2015 Writing a five-paragraph/threepoint essay LESSONS 1-5 MELISSA ETHERIDGE 0
Lesson One Introduction: This lesson is designed to teach you how to construct a basic 5-paragraph/3-point essay. This essay will be expository in nature. Expository writing is a type of writing that is used to explain, describe, give information, or inform. The text is organized around one topic and developed according to a pattern or a combination of patterns. You, the writer, cannot assume that your audience knows something about your topic. You want your audience to understand what you are writing about; therefore, it s important that you organize your essay in a clear manner. At this point of the year, you have learned how to write a good meaningful sentence. You have learned how to create a thesis statement, and how to develop a good paragraph. Now, you re going to put all of that together to write a research essay. What do I expect you to learn in this lesson? I expect you to show me that you can do the following: Recognize and write a thesis statement. Write an effective introductory paragraph. Use transitions between body paragraphs to achieve coherence. Coherence is when something makes sense in a logical way. Write an effective concluding paragraph. Compose a title. Essays have three types of paragraphs: 1. The introductory paragraph is the first paragraph of the essay. Its purpose is to be so inviting that the reader will want to continue reading. In most essays, the introductory paragraph contains a thesis statement. 2. Support paragraphs are sometimes called body paragraphs; they provide evidence that your thesis is valid. An essay must have at least three well-developed support paragraphs. Each paragraph must flow logically into the next. This is accomplished by the use of transition words. 3. The concluding paragraph is the last paragraph of the essay. Its purpose is to give the reader a sense of having come to a conclusion. By this point, the reader should have the feeling that everything has been said that needed to be said. Analyzing an Essay Before you write your own essay, I want you to read the following essay, and analyze it according to the structure above. When you finish reading, respond to the following questions in complete sentences: 1. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each paragraph? 2. Are there any additional details that you would like to know? 3. What is the thesis of this essay? 4. Identify any transition words that are used by the author.
5. What is the topic sentence of each paragraph? 6. Is the concluding paragraph effective? 7. Is the title effective? Going to School Behind the Iron Curtain By Raluca Pasanovaski Life in a Communist country such as Romania in the 1970s was filled with fears, unfulfilled needs, and the constant distrust of others who might be spying on their neighbors. To a person born in the West, on this side of the Iron Curtain, it is hard to imagine what school-children faced. Nevertheless, life had to be lived, and children went off to school every day. Remembering childhood school days does not bring back many happy memories. The experience of a schoolchild in Romania in the 1970s was harsh. The classroom was stark. The only furniture in the room were the fifteen double desks for students and the teacher s desk at the front. A blackboard was on the front wall. The room was often quite cold and only on very dark days were the old ceiling lights turned on. When you entered the room, the only object to look at was the framed portrait of the country s president dominating the front wall above the blackboard. His unsmiling face and somber eyes looked down on everything we did. All across the country his face was at the head of every classroom. We were never allowed to forget who controlled our lives. Students were expected to be obedient. We all wore uniforms: blue jumpers or blue pants, white blouses or shirts, red scarves or ties and white socks. This dress code kept us all looking the same. No one should look different or special in any way. I cannot remember that anyone complained. Each child brought his or her own lunch and soap. We ate our lunch in the classroom. We accepted our situation and did not expect anyone to provide us with any food or supplies. We understood our teachers would not have tolerated any complaints or unwillingness to follow orders. The school day was very rigid. One teacher taught us all the subjects. The school day was divided into four or five hour-long classes, each one with a different subject. There was a ten-minute break between hours. We did not have to change rooms, and we were finished by early afternoon, sent home with lessons to do. Subjects were taught largely by memorization of facts. The individual teacher had no say in what material to cover. The curriculum was set by the authorities and rigidly adhered to. For instance, in literature classes, most of the emphasis was placed on memorizing poems by important Romanian authors. Children were not encouraged to ask questions, and discussions were most uncommon. When it was test time, we were given blank sheets of paper. There was no such thing as multiple-choice test. Answers were right or wrong. Grading was from one to ten, with ten being the best. Communist education was based on humiliation. It was shameful if we did not give the right answer to a question or if we got bad grades. Sometimes we could see that the teachers enjoyed their power. When test results were returned, our grades were shared in front of the whole class. Everyone knew that the only way to get ahead was to do well on the tests. There was no misbehaving. Bad behavior was not tolerated. Corporal punishment was allowed.
