doesn’t just describe the
epidemiological evidence; it shows how epidemiology is telling the same story as
etiology. Similarly, while Version A doesn’t relate to anything in particular, Version B
immediately suggests that the prior paragraph addresses the biological pathway (i.e.
etiology) of a disease and that the new paragraph will bolster the emerging
hypothesis with a different kind of evidence. As a reader, it’s easy to keep track of
how the paragraph about cells and chemicals and such relates to the paragraph
about populations in different places.
A last thing to note about key sentences is that academic readers expect them to be
at the beginning of the paragraph. (The first sentence this paragraph is a good
example of this in action!) This placement helps readers comprehend your argument.
To see how, try this: find an academic piece (such as a textbook or scholarly article)
that strikes you as well written and go through part of it reading just the first sentence
of each paragraph. You should be able to easily follow the sequence of logic. When
you’re writing for professors, it is especially effective to put your key sentences first
because they usually convey your own original thinking. It’s a very good sign when
your paragraphs are typically composed of a telling key sentence followed by
evidence and explanation.
Knowing this convention of academic writing can help you both read and write more
effectively. When you’re reading a complicated academic piece for the first time, you
might want to go through reading only the first sentence or two of each paragraph to
get the overall outline of the argument. Then you can go back and read all of it with a
clearer picture of how each of the details fit in. And when you’re writing, you may
also find it useful to write the first sentence of each paragraph (instead of a topic-
based outline) to map out a thorough argument before getting immersed in
sentence-level wordsmithing.
Cohesion and Coherence
With a key sentence established, the next task is to shape the body of your
paragraph to be both cohesive and coherent. As Williams and Bizup [3] explain,
cohesion is about the “sense of flow” (how each sentence fits with the next), while
coherence is about the “sense of the whole.” [4] 
For the most part, a text reads smoothly when it conveys a thoughtful and well
organized argument or analysis. Focus first and most on your ideas, on crafting an
ambitious analysis. The most useful guides advise you to first focus on getting your
ideas on paper and then revising for organization and word choice later, refining the
analysis as you go. Thus, consider the advice here as if you already have some
rough text written and are in the process of smoothing out your prose to clarify your
argument for both your reader and yourself.

Cohesion

Cohesion refers to the flow from sentence to sentence. For example, compare these
passages:
Version A:
Granovetter begins by looking at balance theory. If an actor, A, is strongly
tied to both B and C, it is extremely likely that B and C are, sooner or later,
going to be tied to each other, according to balance theory (1973:1363).
[5]
 Bridge ties between cliques are always weak ties, Granovetter argues
(1973:1364). Weak ties may not necessarily be bridges, but Granovetter
argues that bridges will be weak. If two actors share a strong tie, they will
draw in their other strong relations and will eventually form a clique. Only
weak ties that do not have the strength to draw together all the “friends of
friends” can connect people in different cliques.
Version B:
Granovetter begins by looking at balance theory. In brief, balance theory tells
us that if an actor, A, is strongly tied to both B and C, it is extremely likely that
B and C are, sooner or later, going to be tied to each other (1973:1363).
Granovetter argues that because of this, bridge ties between cliques are
always weak ties (1973:1364). Weak ties may not necessarily be bridges, but
Granovetter argues that bridges will be weak. This is because if two actors
share a strong tie, they will draw in their other strong relations and will
eventually form a clique. The only way, therefore, that people in different
cliques can be connected is through weak ties that do not have the strength
to draw together all the “friends of friends.” [6]
Version A has the exact same information as version B, but it is harder to read
because it is less cohesive. Each sentence in version B begins with old information
and bridges to new information.

