outlinging essay 1 potx

Adopting a school uniform policy will benefit par￾ents, children, and school staff.

Alternatively, you can use any number of words

in phrases or even whole sentences that summarize the

ideas you are going to write about. This is not the place

to give much detail, however, or you will have nothing

to develop in the next paragraphs.

Uniform policies provide relief for parents, enhance

self-esteem in children, and facilitate learning at

school.

Putting It All Together

Here’s one possible introduction, built out of the three

pieces put together.

How would your life change if you could wear a

practical, comfortable uniform to work? In many

schools, uniform policies have been adopted. Over

98% of our nation’s schools have some kind of dress

code for their students. 20% of these codes desig￾nate a certain color and style of dress. Some of these

uniform regulations even include specifics on shoes,

socks, sweaters, and jackets. Over 1,000 schools each

year are added to the ranks of those that have

adopted stricter uniform policies for their children.

Uniform policies provide relief for parents, enhance

self-esteem in children, and facilitate learning at

school.

The sentences in the introductory paragraphs

need to fit together so that they flow. Notice that the

sentence,“In many schools, uniform policies have been

adopted,” has been added to make a transition from

the first sentence to the third. The first talks about

work. The third gives statistics about schools. A tran￾sition from work to school is needed to put these two

parts together.

Here’s another possible introduction. In this case,

no transitions were needed. Notice how it flows.

Imagine a school auditorium full of alert children,

all dressed neatly in blue and white uniforms, recit￾ing the Pledge of Allegiance. Imagine these same

children happily running out to play in their blue

shorts and white oxford shirts, playing tag and fly￾ing on swings. Whether or not to dress public

school children alike has been the subject of much

controversy in recent decades. Opponents suggest

that requiring uniforms will stifle children’s ability

to choose, squash necessary individuality, and

infringe on the rights of children and families.

Although there is some justification for these argu￾ments, the benefits of uniforms far outweigh the

disadvantages. Adopting a uniform policy will ben￾efit parents, children, and school staff.

Outlining a Narrative Essay

When writing the introduction to a narrative essay, use

a sentence or two to engage the reader. Then give a lit￾tle orientation by stating a few facts from your life that

might help the reader understand what is to follow, or

by restating the question. Then state your thesis.

Your orientation can go at least two ways. If the

question asked you to describe a significant fork in the

road, you might write:

■ A brief description of your general situation at

the time

■ A general reflection on how people do occasion￾ally or often come to forks in the road or how

every day is full of forks and choices, but one sig￾nificant one you remember is . . .

For your thesis statement you may choose to

write three phrases such as:

–CBEST MINI-COURSE–

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