Natural Therapies Institute

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Mastering the Five Paragraph Essay without Any Problems

The five paragraph essay is one of the most basic writing styles. It can be used to write all sorts of papers. When you master the five paragraph essay style, you can write it without any problems.

Formatting your paper:

  • An outline can help you format your paper properly in the five paragraph format. Here is how the outline should be set up.
  • Introduction: The introduction should include background information on your topic. It should define any terms that you may be using that may not be common knowledge. Also, your introduction should end with a thesis sentence. The thesis sentence should be a specific synopsis of your paper in one sentence. It is the main reason for writing your paper. It should list your three reasons.
  • 1st Supporting Reason: The first paragraph will be supporting evidence for your first reason. It should prove the first reason that you listed in your thesis sentence. It should start off with a transition sentence. It could be a simple transition like “the first reason” or “first”. This paragraph should have at least two solid supporting facts with a description of why the fact proves the supporting reason. The last sentence should be a transition to the 2nd supporting reason.
  • 2nd Supporting Reason: This should follow the same format as the last paragraph. Transitions should be used to indicate that you have moved on to discussing the second supporting reason and end with a transition that links the second reason to the third.
  • 3rd Supporting Reason: Follow the same instructions for the third supporting paragraph. Transitions should signify this as a new supporting reason.
  • Conclusion: The conclusion should restate the thesis and by doing this it will have restated the three supporting reasons. It will also bring to light something for the readers to think about. It should include an interesting fact. The conclusion is the last thing that your reader has to remember the paper by so make sure it is interesting.

The format of a five paragraph essay is pretty basic. It can be expanded by adding additional paragraphs that explain each supporting idea or to give more back ground information if needed. Most essays will only need the five paragraphs that are listed in this formatting example. Be sure to use your transitions and to write a solid introduction and conclusion.

 
 

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