The document discusses the importance of including a clear thesis statement in academic writing. It explains that the thesis statement focuses the essay and guides the reader on what it will be about. A good thesis statement should be narrow enough that it can be thoroughly addressed within the scope of the essay. The thesis statement is usually placed near the beginning of the paper, typically at the end of the introductory paragraph. It should remain flexible until the final draft to ensure the paper fully supports the thesis. Avoid simply announcing the thesis statement and instead incorporate it naturally into the introductory paragraph.

1. English from ccc commun college. About English writing
THE THESIS
STATEMENT
THE THESIS STATEMENT IS THAT SENTENCE OR TWO IN YOUR TEXT that contains the focus
of your essay and tells your reader what the essay is going to be about. Although it is certainly
possible to write a good essay without a thesis statement (many narrative essays, for example,
contain only an implied thesis statement), the lack of a thesis statement may well be a symptom
of an essay beset by a lack of focus. Many writers think of a thesis statement as an umbrella:
everything that you carry along in your essay has to fit under this umbrella, and if you try to take
on packages that don't fit, you will either have to get a bigger umbrella or something's going to
get wet.
The thesis statement is also a good test for the scope of your intent. The principle to
remember is that when you try to do too much, you end up doing less or nothing at all. Can we
write a good paper about problems in higher education in the United States? At best, such a
paper would be vague and scattered in its approach. Can we write a good paper about problems
in higher education in Connecticut? Well, we're getting there, but that's still an awfully big topic,
something we might be able to handle in a book or a Ph.D. dissertation, but certainly not in a
paper meant for a Composition course. Can we write a paper about problems within the
community college system in Connecticut. Now we're narrowing down to something useful, but
once we start writing such a paper, we would find that we're leaving out so much information, so
many ideas that even most casual brainstorming would produce, that we're not accomplishing
much. What if we wrote about the problem of community colleges in Connecticut being so close
together geographically that they tend to duplicate programs unnecessarily and impinge on each
other's turf? Now we have a focus that we can probably write about in a few pages (although
more, certainly, could be said) and it would have a good argumentative edge to it. To back up
such a thesis statement would require a good deal of work, however, and we might be better off
if we limited the discussion to an example of how two particular community colleges tend to
work in conflict with each other. It's not a matter of being lazy; it's a matter of limiting our
discussion to the work that can be accomplished within a certain number of pages.
The thesis statement should remain flexible until the paper is actually finished. It ought to
be one of the last things that we fuss with in the rewriting process. If we discover new
information in the process of writing our paper that ought to be included in the thesis statement,
then we'll have to rewrite our thesis statement. On the other hand, if we discover that our paper
has done adequate work but the thesis statement appears to include things that we haven't
actually addressed, then we need to limit that thesis statement. If the thesis statement is
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2. something that we needed prior approval for, changing it might require the permission of the
instructor or thesis committee, but it is better to seek such permission than to write a paper that
tries to do too much or that claims to do less than it actually accomplishes.
The thesis statement usually appears near the beginning of a paper. It can be the first
sentence of an essay, but that often feels like a simplistic, unexciting beginning. It more
frequently appears at or near the end of the first paragraph or two. Here is the first paragraph of
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.'s essay The Crisis of American Masculinity. Notice how everything drives
the reader toward the last sentence and how that last sentence clearly signals what the rest of this
essay is going to do.
What has happened to the American male? For a long time, he
seemed utterly confident in his manhood, sure of his masculine role
in society, easy and definite in his sense of sexual identity. The
frontiersmen of James Fenimore Cooper, for example, never had
any concern about masculinity; they were men, and it did not occur
to them to think twice about it. Even well into the twentieth century,
the heroes of Dreiser, of Fitzgerald, of Hemingway remain men. But
one begins to detect a new theme emerging in some of these
authors, especially in Hemingway: the theme of the male hero
increasingly preoccupied with proving his virility to himself. And by
mid-century, the male role had plainly lost its rugged clarity of
outline. Today men are more and more conscious of maleness not
as a fact but as a problem. The ways by which American men affirm
their masculinity are uncertain and obscure. There are multiplying
signs, indeed, that something has gone badly wrong with the
American male's conception of himself.
