The Elements of Writing Proficiency
Develop a clear central idea, hypothesis, or thesis throughout the whole essay.
After clearly summarizing, defining, analyzing, and evaluating the issues argued in the reading set, your work culminates in the formation of a reasoned central idea, hypothesis, or thesis. In other words, you must enter into a discussion of the problem in the reading set. First, take a position, which is summarized in your thesis, hypothesis, or central idea; and second, defend it through analysis of the readings, organization of evidence, and by building a clear sequence of reasoning.
State the Thesis of your essay:
The traditional advice, which you have probably heard before, is to state your thesis, hypothesis or central idea in the first paragraph of your essay. By doing so, you give your readers a signpost that states your answer clearly; then, you can concentrate on explaining or proving your point, from paragraph to paragraph. However, especially in timed-essays, writers often only announce their essay's focus or identify the problem to be discussed in the introduction, and then they write their way to a thesis, which usually becomes clear and explicit in the conclusion. If you are writing a portfolio essay, you may want to make a global revision if you recognize that your thesis has emerged at the end of your essay, and revise your introductory paragraph so that it includes and frames your thesis.
Whatever introductory format you adopt, the rest of the essay should follow logically from your introduction and clearly articulate and define your position.