When assigned an essay, the very first thing that the student should do is to decide upon a suitable topic sentence. The topic sentence should answer the question that has been asked in the assignment instructions. The easiest way to write the first draft of such a sentence is to take the question posed, rewrite it as a statement and append “because,” followed by the reasons for the student’s answer. Once the essay has been fleshed out a bit with reasons, supporting facts, etc. (see below), the student should, if time permits, rewrite the topic sentence more smoothly.

Typically, an essay should have at least two, preferably three or more, reasons supporting the topic sentence. Once the topic sentence has been decided, the student should write down as many distinct reasons for the topic sentence as possible. These reasons constitute the main point of an outline. Each reason must then be supported with details. The details form the subordinate points of the outline. Each reason should be clearly supported by at least two, preferably three or more, details that support the reason. Finally, whenever possible, each detail should have at least one fact or quotation to support it.

Each page should be typed, with one-inch margins, 12pt Times family font, double space, 280 words or 1,400 letters in length.