Basic Writing Skills Home

Welcome to the page on basic writing skills. To navigate to information, click the links below, or navigate using the tabs above.

On this page find information on the following (in alphabetical order):

• Essay Parts
• Paragraphs
• Topic Sentences

Essay Parts

There are four essential parts to an essay: the title, the thesis statment, the body of the paper, and the references or works cited.

Title

Titles are words that describe, very briefly, what the topic of the paper is going to be. The title does not typically form a complete sentence (Langan 510).

Thesis Statment

Every essay or research paper must have a topic. This is called the thesis sentence and is put in the introductory paragraph (Langan 352-3). Here are suggestions for writing a thesis:

• A thesis statement should relate to a single idea or topic.
• A thesis statement should be very clear and only one sentence.
• A thesis statment tells exactly what your paper is about and how each paragraph supports your paper.
• A thesis statment should not end in a question mark or sound like a question.

Body

Basic essays have five or more paragraphs.

1. The first paragraph typically introduces the overall topic of the paper and tells the reader what will be used to support that topic. This is called the introduction or introductory paragraph (Langan 340).
2. The second, third, fourth, and higher paragraphs break the topic into specific points and show support for each point. These paragraphs are called the body or supporting paragraphs(Langan 343).
3. The final paragraph for the paper typically sums up the entire paper and tells the reader what the paper was about to refresh their memory. This is called the conclusion (Langan 344).

References/Works Cited

Finally, research essays have to have works cited, or a list of places where information was found to support ideas. This is typically done in the MLA style for English papers. This helps to prevent plagiarism. To find out more information, visit GNTC's How To... Libguide.

Paragraphs

Paragraphs are small papers. Each paragraph expresses a single idea.

Length

The lengths of paragraphs are very different. In elementary school, paragraphs are often three to five sentences; in middle and high school, paragraphs are often five to eight sentences; and, in college, paragraphs typically do not have a set length. In college, paragraphs cover a single idea, and when the idea is covered, the paragraph ends; however, it will always be more than three sentences. Some ideas may be closely related, but they would still be treated as two separate paragraphs. When in doubt, ask the English instructor!

Content

Each paragraph should have a topic sentence (typically near the beginning) and the rest of the paragraph should be evidence supporting the topic sentence. Each of the supporting points should follow in some kind of understandable order. Paragraphs should focus on one idea only!

Transitions

When putting more than one paragraph together, there must be a transition to show how the two paragraphs (or two ideas!) relate to each other. This could be as simple as "First", "second", and "finally", or it could be more complicated, involving an entire sentence. Additionally, there should be transitions within the paragraph to show how points relate to each other and to the topic of the paragraph.

Langan's Four Steps

In his book, English Skills, Tenth Edition, author John Langan offers four steps for writing good paragraphs (140):

1. Make one point and stick to it.
2. Back the point up with specific evidence (this can include examples, definitions, or researched materials).
3. Organize and connect the evidence.
4. Write clear and error-free sentences.

Topic Sentences

Topic sentences are the main point of a paragraph.

Parts

There are two parts in each topic sentence. These parts may be in any order, but they always work together to create a single sentence. The first part is the specific topic or idea of the sentence (and the paragraph!). The second part is the idea or attitude of the person writing the sentence about the topic (Langan 67).

Common Errors

There are three common errors when writing a topic sentence. They are listed here according to Langan, so make sure to avoid these!

• Announcement: Telling the reader that the topic is the topic of the paragraph. The topic stands for itself, it does not need to be announced to the reader.
  
  Example

  This paragraph is about the Electoral College.
  Beginning the paragraph by talking about the Electoral College should be enough to tell the reader that the information is about the Electoral College.

• Broad Statements: Statements that include "many", "most", "all" and other broad words. These become too big to cover in a single paragraph.
  
  Example

  The Electoral College does many things.
  This is not very specific, so the paragraph would end up being very long and possibly confusing. Focus on a single point for what the Electoral College does.

• Narrow Statements: Statments very specific details that do not leave room for supporting details. These sentences are hard to make into full paragraphs (Langan 65).
  
  Example

  The Electoral College is the deciding factor in the presidential election.
  While this may be a fact, it does not leave any need for support. This would not lead to a full paragraph.

Topic Sentence vs. Thesis Statement

A topic sentence is the main idea for a paragraph. A thesis statement is the main idea of an entire paper, and each topic sentence (and therefore each paragraph) should relate back to the thesis statment (Langan 337). In a short paper, the second part (the writer's idea on the topic) should be included in the thesis because the topic should be the same for all of the paragraphs.