When you write an introduction for your paper, you want to provide the reader with a preview of what the paper will contain. The introduction sets the tone for the paper and provides a map. In a persuasive essay, you want the reader to agree with you by the end of the paper. Your first paragraph needs to contain your thesis statement, which you will prove over the course of your paper. For a paper about expulsion, you need to choose your thesis. What do you want to say about expulsion? Are you for or against the practice? Picking your position will help you create your thesis.
Persuasive essays do well when you follow what is known as the five-paragraph format. In a five-paragraph essay, your introductory paragraph basically serves as a thumbnail version of your whole paper. However, because you have to define the term expulsion for the reader, we would actually modify the format to make it a six-paragraph essay, with one of the paragraphs devoted to defining expulsion. Therefore, determining what you want to say in your essay will help you create a strong introductory paragraph.
For a persuasive essay, you want to take a stance on the position. That stance will be your thesis statement. For example, you might say, “While expulsion should not be used for students who do not pose a danger to their fellow students or school staff, it should be used more often in cases where students have committed of threatened violence.”
School Explusion Essay Outline
I. Introduction
A. Definition of expulsion
B. Reason 1
C. Reason 2
D. Reason 3
E. Thesis Statement
II. Definition of expulsion
A. General definition
B. District-specific definitions
C. Distinguishing from suspension
III. Reason 1
IV. Reason 2
V. Reason 3
VI. Conclusion
A. Restate thesis
B. Reason 1
C. Reason 2
D. Reason 3
E. Call to action