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The Official "How To" Summary on Writing A

5 Paragraph Paper

Thesis/Essay Map

Remember, when you write a thesis statement use these ideas:

Topic:

Opinion:

Thesis: (topic and opinion combined into one sentence)

So, for each subject you choose, give me the topic, the opinion of the topic you want to take, then give me the completed thesis statement.

In this course, I would like you to write the thesis statement and follow the thesis statement with the essay map. The essay map must tell me three points that support your thesis statement.

For example, if your thesis statement is, My friend and I decided to take advantage of the winter season and go on a ski trip, not knowing that a wrong turn down the mountain would result in a terrifying experience. Your essay map might include points like: facing your fears, advice from others, and digging deep for courage.

Do you see how the essay map tells me three ideas to write about on the topic of "being scared"?

So, here is an example of the thesis and essay map on "A Time When I Was Scared":

My friend and I decided to take advantage of the winter season and go on a ski trip, not knowing that a wrong turn down the mountain would result in a terrifying experience. By facing my fears, accepting advice from strangers, and digging down deep for the courage to move on, I made it through alive.

Outline for Paper

This section discusses how to write an outline. The outline is basically a road map of how to get from the introduction to the conclusion. Once the outline is done, the rest of the paper falls into place. The outline is kind of like a skeleton. It's what the paper "hangs on".

For the outline, I would do the following:

I. facing fear

II. advice from others

III. gaining the courage to move on

Use capital letters (A., B., C.) to support each main point with details.

For Roman Numeral I. I might support the topic of "facing fear" with: exposing my fear, remembering my past lessons, and "going for it"

So, my first point would look like this:

I. facing fear

A. fear exposed

B. remembering my past lessons

C. going for it

Now I'm ready for Roman Numeral II.

II. advice from others

A. advice given by a stranger

B. deciding to listen to the advice

C. following the advice

Finally, Roman Numeral III.

III. gaining the courage to move on

A. moving forward and "doing"

B. falling again

C. getting up again

Writing the Paragraph

**When writing a topic sentence, make sure it is on only one topic. for example, if I took a topic from my outline above like Roman Numeral III. "gaining the courage to move on", I might write a topic sentence like:

Key thought: Remember to look at the first sentence of the paragraph (topic sentence) and see if the sentences following this topic sentence help further explain it. For example, if the topic sentence is "Living with my roommate is unbearable", then the sentences following MUST be about how or why my roommate is unbearable.

By using an outline, it is easy to "stay on topic" and write a paragraph correctly.

Writing the Introduction

Look at the 15 examples of “lead in” devices on pp 80-82 to get some ideas of different methods of writing the Lead-in

The intro paragraph must “grab” the reader’s interest, start in a general manner and then focus to your specific topic, with the last two sentences your thesis and essay map.

Going from a general manner and focusing on your specific topic is the confusing part sometimes.

Let me give an example.

Let’s say you are trying to convince people to eat poptarts for breakfast in the morning. Generally speaking you could mention that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and carbs are good to get your energy level up quickly. Being more specific, you could then say, poptarts are simple to fix thereby making sure you don’t skip breakfast and they give you the carbs you need for that jumpstart in the morning.

Notice I went from general (breakfast is important)

More specific (carbs are a good choice for breakfast)

Even more specific and leads into thesis statement (pop tarts fill that need for breakfast and carbs)

As you noticed from the examples on pages 80-82, there are lots of different ways to write the Lead-in. Pick one and try it.

Remember, do something to get my attention, go from general to specific, and then finish the paragraph with the thesis statement followed by the essay map as the last two sentences of the intro paragraph.

The intro paragraph should be about 5-7 sentences long. Don't get carried away with a story and have 50 bazillion sentences in the intro. Just give me enough info to make me want to read the rest of the paper.

Writing the Conclusion

Using what you have learned, write a one paragraph conclusion.

Tip: Do not rewrite your thesis statement and essay map in the conclusion word for word. Find another way to state what the paper was about and including your three points. Try to write the conclusion in about 6 or 7 sentences.

So, here are the main thoughts about a conclusion:

1) introduce no new "stuff". It should only sum up what was already said

2) find a way to restate the thesis and three points in your essay map without restating them the same way you did in the intro paragraph (this is the hard part)

3) sum up the paper and bring it to a close

Adding Transitions

At this point in your 5 paragraph paper, you have 5 paragraphs, but they do not flow into one another. This is the next step. To finish your 5 paragraph paper, you need to insert transitional phrases after the second and third paragraphs. These transitional phrases give a smooth transition between each paragraph since they “slide” you into the next paragraph. With no transitions, the paper is choppy and pieced together.

