The five-paragraph essay

The introduction

- grabs the readers attention

- sets the tone of essay
- makes the central argumentative claim the essay is going to prove
- provides a brief preview

3 body paragraph

- each body paragraph provides a claim

- evidence to support the claim
- explanation of how the evidence proves the claim is true

1. The hook

- grabs the readers attention

- called the attention grabber
- readers should want to read it
- they need to see what else you have to stay
- hooks need to be interesting, amusing, surprising, provocative

Attention grabbing modes:

- a surprising fact
- a provocative point of view
- an interesting anecdote
- a thought-provoking rhetorical question

2. The link:

- it connects the hooks subject matter to the subject matter of the thesis
- the link takes a few sentences to make sure that the readers understand what it has to do with
your thesis
- it also introduces the title and author of the text youre analyzing

3. The Thesis Bridge:

- the thesis statement is what youre trying to prove

- your thesis should be L.A.M.E. = Limited, Arguable, Meaningful, Exact

Limited:

- this isnt an essay topic

- it cannot be too broad
Arguable: - a reader must be able to disagree with your thesis

Meaningful: - your thesis must be interesting

Exact: - your thesis must be clear and avoid vague language

- the Bridge is a map that lets your readers know where theyre going

Each body paragraph consists of 3 parts:

1. Claim

- provides the argument that will be proven in a body paragraph

- assertions, topic sentences
- claims must be L.A.M.E.

3. Evidence

- is your proof that your claim is correct

- its a factual information
- its presented as a cited as a quotation
- the set-up is the context of the quotation (whats going on)
- the quotation is a short excerpt from the text
- the parenthetical citation lets your readers know who the author of the quotation is and the
page of the book the quotation can be found on
- quotations must be incorporated into your sentence

4. Explanation

- is an attempt to connect the evidence to the claim

- is also called the warrant or the analysis
- its your own personal point of view

Transitions

- theyre needed to connect one body point to the next

- try crafting a full sentence transition

Conclusion

- it summarizes the brief idea presented in the thesis

- gives a sense of closure
- answers the question: so what?
- how is your essay going to affect your readers
Title

- it grabs your readers interest

- it previews the topic of the essay
- good title is original, thoughtful and interesting