State Reasons:

Finally, state the reason(s) why you support your thesis (these will be explained in your body paragraphs):

This is because (I have experienced___/ I have studied ____ / I have read about ____ / I have observed ____).

Example: This is because I have studied politicians who have become successful not only through their own genius, but through belonging to a community.

Body Paragraph 1:

Develop Story:

Describe a story/example/reading that relates to part 1 of the essay prompt.

Example: Ron Paul is a very popular American politician; he is also fiercely independent, and perhaps the most independent politician in the USA. Like most Americans, Ron Paul is a product of a society and culture that highly prizes individualism and independence. He is frequently the only member of congress to vote against a bill in congress, and has single-handedly created a political movement in the U.S. that focuses on limited government and a resurgence of respect for the U.S. constitution. Many in the news media and even his own colleagues oppose and even dislike him for his fierce individuality.

Body Paragraph 2:

Continue Story:

Continue your original story/example/reading in a way that progresses to part 2 of the essay prompt.

Example: Ron Paul, however, did not get to where he is on his own or without the need for a community. He is a family man and grandfather of many children, and he is a doctor in the town where he has lived for more than thirty years. Every weekend, he told the media, he goes away from Washington, D.C. to spend time with his family in Texas. The town and his family have formed a close bond with him over many years, and they now are his supportive community in spite of his fierce political independence and lack of friends in Washington, D.C.