How to Write a Three-Paragraph Essay

In this course, we will mostly focus on writing well-developed three and five-paragraph essays. Please review this presentation for some tips and information for effective organization and writing of three-paragraph essays.

1st Paragraph The first few sentences of your first paragraph should introduce what you are writing about. It should provide background for the reader so he/she understands what your point is. Then, near the end of the first paragraph, you need to have a thesis statement. A thesis statement is like a topic sentence, except that it explains the main point for your whole paragraph.

Imagine you are a lawyer… Your first paragraph is like opening arguments where you give the jury (or the reader) some introductory information and then give the thesis. I will show you that my client is not guilty because he was no where near the scene of the crime, and the DNA evidence does not match!

2st Paragraph The second paragraph will be the body of your paper. Explain your main point. Be thorough. Give details, description, facts, or evidence. This will be your longest paragraph. To use the lawyer analogy, your second paragraph is like the actual trial. You are trying to convince the jury. You give very specific evidence, examples, or details. You explain your case carefully. If you were on trial, you wouldn’t want your lawyer to say, “Don’t convict my client because he is a nice guy.” You would want him to present detailed, organized, specific evidence.

3rd Paragraph Your last paragraph sums up your main point again and leaves the reader with the feeling that you are finished and you have made your point. Restate your thesis, but don’t restate it in exactly the same words as in your first paragraph. Back to the court case, your concluding paragraph is like the closing statement in a trial. You sum up your evidence without adding any new information.