4. Planning Your Essay

Five minutes of planning saves ten minutes of confusion while writing. Students who skip the outline often stall mid-essay, repeat themselves, or realize their second body paragraph says the same thing as the first.

The 5-minute outline

You don't need full sentences. A quick outline might look like this:

• Intro: Hook + context + thesis (Passage A is better because...)
• Body 1: Main evidence point from Passage A -- quote/detail + explanation of why this evidence is strong
• Body 2: Second evidence point from Passage A (or: why Passage B's evidence is weak) -- quote/detail + explanation
• Conclusion: Restate thesis in new words + brief significance

How to decide which passage wins before you write

After reading and annotating (Lesson 2), ask three questions:

• Which passage has more specific evidence (statistics, named studies, concrete examples) vs. vague generalities?
• Which passage's reasoning actually connects the evidence to the claim?
• Which passage relies more on emotion or opinion instead of facts?

The passage that answers 'more specific evidence' and 'better reasoning' is your winner. Pick that one and commit -- do not change your thesis mid-essay.

Two body paragraphs is enough

The GED® ER does not require five paragraphs. Two focused, well-supported body paragraphs score better than three thin, evidence-free ones. Quality beats quantity.

Common outline strategies

• All-positive: Both body paragraphs support the stronger passage.
• Contrast: Body 1 supports the stronger passage; Body 2 attacks the weaker one.
• Either works. The contrast approach often earns extra Trait 1 points by directly comparing the evidence quality.

⚠️ Common mistake: spending the full 45 minutes writing without a plan, then realizing at minute 35 that both body paragraphs make the same point.

💡 Tip: jot your outline in the scratch area and put a star next to the specific quote or statistic from each passage that you plan to use in each body paragraph. Having the evidence pre-located saves time.