Introduction (Theme and Thesis)
The most important functions of the introduction are to introduce your topic and to present
your position on the relevant issues of the topic. The essay questions give you the topic or
theme for your paper (in this case, evidence that class inequality affects the quality of
public education offered our children). Your particular position on the topic should be
expressed as broadly-stated argument or thesis statement. For example, “In this paper I
will show how education is not always ‘the great leveler’ of inherited class differences, but
opens opportunities for some while closing opportunities for others.” Or, “In this essay, I
will explore how educational institutions can either create or take away opportunities from
their students. I will argue that in the absence of a class-based understanding of education
inequality, we as a society will continue to see success in individualized terms.”Body
For the purposes of this essay, you don't need to have formal subsections in the body of the
paper, but you might want to organize your writings so that you move from a brief review
of relevant points in the readings to your analysis of the material. For example, the reader
should clearly understand what sociologists mean by the term “class” and how it is
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measured.Conclusion
By the conclusion of the essay, the reader should have more or new insight into the topic at
hand. An unwritten rule of conclusions is that they shouldn't include radically new material.
While your conclusion should re-emphasize the most important argument of your paper in a
clearly stated manner, you can enhance the sense of completion if you return to a major
idea—now in more nuanced form—initially presented in the introduction.
