The Good Old
Reliable ThreePoint Essay
Does your mind go blank when
you have to prepare a speech or
write an English assignment?
Do you stare at your notebook,
chew your pen, and ask yourself
helplessly, "What can I write
about?" or "What can I say?"
If so, there is an easy
solution to your problem
- a solution that
preachers, politicians,
and commencement
speakers have known
about for years
All you have to do is
pick a topic
- any topic and say three things
about it.
Give three examples of good
sportsmanship,
three reasons why your school
should abolish tardies,
three qualities that make a perfect
football player,
three results of poor study habits,
three things you hate about worms.
In the study of
composition, such
an essay is called a
three-point
enumeration
The three-point essay is:
• short,
• easy to organize,
• easy to prepare, and
• easy for a reader or
listener to remember.
For a student, the
best way to organize
a three-point essay is
to plan five
paragraphs.
In the first paragraph, you
should introduce your
subject and indicate what
your approach will be,
perhaps even listing your
three points.
Avoid boring introductions
such as "in this paper I will
try to explain three results
of poor study habits."
Instead, you might begin
like this:
Brrrrrrring! The alarm clock sounds
in my ear. I grab the clock and throw it
against the wall, and let out a loud
groan. Another Monday morning has
arrived, and I never opened a book all
weekend. What if Mr. Johnson gives
another one of his diabolical pop tests
today? Suddenly I feel too sick to eat
breakfast. My poor study habits are
giving me nervous indigestion, ruining
my self-confidence, and destroying my
hopes for a college scholarship.
Brrrrrrring! The alarm clock sounds in
my ear. I grab the clock and throw it
against the wall, and let out a loud groan.
Another Monday morning has arrived, and
I never opened a book all weekend. What
if Mr. Johnson gives another one of his
diabolical pop tests today? Suddenly I feel
too sick to eat breakfast. My poor study
habits are (1) giving me nervous
indigestion, (2)ruining my self-confidence,
and (3) destroying my hopes for a college
scholarship.
The next three paragraphs should
cover the three main points:
- a paragraph about indigestion,
- a paragraph about self-confidence,
- and a final, perhaps longer,
paragraph about college and
scholarships.
* Be sure to save your most important
and interesting point until this fourth
paragraph.
Your fifth paragraph should be a
conclusion in which you summarize or
perhaps suggest some kind of action.
But I refuse to give up. I'm tired of
being sick to my stomach, tired of feeling
guilty, tired of worrying about college.
Starting today, I'm going to use the study
hall and the library for studying instead of
daydreaming. Starting tonight, I'll finish my
homework before I watch television.
University of Chicago, Here I come!
You may be wondering
whether it is necessary to limit
yourself to three points. Why not
four or seven or nineteen?
There's no magic in the number
three, but a good writer or
speaker will be wary of boring or
confusing his readers or
audience.
For example..
I want to say three things about
freedom…
…the Mayor of Springfield begins his
speech at the annual Fourth of July
picnic.
He might also say four or five things
about freedom and still keep
everyone's attention.
But if he says seven things about freedom,
he's flirting with trouble,
And if he says 29 things about freedom,
his speech will be a disaster, even if he
somehow manages to keep it down to
fifteen minutes.
Half of the audience will be snickering, the
other half will be grinding their teeth, and
no one will remember any of the 29 points.
Shakespeare said “Brevity (shortness) is
the soul of wit (intelligence).” He was
right! (to a point). Too long, you bore your
audience. Too short, you won’t have an
effective paper. Three main points is
juuuuuust right!
The End
NOW
A Little Refresher!
Body Paragraphs –
The Basic Building Block
Topic Sentence
First Sentence of proof
Second sentence of proof
Third Sentence of proof
Concluding Sentence
Now, if you can string five of these paragraphs together….
Paragraph
Topic Sentence
First Sentence of proof
Second sentence of proof
Third Sentence of proof
Concluding Sentence
Multi-Paragraph
Introductory Paragraph
First paragraph of proof
Second paragraph of proof
Third paragraph of proof
Concluding Paragraph
Review: Three Points, Five Paragraphs
Introduction
Thesis Statement: My poor study habits are
¶ 1 giving me nervous indigestion, ruining my self-confidence,
and destroying my hopes for a college scholarship.
¶3
¶2
A paragraph
about
indigestion
A paragraph
about selfconfidence
Sick to my stomach
¶5
¶4
Feeling guilty
A paragraph
about college
and
scholarships
Worrying about college
Conclusion & Call to Action
May restate thesis in different words
Review: Three Points, Five Paragraphs
Introduction
Thesis Statement:
May list the three points
¶1
¶3
¶2
A paragraph
about point
one
¶5
A paragraph
about point two
¶4
A paragraph
about point
three
Conclusion & Call to Action
May restate thesis in different words
DOING THE MATH
Introduction
Thesis Statement:
May list the three points
¶1
¶3
¶2
A paragraph
about point
one
sentences
or more
¶5
3-5
sentences
or more
sentences
or more
¶4
A paragraph
about point two
5
3-5
5
A paragraph
about point
three 5
sentences
or more
Conclusion & Call to Action
May restate thesis in different words
sentences
or more
TOTAL:
21-25
sentences or
more
What To Remember
(Write this Down)
- You should have one introductory paragraph.
- You should have at least 3 body paragraphs.
- You should have one concluding paragraph.
- That’s five paragraphs total.
- Each of the body paragraphs should have at
least five to seven sentences.
- The introduction and conclusion should have
three to five sentences.
What To Remember
(Write this Down)
- Your introduction should do three things:
- 1. Have some attention grabbing sentence or
two to begin the paragraph.
- 2. Present the issue in the second or third
sentence.
- 3. Present your thesis (what you’re going to
prove) in the third, fourth, or fifth sentence.
- Your introduction should not do these things:
- 1. Say “In this paper…”
- 2. Say “I’m going to prove…
What To Remember
(Write this Down)
- Your body paragraphs should do the following:
- 1. Have a topic sentence.
- 2. Have three to five supporting sentences.
- 3. Have a concluding sentence.
- Your conclusion should do the following:
- Have an attention grabbing first sentence.
- Restate the thesis in the second sentence.
- Sum up the entire piece in the third sentence
or have a call to action for the audience (i.e.
tell them what you want them to do).
Making it Quality
(write this down)
Things to Avoid:
• Saying “I, me, or we”*
• Saying “you or your”*
Things to Do:
• Use “one” or “many”
instead of I, me, you, or
we*
• Using emotional appeals
• Provide real world
• Stating opinions as facts
examples
• Restate the same
• Appeal to logic
evidence in more than
• Quote an expert
one paragraph
• Include a counter-argument
and refute it
*unless the prompt asks you to write a personal piece.
THE END
Now you
try!