Paragraph #1-Introduction 1. Your introductory paragraph should begin with a(n) attention grabber/hook that engages your reader from the get-go. You should clearly establish what your topic/argument is. 2. Next comes background information. Include information relevant to your topic, and work your way from generally discussing your topic/its importance to your more specific thesis. 3. The final piece of your introduction is your thesis statement. This should clearly and succinctly state the main topic of your essay. Avoid simply stating, “The subject of this essay is….” Also make sure you write this as a statement, not a question.

Analyzing Introductory Paragraphs The topic I am talking about in this essay is raising the driving age should be raised to 18. This is a really important issue to discuss. Should the driving age be raised to 18? In this essay I will answer that question. Highlight/underline the author’s attention grabber. What feedback can you give the author about their attention grabber? Highlight/underline the author’s thesis statement. What feedback can you give the author about their thesis? What feedback can you give the author about their background information?

Analyzing Introductory Paragraphs Traffic accidents, high insurance premiums, and lack of experience. These are all issues with allowing young teenagers to get their license. If teenagers were required to wait and gain more experience, the roads would be safer for all of use. The driving age should be raised to 18. Highlight/underline the author’s attention grabber. What feedback can you give the author about their attention grabber? Highlight/underline the author’s thesis statement. What feedback can you give the author about their thesis? What feedback can you give the author about their background information?

Paragraphs #2-4-Body Paragraphs 4. Body paragraphs develop your thesis and provide facts and examples that support your main idea. You should always start your body paragraphs with a topic sentence that clearly states the main idea of that particular paragraph. All information in the paragraph should clearly relate back to this main idea. 5. Next comes your supporting details/examples/quotations. Make sure everything clearly relates back to your topic sentence and is properly cited with an in-text citation. You will need a citation after direct quotations and paraphrases. 6. Don’t forget to explain all of your examples/quotations-don’t just “list” your points. I will not assume you know how your facts/quotations develop your thesis-you must prove it! 7. Make sure to introduce your quotations in some way. Consider phrases like, Psychologists say, “…”, One statistic demonstrating this idea is “…”, etc. 8. Don’t forget to transition to your next paragraph! Consider using transition words like “furthermore”, “in addition to”, “An additional reason”, etc.

Comparing Body Paragraphs Raising the driving age to 18 would allow teens to develop the maturity and cognitive skills necessary for driving. “The human brain is not fully developed until the later teen years, with the decision- making portion of the brain one of the last to fully develop”. Also, if teens have to wait until they are 18 to drive they will spend less money on car insurance and car payments. They will have more time to save up money for these bills and not feel the added pressure of having to make payments while going to school. These are all good reasons for why my idea is right. Raising the driving age to 18 would allow teens to develop the maturity and cognitive skills necessary for driving. Psychologists say, “The human brain is not fully developed until the later teen years, with the decision-making portion of the brain one of the last to fully develop” (Brain Development). If the driving age is raised, teen’s brains will have the time they need to fully mature, and they will be better capable of making important decisions. Driving is a dangerous activity that requires maturity and good decision- making skills, and a young teen’s brain is simply not prepared to take on such a massive responsibility. In addition to brain maturity, there are other, perhaps more practical, reasons to raise the driving age.

Think of your body paragraphs like a cheeseburger… Your top bun is your topic sentence. The sentences that come next are your supporting details. They are the heart of the hamburger, just like meat, tomatoes, lettuce, etc. The bottom bun is your concluding, or transition, sentence. It should wrap up your paragraph and clearly transition to your next thought.

Final Paragraph: Conclusion 9. Your conclusion paragraph should wrap up your ideas and leave the reader with a final call to action. 10. Do not introduce any new information in your conclusion. This will just make it sound like a body paragraph and confuse your reader. 11. You should restate your thesis and main points, but don’t simply rewrite them.   Make sure your paper clearly comes to a conclusion and does not leave the reader hanging!

How To Write A Works Cited Page You will use your source cards to write your works cited page. If you wrote your source cards in proper MLA format, all you really have to do is copy the information onto your paper. Your Works Cited page must be written in MLA format. If you are not sure what that should look like, look back at the handout you received at the start of the research process. You can also look up MLA format online.

How To Write A Works Cited Page Your Works Cited page must be a page by itself. It cannot have any other information on it. At the top center of the page, title it Works Cited. Each of your entries should be alphabetized by the first word in the entry. Entries should be single-spaced, with a double space between each different source.

Sample Works Cited Page Works Cited Doe, John. Psychology of the Brain. Generic University, 2 January 2017. www.psychology.com. Accessed 10 January 2017. Insurance Costs For Teen Drivers. Random Insurance Agency, 4 March 2016. www.randins.com. Accessed 11 January 2017.

Parenthetical (a.k.a. In-Text) Citations In addition to a Works Cited page, which gives the full bibliographic information for your sources, you must also include parenthetical (sometimes called in-text) citations as well. These parenthetical citations are like a shortened version of your full source citation. They let the reader know which source in your works cited that piece of information comes from. You need to cite after EVERY piece of information you took from another source, whether you directly quote it or you paraphrase it!!!!! If you have it on a note card, and you put it in your paper, you must cite it!!!!

Tips For Writing Parenthetical Citations Your parenthetical citations come after the sentence that your are quoting or paraphrasing, after any quotation marks, before the end punctuation. For book sources, include the author’s last name and the page number in parenthesis. Ex: (Doe 115). If the work does not have an author, use the title of the website/article instead. Ex: (Insurance Costs for Teen Drivers).

Sample Parenthetical Citations Raising the driving age to 18 would allow teens to develop the maturity and cognitive skills necessary for driving. Psychologists say, “The human brain is not fully developed until the later teen years, with the decision-making portion of the brain one of the last to fully develop” (Doe). If the driving age is raised, teen’s brains will have the time they need to fully mature, and they will be better capable of making important decisions. Driving is a dangerous activity that requires maturity and good decision-making skills, and a young teen’s brain is simply not prepared to take on such a massive responsibility. In addition to brain maturity, there are other, perhaps more practical, reasons to raise the driving age.