How to Write a 5 Paragraph Essay for English Composition 101

Most college student have to write 5 paragraph essays for beginning English Composition classes. I helped hundreds of students do so as an English tutor at my university. In this article, I will give the basic information about how to write such an essay.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Your professor's guidelines

1. The typical beginning college English composition essay requires 5 paragraphs. You should understand that the first paragraph is the Introductory paragraph and it should contain a Topic sentence and a Thesis Statement. The next three paragraphs are the body of the essay and each of these paragraphs should support your thesis statement. The final paragraph is a conclusion to the essay and should reiterate your basic thesis and tie up any loose ends should you have any.
2. There are several types of 5 paragraph essays. Understand what your teacher wants. Different professors will have different names for types of essays. What it is called doesn't matter. What matters is that you understand what your teacher wants you to do. A popular essay type in freshman classes is a 'point of view' essay. This is where you must take a view of a controversial issue and explain your view of the issue and why you believe you are right. An example of this type of controversial essay is abortion rights. Another is gay marriage. What is your view on the subject? Why is your view correct? Those are the questions you would need to answer for this type of essay.
3. The Introductory Paragraph:
   In your introductory paragraph, you need to let the reader know what you are going to be writing about in your essay. This is a topic sentence. The topic sentence is usually the first sentence in the essay but not always. It can be second if you are a good writer.
   
   Let's pretend you are going to write about gay marriage. For your topic sentence, you might write a general statement about the issue such as, "Gay marriage is an issue that often makes the nightly news." This has let your reader know immediately what you are going to be writing about.
   
   Your thesis statement is going to tell the reader what your view about this issue is. Let's pretend you think that gay marriage is a good thing. Your thesis statement is generally the last or second to the last sentence in the introductory paragraph. Let's pretend that you are in favor of gay marriage. Then your thesis statement might read something like this, "Gay people deserve the same rights as other people who are in love."
   
   The rest of the Introductory paragraph should be filled with generalized statements that are cohesive and flow together.
   
   For example, after the topic sentence I gave above, you might write something like, "Whether we like it or not, homosexual people exist in the world and they are humans who have the same needs as heterosexual people."
4. The 3 Body Paragraphs:
   In the three body paragraphs you need to pick a main point that adds credibility to your thesis statement. In each paragraph, give your evidence.
   In our example about gay marriage in the Introductory paragraph, we stated that we feel favorable about gay people being allowed to marry. So now you will need to pick three facts that you believe support your statement. The first fact will be the topic of your first body paragraph, the second fact, the topic of your second body paragraph and the third fact of course, the topic of your third paragraph.
   For example, in the first body or supportive paragraph you might write something like, "Statistics show that homosexuals enjoy a higher standard of living than the average population." In that paragraph, write what this means and why this helps support your original thesis statement.
   Your second fact, the topic of your second paragraph might read something like this, "Homosexual couples who have been in stable relationships for thirty years may suddenly find themselves unable to visit their partners or help make decisions about their care in a hospital setting." And perhaps give an example or more information about this fact and why this fact supports your thesis statement.
   Your third fact and paragraph topic could be something like, "Crime statistics show that homosexuals are less likely to be pedophiles than the average heterosexual male." And then of course explain why that supports your thesis that is in favor of gay marriage.
5. Conclusion:
   Many students struggle with the last paragraph. It is sometimes the hardest because for the most part, you are reiterating what you have already written in the previous four paragraphs. Do not add new information. You can however, expand on what you've written earlier. Write the conclusion in a way that reminds the reader what your thesis statement was and why it was the correct conclusion to come to about the issue. An example of a conclusive paragraph for our gay marriage topic might start out this way, "Homosexuality is something that isn't going to go away. As a society, we must make an effort to accommodate all of our citizens. Marriage is a privilege that should be enjoyed by all of us and that includes gay people." Naturally you will want to add a couple of more sentences along the same vein.
6. After you have finished your paper, leave it for a few hours. Come back and read it through. Then read it aloud. Reading your paper aloud will help determine if you have your tenses correct. As you read aloud, you will catch minor mistakes that your teacher will take points off your paper for and those are the ones that might make the difference between a C and a B. As you catch a mistake, fix it and continue until the end. Then re-write your paper.
   Don't rely on spell checkers. They don't catch grammar problems and can sometimes add to them. Instead, ask your friend, your mother, your roommate or whomever to read your paper and ask them to be honest with you. Use a spell checker, but don't rely on it to know when you've made a mistake. If you write "heir" instead of "hair", your spellchecker won't catch the mistake, but your professor will.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are unsure about a sentence needing a comma, err on the side of caution. If you put a comma in that doesn't belong, your teacher will count off for it. If your paper is well-constructed and easy to read, your professor may not notice a missing comma. But a comma that shouldn't be there is like a glaring strobe light to teachers.
• If you don't understand how you are supposed to write your essay, ask your teacher until you truly understand what he wants from you. If you are still struggling, tell your professor you are struggling.
• Most universities offer tutoring services. Find out what is available. You may be eligible for free tutoring. Many colleges offer free tutors to students who are the first in their family to go to college.