do you need three supporting ideas for an essay
. [Topic Sentence] Perhaps the cheapest and most efficient security method is a so-called Safe Traveler Card or national ID card. [Support Info.] A Safe Traveler Card or national ID card would be about the size of a credit card, contain a computer chip, and cost little to produce. In some ways, these cards are like the EZ Pass devices that enable people to drive on highways, bridges, and tunnels without having to stop and pay tolls (Dershowitz 590). [Unpack Supporting Info] By scanning the card, airport security officials would be able to obtain background information from government databases for every passenger: flying history, residence, credit-card spending, travel habits, phone records, criminal background, and fingerprint and iris patterns (Safire 587). [Concluding Statement] It is easy to see how such a card could expedite security checks at airports one could tell at a glance whether a person should be searched or let through.
If writing a conclusion statement, writers may also want to flag that they’re concluding the paragraph by offering a concluding transition .
- Describe your main idea, or what the essay is about, in one sentence. You can usually use the essay writing prompt or question to form this sentence.
- Develop a thesis statement, or what you want to say about the main idea. When the writing prompt is a question, your thesis is typically the answer to the question.
- List three points or arguments that support your thesis in order of importance (one sentence for each).
If you have time to review your essay before your time is up, by all means do so! Make any revisions that you think will enhance your “rough draft” and be sure to check for any grammatical errors or misspellings.
Just like there is more than one way to skin a cat (or so they say), there is more than one way to write an essay. One is not required to produce a perfectly formatted five-paragraph essay every time one composes a piece of writing. There is another type of essay you can write that may just be simpler than the traditional style: the three-paragraph essay. This type of essay might be beneficial for beginning writers as it offers the organizational structure of a longer essay without requiring the length. It also offers a challenge to more advanced writers to condense their points.
Again, this paragraph does not have room to contain everything that a full five-paragraph essay might. But that doesn’t mean you can’t fit in some strong evidence to convince your reader to see your perspective, such as is accomplished through quotes and analysis. Don’t forget to end with a strong transition sentence to move the reader seamlessly into the conclusion.
The body of your essay is where you explain, describe or argue the topic you’ve chosen. Each of the main ideas you included in your outline or diagram will become of the body paragraphs. If you wrote down four main ideas in your outline or diagram, then you’ll have four body paragraphs.
A thesis statement has two key components. The first component is the topic, and the second is the point(s) of the essay. The following is an example of an expository (explanatory) thesis statement:
1. Restate the strongest points of your essay that support your main idea.
2. Conclude your essay by restating the main idea in different words.
3. Give your personal opinion or suggest a plan for action.
2. Provide some background information about your topic. You can use interesting facts, quotations, or definitions of important terms you will use later in the essay.
References:
http://www.time4writing.com/writing-resources/writing-five-paragraph-essays-for-standardized-test/
http://www.citethisforme.com/blog/2017/10/13/writing-three-paragraph-essay
http://www.educationcorner.com/writing-an-essay.html
http://www.testden.com/toefl/writing-tutorial/parts-of-an-essay.htm
http://www.collegechoice.net/college-life/how-to-write-research-paper/