If you need help with ideas for "transitional words", you can click on the button below for some suggestions.

The reasons the transitional phrases are only after the second and third paragraphs are:

•

No need after the intro paragraph since the thesis and essay map lead the reader into the second paragraph

•

No need after the fourth paragraph since you are concluding in the fifth paragraph and not introducing anything new in this fifth paragraph

Example, from a student, of a 5 paragraph paper written with the thesis/essay map of:

attention getter

thesis and essay map with 3 points

topic sentence

transition sentence

topic sentence in first sentence

transition sentence

and topic sentence in first sentence

conclusion to sum up the 3 points and close the paper

Keeping busy in the winter season is especially important for those who live in cold weather or in areas where there is snow. A great outdoor activity in the wintertime is skiing or snowboarding which many people participate in. My friend and I had decided to take advantage of the winter season and go on a ski trip, not knowing that a wrong turn down the mountain would result in a terrifying experience. By facing my fears, accepting advice from strangers, and digging down deep for the courage to move on, I made it through alive.

Our wrong turn brought us to this amazingly steep mountain that I had never attempted to master before, but my one and only option was to face my fears and begin the slow slide forward, so that's exactly what I did. Many thoughts went through my mind, the skiing class I took at age seven on the kiddie mountain, and how afterward on my first real run I went straight down the mountain, knocking over a young child and forgetting everything I had just learned in the class. But I knew that I had come to a point of no return; and skiing down this horrifying mountain was my only choice, so my journey continued. I tried to remember that I did have the information needed in order to ski successfully, so I used that to begin the long run ahead of me. About a quarter of the way down the mountain and many falls later I wanted to give up, knowing that was not an option, I instead sat and pondered the safest way for me to continue my attempt. As I watched other people breeze down past me, I let go of the fear I had inside and I felt the motivation to continue. So I got back up, decided to be persistent, and make progress to the bottom little by little, but soon after I took a pretty good tumble. I continued to slide down the mountain as my skis stayed where I fell.

As I sat on the side of this mountain, fearful, and wondering what to do next, a stranger came up offering some much needed advice. He told me that when I got up, the best thing to do is round the corner, turn sharply and if I had to, try and cut back up the mountain. He said it would reduce my speed and may even bring me to a complete stop so that I don't continue down at an unbearable speed. He gave me back my skis he had recovered, which I tried so desperately to get on my own but failed. I thanked the man and tried to analyze his advice and thinking, "Yes, this should work, now if only I can bring myself to do it." I was happy to accept this advice and the courage it gave me to keep on moving. I stood up, somehow managing to get my skis back under my feet and made my first terrifying turn. I came to the edge of the mountain and stuck by this advice, turning sharply and cutting back up, coming to a complete stop. I actually did it!

At this point I was feeling thankful for the advice given and believed I was actually going to be able to ride smoothly to the bottom, but as I stood on the side of the mountain and looked down, I had to dig deep for the courage to go on. I knew that this was not going to be easy and it seemed to be getting steeper by the foot, but regardless of the incline, I somehow continued. I was very proud of myself for getting this far without losing hope or giving up. When I got back up however, my next shot at it wasn't as promising. I stuck with the man's advice, but didn't achieve what I set out to do this time. I wasn't going to let this discourage me for the rest of this run and I was determined to master it. I guess I gained too much confidence because again I lost my skis, but this time I tumbled, then proceeded to slide on my rear. Not slowing down, but picking up speed rather, my body was heading straight for the trees with absolutely no control over where I would stop. I turned on my stomach and tried to claw at the ice layered snow to slow down, but this was doing me no good. I jabbed the heel of my ski boots into the mountain over and over and I finally came to a stop. Once I gained back my whereabouts, I realized the last section of this mountain would be a breeze compared to what I just accomplished. My friend was right behind me this whole way trying to help. He had picked my skis up for me this time and returned them, helping me put them back on. I stood up and soared to the bottom effortlessly and very proud. I had made it through this terrifying experience alive! In addition to now having a story to tell, I learned a few things about skiing and people.

Although this was an extremely tough run for me, I somehow managed to complete it, and I can't say it was all bad. I found that when I'm faced with a seemingly impossible challenge if I just dig down deep, I'll find courage to face my fears, making the impossible, possible. I also learned that there are very kind people who truly care about others, without expecting anything in return. Although many people passed me without second thought, I had a concerned stranger stop to see if I was okay, pick up my skis, return them, and offer his advice. My trips to the mountain have become less demanding and much more fun as a result of our mistaken turn. I can appreciate skiing down the intermediate slopes now, knowing that I have accomplished the hardest one that there is! And I am much more careful with the turns I make, having learned my lesson the hard way.