Remember the basic structure of your essays:
Introduction – Contextual knowledge and Thesis statement.
Body Paragraphs – PEA (Point – topic sentence, Evidence – precise supporting information, Analysis – explain how this evidence supports your point and answers the question.)
Conclusion – Clear Judgement that answers the question and supports your thesis statement.
Try to use some of these suggested phrases in your essays to improve the fluency and quality of your argument:
Introductions/Presenting a thesis statement:
Causation/Change Questions:
* There are a number of reasons why X occurred, the most important of of which is the fact that …… * X (e.g. abolition, the Civil War, rebellions) happened because of a range of factors, the most important of which was…. * The most significant reason X happened was because of ………….. * X took place in …… as the result of a combination of factors of which …..was the most important. * There are a range of factors that explain the change in X across this period, the most crucial of which is…..
Effect Questions:
* Though X had many effects, the most significant of these was ……. * The most significant impact of X was….. * Though X had a number of short and long term consequences, the most notable one was ………
Debate/Judgement Questions:
* The purpose of this essay is to identify/examine/determine/give an account of/compare……. * X is an extremely important aspect of any discussion on …. (abolition, slavery etc.) * It seems likely that the viewpoint in the question is accurate because…… * It is fair to argue that ……………. because…….. * Though in some ways this viewpoint is accurate, it seems more likely that X is the case because…. * Though there is some truth in the suggestion that……….it seems more likely that on the whole
Examples relating to the question “Why did the Civil War break out in 1861?”:
A Civil War