The Five Paragraph Essay
BASIC FIVE-PARAGRAPH ESSAY
Many of you already know, from previous classes and experience, how to write a five-paragraph essay: Introduction (plus Thesis), three body paragraphs, and one Conclusion. However, the following may further help you in understanding what kind of essays we will be writing in class all semester.
In this class, you will be required to write three (3) essays plus a final exam essay, each of the four essays containing 600-800 words in length. You will also be asked to write 6-8 low-stakes writing assignments of 300-400 words throughout the semester. The five-paragraph essay is your model.
The writing requirement for the essay is to write AT LEAST three body paragraphs. Each paragraph should contain lots of specific details that support your point.
Work toward including at least six sentences in each body paragraph to start. The details in your paragraphs bring your topic alive. The details bring your specific point to more clarity. The more details, the clearer your point is to your reader. The details contain "examples" of your point. Give lots of different examples. That always works.
What exactly does the five-paragraph essay contain? Let's take a look.
Understanding the five-paragraph essay.
The Five-Paragraph Essay begins with an INTRODUCTION.
The last sentence of the Introduction is the THESIS STATEMENT.
The first BODY PARAGRAPH is the first supporting point (taken from your outline), loaded with lots of detailed examples.
The second BODY PARAGRAPH is the second supporting point (from outline) with detailed examples.
The third BODY PARAGRAPH is the third supporting point (from outline) with detailed examples.
All body paragraphs begin with a TOPIC SENTENCE that tells the reader what will be discussed in that paragraph only.
The last paragraph is called the CONCLUSION where the major point of the essay is concluded.
Go to the next page for an explanation of details of the Essay sections.