FIVE-PARAGRAPH ESSAY Ch. 12-13
What is a Five-Paragraph Essay?
- Introduction
- Body
- Conclusion
You’re heard it all before from your Junior High teacher, your High School teacher, and now from me. You may even think that you can write a perfect essay on the first try and not worry about rewriting it. Maybe. Perhaps all you need to do is refresh your knowledge a little, re-cement your skills. That’s what we’ll be doing for the rest of the semester. So don’t think of our assignments and exercises as something that’s designed to teach you how to write, but rather as something that’s designed to help you remember what you had learned in High School and have recently forgotten. Some of you have never learned it and some of you have never forgotten it; so you’ll just have to slog through this class and be patient. You may even learn something along the way.
Let’s revisit our Five-Paragraph Essay model.
Outline for a Five-Paragraph Essay
Title: ____________________
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Introduction:
It’s the first paragraph in your essay. It should tell your readers what the essay is about. A good introduction gets the reader excited about reading the essay. What comes at the end of the introduction paragraph? The THESIS STATEMENT? Most of the time, but not always. What is the Thesis Statement? It’s the main idea of your essay. Your theme. Let’s try to find the thesis statement in the essay called Three Africas (courtesy of Taft College Online Writing Lab) (http://www.taftcollege.edu/newTC/Academic/LiberalArts/owl/sampfive.html
The Three Africas
When many people hear the word Africa, they picture steaming jungles and gorillas. Hollywood films have shrunk the public image of this immense, varied continent into a small segment of its actual diversity. To have a more accurate picture of the whole continent, however, one should remember that there are, roughly, three Africas, each with its distinct climate and terrain and with a style of life suited to the environment. The continent can be divided into the northern desert areas, the southeastern grasslands, and the tropical jungles to the southwest.
The northern regions have the environment and living patterns of the desert. Egypt, Libya, Algeria, and Morocco have hot, dry climates with very little land suited to farming. Therefore, the population tends to be clustered into cities along rivers or the seacoast or into smaller settlements near oases. For thousands of years, people have lived in this vast region, subsisting partly on what crops and animals they could raise and partly on trade with Europe.
The southeastern grasslands provide a better environment for animal life and for some kinds of crops. Many wild animals inhabit the plains in this region–elephants, giraffes, rhinoceros, antelopes, zebras, and lions. The people in this area have long been expert cattle raisers and hunters. Tea, coffee, cotton, cashew nuts, and tobacco are some of the main products grown in this region. Fishing also provides some food and income for people along the coast. The population here is less concentrated in cities and towns than in the north, but tends to be denser in areas where adequate rainfall and fertile soil make farming possible.
West Africa is the region closest to the Hollywood image of mysterious jungles. As in the other two regions, the way people subsist depends upon their environment. This does not mean that most of the people live in grass huts in the jungle. Such nations as Nigeria have become highly modernized by income from oil, timber, and minerals. Most of the western countries have some farming that provides food and income; sugar cane, coffee, and tobacco are the important cash crops, while bananas, rice, and corn are raised for food. Fishing in the rivers and along the coast also accounts for food and income, and precious stones, especially diamonds, enhance the economy of Angola and the Ivory Coast.
Even a superficial look at the major regions of Africa shows that it is a varied continent with several environments. Although most of the continent is tropical in its range of temperature, the climate ranges from deserts to rain forests. Similarly, human life-styles vary from the simplest rural villages to industrial cities, both new and ancient. Contrary to the myth, however, jungle life makes up only a very small portion of the whole of Africa.
Is the thesis statement the last sentence of the introductory paragraph? Who said “no”? You’re right. The thesis statement in this essay is the penultimate sentence. Why? Because it carries the main idea of the essay. The last sentence expands on that idea and takes it further by introducing the details for the three paragraphs in the body.
Body:
In a five-paragraph essay the body contains three paragraphs. The body of the essay provides support. It buttresses the ideas introduced in the introductory paragraph. But most importantly, it provides details (examples in the case of this assignment) that bring your main idea to life. Each paragraph has to have a topic sentence. It is almost always the first sentence of the paragraph. If a paragraph were an essay, the topic sentence would be its thesis statement. I know I’m not confusing you because we’ve talked about it in class.
Conclusion:
It summarizes the main points of your essay. Think of your main idea as a bell whose sound reverberates through your essay and quiets down in the very last sentence of the conclusion.
A FEW THINGS TO REMEMBER:
Essays are not written – they’re rewritten. Don’t forget to prewrite, brainstorm and outline. Without adequate preparation you will not be able to write a good essay. If you don’t know what you want to write about, re-read Ch. 13 and choose a topic of one of the exercises at the end of the chapter. You can also browse the World Wide Web or flip through newspapers or magazines. Read an Opinion Page of the New York Times. Watch a reputable news program. Somehow I’m sure that you abound with ideas.
Below are the links to web pages that discuss the five-paragraph essay and may be of help to you.
http://www.tesltimes.com/essay.html#org
ASSIGNMENT
Write an ESSAY THAT GIVES EXAMPLES. It should be between TWO and FOUR pages long. DOUBLE SPACED. Note that your assignment is to write an ESSAY not an outline. You should definitely write an outline before you begin your essay, but keep it for yourself. Put your name, my name, and the course number on the first page. Number each page of the essay.
NO HANDWRITTEN ASSIGNEMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Make a COPY of your ESSAY and a copy of the FEEDBACK FORM for each student in your group. You can find the FEEDBACK FORM on the classroom wiki (in the sidebar) right below the SYLLABUS.
This assignment is due Monday, Oct. 22nd.
ONE FULL GRADE will be deducted from late assignments for each class. So if you decide to turn your assignment in on Wednesday and it’s a “B” essay, you will get a “C”. If you turn it in on Friday, it will be a “D”, and so on. If you have any questions you can contact me any time.
sfcenglish@gmail.com or akustanovich@stfranciscollege.edu
Phone: 718-489-3445
Good Luck.
Prof. K.
