Essay Writing Terms

• Title- the name of your essay; should capture your audience’s interest

• Introduction- the first paragraph of an essay; includes grabber, focus statement, and thesis statement

• Grabber- the first sentence of an essay; should grab the reader’s attention; can be a question, exclamation, or powerful statement

• Focus Statement- the topic or subject of your essay in complete sentence form; must be written in the form of a statement

• Thesis Statement- your opinion on the topic; must be written in the form of a statement

• Thesis Support a brief phrase that supports your thesis; used in the planning stages; eventually become topic sentences for body paragraphs

• Body Paragraph- a paragraph of support for the thesis; must have topic sentence and details and/or examples

• Topic Sentence- thesis support in sentence form; the first sentence of a body paragraph; introduces the focus of the body paragraph

• Details- facts, statistics, sensory details, incidents, anecdotes, and examples that support the topic sentence of a body paragraph

• Conclusion- the last paragraph of an essay; includes a modified focus, modified thesis and a challenge to the reader

• Modified Focus- a restated focus statement in the concluding paragraph; should remind readers of the original topic

• Modified Thesis- a restated thesis statement; should remind readers of your opinion on the topic

• Challenge- a provocative question, quotation, vivid image, call for action, warning, or suggestion to the reader; leaves reader thinking about your essay

• Bridge- a transition word, phrase, or sentence connecting paragraphs; designed to help essay flow smoothly

• Audience- the reader(s) of your essay

• Formality- determined by the audience, the level by which you choose your words for an essay

• Tone- the attitude of the essay; word choice and word arrangement determine the tone

• Purpose the reason you are writing your essay (to express yourself, to inform your readers, to entertain, to describe, to analyze, etc.)

• Organization- the order in which your paragraphs and/or details are arranged

• Flow- the efficiency of an essay; good flow means that the essay is easy to read and paragraphs and ideas are well-connected