My memory of school in Romania is of days of dutiful work. There was little room for the joy of learning or the freedom of expression. If I were to pick a color to describe my school time, it would be gray. Education was memorizing and repeating what we were told that was all. *Complete all of your work in Word. Title the first assignment: Writing an Essay Lesson 1. Make sure that you include your name. *Once you ve completed this assignment for today, you may continue the research on your topic or work on Compass Odyssey. Lesson Two What is a thesis statement? A thesis statement gives the maid idea of the essay. The thesis statement tells what you are going to explain, defend, or prove about your topic. It is usually placed at the end of the introductory paragraph. A thesis statement is always a complete sentence, and it usually presents a viewpoint about a topic that can be defended or explained in the essay that follows. Be careful not to confuse a title or a simple fact with a thesis statement. Remember that a title is usually a phrase, not a complete sentence. A fact is something known for certain something that can be verified. A fact does not give a personal viewpoint. Thesis statement: Most children at five years of age should not be in school more than half the day. (or) Kindergarten children would benefit from all-day programs. Title: The Disadvantages of All-Day Kindergarten or The Advantages of All-Day Kindergarten Fact: Nearly all kindergartens in the United States offer only a half day instruction. Recognizing a Thesis Statement: Practice: Read each of the following statements and identify each as a thesis, a title, or a fact. 1. In the United States, kindergarten is not compulsory. 2. Children should begin learning to read in kindergarten. 3. Putting a child into kindergarten before he or she is ready can have several unfortunate effects on that child. 4. Learning to read in kindergarten. 5. In some European countries, children do not begin formal schooling until the age of seven. 6. The personal interview is the most important step in the employment process. 7. Looking for a job. 8. Sixty percent of all jobs are obtained through newspaper advertisements. 9. The best time to begin a foreign language is in grade school.
10. The importance of learning a foreign language. 11. In the 1970s, the number of students studying foreign languages declined dramatically. 12. Most Americans doing business with Japan do not know a word of Japanese. 13. Working and studying at the same time. 14. Many students in community colleges have part-time jobs while they are going to school. 15. Working a part-time job while going to school puts an enormous strain on a person. 16. It is estimated that two hundred grizzly bears live in Yellowstone National Park. 17. The survival of grizzly bears in our country should be a top priority. 18. When bears are young cubs, there are twice as many males as females. 19. Only about 60 percent of bear cubs survive the first few years of life. 20. Bears, a precious natural resource. 21. The average life span of a bear today is only five or six years. 22. The sad plight of the American grizzly bear. 23. Five actions needed to be taken to save the grizzly bear from extinction. 24. To save the grizzly bear, we need laws from Congress, the cooperation of hunters and campers, and an educated general public. 25. A decision to save the grizzly bear. 26. Tons of ancient material have been taken out of Russell Cave. 27. The opening of the cave is 107 feet wide and 26 feet high. 28. People lived in this cave more than nine thousand years ago. 29. Russell Cave in Jackson County, Alabama, should be preserved as an important source of information about the ancient people of North America. 30. The way ancient people lived. 31. All kinds of articles, from fish hooks to human skeletons, have been found in Russell Cave. 32. Learning about the diet of an ancient people of North America. 33. An archaeologist s discovery of Russell Cave. 34. Some of the theories previously held about life in North America thousands of years ago must now be changed because of the discoveries made in Russell Cave. 35. Russell Cave is the oldest known home of human beings in the southeastern United States. *Complete all of your work in Word. Title this assignment: Writing an Essay lesson 2. Make sure that you include your name. *Once you have completed the assignment for today, you may continue the research on your topic or work on Compass Odyssey. Lesson Three Writing an Effective Thesis Statement An effective thesis statement has the following characteristics: 1. A topic that is not too general. A general topic must be narrowed in scope either by limiting the topic (changing the term to cover a smaller part of the topic) or qualifying the topic (adding phrases or words to the general term to narrow the topic).
General topic: Swimming. Limited topic: Floating (the term floating, which describes a kind of swimming, is more specialized than the term swimming.) Qualified topic: Swimming for health two hours a week (the addition of the phrase for health two hours a week narrows the topic considerable. Now the topic concentrates on the fact that the time spent and the reason for swimming are important parts of the topic.) A writer narrows a topic so that the material will fit the length of an essay (which is only a few paragraphs long) and so that the material will also fit the writer s knowledge and experience. 2. A controlling idea that you can defend. The controlling idea is what you want to show or prove about your topic; it is your point of view about that topic. Often the controlling idea is expressed by an adjective such as beneficial, difficult, or unfair. Learning to float at the age of twenty was a terrifying experience. Swimming two hours a week brought about a dramatic change in my health. 3. An indication of what strategy of development is to be used. Often the strategy is indicated by words such as the following: description, steps, stages, examples, comparison, contrast, causes, effects, reasons, advantages, disadvantages, definition, analysis, or argument. Although not all writers state the strategy in the thesis statement, they must always have in mind what major strategy they plan to use to prove their thesis. Professional writers often use more than one strategy to prove their thesis. *Study the following thesis statement: Although studying alone can be very effective, studying in a group can have many advantages. Now, look back and examine the characteristics of this thesis statement. *General topic: studying *Qualified topic: Studying in a group (as opposed to studying alone) *Controlling Idea: To give the advantages of studying in a group *Strategy: Contrast studying alone with studying in a group. Writing a Thesis Statement Below are four topics. For each one, develop a thesis statement by (a) limiting or qualifying the general topic, (b) choosing a controlling idea (what you want to explain or prove about the topic), and (c) selecting a strategy that you could use to develop that topic. An example is done for you. *General Topic: Senior citizens a. Limited or qualified topic: Community services available to the senior citizens in Ann Arbor b. Controlling idea: To show the great variety of programs c. Strategy for development (narration, examples, description, process analysis, cause and effect, definition, comparison/contrast, classification, or persuasion): Classify the services into major groups.
