Now that you have a thesis and an outline, you can write a draft. There are 3 parts to this draft:

• The Introduction Paragraph
• The Body Paragraphs with Topic and Evidence Sentences
• The Conclusion Paragraph

Writing the Introduction Paragraph

The job of the introduction paragraph is to open the topic, shape the query, and finish with the thesis. In a short paper the introduction paragraph should be about a half page or less of double-spaced type. The introduction paragraph has 3 parts:

• The Opener Sentence
• The Funnel Sentences
• The Thesis

The Opener Sentence.

By the end of the first sentence, the reader should have a very good idea of the topic limits of your paper. A few ideas for creating the opener sentence as you write a draft are:

• Begin with the historical question you are going to answer.
• In a sentence or 2, present an anecdote, a story, or a case that illustrates the issue.
• Use a pertinent quotation when you write a draft.
• The easy introduction sentence is one that includes the place, time, people, and issue of your paper. A good way to clarify the issue of your paper is to take some words out of the thesis and bring them into the opener.

The Funnel Sentences.

In American essay style, the introduction paragraph is often described as a funnel. The opener sentence is the wide top of the funnel, and the thesis is the narrow bottom. The funnel sentences have the following qualities:

• They are about 3-4 sentences. You do not want a long introductory paragraph, especially for a short paper.
• In the funnel sentences, you want to include important information like your primary source and its author.
• You can briefly summarize the debate about your topic, giving both sides.
• If you have not explained time, place, and issue in your opener sentence, you will want to do it here

The Thesis.

You already have your thesis, so you will put it here as you write a draft for your essay. However, you want to make sure that the funnel sentences are leading you to the thesis. The funnel sentence before the thesis must be relevant to the thesis.

4 Examples of Introduction Paragraphs

Writing the Body Paragraphs

Now, you must turn your outline into body paragraphs as an important step as you write a draft. The first thing you have to do is turn the concepts of your outline into topic sentences and write out your pieces of outlined supporting evidence into evidence sentences.

Example of An Outline Turned into a Body Paragraph

Topic and Evidence Sentences. The topic sentence does 2 things. It states your argument using the concept and it gives the reader a signpost for where the paper is going from paragraph to paragraph.

Read more on how to How to Write a Topic Sentence

Practice: Evaluate Topic Sentences

Transition Words. The burden of the signpost, or telling the reader where the paper is going, belongs to “transition words.” The following is a chart of transition words categorized according to the signpost you want to give in your paper.

Lists of Transition Words

Writing the Conclusion Paragraph

The conclusion paragraph does the opposite of the introduction paragraph when you want to write a draft. You begin by restating the thesis. Then you write a series of sentences that link your conclusion to larger ideas. The ideas could be:

• Link to larger issues of which this one is a small part.
• Take a side in a debate.
• Reference what happens in the future.
• Clarify the import of your topic.

Here are examples of conclusion paragraphs that correspond with the introduction paragraphs earlier.