“Between the World & Me”

-Introduction
Setup of the thesis—grasp the reader’s attention with a question, intriguing fact or statement or quotation
Thesis: the author’s full name, the full title of the novel, play, or poem, the original date of publication in parenthesis, and your argument about the literary text
Support for the thesis in terms of specific literary aspects such as themes, characters, symbolism, genre, signification, intertextuality, setting, point of view, diction, and structure
Transition sentence that connects to the thesis and moves forward to your first point in the body of the essay—topic sentence

-Body of the Essay
Topic sentence-argument on a literary aspect that advances your thesis (stating a fact is not an argument)
Discussion and sustained analysis of the literature to support the topic sentence—providing literary and historical context to the topic sentence
Clear introductions for quotes from the literary text
Quotes or paraphrase from the literature with pages numbers in proper MLA style
Critical analysis of the quotes
Setup of secondary source to be quoted
Secondary analysis-quotes or paraphrase with page numbers in proper MLA style
Critical analysis of the secondary source
Development of the relationship between this paragraph and the thesis statement
Transition sentence to next topic sentence

-Conclusion
Reemphasize or restate the thesis
Summation of critical literary points
Broader implications of your argument
Develop implications or an expanded context

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