The first paragraph serves as kind of a funnel opening to the essay which draws and invites
readers into the discussion, which is then focused by the thesis statement before the work of the
essay actually begins. You will discover that some writers will delay the articulation of the
paper's focus, its thesis, until the very end of the paper. That is possible if it is clear to thoughtful
readers throughout the paper what the business of the essay truly is; frankly, it's probably not a
good idea for beginning writers.
Avoid announcing the thesis statement as if it were a thesis statement. In other words, avoid
using phrases such as "The purpose of this paper is . . . . " or "In this paper, I will attempt
to . . . ." Such phrases betray this paper to be the work of an amateur. If necessary, write the
thesis statement that way the first time; it might help you determine, in fact, that this is your
thesis statement. But when you rewrite your paper, eliminate the bald assertion that this is your
thesis statement and write the statement itself without that annoying, unnecessary preface.
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3. Here are the first two paragraphs of George Orwell's classic essay, "Politics and the English
Language" (1946). Which of these sentences would you say is or are the thesis statement of the
essay which is to follow? Everything that follows in this essay, then, would have to be something
that fits under the "umbrella" of that thesis statement.
Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that
the English language is in a bad way, but it is generally assumed
that we cannot by conscious action do anything about it. Our
civilization is decadent, and our language—so the argument runs—
must inevitably share in the general collapse. It follows that any
struggle against the abuse of language is a sentimental archaism,
like preferring candles to electric light or hansom cabs to
aeroplanes. Underneath this lies the half-conscious belief that
language is a natural growth and not an instrument which we shape
for our own purposes.
Now, it is clear that the decline of a language must ultimately have
political and economic causes: it is not due simply to the bad
influence of this or that individual writer. But an effect can become a
cause, reinforcing the original cause and producing the same effect
in an intensified form, and so on indefinitely. A man may take to
drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the
more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that
is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and
inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of
our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts. The
point is that the process is reversible. Modern English, especially
written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and
which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble.
If one gets rid of these habits one can think more clearly, and to
think clearly is a necessary first step towards political regeneration:
so that the fight against bad English is not frivolous and is not the
exclusive concern of professional writers. I will come back to this
presently, and I hope that by that time the meaning of what I have
said here will have become clearer. Meanwhile, here are five
specimens of the English language as it is now habitually written.
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4. A PROPER INTRODUCTION
Things NOT to do in an introductory paragraph:
• Apologize. Never suggest that you don't know what you're talking about or that you're not
enough of an expert in this matter that your opinion would matter. Your reader will
quickly turn to something else. Avoid phrases like the following:
In my [humble] opinion . . .
I'm not sure about this, but . . .
• Announce your intentions. Do not flatly announce what you are about to do in an essay.
In this paper I will . . .
The purpose of this essay is to . . .
Get into the topic and let your reader perceive your purpose in the topic sentence of your
beginning paragraph.
• Use a dictionary or encyclopedia definition.
According to Merriam-Webster's WWWebster Dictionary,
a widget is . . .
Although definitions are extremely useful and it might serve your purpose to devise your
own definition(s) later in the essay, you want to avoid using this hackneyed beginning to
an essay.
• Dilly-dally. Get to it. Move confidently into your essay. Many writers find it useful to
write a warm-up paragraph (or two, even) to get them into the essay, to sharpen their own
idea of what they're up to, and then they go back and delete the running start.
The following material is adapted from a handout prepared by Harry Livermore for his high school English
classes at Cook High School in Adel, Georgia. It is used here with his permission.
STUDENTS ARE TOLD from the first time they receive instruction in English
composition that their introductory paragraphs should accomplish two tasks:
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5. 1. They should get the reader's interest so that he or she will want to read more.
2. They should let the reader know what the writing is going to be about.
The second task can be accomplished by a carefully crafted thesis statement. Writing thesis
statements can be learned rather quickly. The first task — securing the reader's interest — is
more difficult. It is this task that this discussion addresses.
First, admit that it is impossible to say or do or write anything that will interest everybody.
With that out of the way, the question then becomes: "What can a writer do that will secure the
interest of a fair sized audience?"
Professional writers who write for magazines and receive pay for their work use
five basic patterns to grab a reader's interest:
1. historical review
2. anecdotal
3. surprising statement
4. famous person
5. declarative
What follows is an explanation of each of these patterns with examples from real magazine
articles to illustrate the explanations.
