The Five-Paragraph Essay
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The Five-Paragraph Essay
• Is a basic essay format which every student
should know
• Has several formally-designated parts
• May be subjective or objective in nature
• Has a clear, single focus on an idea or
subject
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The Five Paragraph Structure
• First: Thesis statement and backgrounding
• Second: Point to support thesis, and supporting
information
• Third: Point to support thesis and supporting
information
• Fourth: Clinching point to support thesis and
supporting information
• Fifth: Summary and concluding statement(s).
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The Five-Paragraph Essay
• Subjective
• Focuses on a personal idea
or reaction and offers
support
• Is author-driven; author
appears as “I”
• May be personal and
intense in style
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• Objective
• Focuses on an idea or
concept and offers support
• Is not author-driven but is
idea-driven (the author
does not appear as “I”
• Uses formal academic
style
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Subjective Writing
• Use the subjective style to show, inform,
demonstrate, convince, compare, share or
illustrate
• You may reveal yourself in the author
position with phrases such as “ I
believe”...” or “I have always enjoyed …”
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Objective Writing
• Shares and supports an idea or point of view
• Is formal and closely follows academic
writing conventions
• is written in an objective (3rd. Person) style,
wherein the author does not reveal her/him
self
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The Thesis Statement
• Every 5-paragraph essay has a thesis
statement which is to be investigated and
finally supported or refuted
• The thesis statement is usually found in the
first paragraph
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Thesis Statement
• The thesis statement must be written clearly; do
not make the reader guess about the point of the
essay.
• The statement is phrased in the positive
(affirmative): “Coffee is a beneficial drink”,
NOT “coffee is bad for you”.
• If the thesis may be negated with an example or
condition, it is disproven.
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Supporting Paragraphs
• The second, third and fourth paragraphs are
usually arranged in order of ascending
strength. (The strongest point comes near the
end of the essay.)
• Each paragraph has a topic sentence and
support information, plus transition devices.
• Each paragraph is written in proper sentences
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Negation of your Thesis
• A thesis is almost always phrased in the
positive.
• A single exception disproves the thesis. For
example, if you claim “Canadian Art is not
collectable” in your thesis, it only takes one
person collecting Canadian art to destroy
your thesis, thus disproving it.
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Concluding a five-paragraph essay
• Conclusions may be stated in the positive or
negative. The thesis may be proven or disproven,
supported or not. Be honest and clear. If there is
still room for debate, admit it.
• The final paragraph may contain a brief summary
of the thesis and supporting information.
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Presenting Your Essay
• Add a title AFTER the
essay is written (let the
title emerge from the
content, not the other way
around)
• Type it onto a good word
processor and do spelling
and grammar checks
• Double-check that every
requirement of the
assignor has been met
• Read it out loud to
someone else and make
sure they agree the essay
does what you want it to
do
• Make changes you choose
• Do a title page and turn in
your work.
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The End
•
•
•
•
Return to the top
Return to paragraph divisions
Return to thesis statement
Return to final check information
• The End.
Transitional Devices
• These are ways to gently tying one idea or paragraph to another in
sequence
• If one paragraph in an essay on agriculture ends with the idea that the
use of horses declines where there are tropical diseases, the next
paragraph needs to start with something like “Disease is not the only
dis-incentive to tropical agriculture…”
• In an essay on race relations in present-day Toronto, the support for
one paragraph might mention the difficulty of many black youth who
are constantly checked by police whilst driving. This has lead to the
facetious charge of D.W.B. (driving while black). The next paragraph
might begin with a mention that other groups might be similarly
targeted, such as young hispanic males or any vehicle with more than
four youth in it at night.
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