*Thesis Statement: The senior citizens of Ann Arbor, Michigan, are fortunate to have three major kinds of programs available to help them deal with health, housing, and leisure time. (Notice the sets of three in this statement; it is important when writing a three-point essay). 1. Miami (or another city with which you are familiar) 2. Female Vocalist 3. Shopping 4. The library *Complete all of your assignments in Word. Title this assignment: Writing the Essay Lesson 3. Don t forget to include your name. *When finished, you may do research for your own essay or you can work on Compass Odyssey. Lesson Four Lesson Four is a continuation of lesson three. Below are five topics. For each one, develop a thesis statement in the same manner that you did for lesson three. 1. Television 2. Math (or another field of study) 3. Games 4. Clubs 5. An adult you admire *Next assignment in Lesson Four: Read the following essay, then respond to the questions that follow. Stephen King, creator of such stories as Carrie and Pet Sematary, stated that the Edgar Allan Poe stories he read as a child gave him the inspiration and instruction he needed to become the writer that he is. Poe, as does Stephen king, fills the reader s imagination with the images that he wishes the reader to see, hear, and feel. His use of vivid, concrete visual imagery to present both static and dynamic settings and to describe people is part of the technique. Poe s short story, The Tell-Tale Heart is a story about a young man who kills an old man who cares for him, dismembers the corpse, then goes mad when he thinks he hears the old man s heart beating beneath the floor boards under his feet as he sits and discusses the old man s absence with the police. In The Tell-Tale Heart, a careful reader can observe Poe s skillful manipulation of the senses. The sense of sight, the primary sense, is particularly susceptible to manipulation. In The Tell-Tale Heart, Poe uses the following image to describe a static scene: His room was as black as pitch with the darkness Poe used the words black, pitch, and thick darkness not only to show the reader the condition of the old man s room, but also to make the reader feel the darkness. Thick is a word that is
not usually associated with color (darkness), yet in using it, Poe stimulates the reader s sense of feeling as well as his sense of sight. Further on in the story, Poe uses a couple of words that cross not only the sense of sight but also the sense of feeling to describe a dynamic scene. The youth in the story has been standing in the open doorway of the old man s room for a long time, waiting for just the right moment to reveal himself to the old man in order to frighten him. Poe writes: So I opened it [the lantern opening] you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily until, at length, a single dim ray like the thread of the spider, shop from out the crevice and fell full upon the vulture eye. By using the metaphor of the thread of the spider (which we all know is a creepy creature) and the word shot, Poe almost makes the reader gasp, as surely did the old man whose one blind eye the young man describes as the vulture eye. The reader does not know much about what the old man in this story looks like except that he has one blind eye. In the second paragraph of The Tell-Tale Heart, Poe establishes the young man s obsession with that blind eye when he writes: He had the eye of the vulture a pale blue eye, with a film over it. This vulture eye is evoked over and over again in the story until the reader becomes obsessed with it as does the young man. His use of the vivid concrete word vulture establishes a specific image in the mind of the reader that is inescapable. Thick darkness, thread of the spider, and vulture eye are three images that Poe used in The Tell- Tale Heart to stimulate a reader s senses Poe wanted the reader to see and feel real life. He used concrete imagery rather than vague abstract words to describe settings and people. If Edgar Allan Poe was one of Stephen King s teachers, then readers of King owe a debt of gratitude to that nineteenthcentury creator of horror stories. Answer the following in complete sentences as they relate to the essay. 1. What would be a good title for this essay? 2. What hook does the writer use in this essay? 3. What is the thesis statement in the essay? 4. What are the writer s three main points? 5. What is the topic sentence for each paragraph? 6. Is the concluding paragraph effective? 7. Give this essay a grade on a scale of 100. Explain why you gave it this grade. *Complete all assignments in Word. Title this assignment: Writing an Essay Lesson Four. Remember to put your name on it. *When you have finished, you can continue your research and/or work on Compass Odyssey. LESSON FIVE
Weekend Wrap-Up! This week you have explored the basics of writing a 5-paragraph/3-point essay. You ve also identified thesis statements, supporting statements, and titles. You ve read two essays and analyzed them. You ve written a variety of thesis states. You ve had plenty of time to complete your research for information on your chosen topic. Today s assignment is to put it all together into the first draft of an essay. *You will be graded on the introductory paragraph only for the first reading. *Start a new document for your essay. Give it a title and don t forget your name. Once you ve completed the essay, type Draft 1 on the bottom and print the essay. Turn it into me to be graded.