5 Paragraph Essay = format of essay having a five-paragraph structure

Introductory paragraph + 3 Body Paragraphs with support and development + Concluding

Paragraph

Brainstorming Before writing your essay, you need ideas. One way to get them is to brainstorm a
list. As you brainstorm a list, do not worry about whether your ideas are good or bad, or whether
you will use them in your essay. Just try listing a lot of ideas. Write down sentences, phrases or just
words. Do not worry about spelling or grammar, those will not be corrected. If you do not know a
word or phrase in English, try writing it in Italian. Write quickly as many ideas as you can. Later,
read those ideas again and decide which ones you will probably want to use in your essay. Cross
out any ideas that do not seem to be useful to you (for example, the ones that do not support
your thesis statement or examples that are not interesting enough).

Outlining After you have gathered ideas for your essay, you should write an outline. Writing an
outline helps you organize your thoughts and develop a structure for you text. A well-planned
outline ensures that your essay will be well planned and make sense to you audience. Most
analytical, interpretive or persuasive essays tend to follow the same basic pattern. An outline can
be very basic (simply listing the introduction, major points and conclusion) or it can be more
detailed (including specific information for each of the points). In general, a detailed outline offers
an easier writing map than a basic one.

Introduction
1.

General statement = sentence to get the attention of the readers;

2.

One sentence thesis statement.

Body Paragraph 1, 2, 3
1.

Main idea;

2.

Supporting evidence A;

3.

Supporting evidence B;

4.

Supporting evidence C.

Conclusion
1.

Restatement of the thesis;

2.

Insightful sentence to end the essay.

Introduction The introductory paragraph is where the writer explains what they are going to say.
It has different purposes. Firstly, it sets the tone for the essay and it helps to engage the reader by
outlining 1. topic; 2. writers position on a topic or issue; 3. main arguments to be presented.
Secondly, it tells the reader what to expect in the rest of the essay (how the writer will demonstrate
their opinion and how they will back up their opinion by using relevant examples from the texts).
An introduction should start with an interesting first sentence ( hook or claim ) to gain the
readers interest and to set up a context for the essay. If the essay is an exposition, the writer
argues from one point of view only. The first sentence may strongly uphold or oppose the ideas in
the question. In the case of a discussion question, the writer argues from two or more points of
view. The first sentence may show that there are a number of valid positions that can be taken
about the ideas posed by the question. Follow the hook with some background that explain a little
bit about your topic and leads the reader to your thesis statement. The background can give
general information or a short history of the topic. Sometimes it is a short personal story that
shows why the writer is interested in the topic. (Anyway we should avoid personal stories in our
exam.) The introduction should also outline why the writer has taken this position (the reasons for
the thesis) with a summary of the evidence from the text(s) which support the position. The points
should be generalized and in the order that they will be presented in the essay. The introduction is
also called funnel introduction because it is shaped like a funnel: wide at the top and narrow at the
bottom. It begins with one or two very general sentences about the topic. Each sentence becomes
increasingly focused on the topic. The last sentence (thesis statement) states very specifically what
the essay will be about. Hook + support for the hook.

Thesis Statement The writer should state their response to the essay question and ideas about
the text(s) in question. This is the statement of position and it shows whether or not the writer
agrees with the idea presented by the question. The thesis statement 1. states the specific topic; 2.
may list subtopics of subdivisions of the main topic or subtopics; 3. usually indicates the pattern of
organization of the essay; 4. is normally the last sentence in the introduction paragraph.

[TIPS]
Begin with a general point about a central issue.
Give an overview of the key issues involved in the topic.
Indicate the direction your argument will take.
Use the words of the essay title to show your understanding of the question.
Make a link to the first part of your essay.