Although essays should not be formulaic, students can have several templates in mind. Paragraphs should include topic sentences, be from three to six sentences long, and support the main idea. Conclusions should allude to the question and state the author's opinion. Using transitional phrases, numerous sentence types, illustrations, and a variety of word choice will enhance essays. Teaching a nominal amount of writing skills can noticeably improve student essays.
Inexperienced writers tend to ramble.
Point this out and show students how to break apart long-winded sentences. Students benefit from learning a variety of sentence types. Students can use this type of sentence as a thesis statement. Place it as the last line of the introduction, then the following body paragraphs can explain each of the three points. The use of rhetorical questions, the simple five word sentence, and sentences with relative clause and reduced clauses also come in handy.