Outline for a Five-Paragraph Essay

Thesis Statement The first thing you must do is write a thesis statement. It goes at the top of the paper. The city of Frontenac should require curbside recycling.

Topic Sentence “Thesis Statement” for a paragraph. States the main idea of the paragraph. Usually the first sentence in the paragraph. This should be a reason I should believe your thesis.

OUTLINE An outline is for the BODY paragraphs. The thesis will be used in the introduction The conclusion is not usually included

Roman Numeral Use a Roman numeral to designate each paragraph. The first paragraph would be I. After the Roman numeral, write the topic sentence (the first reason) I. We will soon be over-run with trash if we don’t get more people to recycle.

CAPITAL LETTERS Each Roman numeral will need supporting details. Use capital letters to designate these details. You must use AT LEAST an A and a B. Frontenac should require curbside recycling I. We will be over-run with trash. A. Landfills are filling up B. Cities are sending trash to us

Numbers Use numbers to list supporting details for A, B, C I. We will be over-run with trash A. Landfills are filling up 1. Only so much space 2 .No one wants one nearby B. Cities sending their trash 1. Joplin tornado 2 .New York’s trash floating on barges

Form Roman Numerals use sentences. A,B,C use key words

Form Indent A, B, C Keep them even Indent 1,2,3 Capitalize the first word

Paragraph II Follow the form from Paragraph I II. Curbside recycling would be cost effective for the city. A. Collect fees 1. On water bill 2. Everyone pays B. Get money for trash 1. Aluminum pays the most 2.Paper can pay well

Paragraph III Same form as I and II III. Jobs (See if you can come up with the rest)

SKELETON The outline is just the SKELETON of the essay. You must use words to fill in the body. Use transistions Use creative words Use sentence variety Remember to have a concluding sentence for each paragraph.

Paragraph I If Frontenac does not start curbside recycling, we could soon find ourselves over-run with trash. Already our landfills are nearly full to the brim. What will we do when they are full? No one wants a landfill in their own back yard. Not only is our landfill full, other cities are pushing their trash into our space. Joplin sent tons of trash here after the tornado. New York has its trash floating around the ocean looking for a home. Hopefully they won’t send it here. We need to start a strong recycling program before we are buried in trash!

Paragraph II Write a paragraph using the outline for Paragraph II.

INTRODUCTION Use the thesis statement and a HOOK to write an introduction for this essay.

Conclusion Write a conclusion for this essay.

YOUR OWN Make an outline for the first body paragraph of an essay. The thesis statement is Frontenac should not start a curbside recycling program. Use your own paper. Write the paragraph.