The 5 Paragraph Essay

Help on how to write one.

The Purpose of an Essay

• An essay states and supports an opinion with evidence and explanation.

• Essays are generally used to persuade others to agree with you.

Contents

• The first paragraph is the introductory paragraph.

• The middle paragraphs are the body paragraphs.

• The last paragraph is the concluding paragraphs.

Body Paragraphs

• Each body paragraph states and explains a main point you’re using to prove your opinion.

• An opinion is stronger when it has more supporting facts behind it.

Evidence

• When writing about a text, the strongest facts and evidence is the actual text itself.

• From Beowulf quote the text in quotation marks and put the line numbers at the end in parenthesis.

• Example: “Cullen concludes, ‘Of all the things that happened there / That's all I remember’ (11-12).

• Use back slashes to separate lines of poetry.

Introductory Paragraph

• The hook, your first sentence, is usually a general statement about your topic: • “Long ago, people told stories about heroes that…”

• Your second sentence should introduces your topic.

• Your next few sentences should be your main points reasoning for your opinion.

• The thesis, your opinion, is at the bottom.

Another Example

• My main theme for Romeo and Juliet is that love overcomes hatred, but at a price.

• So – what are my reasons for thinking this?

• It’s time to brainstorm!

Brainstorming

• I ask myself, “What do I know about Romeo and Juliet and more specifically love overcoming hatred at a price in the play?

• Firstly, I think about Romeo and Juliet falling in love. They find out that they’re from rival families only after their love-struck first connection.

• So, what should I do now?

Looking Back to the Text

• If I look back at the text I find out that Juliet has a solution for her and Romeo’s problem. She says, “Deny thy father and refuse thy name.”

• So what does this mean?• It means that to overcome hatred for an

enemy Capulet, Juliet, Romeo would need to refuse (deny) his own identity as a Montegue.

• So what do we have now?

Possibly a Main Point

• I can now support my thesis with this point: – Romeo and Juliet must pay the price of denying

their families and give up their rich familial inheritances to embrace love and overcome hatred.

• But now how do I get another point?• Back to Brainstorming!

And what else?

• So now perhaps I think about the end of the play when Romeo and Juliet are dead and their parents make peace. This is probably the ultimate reason because it comes at the climax of the story.

• The line from the prologue, “Do with their death bury their parents' strife” could be of use here.

And More

• Another line at the end between Master Capulet and Master Montegue says , “O brother Montague, give me thy hand,” indicating that they have truly “buried their strife,” especially when they resolve to make monuments to one another’s dead children.

• So where’s my main point here?

I could say…

• Even when hatred kills love, love pays the price of death and still overcomes hatred.

An Introductory Paragraph

• Hook: Love and hatred have forever been at odds with each other throughout time.

• Introducing the topic: In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the title characters fall in love despite their parents hatred, proving that love is stronger than even the hatred of a feud and is willing to pay any price.

Points• Point 1: Romeo and Juliet pay dearly by

denying their families and giving up their rich familial inheritances to embrace their love for one another.

• Point 2: Even when their families hatred forces them to take their lives in the end, the price of their death overcomes their families’ hatred and brings peace.

Thesis: This proves that love can always overcome hatred, even when the price is high.

Transitions• Transitions indicate relationships

between the different parts of writing like sentences and paragraphs.

• Sequential transitions (“firstly,” “secondly,” and so forth) are the easiest ones to use.

• If you’re becoming more accomplished as an essay writer, you might want to try some more complex transition words.

Other Transition Words• furthermore• moreover• too• also• in the second place• again• in addition• even more• next• further• last, lastly• finally• besides• and, or, nor• first• second, secondly, etc.