The first sentence establishes the key

idea of balance theory. The next sentence begins with balance theory and ends with
social ties, which is the focus of the third sentence. The concept of weak ties
connects the third and fourth sentences and concept of cliques the fifth and sixth
sentences. In Version A, in contrast, the first sentence focuses on balance theory,
but then the second sentence makes a new point about social ties before telling the
reader that the point comes from balance theory. The reader has to take in a lot of
unfamiliar information before learning how it fits in with familiar concepts. Version A
is coherent, but the lack of cohesion makes it tedious to read.
The lesson is this: if you or others perceive a passage you’ve written to be awkward
or choppy, even though the topic is consistent, try rewriting it to ensure that each
sentence begins with a familiar term or concept. If your points don’t naturally daisy-
chain together like the examples given here, consider numbering them. For example,
you may choose to write, “Proponents of the legislation point to four major benefits.”
Then you could discuss four loosely related ideas without leaving your reader
wondering how they relate.

Coherence

While cohesion is about the sense of flow, coherence is about the sense of the
whole. For example, here’s a passage that is cohesive (from sentence to sentence)
but lacks coherence:
Your social networks and your location within them shape the kinds and
amount of information that you have access to. Information is distinct from
data, in that makes some kind of generalization about a person, thing, or
population. Defensible generalizations about society can be either
probabilities (i.e., statistics) or patterns (often from qualitative analysis). Such
probabilities and patterns can be temporal, spatial, or simultaneous.

Each sentence in the above passage

starts with a familiar idea and progresses to a new one, but it lacks coherence—a
sense of being about one thing. Good writers often write passages like that when
they’re free-writing or using the drafting stage to cast a wide net for ideas. A writer
weighing the power and limits of social network analysis may free-write something
like that example and, from there, develop a more specific plan for summarizing key
insights about social networks and then discussing them with reference to the core
tenets of social science. As a draft, an incoherent paragraph often points to a
productive line of reasoning; one just has to continue thinking it through in order to
identify a clear argumentative purpose for each paragraph. With its purpose defined,
each paragraph, then, becomes a lot easier to write. Coherent paragraphs aren’t just
about style; they are a sign of a thoughtful, well developed analysis.

The Wind-Up
Some guides advise you to end each paragraph with a specific concluding sentence,
in a sense, to treat each paragraph as a kind of mini-essay. But that’s not a widely
held convention. Most well written academic pieces don’t adhere to that structure.
The last sentence of the paragraph should certainly be in your own words (as in, not
a quote), but as long as the paragraph succeeds in carrying out the task that it has
been assigned by its key sentence, you don’t need to worry about whether that last
sentence has an air of conclusiveness. For example, consider these paragraphs
about the cold fusion controversy of the 1980s that appeared in a best-selling
textbook:[7]
The experiment seemed straightforward and there were plenty of scientists
willing to try it. Many did. It was wonderful to have a simple laboratory
experiment on fusion to try after the decades of embarrassing attempts to
control hot fusion. This effort required multi-billion dollar machines whose
every success seemed to be capped with an unanticipated failure. ‘Cold
fusion’ seemed to provide, as Martin Fleischmann said during the course of
that famous Utah press conference, ‘another route’—the route of little
science.
In that example, the first and last sentences in the paragraph are somewhat
symmetrical: the authors introduce the idea of accessible science, contrast it with big
science, and bring it back to the phrase “little science.” Here’s an example from the
same chapter of the same book that does not have any particular symmetry: [8]
The struggle between proponents and critics in a scientific controversy is
always a struggle for credibility. When scientists make claims which are
literally ‘incredible’, as in the cold fusion case, they face an uphill struggle.
The problem Pons and Fleischmann had to overcome was that they had
credibility as electrochemists but not as nuclear physicists. And it was nuclear
physics where their work was likely to have its main impact.
The last sentence of the paragraph doesn’t mirror the first, but the paragraph still
works just fine. In general, every sentence of academic writing should add some
unique content. Don’t trouble yourself with having the last sentence in every
paragraph serve as a mini-conclusion. Instead, worry about developing each point
sufficiently and making your logical sequence clear.
Conclusion: Paragraphs as Punctuation
To reiterate the initial point, it is useful to think of paragraphs as punctuation that
organize your ideas in a readable way. Each paragraph should be an irreplaceable
node within a coherent sequence of logic. Thinking of paragraphs as “building
blocks” evokes the “five-paragraph theme” structure explained earlier: if you have
identical stone blocks, it hardly matters what order they’re in. In the successful
organically structured college paper, the structure and tone of each paragraph
reflects its indispensable role within the overall piece. Make every bit count and
have each part situated within the whole.

