Essay Writing

HOW TO WRITE A 5-PARAGRAPH ESSAY

BY: DR MUNGUNGU-SHIPALE

• By the end of this lesson you should be able to:

• identify parts of a five paragraph essay

• name the three types of essay learned in EPR course

• Identify parts of an introductory paragraph

Why do we write essay?

The main purpose of writing an essay is to:

discuss

persuade

describe

explain

interpret or

analyse a particular topic.

Paragraph to Essay• In essay writing, we want to expand our ideas as

much as possible, while STILL following a paragraph

structure.

• The only difference is that we introduce the THREE

REASONS in our original paragraph, and each

reason gets its OWN paragraph in the body of the

essay.

• THIS MEANS:

The Structure of an Essay

• The Introduction:- Explains the topic with general ideas.

- It also has the thesis statement and comes at or near the end of

the paragraph.

• The Main body:

- Three body paragraphs

- Explain and support the thesis statement.

• The conclusion: - Summarises or restates the thesis and the supporting ideas of

the essay.

PARAGRAPH ESSAY

TOPIC SENTENCE(states main idea of paragraph)

THESIS STATEMENT(states main ideas of essay)

SUPPORTING SENTENCES(form body of paragraph)

SUPPORTING STATEMENTS(form body of essay)

CONCLUDING SENTENCE(sum up ideas in paragraph)

CONCLUDING STATEMENT(sum up ideas in essay)

Essay Outline

V. Conclusion (5th paragraph)

IV. Third main idea (4th paragraph)

III. Second main idea (3rd paragraph)

II. First main idea (2nd paragraph)

I. Introduction (1st paragraph)

TOPIC:

(Paragraph 1) INTRODUCTION: - General statements

- Thesis statement

(Paragraph 2) BODY: TOPIC SENTENCE 1: Support idea 1

Support idea 2

Support idea 3

Concluding sentence

(Paragraph 3) BODY: TOPIC SENTENCE 2: Support idea 1

Support idea 2

Support idea 3

Concluding sentence

(Paragraph 4) BODY: TOPIC SENTENCE 3: Support idea 1

Support idea 2

Support idea 3

Concluding sentence

(Paragraph 5) CONCLUSION: - Restatement/summary of the main points

- Final comments

An introductory paragraph has 2 parts:

• General statement

Introduce the general topic of the essay.

Capture the reader’s interest.

• Thesis statement

States the specific topic.

May list subtopics or subdivisions.

May indicate the pattern of organisation.

Is normally the last sentence in the introductory paragraph.

The body paragraphs are used to:

• Develop your topic.

• Prove your points.

The body paragraph should have:

• Some sort of pattern (chronological order or

comparison/contrast, or a combination of both)

• A logical division of ideas (division into subtopics and discussion

of these subtopics in separate paragraphs)

• The conclusion is the final paragraph

in an essay. It has three purposes:

• It signals the end of the essay.

• It reminds the reader of your main points. You can do this in two

ways:

• Summarise your subtopics.

• Paraphrase your thesis.

• It leaves the reader with your final thoughts on the topic.

Types of

Essay

•Argumentative

•Opinion

• http://www.slideshare.net/legendofsheena/essay-writing-29651899?qid=48f2266a-d77e-4b25-8121-39177edaae27&v=qf1&b=&from_search=2

• http://www.slideshare.net/mumarialuisa/essay-writing-23430869?qid=a9169190-6efb-44f9-b336-7529d189fa24&v=default&b=&from_search=4

• http://www.slideshare.net/edibrata/essay-writing-5th-types-of-essay?qid=48f2266a-d77e-4b25-8121-39177edaae27&v=qf1&b=&from_search=3

• http://www.slideshare.net/pietvanderlaan/essay-writing-structure?qid=48f2266a-d77e-4b25-8121-39177edaae27&v=qf1&b=&from_search=18