The Five Paragraph Essay

Introduction Hook: Story, Vivid Description, Outside Quote, Rhetorical Question, Allusion Background: Author, Context, Genre Thesis: Persuasive claim backed by reason.

Exemplar In 1938, the House on Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was created to investigate alleged disloyal and subversive activities by American citizens suspected to have Communist ties. By 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy led the charge to blame respected journalists, artists, and other politicians under an increasingly fuzzy mandate, and the era of “McCarthyism” found Americans pointing their fingers at each other in what later became a modern-day “witch-hunt.” That Arthur Miller could have predicted what would come creates even more intrigue, as he too, became the object of accusation. Through allegory, realistic setting detail, and exceptional characterization, Miller’s “The Crucible” serves as a relevant reminder of how a high- jacked political system can turn on the very citizens it claims to represent.

Body Paragraphs (x3) Claim (never start with a quote or evidence) - Persuasive sub-category from thesis that helps your overall argument. - Functions as a Topic Sentence to your paragraph Data - Any Paraphrase/ Quote/ or Summary combination that introduces evidence to back up your claim - Any Outside Connections (Allusions) or Observations and Personal Experience you can bring to the topic as evidence to back up your claim. Commentary - Connect your evidence to claim. - Explain any inferences or implications in the evidence. - As a rule of thumb, 2/3 of every body paragraph should be commentary - Any transitional statements connecting to the next Data or next Claim Paragraph

Conclusion Re-statement of Thesis Search for Universal Truths Contribution to Humanity