The Five-Paragraph Essay

1. The Five-Paragraph Essay Tips for success !! Click here to start the show

2. The Five-Paragraph Essay • Is a basic essay format which every student should know • Has several formally-designated parts • May be subjective or objective in nature • Has a clear, single focus on an idea or subject • Click here for next slide

3. The Five Paragraph Structure • First: Thesis statement and backgrounding • Second: Point to support thesis, and supporting information • Third: Point to support thesis and supporting information • Fourth: Clinching point to support thesis and supporting information • Fifth: Summary and concluding statement(s). • Click to next slide

4. Subjective Focuses on a personal idea or reaction and offers support Is author-driven; author appears as “I” May be personal and intense in style Click this for more Objective Focuses on an idea or concept and offers support Is not author-driven but is idea-driven (the author does not appear as “I” Uses formal academic style Click this for more The Five-Paragraph Essay

5. Subjective Writing • Use the subjective style to show, inform, demonstrate, convince, compare, share or illustrate • You may reveal yourself in the author position with phrases such as “ I believe”...” or “I have always enjoyed …” • Click here for next slide • Click here to go back

6. Objective Writing • Shares and supports an idea or point of view • Is formal and closely follows academic writing conventions • is written in an objective (3rd. Person) style, wherein the author does not reveal her/him self • Click here for next slide • Click here to go back

7. The Thesis Statement • Every 5-paragraph essay has a thesis statement which is to be investigated and finally supported or refuted • The thesis statement is usually found in the first paragraph • Click here for next slide

8. Thesis Statement • The thesis statement must be written clearly; do not make the reader guess about the point of the essay. • The statement is phrased in the positive (affirmative): “Coffee is a beneficial drink”, NOT “coffee is bad for you”. • If the thesis may be negated with an example or condition, it is disproven. • Click here for next slide

9. Supporting Paragraphs • The second, third and fourth paragraphs are usually arranged in order of ascending strength. (The strongest point comes near the end of the essay.) • Each paragraph has a topic sentence and support information, plus transition devices. • Each paragraph is written in proper sentences • Click for next slide

10. Negation of your Thesis • A thesis is almost always phrased in the positive. • A single exception disproves the thesis. For example, if you claim “Canadian Art is not collectable” in your thesis, it only takes one person collecting Canadian art to destroy your thesis, thus disproving it. • Click here to go back

11. Concluding a five-paragraph essay • Conclusions may be stated in the positive or negative. The thesis may be proven or disproven, supported or not. Be honest and clear. If there is still room for debate, admit it. • The final paragraph may contain a brief summary of the thesis and supporting information. • Click here to go back • Click here to go on

12. Add a title AFTER the essay is written (let the title emerge from the content, not the other way around) Type it onto a good word processor and do spelling and grammar checks Double-check that every requirement of the assignor has been met Read it out loud to someone else and make sure they agree the essay does what you want it to do Make changes you choose Do a title page and turn in your work. Click for next slide Click to return to top Presenting Your Essay

13. The End • Return to the top • Return to paragraph divisions • Return to thesis statement • Return to final check information • The End.

14. Transitional Devices • These are ways to gently tying one idea or paragraph to another in sequence • If one paragraph in an essay on agriculture ends with the idea that the use of horses declines where there are tropical diseases, the next paragraph needs to start with something like “Disease is not the only dis-incentive to tropical agriculture…” • In an essay on race relations in present-day Toronto, the support for one paragraph might mention the difficulty of many black youth who are constantly checked by police whilst driving. This has lead to the facetious charge of D.W.B. (driving while black). The next paragraph might begin with a mention that other groups might be similarly targeted, such as young hispanic males or any vehicle with more than four youth in it at night. • Click here to go back