A Proper One-Paragraph Essay Format

A one-paragraph essay is used in class were you have to answer a question, like English, History, and so on. They are also used for test questions, where you have to answer an essay question.  All one-paragraph essays have a main idea or topic sentence, facts to support the topic sentence, transitions, and the conclusion has to make the reader feel like the essay has ended.  This kind of essay is a little harder to write because you have to choose your information wisely.  You can’t put too much information into it or not enough.  You have to find a balance that will get your point across and leave the reader informed on the subject.

One-Paragraph Essay Format

• Before you even start to write you essay, you should write down some main points that you want to include in your essay.  You can put those in order and figure out what to put in or take out; this is an outline of the ideas.
• The first sentence of your one-paragraph essay is the topic sentence or main idea.  This tells the reader what the essay is about and gives an opinion of the topic.  This sentence also has to convey to the reader that they topic is worth discussing further.  You should also use words like explain, discuss, define, analyze, and describe in this sentence because it will help tell the reader how you will be answering the question.
• The next few sentences will be the supporting evidence you have to on the topic.  This evidence should be plausible because if it isn’t, you essay won’t sound like it is thoroughly researched or that you know what you are talking about.  This is why most students struggle with essays because they don’t know how to develop their ideas with evidence.
• When you are writing your supporting evidence, you should use words like first, next, finally, however, and then to transition the reader from sentence to sentence.  This makes the essay easier to follow and less confusing.
• Your conclusion of your essay has to make the reader feel like they have finished the essay.  You don’t want them to feel like there are any unanswered questions at the end.  You can do this by with a summary or reinstate the main idea.  A conclusion of all the facts given, you can repeat important phrase for the introduction, or use a good piece of supporting evidence that feels like it could end the essay.