The Five-Paragraph Essay

copyright 2008 by Gary L. Pullman

Many high schools and colleges teach students to write a five-paragraph essay in which:

1. an introductory paragraph (a) captures the reader's interest, (b) introduces the essay's topic, and (c) ends with a thesis sentence that contains a three-point plan of development;
2. body paragraph 1 (a) starts with a topic sentence based upon the first point in the thesis and (b) uses specific details to support and develop the topic sentence;
3. body paragraph 2 (a) starts with a topic sentence based upon the second point in the thesis and (b) uses specific details to support and develop the topic sentence;
4. body paragraph 3 (a) starts with a topic sentence based upon the third point in the thesis and (b) uses specific details to support and develop the topic sentence;
5. and ends with a concluding paragraph that (a) restates the thesis sentence in words other than those in which the thesis was stated originally (in the introductory paragraph) and (b) provides an appropriate closure to the essay.

Essays Made Easy uses this three-point thesis, five-paragraph essay format, because it helps to organize the writer's thoughts and provides a clear-cut, effective way of supporting and developing the writer's ideas.

In our next post, we will consider a sample essay that follows this format.