2015-10-16 Writing: write your essay

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk
---
Homework: look for (or invent) statistics that you can use as additional supporting details in your writing tomorrow
---
Use your paragraph from last week, and the additional facts that you found or invented, to write a 4-6 paragraph essay about the same topic.

- Introduction paragraph (background and your opinion in a thesis statement)
- 2-4 Body paragraphs (one paragraph for each main reason)
- Conclusion paragraph (conclusion sentence repeating your opinion, and some addition predictions or recommendations about the future, or questions for the readers to think about)
---
The Five Paragraph Essay

      	In many schools and universities, five-paragraph essays are the most common writing assignment students have to do. Teachers use them because they are not too short to get good information across, and they are not too long to write and read in a reasonable amount of time. On the other hand, many students hate the five-paragraph essay style because they find it difficult to organize their ideas. However, it is not a difficult style to use if you understand the three basic parts of an essay.
      	First of all, you have to write an introduction paragraph. This should include background information about your topic and your thesis statement. The background information can be general facts and statistics, or it can be an explanation of why you picked this topic to write about. After the background information, you should summarize your main idea in a thesis statement. If you want, you can also give a short “preview” summary of the main details you will use to support your thesis.
      	After the introduction, you will need to write three body paragraphs. These will include the three most important details you have chosen to support your main idea. You will sometimes find that two or four supporting details work better for a particular topic, but we usually talk about three body paragraphs because it’s in the middle. It’s not too few to convince your readers of your own opinion, and it’s not so many that readers will forget the first ones by the time they get to the end. Each body paragraph should start with a simple statement of the supporting detail, followed by explanation and examples.
      	Finally, there is the conclusion paragraph. For many students, this is the most difficult part of any essay. The first sentence of your conclusion should be a restatement or summary of your thesis and your reasons for it. After that, you can write something about how your topic relates back to the general information or background that you gave in your introduction. Another option is to make recommendations for the future and predictions about what will happen if people follow your recommendations. You can also finish with some things you want readers to keep thinking about after they put down your essay.
      	In conclusion, if you remember the organization of the three main parts of a short essay, you should have no problem writing five-paragraph assignments quickly and clearly. To get a better understanding of how they are arranged, it is very easy to find many examples of five-paragraph essays on the Internet. You can also practice rearranging other lengths of writing into a simple five (or four to six) paragraph summary. Although you may find the format annoying when you first start to write essays, you will find it much easier to write well in higher levels of education if you first master the skill of writing a simple, five-paragraph essay.
---
Homework: finish your essay