Essay Outline for ESL Students

I'm meeting with an ESL student I met a couple of months ago. At that time, we worked on a Personal Statement for college admission. Today, we're meeting to go over how to write an essay. This particular questions comes up over and over again with my ESL college students. So I decided to make a printout of the Outline I recommend that students follow.

Here it is:

Simple Outline
I. Introduction

II. Point A

III. Point B

IV. Point C

V. Conclusion
Detailed Outline
I. Introduction
     A. What is the paper about (thesis statement)
     B. What are the points that will be covered
     C. Transition sentence to Point A

II. Point A (Topic Sentence)
     A. Sub-point a
     B. Sub-point b
     C. Sub-point c
     D. Point A conclusion and transition to Point B (one sentence)

III. Point B (Topic Sentence)
     A. Sub-point a
     B. Sub-point b
     C. Sub-point c
     D. Point B conclusion and transition to Point C (one sentence)

IV. Point C (Topic Sentence)
     A. Sub-point a
     B. Sub-point b
     C. Sub-point c
     D. Point C conclusion and (possible) transition to Conclusion

V. Conclusion (different types are possible)
     A. Summary of Points (and/or)
     B. Your recommendation

Of course, this outline will probably require an explanation for the writing student, as it is a guideline and will have to be adjusted according to the type of paper the student is writing. It's easier to explain this to your ESL writing student in person.
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