Planning your essay & paragraph structure

1. Planning your writing & paragraph structure
Synthesis grid
Adopted from The University ofSydney (2019) https://writesite.elearn.usyd.edu.au/m3/m3u1/m3u1s4/m3u1s4_4.htm#

2. Thesis statement
Essay question 1
Essay question 2
Essay question 3
Adopted from The University ofSydney (2019) https://writesite.elearn.usyd.edu.au/m3/m3u1/m3u1s4/m3u1s4_1.htm
‘Young Liberals in Australia have added little to the long-established formal and informal
processes which have governed the operations of the Party structure for decades.’
Analyse the accuracy of this assertion by reference to at least two levels of Party processes.
‘The schooling attainment of children in developing countries is affected by four main factors:
the number of siblings in the family, the gender composition of the siblings, the child’s gender
and the child’s position in the birth order.’
Discuss this statement in relation to at least one developing country.
‘Differences in understanding of the term ‘self-determination’ are at the heart of the failure of
Australia governments to come to terms with the education demands of Indigenous
Australians.’
Analyse this statement.

3. Essay plan
Essay question:
1. Brainstorm some main ideas – answer essay questions
2. Group the ideas – identify the similarities and differences
among the ideas
3. Reorganise the ideas – put the ideas into the right headings
and subheadings
Analyse the causes of obesity

4. Paragraph structure
There has been considerable speculation in academic circles with regard to the
most appropriatemode of delivering support to students at tertiary level. The
noticeable increase in students from non-English speaking backgrounds
together with the promotion of international student exchange programmes
across numerous Australian universities has highlighted the need for more
substantial academic support in terms of their English language and literacy
needs. Based on empirical research, Pyke et al. (2012) demonstrated that the
blending of drop-in and one-to-one consultations, workshops, writing clinics,
and intensive academic programmes proved effective in assisting students to
fulfil academic assessmentrequirements as well as maintain university student
retention rates. An instance where this has been demonstrated to work
successfully has been the establishment of a Higher Education Language and
Presentation SupportUnit (HELPS) at The University of Technology, Sydney. This
would suggestthata hybrid, rather than exclusively student- or teacher- centric,
approach to delivering support could be considered the most effective.
Organisations responsiblefor thedelivery of education should thereforeensure
that their policies provide for sufficient resources to accommodate students’
language requirements.
Adopted from UTS (2019) https://www.uts.edu.au/current-students/support/helps/self-help-resources/academic-writing/paragraph-
level-writing

5. Topic sentence
Read the paragraph and then write the topic sentence tomatch the content.
1)________________________________________________________________________________
First,Canada hasan excellenthealthcare system.AllCanadianshave accesstomedical servicesata
reasonable price.Second,Canadahasa high standard of education.Studentsare taughtbywell-
trainedteachersandare encouragedtocontinue studyingatuniversity.Finally,Canada'scitiesare
cleanand efficientlymanaged.Canadiancitieshave manyparksandlotsof space for people tolive.
As a result,Canadaisa desirable place tolive.
2)________________________________________________________________________________
Althoughstudentsurveysalwaysshowstudentslike tohave accessto materialsonline,the take up
of purelyonlinecourses islow.Whenquestioned,studentsfindthatstudyingonlinecanbe a lonely
and unsatisfyingexperience.Notonlydostudentsmissthe humaninteractionwithotherstudents,
theyalsofindthe time lagin gettinganswerstotheirquestionsveryfrustrating.
3)________________________________________________________________________________
Researchshowsthatcountrieswithhighlevelsof immigrationare economicallysuccessful andthat
there isa correlationbetweenamobile labourforce andeconomicprosperity.Immigrationservesas
an importantsource of both skilledandunskilledlabourinthe UKwhichhas come to dependon
migrantsto pluggaps initsskilledprofessionsandtodojobsthat the local populationare unwilling
to do.
4)________________________________________________________________________________
Britainhad an empire atthistime andGermanywanteda similarrole inthe world.Thismeant
havinga strongnavy so the Germansspenta considerable amountof time andeffortbuildingupits
naval force.Britainrespondedtothisthreattoits dominance bystrengtheningitsnavyevenfurther.
This‘naval race’ contributedtothe increase intensionbetweenthe twocountries.
Adopted from AEUK (2017) https://www.academic-englishuk.com/topic-sentence

6. Topic sentence – answer key (example answers)
Read the paragraph and then write the topic sentence tomatch the content.
1) There are three reasonsthatmake Canada an ideal countrytolive in.
______________________________________________________________________________
First,Canada hasan excellenthealthcare system.AllCanadianshave accesstomedical servicesata
reasonable price.Second,Canadahasa highstandard of education.Studentsare taughtbywell-
trainedteachersandare encouragedtocontinue studyingatuniversity.Finally,Canada'scitiesare
cleanand efficientlymanaged.Canadiancitieshave manyparksandlotsof space for people tolive.
As a result,Canadaisa desirable place tolive.
2) Online learningisbecomingincreasinglypopularinrecentyears,butit has beenunable toreplace
the conventional styleof learningentirely.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Althoughstudentsurveysalways showstudentslike tohave accessto materialsonline,the take up
of purelyonlinecoursesislow.Whenquestioned,studentsfindthatstudyingonlinecanbe a lonely
and unsatisfyingexperience.Notonlydostudentsmissthe humaninteractionwithother students,
theyalsofindthe time lagin gettinganswerstotheirquestionsveryfrustrating.
3) There have beena greatdeal of studiesinthe lastfew decadesintothe (positive) impactof
immigration.
________________________________________________________________________________
Researchshowsthatcountrieswithhighlevelsof immigrationare economicallysuccessful andthat
there isa correlationbetweenamobile labourforce andeconomicprosperity.Immigrationservesas
an importantsource of both skilledandunskilledlabourinthe UKwhichhas come to dependon
migrantsto pluggaps initsskilledprofessionsandtodojobsthat the local populationare unwilling
to do.
4) Imperial rivalry causedpolitical tension betweenBritainandGermany.
________________________________________________________________________________
Britainhad an empire atthistime andGermanywanteda similarrole inthe world.Thismeant
havinga strongnavy so the Germansspenta considerable amountof time andeffortbuildingupits
naval force.Britainrespondedtothisthreattoits dominance bystrengtheningitsnavyevenfurther.
This‘naval race’ contributedtothe increase intensionbetweenthe twocountries.

7. Concluding sentence
Match the concluding sentences below to each of the paragraph.
It is this dual function of gender division which both characterises and drives capitalist economic
formation.
It was not the presence of women which drove wartime policy, but the absence of men.
This separation of production from consumption, and waged from domestic labour is no mere side-
effect of the development of capitalism; it is an essential element of its continued existence.
Adopted from The University ofSydney (2018) https://writesite.elearn.usyd.edu.au/m3/m3u2/m3u2s5/m3u2s5_3.htm

8. Concluding sentence – answer key
It is this dual function of gender division which both characterises and drives capitalist economic
formation.
This separation of production from consumption, and waged from domestic labour is no mere
side-effect of the development of capitalism; it is an essential element of its continued existence.
It was not the presence of women which drove wartime policy, but the absence of men.