This can be a classic essay introduction that is five-paragraph.

But Alex’s professor doesn’t want it. She underlines the very first two sentences, and she writes, “This is simply too general. Get to the true point.” She underlines the next and sentences that are fourth and she writes, “You’re just restating the question I asked. What’s your point?” She underlines the final sentence, after which writes into the margin, “What’s your thesis?” because the final sentence into the paragraph only lists topics. It does not make a quarrel.

Is Alex’s professor just a grouch? Well, no—she is trying to show this student that college writing isn’t about following a formula (the five-paragraph model), it’s about making a disagreement. Her first sentence is general, the way she learned a essay that is five-paragraph start. But through the professor’s perspective, it is way too general—so general, in reality, she didn’t ask students to define civil war that it’s completely outside of the assignment. The third and fourth sentences say, in a lot of words, they just restate the prompt, without giving a single hint about where this student’s paper is going“ I am comparing and contrasting the reasons why the North and the South fought the Civil War”—as the professor says. The sentence that is final that ought to make a quarrel, only lists topics; it does not start to explore how or why something happened.

You can guess what Alex will write next if you’ve seen a lot of five-paragraph essays. Her first body paragraph will begin, “We is able to see some of the different explanations why the North and South fought the Civil War by studying the economy.” What will the professor say about that? She may ask, “What differences can we come across? What part of the economy will you be speaing frankly about? How come the differences exist? Why are they important?” The student might write a conclusion that says much the same thing as her introduction, in slightly different words after three such body paragraphs. Alex’s professor might respond, “You’ve already said this!”

What could Alex do differently? Let’s start over. This time around, Alex doesn’t start out with a preconceived notion of how to prepare her essay. In place of three “points,that she will brainstorm until she comes up with a main argument, or thesis, that answers the question “Why did the North and South fight the Civil War?” Then she will decide how to organize her draft by thinking about the argument’s parts and how they fit together” she decides.

After doing a bit of brainstorming and reading the Writing Center’s handout on thesis statements, Alex thinks of a main argument, or thesis statement:

Both Northerners and Southerners believed they fought against tyranny and oppression, but Northerners centered on the oppression of slaves while Southerners defended their rights to property and self-government.

Then Alex writes her introduction. But alternatively of you start with a statement that is general civil wars, she gives us the ideas we need to know so that you can understand all the elements of her argument:

The usa broke far from England in response to British tyranny and oppression, so opposition to tyranny and a belief in individual freedom and liberty were important values into the republic that is young. But in the nineteenth century, slavery made Northerners and Southerners see these values in very different ways. By 1860, the conflict during these values broke out into a war that is civil nearly tore the nation apart. In that war, both Northerners and Southerners believed they fought against tyranny and oppression, but Northerners focused on the oppression of slaves while Southerners defended their rights to property and self-government.

Every sentence in Alex’s introduction that is new the reader down the road to her thesis statement in an unbroken domyhomework.services log in chain of ideas.

Now Alex turns to organization. You’ll find more about the thinking process she goes through in our handout on organization, but here are the basics: first, she decides, she’ll write a paragraph that gives background; she’ll explain how opposition to tyranny and a belief in individual liberty came to be such values that are important the United States. Then she’ll write another background paragraph in which she shows how the conflict over slavery developed with time. Then she’ll have separate paragraphs about Northerners and Southerners, explaining in detail—and giving evidence for—her claims about each group’s cause of going to war.

Note that Alex now has four body paragraphs. She could have had three or two or seven; what’s important is her argument to tell her how many paragraphs she should have and how to fit them together that she allowed. Furthermore, her body paragraphs don’t all discuss “points,” like “the economy” and “politics”—two of them give background, and the other two explain Northerners’ and Southerners’ views in detail.

Finally, having followed her sketch outline and written her paper, Alex turns to writing a conclusion. From our handout on conclusions, she understands that a “that’s my story and I’m adhering to it” conclusion doesn’t forward move her ideas. Applying the strategies she finds into the handout, she decides that she can use her conclusion to spell out why the paper she’s just written really matters—perhaps by pointing out that the fissures in our society that the Civil War opened are, quite often, still causing trouble today.

Can it be ever OK to create a five-paragraph essay?

Yes. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where somebody expects you to definitely sound right of a large body of data at that moment and write a well-organized, persuasive essay—in fifty minutes or less? Feels like an essay exam situation, right? When time is short additionally the pressure is on, falling back on the good old fashioned five-paragraph essay can help you save time and give you confidence. A five-paragraph essay may also work as the framework for a speech that is short. Try not to belong to the trap, however, of creating a “listing” thesis statement when your instructor expects a disagreement; when planning your body paragraphs, think of three aspects of an argument, in place of three “points” to discuss. On the other hand, most professors recognize the constraints of writing essays that are blue-book and a “listing” thesis is probably a lot better than no thesis after all.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing the version that is original of handout. This is not a comprehensive selection of resources from the handout’s topic, and now we encourage you to do your very own research to obtain the latest publications about this topic. Please don’t use this list as a model for the format of your reference list, you are using as it may not match the citation style. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial. We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.