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SUCCEED IN SCHOOL
5-Paragraph Essays
Five paragraph essays are frequently assigned in freshman English classes. The format is relatively simple and gives students the opportunity to practice several different rhetorical models: descriptive writing, compare/contrast, persuasive writing, definition, classification, and narrative writing.
Regardless of the purpose of the essay, a basic five-paragraph essay is written in the following format:
Paragraph 1: Introduction (including your thesis statement)
Paragraph 2, 3, and 4: Supporting details
Paragraph 5: Conclusion
Descriptive Essays
The purpose of a descriptive essay is to describe something--a person, a place, or an object--for your reader. You provide specific details that paint a picture with words so that your reader can visualize your subject.
Remember, too, that words like interesting, beautiful, good, unique, and important are vague. These are not specific descriptive words. For example, the phrase "good friend" is not specific. What makes someone a good friend?
Compare the following:
Dan is a good friend, so his sudden change of behavior was hard to understand.
Dan is willing to do anything for a friend--listen to complaints, provide a place to sleep at short notice, loan his tools, car, and money--practically give the shirt off his back. That's why his refusal to help me when my wife and I separated was so hard to understand.
See the difference? The first description does not tell us anything about Dan's normal behavior or about the sudden change in his behavior. But, the second description tells us how supportive and dependable Dan has been in the past. Now, he has refused to help his friend. We can begin to speculate as to the reason for the change in his behavior.
Remember that the purpose of your essay is to vividly describe an object, person, or place. Use all of the techniques available to you. For example, you could use a simile, which is a figure of speech in which two unlike objects, people, or places are compared using like or as. He was hurrying to his destination, like a locomotive on a downhill slope.
A metaphor could be used, which is a figure of speech comparing two objects using a word that usually designates something else. For example, He was in a mountain of trouble. Mountain is the metaphor indicating a large amount of trouble.
As you can see, there are many different techniques for painting detailed description. Experiment with these different techniques, until you find the most effective means for describing your object, person, or place.
Cause Essays
Cause essays explain the reason for doing something (or not doing something). Why did you decide to have takeout last night instead of cooking dinner for your family? Why did you decide to go back to school?
Your opening paragraph generally contains your thesis statement and your introduction. The second, third, and fourth paragraphs provide details about what caused you to make the decision you made. The reasons should be documented in order of significance. What was the primary reason you did (or did not) do something? The fifth, and final paragraph, is your conclusion.
Effect Essays
Effect essays explain the consequences of a specific course of action. For example, what was the result of having a takeout dinner last night? Were your children still hungry after eating a meal that did not fill them up? Did your husband have an upset stomach after eating the greasy food? Did you have more time to do some other activity that was important to you?
Each effect (or consequence) should have its own paragraph. These are your supporting details, which lead to your conclusion.
(c) 2005 L.M. Orlando. All rights reserved. No portion of this site may be copied by any means without the express written permission of the author.
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