Research Essay Outline

Basic Research Essay Writing Cheat Sheet

Introduction

·         Make a general statement regarding the topic of the essay.  Try to capture your reader’s attention.

·         Provide a MAIN IDEA/THESIS statement in which you state the exact purtpose of your essay.
·         Explain your project/research process.  State how your research has helped you support the main idea/thesis.  (Try not to use “In this essay I will..” or “My main idea is…”)

Body Paragraph I:

·         Topic Sentence (TS).  Here you must provide insight into your topic using your research, which will support your main idea/thesis. 

·         Textual Evidence (TE).  Take an example directly from your research.  Try and use quotes. 

·         Commentary (CM).  Explain how this example supports your thesis/main idea. 

·         CM.  Further this idea and continue to relate it to the thesis. 

·         TE.  Use another example from the passage that not only supports the topic of this paragraph, but the main idea/thesis as well. 

·         CM. 

·         CM.

Body Paragraph II: 

·         TS.  Provide insight into another point of your topic which supports the main idea/thesis statement. 

·         TE.  Take an example from your research that deals with this topic and supports the main idea/thesis. 

·         CM.  Explain why this TE relates/support the thesis/main idea. 

·         CM.  Further your explanation. 

·         TE.  New evidence to support the topic of this paragraph as well as the main idea/thesis statement. 

·         CM. 

·         CM.

Body Paragraph III:

·         TS.  Provide insight into another topic from the passage which supports the main idea/thesis statement. 

·         TE.  Take an example from your research that deals with this topic and supports the main idea/thesis. 

·         CM.  Explain why this TE relates/support the thesis/main idea. 

·         CM.  Further your explanation. 

·         TE.  New evidence to support the topic of this paragraph as well as the main idea/thesis statement. 

·         CM. 

·         CM.

           

Conclusion

·         Revisit/restate the main idea/thesis statement from the intro, but do it in other words. 

·         Make a general statement about the topic.  Here you could have an opinion or show how your outlook has changed as a person regarding this topic because of the research you did. 

·         Wrap it up.