The purpose of the introduction is to identify the topic, your point of view and the main reasons for your response.

The 'pros and cons' essay

1 Introduction

The purpose of the introduction is to identify the topic, your point of view and the main reasons for your response.

Often this paragraph includes:

· An introductory sentence or two related directly to the question.

· A clear statement of the focus of the essay or the position being argued, your thesis statement.

· Sentences that give a clear idea of what the essay will be about (content) and the direction (scope) the essay will take.

2 Body

· What are the advantages of X?

· What are the disadvantages of X?

• The body of a basic essay may have as many body paragraphs as it is necessary to prove the author’s argument of the thesis statement.
• It is vital to keep in mind that each paragraph is supposed to have one main argument to analyze and has to reveal it in one solid thought in a sentence called the topic sentence. Therefore the amount of the body paragraphs equals the amount of topic sentences.
• Each body paragraph must be connected to following one with a logical link. (see Appendix 1)

3 Conclusion

The purpose of the conclusion is to summarise and make final evaluative comments. It is important to refer back to the essay question.

This paragraph includes:

• A brief summary of the main ideas presented in the essay.
• Confirmation of the thesis included in the introduction.
• Final evaluative comments on the relative importance of the arguments.
• Comments on the ongoing significance of the topic as an issue that needs further discussion or investigation.

Appendix 1

LINKING WORDS & PHRASES

When it is needed	Use the following linking devices
to make contrasting joints	however, nevertheless, in spite of, but, while, despite, even if, even though, at the same time, although, yet
to list points	firstly, in the first place, first of all, to start with, secondly, finally
toadd more points in a topic	what is more, furthermore, also, apart from this/that, in addition to, moreover, besides, too, not to mention the fact that
to list advantages/ disadvantages	one (another/a further/the main/the first/the greatest) advantage/disadvan­tage of
to express personal opinion	in my opinion/view, to my mind, to my way of thinking, personally I believe, it strikes me that, I feel very strongly that, I am inclined to believe that, it seems to me that, as far as I am concerned
to refer to other sources	according to, with reference to, in accordance with
to conclude	finally, lastly, all in all, taking everything into account, on the whole, all things considered, in conclusion, as I have said, as was previously stated, to sum up
to express cause	because of, owing to, due to, for this reason
to express effect	therefore, thus, as a result, consequently, so, as a consequence
to emphasize	clearly, obviously, of course, needless to say, in particular
to express reality	in fact, actually, as a matter of fact, in practice
to state an argument against your opinion	it is popularly believed that, people often claim that, contrary to popular belief, it is a fact that, people argue that
to state other people's opinions	many people are in favour of/against, some people argue that
to express balance	while, on the one hand, on the other hand, whereas
to introduce the other side of the argument	opponents of this view say, however there are people/those who oppose/claim that
to make general statements	as a rule, generally, in general, as a general rule, on the whole, normally
to make partly correct statements	up to a point, to a certain extent/degree, to some extent, in a way, in a sense
to express limit of knowledge	to the best of my knowledge, for all I know, as far as I know, as far as I can see
to rephrase	that is to say, in other words
to bring up other points	as far as, it is concerned, regarding, with regard to, as for
to imply that nothing else needs to be said	anyway, at any rate, in any case

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