rFive Paragraph Essay Outline Teachers can use these steps to teach students how to write a great five paragraph essay by using outlines and properly organizing thoughts, topics, and details. These directions are written for students to follow when choosing a topic, creating a basic outline, and writing the essay. Read more: http://www. brighthub. com/education/k-12/articles/2999. aspx#ixzz0lQaL6vBg Step 1 – Choose a Good Topic When writing an essay, it is important to choose a topic that is not too broad. For example, do not write about football.
Choose something more specific, like football drills, the greatest football team, football equipment, football practice, etc. It is important that you can think of three main ideas that you want to discuss in the essay. If you cannot think of three specific ideas to discuss, then the topic is too narrow. If your chosen topic is too narrow, choose a slightly broader topic so specific ideas or details can be listed. For example, if you planned to write about football field goals and couldn’t list many details about it, choose something like scoring points in football. Step 2 – Organize the Essay Organizing an essay can be done in many forms.
Some people like to use graphic organizers like a web. It looks like a spider web with circles connected. In the middle circle, write the main topic. Then make three “spokes” off of the main circle and make three more circles. These will be your body paragraphs’ main ideas. Write the topics in those three circles. Then from those, add two to five more lines or “spokes” from those circles to become details you want to talk about in your essay. Another way to organize an essay is to follow this basic outline form: Topic______________ Thesis Statement (One sentence that tells the reader what the essay will discus Writing the Essay Once the outline is filled out, the essay is quite easy to write. Your ideas are organized. It is important to have good transition words between each main paragraph, such as first, second, third, also, furthermore, hence, etc. The five paragraph essay includes an introduction, three body paragraphs and a conclusion.
Another tip is not to start the essay with “my essay will be about” or “I am going to write about. ” These are boring and not interesting essay beginnings. Think about interesting facts about the topic or famous quotes about the topic to put in the introduction. Make sure to include a thesis statement to inform the reader about the essay’s topic. The introduction can be the hardest part to write; however, it is very important that it is strong. Another part of the essay that many students forget to write is the conclusion. An essay must have one that wraps up the essay. A good way to get the reader to remember your essay is to leave the reader with an interesting thought.
Do not give any new information in this section. It is important to write a rough draft to share with a friend or parent to edit. When editing, ask someone to check that you stayed on topic and used proper writing conventions, such as good spelling, usage, mechanics and grammar. Last, you want to write a final copy. This should be error free. It can be written in pen or typed. Most teachers like a typed copy; however, neatly written essays in pen are acceptable as well. Teachers generally grade an essay on the following criteria: interesting content, organization and writing conventions. Writing a good five paragraph essay can take some time.
Do not wait until the last minute and make sure to have someone edit it before you turn in the final copy to your teacher. Read more: http://www. brighthub. com/education/k-12/articles/2999. aspx#ixzz0lQaPl8km How to Write an Argumentative Essay Step by Step Argumentative essays intimidate lots of students because of the structure an instructor expects. Instructors will expect well-written, tightly-argued essays, but that doesn’t mean the paper needs to be twenty pages long or should refer to a dozen or more sources. What it does mean, however, is that a student takes a stand on an issue, presents his side of the argument while refuting his opposition, and also integrates outside sources that help support his point of view.
That might seem like a lot to do in one paper. It is, but it’s really not much more than students accomplish in other essays. However, by breaking down the steps in putting together an argumentative essay, the paper will likely seem a little easier to write. Here are the various steps to follow to put together a decent argumentative essay. The Introduction – Grab and Keep the Reader While the writer might not ever be able to completely sway her reader, she needs to at least get the reader’s attention right from the start. With an argumentative essay, one of the best ways to do that is to introduce a surprising statistic or summarize an interesting story dealing with the topic at hand.
For example, if a student is writing about why people should not shop at Walmart, she might begin her paper with this sentence: • Did you know that Walmart is the world’s largest company (Dube, Lester, and Eidlin)? Would it surprise you to know that the company is also one of the biggest employers in the world? How does that knowledge impact consumers? How would you feel if I told you that you should stop shopping at Walmart? Not only does this introduction get the reader’s attention, it also leads into the writer’s claim. Find Reasons to Support the Claim Once the writer has laid out his claim for the reader, he needs to support his claim. Through his planning and research, he has likely found several reasons to support his ideas. For a strong argumentative essay, he will want to give at least three.
