5-Paragraph Essay Structure Brought to you by powerpointpros.com

Why Is this Structure Important to Learn? This is the standard structure for a 5- paragraph essay, which means that it can be used for nearly any topic. Additionally, the basics learned with this lesson will be built upon later as you learn to write longer essays in the future.

Parts of a Standard 5-Paragraph Essay There are three main parts to this standard 5-paragraph essay structure: 1)Introductory Paragraph 2)Body Paragraphs 3)Concluding Paragraph

1) Introductory Paragraph

The introductory paragraph is the paragraph that starts off your essay. In this paragraph, you should:  Introduce your topic in a way that captures the reader’s attention.  State your thesis for the essay.

1) Introducing your Topic The opening sentences in the introductory paragraph should be dedicated to introducing the topic of your essay. The most important thing to remember when introducing your topic is that you should try to capture the reader’s attention.

1) Why Capture the Reader’s Attention in the Opening Sentences? These are the first few sentences people will read in your essay. If you capture your reader’s attention with these sentences, they’ll want to continue reading. If your introduction doesn’t capture their attention, they most likely won’t want to continue to read your essay.

1) Ways to Capture the Reader’s Attention Here are some ways to capture your reader’s attention while introducing your topic:  Give the reader a vivid description of your topic.  Introduce your topic using a short story.  Use a surprising statement.  Ask a question.  Use a direct quotation.

1) Capturing the Reader’s Attention Remember: You’ll want to put a lot of thought into your opening sentences, because they are the first sentences that people will read in your essay. A strong and intriguing introduction will make people want to read the rest of your essay.

1) Stating your Thesis Even after you’ve introduced your topic, you’re still not done with the introductory paragraph! You still have to state the thesis of your essay.

1) What is the Thesis? The thesis of your essay is one sentence that tells your reader specifically what your essay will be about. It should be clear and concise, as it is the focus of the entire essay.

1) Thesis vs. Topic The topic of your essay is the essay’s subject. The thesis, however, is more specific than your topic and makes an important point about the topic. This important point will be the main idea of your essay that you will build on in the following paragraphs.

1) Introductory Paragraph Once you’ve introduced your topic and stated your thesis, your introductory paragraph is done. Now, it’s time to work on the body paragraphs!

2) Body Paragraphs

The body paragraphs make up the majority of your essay. Unlike the introductory paragraph, which tells the reader what your essay will be about, these paragraphs contain the content of your essay. In a traditional 5-paragraph essay structure, there will be three of these paragraphs.

2) Body Paragraphs In each of the three body paragraphs, you should:  State the topic sentence of the paragraph.  Insert your supporting details for the topic.  Add a concluding statement which may serve as a smooth transition to the next paragraph.

2) Topic Sentence Remember the thesis you developed for the introductory paragraph? Now, you need to add some support and proof to your thesis. Each topic sentence should state one main idea or point that supports or proves your thesis.

2) Topic Sentence Each topic sentence is usually placed at the beginning of a body paragraph, since it is the main idea of the paragraph. Since you will have three body paragraphs, you will need to develop three topic sentences based on three main ideas or points that support or prove your thesis.

2) Supporting Details Each topic sentence is the main idea of a body paragraph, but the majority of each body paragraph should be made up of supporting details. These details support the topic sentence of the paragraph and help the reader to understand it better or provide more information about the topic sentence.

2) Supporting Details You should have more than one detail per body paragraph. Ideally, you should make sure that you have three or more supporting details in each body paragraph.

2) Concluding Statement After inserting your supporting details, you should add a concluding statement to each body paragraph to smoothly bring it to a close. This concluding statement usually will summarize what was said in the body paragraph, and it may also serve as a transition to the next paragraph of your essay.

2) Body Paragraphs Remember: you need to have three of these body paragraphs in your essay. This means that you should make sure to have three main ideas or points (that support your thesis) to use in your topic sentences, and three or more supporting details for each topic sentence!

3) Concluding Paragraph

After your three body paragraphs, you can move on to the concluding paragraph! This paragraph is the fifth and final paragraph in your essay.

3) Concluding Paragraph In the concluding paragraph, you should:  Restate your thesis (usually paraphrasing.)  Restate or summarize your three topic sentences.  Write a closing statement to the essay.

3) Restate your Thesis Statement As you write the final paragraph of your essay, you usually will begin by restating your thesis. Don’t write your thesis the same exact way that you did in the introductory paragraph; instead, you should try to write it at least a little differently so that it doesn’t sound like a repeat of the first paragraph.

3) Restate or Summarize your Topic Sentences In addition to restating the thesis statement of your essay, you should also restate or summarize the three topic sentences (the three main ideas or points) that support your thesis.

3) Closing Statement You’re still not done yet! You still have to finish your essay with a good, strong closing statement. A good closing statement should:  Indicate the end of the essay.  Make the reader remember and ponder your essay after they’ve finished reading it.

3) Indicate the End Be sure that you don’t leave your reader unsatisfied with your ending. Make sure that the ending of your essay isn’t abrupt and that your closing statement ends the essay in a satisfying way. Your closing statement should make it clear that it is the end of your essay, and smoothly draw your essay to a close.

3) Make the Reader Remember and Ponder You don’t want people to just read your essay and immediately forget it. A good closing statement makes people who are reading your essay remember it and ponder it even after they’ve finished reading it. Think about what feeling or idea you want to leave your reader with, and be sure to emphasize that in your closing statement.

You’re Done! After following all of these steps, you can confidently say that you’ve written a 5-paragraph essay! If all of the steps are followed correctly, this is an outline of what a finished 5-paragraph essay should look like:

An outline of the finished 5- paragraph essay… 1) Introductory Paragraph Opening Sentences Introducing Topic Thesis 2) Body Paragraphs (You need 3 of them!) Topic Sentence Supporting Details (3+) Concluding Statement/ Transition 3) Concluding Paragraph Restatement of Thesis (Paraphrase) Restatement/ Summary of Topic Sentences Closing Statement

Great job! You now know how to write a 5-paragraph essay! Remember this structure; it will help you to write essays in the future and will be a foundation as you progress to writing more advanced essays later.