Doctorate Students Writing Class Steve Peterson Week 4 “ 5-paragraph Essay ” “ Writing an Introduction ” “ Examples of Purpose Statements ”

Writing the 5-Paragraph Essay

A Concise, Clear Presentation of Your Ideas When you present your ideas in an essay in English, you should use the style of writing that suits this language. The five-paragraph essay helps you to do that by stating your idea at the beginning, giving clear support, and then re-stating your idea at the end.

Writing the 5-Paragraph Essay b b There is nothing special about the 5- paragraph essay except that it is a clear way of showing us how to write using the western structure of writing. The main goal of learning about the 5-paragraph essay is to teach us the western structure of writing. b b Most essays will not be exactly 5 paragraphs long, some will be shorter and others longer.

The Format b Introductory paragraph b Supporting paragraph #1 b Supporting paragraph #2 b Supporting paragraph #3 b Concluding paragraph The format you use is quite straightforward:

The Format b b The Introductory Paragraph The introduction is always the first paragraph in an essay. It will always contain the purpose statement which is usually located at the end of the introduction. This is the most important sentence in the essay. The rest of the essay will be related to this sentence.

The Format b b The Supporting Paragraphs This is called the Body of the essay. These paragraphs explain, define, clarify and illustrate the purpose statement. Each paragraph consists of a topic sentence, several supporting sentences and a concluding sentence. The number of paragraphs depends on the length of the assignment. We will learn more about these in another class.

The Format b b Concluding Paragraph This paragraph completes the essay usually by summarizing what has been written.

The Format b b Purpose Statement and Plan When beginning to write an essay the first thing you must do is write a purpose statement. You must also know the main supporting points for the purpose statement. This is what we call the plan for the essay.

The first step is to choose a topic. For example: Smoking is bad.

Purpose Statement and Plan Now you’re ready to put together your main idea and support ideas, which we will call the “Purpose statement,” and “plan,” respectively.

Purpose Statement and Plan b A primary subject. b A definite opinion. TIP Your purpose statement is usually the last sentence of your introductory paragraph. Your Purpose statement should have two things:

Purpose Statement A Purpose Statement should have a primary subject that can be written about in the space that you have. For example, “Love” is not a very good subject for a 5-paragraph essay, because it is too broad.

Purpose Statement The Purpose Statement should have a definite opinion because we can not say much about facts; they are either true or not true. So, we create a sentence like...

Purpose Statement Smoking is an awful habit.

Purpose Statement Smoking is an awful habit. We have our primary subject, “smoking”...

Purpose Statement Smoking is an awful habit. And our definite opinion, “it’s an awful habit.”

Plan b b The plan lets the reader know how you will develop your idea. b b Try to avoid sentences like, “I will write about ….” or “I will prove my argument in this way....” b b It can be very effective if you put your purpose statement and plan together in one sentence, though this is not necessary.

Plan Since we are writing a five-paragraph essay, let’s choose 3 supporting points.

Plan b b Smoking is dirty b b Smoking makes you smell bad. b b Smoking damages your health.

Plan Smoking is dirty, it makes the smoker smell bad, and it damages the smoker’s health. Now let’s put them together:

Smoking is an awful habit, because it is dirty, it makes the smoker smell bad, and it damages the smoker’s health. Purpose Statement and Plan Now let’s put the Purpose Statement and Plan together:

Smoking is an awful habit, because it is dirty, it makes the smoker smell bad, and it damages the smoker’s health. Purpose Statement and Plan Now let’s put the Purpose Statement and Plan together:

Introductory paragraph Now that we have the main idea, and how we will develop it, let’s start to build our whole introductory paragraph.

Introductory Paragraph Your introductory paragraph should do two things. First, catch the reader’s attention so that the reader will be interested in your topic. After the reader has read the introduction they should want to continue to read what you have written. Second, It should also tell him/her what the main idea of your paper is.

Introductory paragraph There are four parts to this paragraph: b b Motivator b b Transition b b Purpose Statement b b Plan

Motivator b b Catch the attention and interest of the reader; b b Stimulate the reader’s curiosity. The idea of the motivator is to...

Motivator An Interesting Story A Surprising Fact or Idea An Opposite Opinion A Quotation A Rhetorical Question An effective motivator might use...

Motivator b b An Interesting Story: -the main point of your story should be related to the rest of your essay.

Motivator My nephew, a middle school student, indulged in computer games last year. When his classes were over he would rush out of the classroom and go into the internet bars which were located near his school. Though he got great joy from the computer games, he failed in the National Exam this summer. He is now full of pain and regret.

Motivator b b A Surprising Fact or Idea: Example: Soon there will be more divorces in the United States than marriages.

Motivator b b An Opposite Opinion -In such an introduction, your purpose statement contradicts what many or most people believe.

Motivator b b Example of Opposite Opinion: Recently, many articles have been written that oppose people having the freedom to own their own gun. They say this freedom increases the level of crime and lowers the sense of safety and security. Despite these facts, I believe every person should have the freedom to buy and use a gun if they choose.

Motivator b b A Quotation: This is likely to catch the reader’s attention. You can then continue by agreeing or disagreeing with this quote. Make sure the wording of the quote is accurate.

Motivator b b Quotation: Example: “Marriage is the tomb of love.”

Motivator b b A Rhetorical Question: A rhetorical question asks a question that the body of the essay will answer and discuss. The purpose of a rhetorical question is to cause the reader to think more deeply about the topic that will be written about in the essay.

Motivator b b A Rhetorical Question: Example: What are the key factors in having a successful marriage? Marriage is an important part of the lives of many people. It is important to know what the key factors of a successful marriage are.

Motivator-- Motivator-- Smoking Look at the following example related to smoking. This is a combination of “Opposite Opinion” and “Telling a story”. There she was, Mary Jones, looking absolutely stunning in her long black dress, beautiful eyes, and cigarette lying on her red lips. This wonderful actress was the image of feminine beauty in the 1950’s, letting women know that a cigarette was as important a part of a woman’s clothing as her dress.

Motivator