1Historical review: Some topics are better understood if a brief historical review of the
topic is presented to lead into the discussion of the moment. Such topics might include "a
biographical sketch of a war hero," "an upcoming execution of a convicted criminal," or "drugs
and the younger generation." Obviously there are many, many more topics that could be
introduced by reviewing the history of the topic before the writer gets down to the nitty gritty of
his paper. It is important that the historical review be brief so that it does not take over the paper.
from "Integration Turns 40" by Juan Williams in Modern Maturity, April/May, 1994.
The victory brought pure elation and joy. It was May 1954, just days after the Supreme Court's
landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. At NAACP headquarters in
New York the mood was euphoric. Telegrams of congratulations poured in from around the
world; reporters and well-wishers crowded the halls.
[After reaching back forty years ago to bring up the landmark Supreme Court decision that started school
desegregation, this article discusses school segregation in the present time.]
2Anecdotal: An anecdote is a little story. Everyone loves to listen to stories. Begin a paper
by relating a small story that leads into the topic of your paper. Your story should be a small
episode, not a full blown story with characters and plot and setting. Read some of the anecdotes
in the Reader's Digest special sections such as "Life in These United States" to learn how to tell
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6. small but potent stories. If you do it right, your story will capture the reader's interest so that he
or she will continue to read your paper. One caution: be sure that your story does not take over
the paper. Remember, it is an introduction, not the paper.
from "Going, Going, GONE to the Auction!" by Laurie Goering in Chicago Tribune
Magazine, July 4, 1994.
Mike Cantlon remembers coming across his first auction ten years ago while cruising the back
roads of Wisconsin. He parked his car and wandered into the crowd, toward the auctioneer's
singsong chant and wafting smell of barbecued sandwiches. Hours later, Cantlon emerged
lugging a $22 beam drill-for constructing post-and-beam barns—and a passion for auctions that
has clung like a cocklebur on an old saddle blanket. "It's an addiction," says Cantlon, a financial
planner and one of the growing number of auction fanatics for whom Saturdays will never be the
same.
[This is an anecdote, a little story about one man and his first auction, that is the lead to an article about auctions. In
this article the author explains what auctions are, how to spot bargains in auctions, what to protect yourself from at
auctions, and other facts about auctions and the people who go to them.]
3Surprising statement: A surprising statement is a favorite introductory technique of
professional writers. There are many ways a statement can surprise a reader. Sometimes the
statement is surprising because it is disgusting. Sometimes it is joyful. Sometimes it is shocking.
Sometimes it is surprising because of who said it. Sometimes it is surprising because it includes
profanity. Professional writers have honed this technique to a fine edge. It is not used as much as
the first two patterns, but it is used.
from "60 Seconds That Could Save Your Child" by Cathy Perlmutter with Maureen
Sangiorgio in Prevention, September, 1993.
Have a minute? Good. Because that may be all it takes to save the life of a child—your child.
Accidents kill nearly 8000 children under age 15 each year. And for every fatality, 42 more
children are admitted to hospitals for treatment. Yet such deaths and injuries can be avoided
through these easy steps parents can take right now. You don't have a minute to lose.
[This article begins with a surprising, even shocking, statistic, 8000 children die each year from accidents. The article
then lists seven easy actions a person can take to help guard a child against accidents. These range from turning
down the water heater to 120 degrees Fahrenheit to putting firearms under lock and key.]
4Famous person: People like to know what celebrities say and do. Dropping the name of a
famous person at the beginning of a paper usually gets the reader's attention. It may be
something that person said or something he or she did that can be presented as an interest
grabber. You may just mention the famous person's name to get the reader's interest. The famous
person may be dead or alive. The famous person may be a good person like the Pope, or he or
she may be a bad person like John Wilkes Booth. Of course, bringing up this person's name must
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7. be relevant to the topic. Even though the statement or action may not be readily relevant, a clever
writer can convince the reader that it is relevant.
from "Dear Taxpayer" by Will Manley in Booklist, May 1, 1993.
The most widely read writer in America today is not Stephen King, Michael Chrichton or John
Grisham. It's Margaret Milner Richardson, the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service,
whose name appears on the "1040 Forms and Instructions" booklet. I doubt that Margaret wrote
the entire 1040 pamphlet, but the annual introductory letter, "A Note from the Commissioner,"
bears her signature.
[This is the first paragraph of an article about the lady named above. The author used the names of three famous,
modern American writers to get a reader's interest. Notice that the first name on his list is a name that is probably
more widely known than the other two. Stephen King has been around for some time now, and everyone, from
teenagers to grandparents, know his name whether they have read his books or not.]
