The light-bulb clicked on while I was revising a paper for an English Literature class. I was making a case for why computer programming is not a good medium for creating Medieval poetry even though the type-scenes, stock characters, and rhetorical descriptions are prime candidates for automation. While consulting with a peer on how to organize my ideas, I realized that a long paper is a series of small papers threaded together with a thesis statement. In other words, it’s a five-paragraph essay on steroids.
Let me explain. The overall structure of a typical paper is
- Introduction (with thesis)
- Supporting point 1
- Supporting point 2
- Supporting point 3
- Conclusion
Pretty standard, right? Here is my “ah-ha” moment: if I think about each of the supporting points as a mini-essay, I can talk about complex ideas in an organized format. The structure becomes
- Introduction (with main thesis integrating mini-theses #1, #2, and #3)
- Supporting point 1 (mini-essay 1)
- Mini-introduction (with mini-thesis #1 supporting the main thesis)
- Supporting point A for supporting point 1
- Supporting point B for supporting point 1
- Supporting point C for supporting point 1
- Mini-conclusion for mini-thesis #1
- Supporting point 2 (mini-essay 2) …
- Supporting point 3 (mini-essay 3) …
- Supporting point 1 (mini-essay 1)
- Conclusion (threading everything back together with the main thesis)
Does that make sense? All the mini-theses have their own support while they are supporting a bigger idea. An even bigger paper, like a thesis or dissertation, could incorporate several of these types of papers. Ad infinitum! And because recursion is awesome, I also think about each paragraph as a teeny-tiny essay with the topic sentence serving as the thesis statement.
Since learning this organization technique, I have improved my writing process. Using this template as an outline allows me to connect ideas before I flesh out the details. By organizing ideas first, I reduce the time spent on the revision process. And for the record, I received a 4.0 on my Medieval Literature term paper.
Teresa Hoffman
Virtual Writing Center Peer Consultant
Antioch University New England