Addition Timewhileimmediatelynever, afterlater, earlieralways, whensoon, whenevermeanwhilesometimesin the meantimeduring, afterwardsnow, until nownextfollowing, oncethenat lengthsimultaneouslyso far, this timesubsequently

In Comparisonin the same wayby the same tokensimilarlyin like mannerlikewisein similar fashion

Effectthereforeconsequentlyaccordinglythushenceas a resultIllustrationto illustrate, to demonstratespecifically, for instanceas an illustration, e.g., (for example)for example

In Contrastyetand yetneverthelessnonethelessafter allbuthoweverthoughotherwiseon the contraryin contrastnotwithstandingon the other handat the same time

More ExamplePoint A: Romeo and Juliet pay dearly when they deny their families, giving up family wealth, to embrace their love for one another.

Proof: Romeo and Juliet are largely defined by their families’ wealth and prestige in Verona and are never portrayed doing work. Their elevated positions are furthermore secured by the more formal metered lines Shakespeare gives them to speak.

Quotation: And yet Juliet in the balcony scene says, “deny thy father and refuse thy name” (lines x-y).

• Explanation: Despite the Friar’s hope that their marriage will bring the families peaceably together, it is just as likely that it will cause the families to outcast them. Without family money and support, Romeo and Juliet may be forced to take jobs they would otherwise think beneath them. Have they considered this possibility, or are the fated pair just acting rashly? Their infatuation does seem overpowering, but perhaps that only means that they have considered the possibility and have decided to take the risk.

Concluding Sentence: Despite this slight ambiguity, Romeo and Juliet, who pay the ultimate price, probably are willing to give up wealth to be with one another.

CommonGrammar Mistakes

Created by Melissa ClineJCTC English Instructor

Colloquialisms/Cliches

• Do not use colloquialisms in formal writing. Colloquialisms can be defined as words, slang, or phrases often said in everyday speech, but that are not appropriate for academic writing.

• Examples: ain’t, gonna, “It’s raining cats and dogs,” etc. • Cliches: Tired, overused sayings and expressions. • Example: “His eyelids were as heavy as lead.” “I was hanging

by a thread.” “I am cool as a cucumber.”

Faulty Parallelism • Readers expect items in a series to

appear in parallel grammatical form. When one or more of the items, violate readers’ expectations, a sentence will be needlessly awkward.– Abused children commonly exhibit one or

more of the following symptoms: withdrawal, rebelliousness, restlessness, and they are depressed.

– After assuring us that he was sober, Sam drove down the middle of the road, ran one red light, and two stop signs.

Wordiness

• For all intents and purposes, the reason Mr. Henderson arrived late for work was due to the fact that he stopped at very many traffic lights that were red in colour. (31 words)

• Corrected: Mr. Henderson arrived late for work because he stopped at many red lights. (13 words)

Subject/Verb Agreement

• The subject of a sentence must agree with the verb of the sentence.

• They must agree in two ways: in number: singular vs. plural in person: first, second, or third person– Each of Sylvia Plath’s “bee poems” use the theme

of beekeeping to express aspects of the human condition

– The characters in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night lives in a world that has been turned upside-down.

Indicating Possession

• Possessive nouns indicate ownership, as in Tim’s hat or the lawyer’s desk.

• When to add apostrophe s– If the noun does not end in s, add ’s– If the noun is singular and ends in s, add ’s – If the noun is plural and ends in s, add only an

apostrophe. • Avoid common misuses of the apostrophe

with nouns that are not possessive– Some outpatient’s are given special parking

permits.

Run-on Sentences

• Run-on sentences join two or more complete sentences with no punctuation. – Michaela loves to draw horses she is a talented

artist. – The night was cold we forgot to bring our coats.

It’s for its and they’re, their, there confusion.

It’s versus its• Download the HTA, along with it's readme file.• Download the HTA, along with its readme file.• The laptop is overheating and its making that funny noise again.• The laptop is overheating and it's making that funny noise again.They're, their, there• The managers are in they're weekly planning meeting.• The managers are in their weekly planning meeting.• The techs have to check there cell phones at the door, and their not happy

about it.