5Declarative: This technique is quite commonly used, but it must be carefully used or the
writer defeats his whole purpose of using one of these patterns, to get the reader's interest. In this
pattern, the writer simply states straight out what the topic of his paper is going to be about. It is
the technique that most student writers use with only modest success most of the time, but good
professional writers use it too.
from "The Tuition Tap" by Tim Lindemuth in K-Stater, February, 1994.
In the College of Veterinary Medicine and Engineering, for example, nearly one-third of the
teaching faculty may retire by the year 2004. In the College of Education, more than a third of
the professors are 55 years old and older. The largest turnover for a single department is
projected to be in geology. More than half of its faculty this year are in the age group that will
retire at the millennium, says Ron Downey of K-State's Office of Institutional Research and
Analysis. The graying of K-State's faculty is not unique. A Regents' report shows approximately
27 percent of the faculty at the six state universities will retire by the end of this decade, creating
a shortage of senior faculty.
[This is a straight forward introduction that gets right down to the topic of the aging of the faculty of Kansas State
University. There are no historical reviews, no surprising statements, no anecdotes, no quotations from or about
famous people. This is a discussion that leads to further discussion about the topic. The biggest difficulty about this
type of introduction is that it can get boring. It is not likely to get the interest of anyone except those who are already
interested in this subject. Use this pattern with caution.]
These patterns can give a "lift" to your writing. Practice them. Try using two or three
different patterns for your introductory paragraph and see which introductory paragraph is best;
it's often a delicate matter of tone and of knowing who your audience is. Do not forget, though,
that your introductory paragraph should also include a thesis statement to let your reader know
what your topic is and what you are going to say about that topic.
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8. CONCLUDING
PARAGRAPHS
YOUR CONCLUSION IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY to wrap up your essay in a tidy
package and bring it home for your reader. It is a good idea to recapitulate what you
said in your Thesis Statement in order to suggest to your reader that you have
accomplished what you set out to accomplish. It is also important to judge for yourself
that you have, in fact, done so. If you find that your thesis statement now sounds
hollow or irrelevant — that you haven't done what you set out to do — then you need
either to revise your argument or to redefine your thesis statement. Don't worry about
that; it happens to writers all the time. They have argued themselves into a position
that they might not have thought of when they began their writing. Writing, just as
much as reading, is a process of self discovery. Do not, in any case, simply restate
your thesis statement in your final paragraph, as that would be redundant. Having
read your essay, we should understand this main thought with fresh and deeper
understanding, and your conclusion wants to reflect what we have learned.
There are some cautions we want to keep in mind as we fashion our final
utterance. First, we don't want to finish with a sentimental flourish that shows we're
trying to do too much. It's probably enough that our essay on recycling will slow the
growth of the landfill in Hartford's North Meadows. We don't need to claim that
recycling our soda bottles is going to save the world for our children's children. (That
may be true, in fact, but it's better to claim too little than too much; otherwise, our
readers are going to be left with that feeling of "Who's he/she kidding?") The
conclusion should contain a definite, positive statement or call to action, but that
statement needs to be based on what we have provided in the essay.
Second, the conclusion is no place to bring up new ideas. If a brilliant idea tries to
sneak into our final paragraph, we must pluck it out and let it have its own paragraph
earlier in the essay. If it doesn't fit the structure or argument of the essay, we will
leave it out altogether and let it have its own essay later on. The last thing we want in
our conclusion is an excuse for our readers' minds wandering off into some new field.
Allowing a peer editor or friend to reread our essay before we hand it in is one way to
check this impulse before it ruins our good intentions and hard work.
Never apologize for or otherwise undercut the argument you've made or leave
your readers with the sense that "this is just little ol' me talking." Leave your readers
with the sense that they've been in the company of someone who knows what he or
she is doing. Also, if you promised in the introduction that you were going to cover
four points and you covered only two (because you couldn't find enough information
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9. or you took too long with the first two or you got tired), don't try to cram those last
two points into your final paragraph. The "rush job" will be all too apparent. Instead,
revise your introduction or take the time to do justice to these other points.
Here is a brief list of things that you might accomplish in your concluding
paragraph(s).* There are certainly other things that you can do, and you certainly don't
want to do all these things. They're only suggestions:
• include a brief summary of the paper's main points.
