1. Your thesis

A thesis to any paper is basically the whole point of the paper. Why are you writing at all? What are you trying to tell your audience? The thesis is basically one sentence which sums up the main idea of your paper. It must be an assertive, bold statement of your overall views pertaining to a subject. Don't be wishy washy, be sure to use strong, colorful words to push your point forward. You're telling everyone, "This is what I think, and no ifs and buts, I won't bend on my opinion."

For example, if you're arguing that school uniforms are unfair, you don't just say, "I am writing this paper because I think uniforms suck." You may want to say something more graceful like, "School uniforms rob young people of the right to individual expression." You could very well say, "School uniforms take away the right to individual expression," but "rob" is much more colorful, isn't it? Then you spend the rest of your paper telling your audience WHY you feel that way.

A trick to try is to start your sentence with, "I believe..." and finish from there. Then, drop the "I believe" part and keep the rest of your sentence. To say you believe in something infers conviction. And that's what you need to inject into your thesis. It must be the strongest statement in your whole paper. It's what captivates a reader and tells them that the rest of the paper is worth going through. Don't worry if you can't come up with anything too brilliant right away. By the time you're done crafting the paper, you can go back and whittle it down.

A paper without a thesis is basically a bunch of worthless crap, with as much value as toilet paper. You may as well give it to a bum on the street so he has something to wipe his ass with.

2. The Structure of a Paragraph

Most people hate paragraphs. They seem endless, impossible barriers to the completion of a writing assignment. As I write a paragraph, I go over a mental checklist in my head to stay organized:

• Point
• Evidence & Citation
• Support
• Tie in to thesis

If you follow the same structure per paragraph, you'll have an organized piece of writing.

Before you craft the first sentence in a paragraph, ask yourself, "What the hell is my point for this paragraph?" Think about your thesis and what you're trying to argue. The first few sentences must support or relate to the strong stand you've already made on an issue. If your thesis is, "Marijuana should be legalized," then your first point would be, "Alcohol related deaths occur in the hundreds while little documented proof exists on pot-related deaths." The rest of the paragraph should be spent arguing this one point. Don't segway into another point. You want coherent writing, not chaos.

Your next move would be to offer evidence in support of the point. Strong evidence should be established facts, research reports, statistics, case law, existing statutes or written policies. Crappy or useless "evidence" is someone's opinion, no matter how distinguished they are. If you say, "My pastor thinks pot is the work of the devil, and he's right" and you cite your church, you're wasting everyone's time. Nobody cares what your pastor or your mom, for that matter, thinks.

In our example, you could point to government statistics on alcohol-related deaths in the form of alcohol-poisoning and drunk-drivin in California from 1998-2000. In contrast, you can offer statistics on deaths attributed to pot for the same time frame and region.

If you lift text straight from the source, always quote and cite the source. That's responsible and ethical writing. Only lousy writers with no confidence plagiarize, and they are usually found out because their writing doesn't match up to the lifted text. If you use information from a source but write it in your own words, ethical writing demands of you to cite the source so whoever's reading can look it up if they want. There are many ways to cite but so long as you cite title, author, and year published, you're fine. I prefer to stick my cited information in paranthesis at the end of the sentence.

Example: "Over 3,000 deaths a year in California can be attributed to alcohol-related offenses on the road," (U.S. Statistical Report, 2001)

After your evidence offered in the way of a quote, citation, or both, explain how that piece of evidence supports your point. Then finish up your paragraph with supportive sentences which tie your point and evidence back to the thesis. So in our example, you could say, "The sharp contrast between alcohol-related deaths and pot-related deaths as given by the 2001 U.S. Statistical Report demonstrates that there is little basis for the existence of current anti-marijuana legislation. While alcohol, with its far-reaching effects of death and destruction, remains legal...blah blah blah." Your thesis, don't forget is, "Marijuana should be legalized."

3. The Introductory Paragraph

This is the first paragraph to your paper or article. The thesis should be the last sentence in the paragraph. What you put before it is really up to you, but it should segway into your thesis. I've read a lot of writer's books that emphasis trying to come up with something catchy and interesting, perhaps using a quote. As an undergrad stuck writing 10 page papers on political and legal subjects, that sort of advice just didn't fit and would actually kill the overall presentation of the argument. Sometimes, just giving a background framework on the thesis is enough. Sure, it's boring, but most people can't craft interesting opening statements without coming off as major cheeseballs. That takes a special kind of talent, the kind that lands you in an Ivy League school. So if you're not part of that 1% of the population, try my method.

Let's say you're writing about a specific ordinance in your county, perhaps a curfew law. You may want to start with facts on when the county adopted the ordinance, the politics behind the decision, and then segway into your thesis, which would be a strong "What the fuck" statement against the curfew law. Background on the ordinance sets up the mood, and your thesis perfectly follows.

Always remember, KISS. Keep It Simple, Stupid. The intro paragraph is where most people start ranting off with no direction to their writing. If you're writing double-spaced in MS Word, and your intro is almost the whole page, STOP and reassess.

4. Body Paragraphs

These paragraphs follow the intro paragraph (duh). Each paragraph should expound one major point which should relate to your thesis, giving you an organized argument. If you expound more than one major point, you will get lost and disorganized. For a normal article-sized paper, 2-3 body paragraphs should be enough, plus your intro and conclusion, making that 4-5 paragraphs total. As long as you follow my paragraph structure advice, (Think: Point, Evidence & Citation, Support, Tie-In to Thesis), you should be fine.

If we look at our marijuana legalization argument, once again, your first point/paragraph would be on the startling contrast between pot-related deaths and alcohol-related deaths, throwing out the question of why alcohol is legal when pot isn't. Then your second point/paragraph would be to look at history's failed attempts at Prohibition and the organized crime which sprang up around bootleg liquor, when they made alcohol illegal, then compare that to pot drug rings of today. Your third and final point/paragraph would be on the benefits of marijuana for cancer patients (citing health studies on the medicinal purposes of the plant). Then you're done and ready for the conclusion.

5. Conclusion

Usually what I do here is reintroduce the thesis, but in different words, and go through a quick synopsis of all my argumentative points. Then I either end the essay out of complete exhaustion (usually I'm pulling an all-nighter due to my procrastination), or I introduce questions or suggestions as to where we might find solutions or possible areas for further study. In the case of our marijuana legalization essay, you could suggest that with marijuana legalization, the government could easily tax and regulate the industry, whereby taking the money away from organized crime and reducing drug-related crimes on the street.

Anyway, I'm done ranting. If this advice helps your next writing assignment, let me know. Organization is the hardest element of all to good writing, something even the best writers struggle with. Good luck.