After you have all of your proof, you are ready to write your rough draft. From Writing Workshop, remember that in order for an essay to make sense to the reader, organization and cohesion must appear from the beginning to the end of an essay. Separate paragraphs group ideas, so the reader can easily see what ideas connect.

The introductory paragraph should "grab" your reader and make people want to read your essay. Often, relating an introduction to a historical or modern-day issue that aligns with your topic serves as an easy way to "grab" your reader.

For example, if you write about Olaudah Equiano, you might discuss how slavery started. Remember that the last sentence in your introduction should be your thesis statement.

After you write your introduction paragraph, you will have your body paragraphs. There is no set number of body paragraphs an essay should contain, but writers should make sure their paragraphs are very well-supported with proof from the text. From the brainstorm examples, you see that each paragraph starts with a topic sentence. The topic sentence reveals what the entire paragraph will be about. Remember the difference between the topic sentence and the thesis statement; the thesis statement reveals what the essay is about, and the topic sentence reveals what the paragraph is about.

Also, remember that each body paragraph must end with a conclusion sentence that wraps up the paragraph for the reader.

Incorporating Support

When including support, or proof, in the essay, make sure that the proof comes between your own thoughts or ideas. A writer always wants the majority of the essay to be his or her words. In order to understand this type of organization, writers might use a writing method called State-Prove-Explain for the body paragraphs.

From the brainstorm, you already created a topic sentence and the statements. Now, for the whole body paragraph, we need to add in the "proof" and "explain" portion. The "proof" is simply the information from the text that supports your statement and topic sentence. You already have all of your proof in the source chart you submitted. The "explain" portion reveals how the proof connects with the statement, topic sentence, and thesis. The information in parenthesis after the proof is called the in-text citation. We will discuss this in the final lesson.

Below is a sample outline of a body paragraph containing the "proof" and "explain" portions of the writing process. Remember, the sooner you begin organizing and supporting your ideas for your final essay, the less work you will have.

For Example:

Thesis: The theme of The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano, by Olaudah Equiano is perseverance.

Body Topic Sentence 1: Equiano went through many difficulties he had to overcome in slavery.

Statement 1: Equiano was forced to leave his home at a young age.

Prove 1: Equiano believes that "such were the horrors of my views and fears at the moment, that, if ten thousand worlds had been my own, I would have freely parted with them all to have exchanged my condition with that of the meanest slave in my own country" (Equiano).

Explain 1: He wanted to return back to his home to be with the people he knew—even the ones he did not like. He had to remain strong among people he did not know.

Statement 2: Equiano was hurt during his time in slavery.

Prove 2: When he was on the slave ship, " two of the white men offered [him] eatables; and, on [his] refusing to eat, one of them held [him] fast by the hands, and laid [him] across [he] think[s] the windlass, and tied [his] feet, while the other flogged [him] severely" (Equiano).

Explain 2: Equiano had to deal with more beatings than the one he endured on the slave ship. He experienced violence with many men he encountered.

Conclusion: Overall, Olaudah Equiano had to persevere in order to get through the difficult times and help other slaves.  

Notice in the above example that you repeat the State-Prove-Explain at least twice. By fully supporting the topic sentence, the writer will have a succinct and well-developed body paragraph.

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