Essay Organizer The Five Paragraph Essay

Introduction Use the ANT Format Attention-getter: hook the reader into your essay Necessary Info: background of the story/history, author’s name, title, brief plot summary Thesis: focus of your essay and tells your reader what the essay is going to be about

Attention Getter! How do you get the reader’s attention? Hook activity time!

Attention-Getter! Your first sentence or two of your introduction should be an attention-getter There are multiple ways to grab your reader’s attention A rhetorical question A relevant quote from an outside source Scenario Fact or Statistic Shocking or amusing generalization

Necessary Information Necessary Information includes: Overview/history of topic Major Points you will be discussing in your paper Important background information

Thesis Statement A thesis is a claim or statement of a writer’s position or main point that will be explored throughout the paper. Your last sentence of your introduction should be your thesis.

Thesis Statement The foundation of all good writing! Formula for a thesis statement: Claim + Reason The claim is the main idea The reason is the support for the main idea Therefore… The thesis statement explains to a reader the main idea of the essay, AND the writer’s opinion on that idea

Thesis Statement A strong thesis statement… Is specific, not generic: fits only your essay Helps the writer by providing a clear focal point around which to organize the rest of the essay Helps the reader by showing the main point that your essay will explain or prove Is a roadmap to follow through the paper

Body Paragraphs Use the TIQA format: Topic Sentence Introduce Quote Quote Analysis A body paragraph explains, proves, and/or supports your paper’s thesis statement.

Topic Sentence Contains the main idea of your paragraph –what your paragraph is about. This part is a claim or is arguable. Topic sentence should be: Idea Reason Argument

Introduce Quote Put the quote into context Before inserting a quote you need to provide a transition. Examples: When Tom visits Tim he says, “(quote)” At the beginning the speaker says, “(quote)” Norman believes that, “(quote)”

Quote/Concrete Detail Provide your quote/paraphrase/concrete detail Paraphrase: your own version of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form. This is the evidence: a fact from your research or an example from your reading that illustrates the claim in your topic sentence

Analyze Explain to the reader the importance of the quote and how it supports your topic sentence. You might start with “In addition…” or “Furthermore…” or “This is significant because …” The basic structure of analysis is the same: (Rephrase the evidence) shows that (rephrase the main point) because…

Closing Sentence Make sure each paragraph has a closing sentence. This should re-state the topic sentence in some form. It is also a transition sentence that finished one idea and transitions to a new one in the next paragraph.

TIQA Review Your body paragraphs should provide a topic sentence. The rest of the paragraph should provide background for a quote or paraphrase. Then you should provide that quote/example. After you provide that quote/example, you should explain how it supports your thesis statement. DO NOT tell your reader what the quote means; this can lead to a summary. You need to analyze!!