The three major parts of a CAEL essay are the introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion. The purpose of this lesson is to give you an overview of these parts. You will study each of these parts in more detail later in the course. The number of body paragraphs that are optimal for a particular essay may vary, but you will need at least two.
A correctly structured academic essay makes the reader's job easier, and that will earn you a higher mark. Your CAEL essay needs to be well organized and easy to follow. It should provide information that clearly supports the thesis statement. The relationship between the information given and the thesis statement should be clearly explained. These sections on essay structure will help you learn how to achieve these things.
This chart shows the standard academic essay structure that you should follow.
Structure Overview
- Introduction:
- Thesis Statement
- Body Paragraph(s):
- Main idea with supporting details and examples from the listening and reading sections
- Conclusion:
- Summary and synthesis of main ideas
- Restatement of introduction
Introduction
The introduction should capture the reader's attention. It should include a thesis statement that clearly expresses the writer's position related to the essay prompt. It should introduce the main ideas that will be discussed in the body paragraphs.
Body Paragraphs
Each paragraph should have a main idea supported by details and examples from the listening and reading. Overall, the information in the body paragraphs should be drawn equally from the lecture and two readings. It is important to indicate the source of your information, whether it is paraphrased or directly quoted from the readings or lecture. Each body paragraph should provide a good summary and paraphrases of important details from the readings and the listening, focusing on the information which directly supports the thesis statement.
CAEL markers look at three key areas when assessing your body paragraphs:
- Content: You are expected to use information from the reading and listening tests in your essay. If you use very general information from the test in a vague way in your essay, you won’t do very well. Make an effort to use data, statistics, or ideas from the articles or lecture that provide specific and valid support for your thesis and main ideas.
- Paraphrasing: Markers want to see that you are capable of stating ideas in your own words; therefore, avoid quoting all the information you use. One way to avoid plagiarizing is to write the points you want to use from the reading and listening test from memory. You can look at the reading or listening booklets after to see if your wording is accurate.
- Quoting: Occasionally it makes sense to quote directly from the reading or listening test – but be careful not to use more than 2 or 3 direct quotes. When quoting your source, you must use quotation marks to show that you have copied the information from the reading. Try to use words other than "said" to introduce the quote (i.e., thinks, believes, agrees, reports, suggests, etc.) Also, be sure to integrate the quote by making a connection between your point and the quote.
Conclusion
The conclusion should remind the reader of the writer's thesis statement. It should summarize and synthesize the main ideas that were discussed in the body paragraphs. A conclusion should not be merely a repetition of the introduction.