English 102 / Essay Assignment #1

The purpose of this outline is to give you an overview of how to write the college essay in MLA style. You can use it to write just about any evidence-based essay, especially within the humanities disciplines.

I. Introduction

a. Hook your reader:

i. Question, quote, fact, anecdote, some historical background, or some other hint at the subject or theme

b. Briefly summarize the primary source OR the overall issue

c. Thesis: Clearly and concisely lay out what you plan to discuss in your essay as a whole (usually by answering the instructor’s prompt).

II. Body paragraphs

a. Topic sentence + transition (for each body paragraph after the first):

i. Transition: Find a way to connect your previous body paragraph with the current one.

ii. Expand a piece of the thesis and lay out what you plan to discuss in your body paragraph.

b. Back up the topic sentence:

i. Explain your point a little further.

c. Set up the evidence:

i. Use a signal/introductory phrase and context (giving your reader enough information to understand what’s happening in the part of the text from which you are quoting).

1. For non-fiction sources: According to [so and so] when he/she discusses [such and such]

2. For literary works: For example, when [the character] is speaking to [another character] about [such and such]…

d. Give the quote or paraphrase:

i. For novels or non-fiction works with page numbers: “quote” or paraphrase (161).

ii. For web sources without page numbers: “quote” or paraphrase.

iii. For plays, cite the act, scene, and line numbers: “quote” (IV.ii.30-4).

iv. For poems, cite the line numbers: “quote” (9-12).

v. Block quote any evidence 4 or more lines long. Do not use quotation marks with block quotes.

vi. The first time you mention a source, use the author’s full name and the title of the source.

e. Explicate the evidence:

i. For any source: Without merely repeating the quote, explain anything that needs to be clarified to the reader.

ii. For non-fiction sources: Explain why you agree or disagree with the source.

iii. For literary works: Close read the quote by discussing literary elements like metaphor, irony, symbol, imagery, tone, etc.

f. Analyze the evidence:

i. Explain how this particular part of the text helps you prove your main point.

g. (Optionally,) transition and repeat c – f.

h. Bring together your pieces of evidence to further prove your point.

III. Conclusion

a. Reiterate your thesis by showing how your points connect to one another.

b. Leave your reader interested, but don’t bring in new information from the primary text or other sources. Ways to do this include:

i. Connecting back to the hook in your introduction.

ii. Consider what your readers can learn from reading your paper and thinking about your topic.