Writing a Five Paragraph Essay How to Do a Reflection Paper Writing a Five Paragraph Essay

Work on your introduction for the “Who am I?” essay. Homework Work on your introduction for the “Who am I?” essay.

AIM Students will learn and understand the parts of an essay to create writings that are organized and demonstrate their knowledge of communication through written language. Students will recognize parts of an essay, giving specific examples of parts of an essay, and finally, writing a five paragraph essay.

DO NOW What is the purpose of an essay?

Learning to Write There are things that one needs to know that contribute to excellence in writing. They are not hard to learn. Once you know them, they do take practice to gain proficiency. That practice makes all the difference in the world.

The Five Paragraph Essay Think of the five paragraph essay as having five separate parts. Learn to master each of the parts one at a time. Writing the introduction and the conclusion are strongly linked. Working on them in sequence will make the job easier. Then tackle the body paragraphs, one at a time. With the inclusion of transitions, you will get the feel and flow of the essay. Put them all together, and you will have the first draft of your essay.

THE INTRODUCTION The introduction has two main purposes: to draw the reader in and make him/her want to read more to prepare the reader for the direction that the essay is going to take. The introduction usually has three parts: The grabber (or lead) consists of several sentences that pull the reader into the essay. The transitional sentence (optional) connects the lead to the thesis statement. The thesis statement is a single sentence that states the main idea of the essay.

THE GRABBER or LEAD There are many types of grabbers (also referred to as leads, motivators, or openers) that you can use. Stating fact or opinion: a piece of information that will get your reader's attention Rhetorical question: a meaningful, unanswerable question that gets the reader thinking about your topic Anecdote: a brief incident that relates to the theme of the essay Quotation: someone else's words that relate to the topic Description: a brief description of a scene, person, or object that appeals to the reader's senses

Stating fact or opinion

Rhetorical Question

Anecdote

Quotation

Description

You Try! Write in your notebook an introduction using one of the five grabbers on the following topics: Your favorite sports team Your favorite automobile Why you came to Cardinal Hayes High School

NEXT CLASS: PART:II Writing a Reflection Paper