• ask a provocative question.
• use a quotation.
• evoke a vivid image.
• call for some sort of action.
• end with a warning.
• universalize (compare to other situations).
• suggest results or consequences.
=----------------------
THE FIVE-PARAGRAPH
ESSAY HTTP://GRAMMAR.CCC.COMMNET.EDU/GRAMMAR/FIVE_PAR.HTM
A classic format for compositions is the five-paragraph essay. It is not the only
format for writing an essay, of course, but it is a useful model for you to keep in
mind, especially as you begin to develop your composition skills. The following
material is adapted from a handout prepared by Harry Livermore for his high
school English classes at Cook High School in Adel, Georgia. It is used here with
his permission.
Introduction:
Introductory Paragraph
See, first, Writing Introductory Paragraphs for different ways of getting your reader
involved in your essay. The introductory paragraph should also include the thesis statement, a
kind of mini-outline for the paper: it tells the reader what the essay is about. The last sentence of
this paragraph must also contain a transitional "hook" which moves the reader to the first
paragraph of the body of the paper.
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10. Body:
Body — First paragraph:
The first paragraph of the body should contain the strongest argument, most significant
example, cleverest illustration, or an obvious beginning point. The first sentence of this
paragraph should include the "reverse hook" which ties in with the transitional hook at the end of
the introductory paragraph. The topic for this paragraph should be in the first or second sentence.
This topic should relate to the thesis statement in the introductory paragraph. The last sentence in
this paragraph should include a transitional hook to tie into the second paragraph of the body.
Body — Second paragraph:
The second paragraph of the body should contain the second strongest argument, second
most significant example, second cleverest illustration, or an obvious follow up the first
paragraph in the body. The first sentence of this paragraph should include the reverse hook
which ties in with the transitional hook at the end of the first paragraph of the body. The topic for
this paragraph should be in the first or second sentence. This topic should relate to the thesis
statement in the introductory paragraph. The last sentence in this paragraph should include a
transitional hook to tie into the third paragraph of the body.
Body — Third paragraph:
The third paragraph of the body should contain the weakest argument, weakest example,
weakest illustration, or an obvious follow up to the second paragraph in the body. The first
sentence of this paragraph should include the reverse hook which ties in with the transitional
hook at the end of the second paragraph. The topic for this paragraph should be in the first or
second sentence. This topic should relate to the thesis statement in the introductory paragraph.
The last sentence in this paragraph should include a transitional concluding hook that signals the
reader that this is the final major point being made in this paper. This hook also leads into the
last, or concluding, paragraph.
Conclusion:
Concluding paragraph:
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11. This paragraph should include the following:
1. an allusion to the pattern used in the introductory paragraph,
2. a restatement of the thesis statement, using some of the original language or
language that "echoes" the original language. (The restatement, however, must not
be a duplicate thesis statement.)
3. a summary of the three main points from the body of the paper.
4. a final statement that gives the reader signals that the discussion has come to an end.
(This final statement may be a "call to action" in an persuasive paper.)
=--------------------------------------------------
A Sample Paper=------------
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12. 1
Stephen King, creator of such
stories as Carrie and Pet Sematary,
stated that the Edgar Allan Poe
stories he read as a child gave him
the inspiration and instruction he
needed to become the writer that he
is. 2
Poe, as does Stephen King, fills
the reader's imagination with the
images that he wishes the reader to
see, hear, and feel. 3
His use of vivid,
concrete visual imagery to present
both static and dynamic settings and
to describe people is part of his
technique.4
Poe's short story "The
Tell-Tale Heart" is a story about a
young man who kills an old man
who cares for him, dismembers the
corpse, then goes mad when he
thinks he hears the old man's heart
beating beneath the floor boards
under his feet as he sits and discusses
the old man's absence with the
police. 5
In "The Tell-Tale Heart," a
careful reader can observe Poe's
skillful manipulation of the senses.
The introductory
paragraphincludes a paraphrase of
something said by a famous person
in order to get the reader's attention.
The second sentence leads up to the
thesis statement which is the third
sentence. The thesis statement
(sentence 3) presents topic of the
paper to the reader and provides a
mini- outline. The topic is Poe's use
of visual imagery. The mini- outline
tells the reader that this paper will
present Poe's use of imagery in three
places in his writing: (1) description
of static setting; (2) description of
dynamic setting; and (3) description
of a person. The last sentence of the
paragraph uses the words
"manipulation" and "senses" as
transitional hooks.
