This chapter discusses planning an essay, including writing an effective thesis statement. It provides guidance on how to structure an introduction from general to specific information, ending with the thesis statement. The chapter also covers integrating sources into an essay through direct quotations, paraphrasing, summarizing and using attribution. Students are directed to complete exercises to practice these skills.

1. Chapter 3
Planning

2. Introduction:
• gives the topic of the essay
• gives (historical) background information
• shows concession (although, despite)
• may include a definition
• may contain interesting statistics or an
anecdote
• usually ends with your thesis statement

3. Planning stage (1)
The thesis statement:
•is the guiding main idea or hypothesis
•may very well be revised later on the basis of
what you have read in order to minimise or
expand the scope of your paper
•is generally the last sentence of your
introductory paragraph expressing what you
intend to prove / explain in your paper

4. Planning stage (2):
The thesis statement may be:
•a debatable statement (used in argumentative
essays in which you try and persuade the reader
to your point of view).
•a non-debatable statement (used in expository
and scientific articles in which you explain a
situation based on facts).
Do tasks 11 and 12 on pp. 100 - 101

5. Effective Thesis Statement:
suggests your essay’s direction,
emphasis and scope
Widely ridiculed as escape reading, romance
novels are becoming increasingly important
as a proving ground for many never-before-
published writers and, more significantly, as
showcases for strong heroines.

6. Introduction:
Organisation: from general to specific
•Setting the scene:
– Statements about the subject / background information
– Attention grabber: question, quote, anecdote, example,
staggering statistic, etc.
•Thesis statement
Do task 14, p. 103.
Peer review of your introduction

7. Integrating sources:
•Direct quotation “ ………. “
•Author + reporting verb
•According to (author), …….
•Paraphrasing
•Summarising
NB. Punctuation (cf. pp. 114-5)
Do task 20, p. 110; task 23, p. 115; task 25, p. 117