How to Tackle the Five Paragraph EssayIt’s inevitable as a student moving through standard English courses, at some point youwill need to master the five paragraph essay. Fortunately, the standardized format of writing doesn’t have to be such a daunting task with proper planning.1.Consider your subject matter. Most five paragraph essays require some sort of reaction to a text. If you’re not familiar with that text, be sure to read itthoroughly. There’s nothing worse than writing about something you’re only half familiar with. Plus, you can’t support an opinion about something unless you’reclear on alternative viewpoints.2.Once you’ve read up on your subject matter, consider your stance, AKA your thesis. This generally requires two things:a.If you’ve been provided a prompt for your essay, you’ll need to dissectthat prompt to determine exactly what’s being asked. Be sure to pay closeattention to phrases like “Support your claim with evidence…” or “Provide examples…” This requires text citation for each section of your argument. Basically, you’ll need to point to areas within the text thatsupport your thesis by inserting such quotations into your essay. b.Second, using that prompt as a guide, determine how you will argue your thesis. The best way to know which stance to take is to consider howmuch proof, or evidence, you have to support it. Whether you’re usingstatistics, testimony, or that good old textual evidence, be sure you haveenough to get you through three body paragraphs sufficiently.Sometimes, you get a choice of which prompt you’d like to respond to. Insituations like these, make sure and choose the one you’re most comfortablewith, and formulate what your argument will be.3.Now that you have a thesis and are clear on what your instructions are, startoutlining your essay. One rule of thumb is to break your thesis down into three prongs, one for each body paragraph. Take some tie listing all your ideas first, andthen group those ideas that are similar until you’ve come up with three umbrellatopics to anchor your thesis. Planning like this will also help you when it comestime to write your body paragraphs. The more thorough you are in outlining your ideas the better as this comes in handy when composing the finished product.4.Start writing your body paragraphs. Remember the structure. Each body paragraph should contain three points of evidence or proof. These are often calledconcrete details. A general rule of thumb is to provide two sentences of commentary for every concrete detail. Sandwich such structure between one topicsentence and a concluding one and you’ve got a body paragraph.5.Body paragraphs are the meat of the essay, but you need an intro and conclusionto make your essay complete. Writing an introduction is simple but it’s mostly providing a lead up to what your thesis will be. Be sure to command your reader’sattention by stating specifically and succinctly what you will be writing about,leaving your thesis for the last sentence. Most introductory paragraphs are aboutfour to five sentences long.
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