Almost all secondary, high school and college assignments essentially comprise an essay writing section. Contrary to what most students feel, writing a five-paragraph or a basic essay is not an abstruse or perplexing task. If you’ve a fair idea of what essentially goes into an essay or composition and how to flesh it out, you’ll be able to sail through confidently regardless of whether you’ve any idea about the topic or not.
An essay can take many forms including literary, comparative, argumentative, expository, and narrative. However, students appearing in a standardized exam, usually have to write either a literary essay or an opinionated composition where they’ve to convince the reader as to why they support a particular perspective. The word limit for such essays is generally 500-700 where the entire write-up or piece is broken down into five sections namely introduction, first, second, and third paragraph, and a conclusion.
5-Paragraph Essays Introduction Writing
The introduction serves as a foreword or preface that summarizes what you’ve specified in the body of the essay. So, you’d need to clearly, and in a straightforward manner express your idea or opinion in as many few words as possible. Articulating your opinion in a single sentence with a touch of humor (but not overdoing it) will arrest the attention of the reader. Thereafter, write an assertive or forceful introductory sentence about your take on the central idea. Finally, mention three reasons for supporting your opinion.
5-Paragraph Essays Supporting Details
Once you’re through with your introduction which obviously is the most challenging part, presenting the body should be smooth sailing. If you’ve been successful in penning a dynamic and convincing prologue, you’ll be able to breeze through the 2nd 3rd and 4th paragraphs that constitute the body. The three principal points that you had outlined in the 1st paragraph will now have to be critically evaluated in three distinct paras.
The structure of all the paragraphs will be more or less identical or at least similar. Begin by penning down the first point that supports/negates the topic of the essay. For instance if the topic of the essay is ‘public transportation is more convenient than private vehicles for all traveling purposes-write for or against the topic’ and in case you’re writing in favor of the theme, then you could begin by stating that more commuters taking public transportation would lead to less traffic jams or snarl-ups.
Supports Your Argument
Next, elaborate or describe your statement by jotting three or four lines that supports your argument. Your next paragraph will state the 2nd strategic viewpoint that corroborates your standpoint. You could convey that taking a bus or suburban train helps in making savings on gasoline, maintenance cost, and parking fees.
Thereafter, explain how riding the metro or taking the tram results in the savings mentioned above. In order to reinforce your account and rebut the opposing viewpoint, fortify your argument with circumstantial evidence in the form of quotes, facts, statistics, and instances. For the third paragraph, you can make an assertion that is simply irrefutable or indisputable.
If your third and final viewpoint is unquestionable and overwhelming, it’ll add meat to your essay and you’ll be able to finish off with panache. You could say that more people taking public transportation means fewer private cars or automobiles on road. And lesser vehicles on roads translate into reduced environmental pollution. If you so wish, you can sum up your three ‘point of view’ to make the body appear more robust but nevertheless it’s not essential.
Conclusion – Summarize The Essay
It is conclusion that’ll establish your intimacy with the readers. So, how you sum-up your arguments or points and furnish an ultimate perspective will decide how close you can get to the reader. You do not need to be verbose in the concluding paragraphs as you did that job with perfection in the preceding paras.
The final paragraph should capture the essence of what you’ve penned in the previous paragraphs, and in a single sentence, if possible. So, understandably wrapping up the composition could be as difficult as penning the introduction. Your penultimate sentence should state the gist in a clear-cut and convincing manner without being superfluous.