Using the example topic above, three such reasons might be these • Walmart stores drive out locally owned businesses, thus disrupting local economies. • Walmart stores put Americans out of jobs, because the company buys many of its products from overseas. • Walmart pays its workers low wages. Now that the writer has chosen three reasons to support his claim, he will need to find sources to back his claim; in other words, he needs to conduct some research. Each one of these reasons can be one or more paragraphs long. Not only does the writer want to give his reasons, he then needs to introduce sources to back his reasons, and he needs to explain what he means in detail. Address the Opposition
In her research, the writer is likely to find plenty of arguments contrary to her own. She needs to spend some time examining these ideas and choose one to refute within her paper. If she does not, she is not writing an argumentative paper; furthermore, many readers will dismiss her ideas. So, again looking at the above topic, one argument against the writer’s position that readers should not shop at Walmart is that Walmart typically offers lower prices than its competitors. Because Walmart offers lower prices, many consumers feel that they should shop there. So how can the writer refute this point of view? Not only should she argue against this idea, but she should try to find a way to turn it around.
If she can do that, she is presenting a strong argument. She might choose to do it this way: • Many people refuse to shop elsewhere because Walmart offers lower prices than many of its competitors. Shoppers say they can’t afford to shop elsewhere. But what if I told you that Walmart’s products are of inferior quality? Of course, she again needs to present evidence from sources to back up what she’s said, but by arguing against the opposition – and actually turning the argument around – she has strengthened her argument. The Conclusion Offers the Writer a Chance to Reaffirm His Claim The conclusion is the point where the writer must pull all of his ideas back together and reaffirm his position.
Like his introduction, the writer might choose to ask provoking questions or cite one last statistic. Whatever the case, he needs to end on a strong note. He might end it this way: • When our forefathers founded this great country, they envisioned a land of freedom and prosperity, where a man could pursue whatever he wanted and find a way to survive. I, for one, don’t think the idea of a huge chain like Walmart fits into the vision of our forefathers. Walmart has driven out all the “mom and pop” stores around it and has decimated the American way of life. How many Walmart products have you purchased in the last five years that were actually made in America? How do you think that affects our great nation?
He reminds his readers of his claim as well as some of his reasons as he closes his paper. Writing an Argumentative Essay Step by Step In a nutshell, here are the basic components to an argumentative essay: • Introduction that establishes the writer’s claim. • At least three paragraphs citing three reasons to back the writer’s claim. Each paragraph should include an in-depth explanation as well as “proof” or evidence of what the writer says. • At least one paragraph anywhere in the essay where the writer introduces an idea from the opposition and finds a way to “disprove” it. • A conclusion that reaffirms the writer’s claim and reasons for it. An argumentative essay really isn’t more difficult than other essays.
It may require more research and planning, but when a writer looks at the basic elements and strategizes her paper, she’ll realize that it’s not so difficult after all. Read more at Suite101: How to Write an Argumentative Essay Step by Step: Writing an Academic Paper Doesn’t Have to be Difficult http://essay-writing. suite101. com/article. cfm/how_to_write_an_argumentative_essay_step_by_step#ixzz0lQZTPBeH The copyright of the article How to Write an Argumentative Essay Step by Step in Academic Writing is owned by Cynthia Jones-Shoeman. Permission to republish How to Write an Argumentative Essay Step by Step in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Read more at Suite101: How to Write an Argumentative Essay Step by Step: Writing an Academic Paper Doesn’t Have to be Difficult http://essay-writing. suite101. com/article. cfm/how_to_write_an_argumentative_essay_step_by_step#ixzz0lQZgVr00 Outline of the Five Paragraph Essay |[pic]Introductory Paragraph |[pic]Motivator | | |[pic]Thesis Sentence | |[pic]First Body Paragraph |[pic]Topic Sentence | |
