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The 5 Paragraph Essay

What is an essay?
They are longer pieces of writing. They are on a set topic or question. They are structuredan introduction, body, and conclusion. They include facts and information. They include your own opinions. They are formal. They are not personal. They support one point all the way through. They do not include information on anything besides the one point.

Types of Essays

Basic Essay Structure

Paragraph Paragraph

1 2 3 4 5

The Introduction

The Body

Paragraph

The Conclusion

Introduction - A Useful Pattern There is more than one way to write an introduction but it helps to have a pattern to follow. One useful pattern is as follows:
1. One or two sentences that set the context for the essay (the lead-in) 2. A statement on the essay question which ties the whole essay together (the thesis statement) (Note: Thesis is from the ancient Greek language and means something set down or proposed for discussion.) 3. One or two sentences which are a preview of how you are going to develop this statement in the body paragraphs. If the preview tells the reader exactly what points will be mentioned, it is called an essay map.

The body paragraphs are the guts of your essay.

If you have written a clear introduction, your reader will have a good idea about what sorts of points you are going to make in the body of your essay. Each body paragraph develops one main idea that supports your thesis. Each paragraph starts with a topic sentence that includes a transition and states this main idea. Each sentence in the paragraph then develops that idea. Continue to be clear. In each paragraph, you need to write in a way that helps your reader to follow your main points and to see at all times how these points develop the main idea expressed in the introduction.

Conclusion - A Useful Pattern There is no single way to write conclusions, and it depends very much on the type of essay question. However, a good pattern is as follows: 1. State or restate your point of view on the topic (thesis statement). 2. Summarize the main points of your body paragraphsin a general way or point-by-point (like a mirror of your preview/essay map in the introduction). 3. Round off the essay in some way with a final comment or statement.

Ten Steps for Writing an Essay


1. Understand the essay question. (topic) 2. Think about the topic while doing preliminary research. 3. As you gather information and take notes, narrow your topic. 4. Decide on your thesis. This will guide your paper. 5. Select from your notes the information you will use to support your thesis. Get more information if necessary. Organize it.

6. Write your rough draft.

7. Revise your draft. (This is all about content. Do you have enough information to support your thesis? Have you included paraphrases and/or direct quotes? Did you cite them? Do you need to do more research and add information? Is there something that doesn't belong and needs to be deleted? 8. Edit your draft. (This is all about mechanics - sentence structure, punctuation, spelling, etc.)

9. Prepare your citation page, bibliography, and cover page.


10. Publish your final draft.

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