Overview
The draft outline has been written, a tentative thesis statement has been formed, and a provisional introduction is on the page. The computer cursor is blinking, but at least there are words on the page. The body of the essay gives students opportunities to support arguments with proof, including explanations of how something works, anecdotes, descriptions, comparison, contrast, causes, or effects.
Proof and Explanations
Once the thesis statement has been presented, a student must give supporting evidence to help the readers understand the argument. Think of your favorite TV detective solving a murder. The detective might use the fingerprints on a gun found near the body, flecks of paint from a car found miles away, or DNA extracted from a cigarette butt left at the scene. The proof in an essay might be a detailed description of a process or a person, anecdotes, or quotations from authorities on the subject. The choice is up to the essay writer.
Stories and Descriptions
Stories taken from the writer’s own life or the lives of others can also back up the thesis statement and main points. When Marie had an essay due in Advanced Composition, she went to the library before it was due and wrote the essay without distractions. She prepared an outline and notes days before the paper was due. A typing speed of over 100 WPM also helped. She could type a three-or-four page paper in the same amount of time an average typist could get one page from the keyboard to the computer screen. Other writers in the same class didn’t settle for their first draft, but wrote and rewrote several drafts to reach a finished product. The first draft might have been full of strikethroughs and arrows, but the finished paper was polished.
Comparison and Contrast
Many teachers ask students to present their argument using comparison and contrast, showing how two topics are similar and how two or more are different. Essay question on tests are especially geared to comparison and contrast. For example, students in a government class may be asked to compare and contrast voting in an election using conventional polling places with voting in the same election by mail. One student may favor voting by mail and compare the success rate of voter registration in states that use voting by mail, the cost savings over time, and increased privacy of voting. Another student might favor voting in the polls, and contrast the tradition of voting, the opportunity for showing patriotism, and the impersonality of voting by mail.
Cause or Effect
Sometimes writers can build their arguments by the causes of conditions, such as the events leading up to the Civil War or the collapse of the economy during the Great Depression. Vivid examples can also be drawn from the effects of a situation, such as the effects of inner-city living, the effects of pollution, or the effects of listening to music while writing an essay.
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