Formatting the Essay

Introduction to Formatting the Essay

A basic essay has at least three paragraphs in it:

An introductory paragraph
A body paragraph (can have more than one)
A concluding paragraph

This is an image of three separate boxes. The first box is the Introductory Paragraph. This is the hook and the thesis statement. The second box is the Body Paragraph. This is the topic sentence, supporting details, and concluding/transition sentence. The third box is the Concluding Paragraph. This revisits the ideas/themes in the essay and provides closure.

As the visual above shows, these three types of paragraphs combine to form an essay. In the sections below, you will learn how to format your essay so it not only reads like a professional piece of academic writing (because of the content you put into it), but also looks like one (because of its accurate formatting).