5-Paragraph Essay

A format that works for any

occasion!
General Overview
 An essay is a collection of paragraphs all
written on the same topic—all of the paragraphs
work together to support one major point
 Justas all of the sentences in a paragraph work to
support the topic sentence, all of the paragraphs in
an essay support the thesis statement
General Overview Continued
 Any essay you write must include a
Thesis Statement
A Thesis Statement is much like a Topic
Sentence; however, rather than suggesting
the main idea of a paragraph, a Thesis
Statement suggests the main idea of an
essay (see handout)
 Every paragraph within an essay still needs a
Topic Sentence
General Overview Continued
 Your essay should also include an
introduction and a conclusion
 Just as a paragraph has a hook and a
concluding sentence, an essay has a section
that draws the reader in and a section that
sums it all up
 5-Paragraph Essay Format can help you
with structure!
General Overview Continued
 When writing a 5-Paragraph Essay, you
must consider the same traits you did when
writing your paragraphs:
 UNITY (all sentences support topic sentences;
all topic sentences support thesis statement)
 DEVELOPMENT (enough information)
 COHERENCE (good, clear writing)
5-Paragraph Essay Format
 For our purposes, the 5-Paragraph Essay
will literally have 5 Paragraphs, but you
can use this Format for any essay!
 The 5-Paragraph Essay includes an
introductory paragraph, 3 body
paragraphs, and a concluding
paragraph
¶ #1: Introductory Paragraph
 It must include the following:
 Hook—exciting opening line/lines that draw your reader in to
your essay (see handout)
 Introduce Topic
 State your thesis
 Offer three statements of support for your thesis (these will
become the topics of your three body paragraphs)
 Transition
This paragraph should grab your reader—you want him/her
to keep reading. In addition, this paragraph is like a
road map; it tells the reader where he/she will be
going.
¶ #2: Body Paragraph #1
 It must include the following:
 Restate first statement of support
 Offer evidence (facts, examples, quotations,
anecdotes, etc.); vary the type of support and
how you present it—provide creative, interesting,
clear, and specific support
 Transition**
 **Transitions may come at the end of one paragraph or
the beginning of the next
¶ #3: Body Paragraph #2
 It must include the following:
 Restate second statement of support
 Offer evidence (facts, examples, quotations,
anecdotes, etc.); vary the type of support and how
you present it—provide creative, interesting, clear,
and specific support
 Transition**
 **Transitions may come at the end of one paragraph or the
beginning of the next
¶ #4: Body Paragraph #3
 It must include the following:
 Restate third statement of support
 Offer evidence (facts, examples, quotations,
anecdotes, etc.); vary the type of support and how
you present it—provide creative, interesting, clear,
and specific support
 Transition**
 **Transitions may come at the end of one paragraph or the
beginning of the next
¶ #5: Closing/Summary Paragraph
 It must include the following:
 Synthesize thesis (restate it in different words)
 Synthesize statements of support (but do not
expand or introduce new ideas)
 Closing (interesting closing line that will leave your
reader with something to think about)
This paragraph should sum it all up. Even if your reader
reads only the final paragraph, he/she should be
able to get the gist of your entire essay.
Example
 Compare the example to the Format