1. Michael Harvey, The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing, Second Edition (Indianapolis,
IN: Hackett Publishing, 2013), 70. ↵
2. Etiology is the cause of a disease—what’s actually happening in cells and tissues—
while epidemiology is the incidence of a disease in a population. ↵
3. Joseph M. Williams.and Joseph Bizup. Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace 11th
edition (New York: Longman, 2014), 68. Joseph M. Williams and Joseph Bizup. Style:
Lessons in Clarity and Grace 11th edition (New York: Longman, 2014), 68. ↵
4. Ibid., 71. ↵
 5. The quote uses a version of an ASA-style in-text citation for Mark S. Granovetter, “The
Strength of Weak Ties,” American Journal of Sociology 78 (1973): 1360-80. ↵
6. Guiffre. Communities and Networks, 98. ↵
7. Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch, The Golem: What You Should Know About
Science 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Canto, 1998), 58. ↵
8. Ibid., 74. ↵

Introductions and Conclusions

A key piece of advice many writers either do not ever get or don’t believe is that it’s
not necessary to write introductions first or to write conclusions last. Just
because the introduction appears first and the conclusion appears last doesn’t mean
they have to be written that way. Here’s a really tired metaphor to help explain: just
because you walk into a building through the door doesn’t mean the door was built
first. The foundation went in first, even though you rarely if ever see that part. And
lots of imperfections in the foundation and the walls were covered up before you
even moved in, so you can’t see those either unless you look closely.

Introductions

Even though a nearly infinite number of topics and arrangements is possible in

English prose, introductions generally follow one of several patterns. If you’re writing
a children’s story, you’d probably start with “once upon a time” or something similar.
If you’re writing a research article in biomechanical engineering, you’d probably start
with a statement about how previous research has examined the problem of loading
soldiers with daypacks on various surfaces, including sand, concrete, and railroad
ballast. These examples are poles apart, but their introductions share very similar
purposes: they orient their imagined readers to the topic, time, and place.

In working toward the overall goal of orienting readers, introductions may

 Provide background about a topic.

 Locate readers in a specific time and/or place.

 Start with a compelling quotation or statistic—something concrete.

 Include an ethical appeal, with which you (explicitly or implicitly) show that

you’ve done your homework and are credible.

 Articulate a main claim/thesis.

 Lay out the stakes for the piece of writing—that is, why the reader should
bother reading on.

The following video addresses how to do several of these things, starting with the
very first sentence of your introduction.
Conclusions

Conclusions usually

 Summarize the argument (especially in longer pieces of writing)

 “Bookend” a story that started in the introduction

 Include an emotional appeal, with which you (explicitly or implicitly) connect the

“logic” of the argument to a more passionate reason intended to sway the
reader

 Issue a call to action

Ideally, a conclusion will work in tandem with an introduction, having some kind of
“call back” element to remind your reader of the powerful opening you provided.
Additional advice for conclusions is found in the following video.

Check Your Understanding: Organizing

Assessment Text
Evaluate these two thesis statements. Which one is stronger, and why?

A. The local government is comprised of the mayor, the people he elects to help him, and
the police, who work hard in the community to keep the peace and are elected either
every two years or every four years, so they should work harder to enforce drug-
dealing laws.
B. While e-learning has been criticized for isolating learners and not letting them make
the social connections essential for real learning, most recent studies show that e-
learning actually strengthens learners’ social skills.

Multiple Choice Question

A, because this is an issue that broadly affects almost all readers, so it has near-universal appeal.

A, because the claim “they should work harder” is a strong one that can be proven with research.

B, because it is a claim that is provable by research, while A’s claim is much too vague.

How sure are you of your answer?