1
The sense of sight, the primary
sense, is particularly susceptible to
manipulation. 2
In "The Tell-Tale
Heart," Poe uses the following image
to describe a static scene: "His room
was as black as pitch with the thick
darkness . . ." Poe used the words
"black," "pitch," and "thick
darkness" not only to show the
reader the condition of the old man's
room, but also to make the reader
feel the darkness."3
"Thick" is a word
that is not usually associated with
color (darkness), yet in using it, Poe
stimulates the reader's sense of
feeling as well as his sense of sight.
In the first sentence of the second
paragraph (first paragraph of the
body) the words "sense" and
"manipulation" are used to hook into
the end of the introductory
paragraph. The first part of the
second sentence provides the topic
for this paragraph--imagery in a
static scene. Then a quotation from
"The Tell-Tale Heart" is presented
and briefly discussed. The last
sentence of this paragraph uses the
expressions "sense of feeling" and
"sense of sight" as hooks for leading
into the third paragraph.
1
Further on in the story, Poe uses a
couple of words that cross not only
the sense of sight but also the sense
The first sentence of the third
paragraph (second paragraph of the
body) uses the words "sense of
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13. of feeling to describe a dynamic
scene. 2
The youth in the story has
been standing in the open doorway
of the old man's room for a long
time, waiting for just the right
moment to reveal himself to the old
man in order to frighten him.3
Poe
writes: "So I opened it [the lantern
opening]--you cannot imagine how
stealthily, stealthily--until, at length,
a single dim ray, like the thread of
the spider, shot from out the crevice
and fell full upon the vulture
eye." 4
By using the metaphor of the
thread of the spider (which we all
know is a creepy creature) and the
word "shot," Poe almost makes the
reader gasp, as surely did the old
man whose one blind eye the young
man describes as "the vulture eye."
sight" and "sense of feeling" to hook
back into the previous paragraph.
Note that in the second paragraph
"feeling" came first, and in this
paragraph "sight" comes first. The
first sentence also includes the topic
for this paragraph--imagery in a
dynamic scene. Again, a quotation is
taken from the story, and it is briefly
discussed. The last sentence uses the
words "one blind eye" which was in
the quotation. This expression
provides the transitional hook for the
last paragraph in the body of the
paper.
1
The reader does not know much
about what the old man in this story
looks like except that he has one
blind eye. 2
In the second paragraph
of "The Tell-Tale Heart," Poe
establishes the young man's
obsession with that blind eye when
he writes: "He had the eye of the
vulture--a pale blue eye, with a film
over it." 3
This "vulture eye" is
evoked over and over again in the
story until the reader becomes as
obsessed with it as does the young
man. 4
His use of the vivid, concrete
word "vulture" establishes a specific
image in the mind of the reader that
is inescapable.
In the first sentence of the fourth
paragraph (third paragraph in the
body), "one blind eye" is used that
hooks into the previous paragraph.
This first sentence also lets the reader
know that this paragraph will deal
with descriptions of people: ". . .
what the old man looks like . . .."
Once again Poe is quoted and
discussed. The last sentence uses the
word "image" which hooks into the
last paragraph. (It is less important
that this paragraph has a hook since
the last paragraph is going to include
a summary of the body of the paper.)
1
"Thick darkness," "thread of the
spider," and "vulture eye" are three
images that Poe used in "The Tell-
Tale Heart" to stimulate a reader's
senses. 2
Poe wanted the reader to see
and feel real life. 3
He used concrete
imagery rather than vague abstract
The first sentence of the concluding
paragraph uses the principal words
from the quotations from each
paragraph of the body of the paper.
This summarizes those three
paragraph. The second and third
sentences provide observations
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14. words to describe settings and
people. 4
If Edgar Allan Poe was one
of Stephen King's teachers, then
readers of King owe a debt of
gratitude to that nineteenth-century
creator of horror stories.
which can also be considered a
summary, not only of the content of
the paper, but also offers personal
opinion which was logically drawn
as the result of this study. The last
sentence returns to the Edgar Allan
Poe-Stephen King relationship which
began this paper. This sentence also
provides a "wrap-up" and gives the
paper a sense of finality.
The end ./.
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