College Writing 3-1

Chapter Essay Assignment 53
The Explaining EssaY
Academic writing assignments often require students to write a twoto
three-page typed and double-spaced explaining essay. An essay of
that length usually contains an introductory paragraph, a background
paragraph, two or more body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph.
Most academic writing has a similar framework. Longer assignments
have more body paragraphs and somewhat longer paragraphs.
Most explaining essays also require students to cite information
from print or online sources.The sources cited in an essay are usually
listed on a separate page titled "References"'ln this book, each student
example that cites sources is followed by a reference list'
Below is a visual framework for most academic explaining essays of
two to three pages. Notice the similarities and differences between the
essay structure and the body paragraph structure (which you also reviewed
in Chapter 1).
lcentered; important
words capitalizedl
ilength of
introduction: about
50-75 wordsl
flength of
background
paragraph:125-175
wordsl
[each topic sentence
relates to one or
more ideas in the
thesisl
lntroduction
Title of the Essay
A general introduction of the topic to the reader
,, A small amount of information about the topic that will
interest the reader
The thesis statement (the main idea of the essay)
Background Paragraph (immediately follows the introduction)
,' Necessary information about the topic; for example,
a brief history of an object or idea or issue
definitions of key terms about the topic
' Explanation of why and/or how you researched the topic
describes a survey you designed/administered
describes an interview you designed/conducted