The document summarizes the structure and key components of an academic essay. It states that an academic essay consists of an introductory paragraph with a grabber and thesis statement, three body paragraphs with a topic sentence and evidence in each, and a concluding paragraph with a summary statement and clincher. It also provides guidelines for choosing a subject that is single, significant, specific, and supportable and describes the purpose and effective techniques for different parts of the essay.

1. The Academic Essay
Perspectives (Brent Davies, 2010)

2. The Academic Essay
The academic essay is a formal, structured piece of
writing consisting of an introductory paragraph, a
three-paragraph development and a concluding
paragraph.

3. The Academic Essay

4. The Academic Essay
Due to its formality, you may be asked not to use first-
and second-person pronouns (I, we, my, your, our, etc.)
or contractions (he’s, they’re, etc) when writing an
academic essay.

5. The Academic Essay
Due to its formality, you may be asked not to use first-
and second-person pronouns (I, we, my, your, our, etc.)
or contractions (he’s, they’re, etc) when writing an
academic essay.
1) Writing in third person makes the essay
seem less subjective.

6. The Academic Essay
Due to its formality, you may be asked not to use first-
and second-person pronouns (I, we, my, your, our, etc.)
or contractions (he’s, they’re, etc) when writing an
academic essay.
1) Writing in third person makes the essay
seem less subjective.
It is for these reasons that sometimes we cannot
trust others we have met on the internet.

7. The Academic Essay
Due to its formality, you may be asked not to use first-
and second-person pronouns (I, we, my, your, our, etc.)
or contractions (he’s, they’re, etc) when writing an
academic essay.
1) Writing in third person makes the essay
seem less subjective.
Seems It is for these reasons that sometimes we cannot
subjective
trust others we have met on the internet.

8. The Academic Essay
Due to its formality, you may be asked not to use first-
and second-person pronouns (I, we, my, your, our, etc.)
or contractions (he’s, they’re, etc) when writing an
academic essay.
1) Writing in third person makes the essay
seem less subjective.
Seems It is for these reasons that sometimes we cannot
subjective
trust others we have met on the internet.
It is for these reasons that internet users
cannot trust others they have met on the internet.

9. The Academic Essay
Due to its formality, you may be asked not to use first-
and second-person pronouns (I, we, my, your, our, etc.)
or contractions (he’s, they’re, etc) when writing an
academic essay.
1) Writing in third person makes the essay
seem less subjective.
Seems It is for these reasons that sometimes we cannot
subjective
trust others we have met on the internet.
Seems more It is for these reasons that internet users
objective
cannot trust others they have met on the internet.

10. The Academic Essay

11. The Academic Essay
A title page, research and referencing may also be
required.

12. The Academic Essay
A title page, research and referencing may also be
required.
For more information on research and
referencing, see “Appendix A: Researching,
Referencing and Revising.”

13. Structure of the Academic
Essay
Three-
Introductory Concluding
Paragraph + Paragraph + Paragraph
Development

14. Structure of the Academic
Essay
Three-
Introductory Concluding
Paragraph + Paragraph + Paragraph
Development

15. Structure of the Academic
Essay
Three-
Introductory Concluding
Paragraph + Paragraph + Paragraph
Development
Grabber
+
Thesis
Statement /
preview
statement

16. Structure of the Academic
Essay
Three-
Introductory Concluding
Paragraph + Paragraph + Paragraph
Development
Grabber
+
Thesis
Statement /
preview
statement

17. Structure of the Academic
Essay
Three-
Introductory Concluding
Paragraph + Paragraph + Paragraph
Development
Grabber Paragraph
+ 1,2,3:
Thesis Transition term
Statement / +
preview Controlling idea
statement +
Evidence

18. Structure of the Academic
Essay
Three-
Introductory Concluding
Paragraph + Paragraph + Paragraph
Development
Grabber Paragraph
+ 1,2,3:
Thesis Transition term
Statement / +
preview Controlling idea
statement +
Evidence

19. Structure of the Academic
Essay
Three-
Introductory Concluding
Paragraph + Paragraph + Paragraph
Development
Grabber Paragraph
+ 1,2,3: Summary
Thesis Transition term statement
Statement / + +
preview Controlling idea Clincher
statement +
Evidence

20. The 4-S Test

21. The 4-S Test
An effective essay is based on a subject that passes
the 4-S test.

22. The 4-S Test
The subject must be:
1. Single

23. The 4-S Test
The subject must be:
1. Single
An academic essay deals with one, and only one,
subject. As a consequence, the thesis statement--upon
which the entire essay is constructed--must express
the writer’s opinion on one, and only one subject.

24. The 4-S Test
The subject must be:
2. Significant

25. The 4-S Test
The subject must be:
2. Significant
An academic essay is written to be read. In an
educational setting, the reader is typically your teacher
and perhaps one or more of your classmates.Your
teacher and your classmates deserve to read essays on
meaningful subjects.

26. The 4-S Test
The subject must be:
3. Specific

27. The 4-S Test
The subject must be:
3. Specific
Academic essays are brief. The more specific your
thesis statement, the more justice you can do to the
topic selected; for example, instead of writing about
war, write about the internment of Japanese-Canadian
citizens during World War II.

28. The 4-S Test
The subject must be:
4. Supportable

29. The 4-S Test
The subject must be:
4. Supportable
An academic essay requires that you prove your point
(your thesis). If you can’t support your thesis
statement, change it.

30. The Introductory Paragraph
The first sentence of the introductory paragraph
should grab the reader’s attention. Not
surprisingly, this first sentence is often referred to
as a grabber. Effective grabber techniques
include (but are not limited to) using quotations
definitions and facts.

31. The Introductory Paragraph
The introductory paragraph must end with a
thesis statement, an affirmative statement that
expresses the writer’s opinion about the subject of
the essay, and may be followed by a list of two or
three main points to be used to support your
thesis. When the thesis statement is followed by a
list of main points, it is referred to as a preview
statement.

32. Three-Paragraph development
The first sentence of each paragraph in the
development is the topic sentence of the
paragraph. The topic sentence is the controlling
idea of the paragraph. Each topic sentence begins
with a transition term such as First, Second, and
Third or To begin, To continue, and To finish and is
backed up with evidence: statistics, expert opinion
or example. Ideally, different types of evidence are
used in the development.

33. Transition Terms
Transition terms lend coherence to a text,
indicating relationships between ideas.
Read the transition words on p.10

34. Concluding Paragraph
The first sentence of the concluding paragraph is a
summary statement, a paraphrase of the
thesis statement and topic sentences. The summary
statement begins with a transition term such as To
sum up, In summary,To conclude or In conclusion.

35. Concluding Paragraph
The last sentence of the concluding paragraph is
the clincher, a technique used to encourage the
reader to reflect upon the essay. Effective clincher
techniques include (but are not limited to)
connecting with the introduction, asking a
rhetorical question (question for which no answer
is expected or offering a suggestion.