Rhetoric 102: Moving from short essays to a longer researched argument

"Old-fashioned" 5 Paragraph Essay
Introduction
    thesis
Body paragraphs
    supporting evidence
Conclusion
    return to thesis

Sandwich metaphor
    Introduction = bread
    Body = filling
    Conclusion = bread
Evidence for the thesis is sandwiched between two separate thesis statements.

Structuring a 8-10 page essay
The old model won't work!
    Introductory paragraph which ends with thesis
    20 body paragraphs
    Concluding paragraph which begins with thesis and summarizes evidence

Rethink how you introduce
Multi-paragraph introduction
    introduction to topic in general
        give any needed background
    introduction to multi-part thesis
        allows you to write in sections

Rethink how you conclude
Multi-paragraph conclusion
    conclude via repetition
        highlight the strengths of body
    "so what" conclusion
        explain importance of thesis
        look for long term ramifications

A New Thesis paragraph = transition
A transition paragraph appears within the body of your paper.  It may conclude one section, refer to your thesis, and introduce the next section.
New metaphor = the club sandwich
Transition paragraphs function like "bread" as references to the thesis scattered among your body
    paragraphs.

A hypothetical research paper
Multi-part thesis = Had the invasion of France taken place in 1943, as Stalin demanded, instead of in 1944, the Allies would have lost the war in Europe because the front in Italy could not have been opened up, because insufficient men and materials had been collected in Britain in the spring of 1943 for a successful cross-channel invasion, and because, in 1943, the German high command still had enough men, materials and working railroads to allow a devastating transfer of personnel from the Eastern front to repel any Allied invasion.
[Need not be worded as a single sentence!]

Look at this as a series of paragraph tasks
P (1) intro to topic -- could Norman invasion have worked in 1943?
P (2) Stalin's case for wanting it in 1943
P (3) your thesis -- that it would not have worked
P (4) Roosevelt's compromise with Stalin -- the invasion of Sicily -- what happened
P (5) how this Italian front hurt the Germans and helped the Allies in 1943
P (6) how it continued to help the Allies a year later during the actual Norman invasion
P (7) transition paragraph: conclude first part of thesis, remind reader of core of thesis, refer to second part of thesis
P (8) detail men and materials needed for successful invasion in 1944
P (9) describe Allied readiness for attack--planning, maneuvers, intelligence
P (10) describe men and materials available in 1943
P (11) describe readiness in 1943
P (12) contrast 1943 and 1944; conclude 2nd part of thesis
P (13) transition paragraph: remind reader of core thesis, introduce 3rd part of thesis
P (14) detail German resources in 1943 before Italian front diverts them to Italy
P (15) detail German resources in 1944 after more deaths on the Eastern front, etc.
P (16) contrast 1943 to 1944
P (17) argue that any extra resources the Germans had in 1943 would have been used
P (18) conclude that the Allies were wise to wait until 1944
P (19) describe that actions taken from 1943-1944 do increase chances of victory
P (20) explain why this Allied disagreement had consequences for years to come.

In the 5 paragraph model, you have 2 "thesis" paragraphs ( intro and concl) for every 3 body paragraphs, which is 40% thesis, 60% evidence.  Here, this turns out to be 8 thesis paragraphs (in bold) for 12 evidence paragraphs--the exact same ratio!  Remember!  Assume your reader is an idiot and needs to be reminded often of what your paper's main point is.

You may, if you wish, outline your research paper in a more traditional way.
I. capital Roman numerals
    A. capital letters
        1. Arabic numerals
            a. lower case letters
                i. lower case Roman numerals

I outline my own work by listing paragraph topics like this.  It really works.  First, it simplifies your task--instead of having to write ten pages, you simply have to write 20 paragraphs.

The page above was created by Diane V. Steinberg and is also available here.

Click here to go to the course syllabus.