How should I structure a paragraph in an essay?

I would advise to use, what is called a PEEL method. point (or thesis) of your paragraph, evidence, elaboration, link. This means the following. In the beginning, make a claim that is one of the arguments you use to support the overall topic of your essay. Then support your thesis by providing evidence. For example if you are writing an analytical essay about the place the Other plays in Jane Eyre, this could be the room to support your claim by a few lines from the novel. Then, your job is to elaborate on this - explain in more detail why exactly these lines are relevant to your claim; this can be to illustrate the way other speaks in the novel, or does not speak and what does is say about its place within the plot. Finally, your job is to demonstrate how this claim (your P) relates to your overall topic of the essay, why did you bring it up and how you have demonstrated the significance of your argument and its place in the essay.