1. The Five Paragraph Essay & The One Paragraph Analysis
How to Write
The Five Paragraph Essay & The One Paragraph Analysis
Adapted from a lesson by Robert Valois

2. Title "The Scarlet Ibis”: A Lesson in Pride
Use the topic and your thesis to focus your title.
You can include the text name, especially if the title is otherwise vague.
Tip: create your title after writing everything else.
Tip: repeat a key phrase from your writing.
Sample topic: write an essay in which you show how the plot, character, and setting communicate the theme of "The Scarlet Ibis”.
Sample essay title:
"The Scarlet Ibis”:
A Lesson in Pride

3. The Five Paragraph Essay

4. Introduction, part 1 (1-2 sentences)
Introduce the topic in a general way; lay the foundation for your thesis. Include the title and author’s name.
James Hurst’s “The Scarlet Ibis” is a beautifully written story that is not about a rare red bird that dies after becoming lost in a storm. It is about a beautiful and rare human being who is destroyed by the thunderstorm of human pride.
Style Notes
Antithesis is contrasting ideas in a balanced way:
“is not about” - “is about”
“a rare red bird” - “a beautiful and rare human being’
“that dies” - “who is destroyed’
“lost in a storm” – “thunderstorm of human pride”

5. Introduction, part 2 (1 sentence)
Write your thesis (the main idea of your essay) at the end of the intro paragraph.
Three basic elements of fiction—character, setting, and plot—help communicate this theme of pride and its lethal consequences.
Style Notes
Use key words from the topic to make your connection clear.
Listing or foreshadowing supporting ideas helps you stay focused. However, be sure they are mentioned in the same order they are discussed later.

6. Body ¶ One [1 topic sentence]
Create your topic sentence by giving a general statement of what this paragraph is about.
The differences in the two brothers’ characters reveal the source of the narrator’s prideful feelings, which is his belief that Doodle is a source of embarrassment.
Style Notes
Use literary terms where appropriate to show your knowledge of story structure and features.

7. Body ¶ One [6-8 supporting sentences]
The topic sentence should be followed by 6-8 sentences that include 2-4 specific examples from the text. These should each directly support your topic sentence, and therefore support your thesis.

8. Body ¶ One [6-8 supporting sentences]
Example 1
The narrator is athletic and full of energy: “I thought myself pretty smart at many things, like holding my breath…or climbing the vines of Old Woman Swamp” (316). He wanted a brother who was physically active and athletic, but Doodle is born sickly and “must be always treated gently” (317). During his first five years of life, Doodle could only crawl, and when he finally learns to walk, he is still unable to play the games and sports that his brother can. Yet Doodle has no real interest in becoming athletic. When the narrator tells Doodle that he is going to teach him to walk, Doodle, “sitting comfortably on the soft grass,’ says, ‘Why?’” (318). Thus, Doodle is “a disappointment” (316) and his brother tries to make Doodle into “something or someone to be proud of” (318).
Example 2
Example 3

9. Direct quotes are used as evidence to prove the topic sentence.
Style Notes
Direct quotes are used as evidence to prove the topic sentence.
Quotes are integrated into the writer’s own sentences; they never stand alone. If you need to change the form of a word, surround it by [ ].
Unnecessary words are left out and replaced with … to indicate the alteration. NB: This does NOT apply to words left out of the start or end.
The narrator is athletic and full of energy: “I thought myself pretty smart at many things, like holding my breath... or climbing the vines of Old Woman Swamp” (316).

10. Body ¶ TWO Repeat: topic sentence, then 6-8 supporting sentences.
The natural setting also serves to communicate the theme of pride. Nature represents Doodle’s humble and selfless acts and the brother’s prideful and selfish ones. For example, Doodle shows compassion for the fallen ibis by burying the bird “while singing softly ‘Shall We Gather at the River’” (322). Therefore, the beautiful red bird becomes a symbol for Doodle’s inner beauty. In contrast, the narrator refuses to show compassion for Doodle and leaves him behind to die, even though he “knew [Doodle] was watching for a sign of mercy” (322). The narrator’s prideful actions are then demonized by the terrific thunderstorm that “roar[ed] through the pines…like a bursting Roman candle” (322). Furthermore, the remote setting of the Old Woman Swamp allows the narrator to carry out his prideful plan without anyone’s knowledge and where he leaves Doodle, driven to exhaustion, to die.
Style Notes
Use transition words to indicate how your ideas are connected.

11. Body ¶ THREE Repeat: topic sentence, then 6-8 supporting sentences.
The plot is constructed around the narrator’s prideful thoughts and actions. In the exposition, the source of the narrator’s pride is revealed--he is embarrassed to have an abnormal brother: “It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one that was not all there was unbearable” (317). The conflict that drives the rising action begins when the narrator makes it his goal to teach Doodle how to walk “because [he] was ashamed of having a crippled brother” (319). Here, the narrator reveals “that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices” (319). During the climax, Doodle is pushed to the point of exhaustion by his prideful brother’s “development program” (320). Of course, the resolution shows the final evil act of pride: the narrator punishes Doodle for failing the “program” by leaving him to die in the fateful storm.
Style Notes
Use precise words, such as literary terms and key words from the topic and thesis. But be careful of repetition: this paragraph says “pride” too often.

12. Conclusion
Restate your thesis in a new way; be thoughtful and reflective.
Pride kills Doodle. Yet through recounting the story of Doodle’s death, the narrator is able to cleanse himself of guilt and painfully recognize how his pride, this “streak of cruelty,” is evil (323). Furthermore, the young narrator finally performs a selfless, prideless act as he “shelters his fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of the rain” (323).
Style Notes
Always cite quotations, whether they are direct or indirect (paraphrased).
All you need is the page (or line) number surrounded by ( ).
Punctuation goes on the outside of quotation marks.

13. The One Paragraph Analysis

14. CONDENSE the essay
It is essentially a body paragraph, but since it’s the only paragraph, it’s more focused—it concentrates on one idea.
Formula:
1 sentence thesis statement
5-8 Supporting sentences, including 2-4 specific examples
1-2 sentence conclusion

15. analysis
The natural setting in “The Scarlet Ibis” serves to communicate the short story’s theme of pride. Both Doodle’s humble and selfless acts, and the brother’s prideful and selfish ones, are represented by nature. For example, Doodle shows compassion for the fallen ibis by burying the bird “while singing softly ‘Shall We Gather at the River’” (322). Therefore, the beautiful red bird becomes a symbol for Doodle’s inner beauty. In contrast, the narrator refuses to show compassion for Doodle and leaves him behind to die, even though he “knew [Doodle] was watching for a sign of mercy” (322). The narrator’s prideful actions are then demonized by the terrific thunderstorm that “roar[ed] through the pines…like a bursting Roman candle” (322). Furthermore, the remote setting of the Old Woman Swamp allows the narrator to carry out his prideful plan without anyone’s knowledge and where he leaves Doodle, driven to exhaustion, to die. The use of the outside world to symbolize the results of the brothers’ pride (or lack thereof) reinforces the theme in James Hurst’s story.

17. Assignment Write a formal paragraph analysis on the following topic:
Discuss one significant motif in “The Scarlet Ibis”.