Organize Essays with the Keyhole Method

The Keyhole Essay Organizer appears in many forms across the Web. I haven’t been able to discover who originally created it,* but it can be a very helpful visual reminder of what goes into a basic essay. I hope you enjoy it.

Suggestions for essay introduction:

Discuss related history
Use an anecdote
Use a provocative quotation
Ask a rhetorical question
Relate a dramatic episode
Use wit, humor (if appropriate)

Does your title capture your reader’s interest?

Does it hint at the direction of your subject matter?

Suggestions for essay conclusion:

Suggest a larger pattern
Use a “clinching” quotation
Draw inferences from your presentation of ideas
Look forward and make predictions
Suggest solutions, resolutions

Reminders:

A thesis sets forth the main idea of your paper; a topic sentence sets forth the main idea of your paragraph.
An effective thesis has an “edge” to it, one that arouses your reader’s interest.
Tailor it to the scope of your issue, not to a multi-volume set

*Because it appears in a Wiki and other places, I believe it is in the public domain. If anyone knows who originally, I’d like to give them credit.