PEARSON ADULT LEARNING CENTRE
Advanced Composition
Expanding a Paragraph into an Essay
 March 7, 2002

Students must write successful essays to pass Level 5 and English 10 Certificate tests. 

An essay, in many ways, is structurally the same as a paragraph. You can, thus, write an essay by using a well-constructed paragraph as your starting point. 

Your teacher will illustrate, on the screen, the "how-to," using his writing from last week's class as an example.

Essays and Paragraphs: Similarities

Paragraphs begin with a topic sentence; essays begin with introductory sentences, followed by a thesis (topic sentence for the essay).

Paragraphs contain two to three detailed examples on a single topic; essays contain two to three paragraphs that give two to three examples on a single topic.

Paragraphs end with the topic restated in a concluding sentence; essays end with a concluding paragraph that begins by restating the thesis (topic) and ends with concluding sentences.

Tonight's Writing Assignment

Take your paragraph from last week's class, on differences between Canadians and people of your nationality, and expand it into a short essay.

Each of your two or three examples will become a body paragraph. Add more detail to expand each body paragraph to 75 to 100 words. Remember to have a topic sentence and concluding sentence for each body paragraph!

Your paragraph topic sentence will become your thesis.

Introduce your thesis sentence in about 30 words. Conclude your essay by restating your thesis sentence. Add 30 words that conclude your ideas.

View a Teacher Writing sample on this topic.

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