Elements of an Essay

Main Idea

Hook

• Sentimental hook: My grandmother ate her first Big Mac last year, when we stopped at McDonald’s on the way home from her swearing-in as an American citizen.
• Humorous hook: My high-school careers teacher used to keep a stack of Burger King applications on hand, earmarked for recalcitrant students. “See if they’ll take you!” she’d say, slapping one down on the desk.
• Sensational hook: Right now, all over the world, innocent people are munching French fries and chicken nuggets in blissful ignorance of the damage these snacks are doing to them.

Arc

1. The beginning of your essay pulls the reader in, introducing the questions or problems that you’re addressing and showing why they matter.
2. Once the reader is hooked, begin to introduce more specific information, more complex ideas, and more controversial statements.
3. By the middle of the essay, you should have the reader on your side—or at least thinking you’re worth listening to. Use your momentum to suggest answers to the essay’s questions. This portion of the essay is the arc.
4. Leave the reader with a feeling of closure by showing how you’ve addressed the problems you started with.
5. Finally, take the essay beyond the page: indicate the further-reaching resonance of your ideas.

Analysis and Commentary

• As these numbers demonstrate, fast food is a major contributor to our nation’s deteriorating health.
• My experience as fry cook might have been brief, but it forever changed the way I see the hardworking men, women, and teenagers behind our country’s fast-food counters.
• No one expects a fast-food meal to be a nutritional prizewinner. As long as consumers aren’t being deluded, it’s no one’s business but their own if they choose a burger and fries over kale and tofu.

Conclusion

• The fast-food industry’s importance in our country’s economy and culture is a fact. We can’t make it go away, but we can take responsibility for feeding ourselves and our families healthfully and safely.