How to Write a Five-Paragraph Essay That Works, how to write 5 paragraph essay.

Many essayists feel like they've climbed the mountain by finishing the first five steps. And yeah, they have in a sense. But mountain climbers know that after the summit comes the descent, and the best essays get a thorough edit and proofread after the first draft.

As a parent of five children (three now in high school), I've helped brainstorm and edit my fair share of essays. In particular, I've spent an inordinate amount of time helping tackle the five-paragraph essay. So I thought I would take a moment to share my tips for other parents and students who are facing this challenge now.

In most cases, you're probably writing this essay for a class or contest. If you've gone through the previous six steps, you should have a pretty strong essay. Congratulations and good luck!

In this post, we discuss how to write a five-paragraph essay that works, regardless of subject or topic, with a simple—but effective—plan for completing a successful essay.

Step 5: Write your essay.

You chose your subject. Then, you dive into your research by looking for any and all information related to your subject. For this step, you want to collect more than you'll need, because it's a lot easier to discard excess than to drum up new material out of thin air—especially if you find yourself backed up against a deadline at the last minute. (Hey, I've been there.) Collect all the information you can, and then.

The nice thing about step four is that you should already know which ideas to put into each paragraph. Now, it's just a matter of filling in the blanks and providing the supporting information that you should have on hand from step two (your research).

This step is so important to writing essays that I continue to use outlines to this day for articles and blog posts, which are usually a lot more complicated than five-paragraph essays. But for your five-paragraph essay, here's a good outline to complete:

Believe it or not, the five-paragraph essay can be a relatively easy project once you understand how to break it down into pieces. Let's jump into that now.

The 5 paragraph essay is considered to be the standard essay writing assignment. Once you have learned how to write it, you are prepared to tackle any other one. Keep reading the detailed guide from the EssayPro team to perfect your writing skills to the level of an experienced essay writer.

• Definition — adds a personal interpretation of the term or phrase, along with the official one paraphrased from the dictionary.
• Descriptive — adds as many details as possible to illustrate the research problem.
• Narrative — tells a story with vivid examples.
• Argumentative & persuasive — the difference between these academic projects is that the writer only has to mention and explain his or her personal position towards the analyzed problem in an argumentative essay. While in a persuasive essay, it is also important to defend your position and convince readers of your truth.
• Compare & contrast — shows the differences & similarities between several subjects.
• Cause & effect — explains the reasons for something to happen and the consequences of these actions.
• Literary analysis — picks the specific literary text like a poem or essay and evaluates/criticizes it.

It is used in most exams, such as the TOEFL, IELTS, and SAT. Since most of these exams limit students’ time on the "Writing" section of an exam, students are trained to memorize this format. This allows students to answer the exam prompt quickly and efficiently.

While sometimes it is enough to answer a question, in other cases, a student has to conduct in-depth research and offer more solutions to the problems discussed.

What Is a 5 Paragraph Essay?

How many words is a 5 paragraph essay you may wonder? Typically, they are around 250 to 500 words long. The format’s plasticity allows students to experiment with various essay styles. Persuasive, Arguntative, Expository, Narrative, and Cause and Effect essays can all be written in this format.

We will write you a plagiarism-free essay, with an outline, unlimited revisions, and bunch of other cool features included!

The most challenging assignment is the one written during a standardized test. The type of essay may define the topic and the thesis. It means that some essays are better off with narrow and serious topics, while other essays are better suited to students who might write creative stories full of jokes. The various types of essays include:

When your aim is to give a clear answer to the exact question in your paper, then 5 paragraph essay is the best option. Students often get such task in college and university, because professors can easily check their skills in a topic. Such writing format looks very simple because it includes several parts and only 1-2 pages.

Five paragraph essay is a unique format in writing, but it also requires an outline. Such blueprint is very useful because it allows the writer to make a relevant plan and keep it the proper way.

1. Create the first catchy sentence. Such a hook is great for introducing your topic and encouraging readers for further content. You can use questions, quotes, comparisons, interesting facts, statistics, and other brilliant information for this part. Besides, you may add a hook sentence in the conclusion too

   The amount of sentences is not as important, as the amount of paragraphs. But usually, each section includes 2-5 sentences, where the author should seesaw between long and short sentences. It helps to keep the rhythm of the text.

   What is a Five Paragraph Essay?

   

   Of course, the experience in making such papers is more useful, so there are special platforms which propose writing services. In any case, you have all in your hands. Do your best and follow all recommendations for having success.

   The key to success with 5 paragraph essay is keeping proper structure and other writing requirements. So you should use the following structure:

   • introduction for 1 paragraph. It starts with a hook sentence that can catch people’s attention. Of course, your professor will read the paper even of your introduction doesn’t encourage him to do it, but such a mistake will definitely decrease your chances for the high mark. Besides hook information like statistics, facts and quotes, you can add a thesis statement to demonstrate the aim of the whole essay. Try to describe your purposes and topic briefly, but in detail

     

     A good thesis statement needs to be specific and should encourage a good discussion around the topic, but should not exceed a single line of thought.

     That’s why, a compare and contrast essay is one of the first essay assignments that students encounter, whether they are in high school or college.

     The first step to a good essay is the structure. There are two ways to structure a 5-paragraph compare and contrast essay.

     • Pick two topics that belong to the same broad category but have inherent differences. For example, prose versus poetry - both are forms of writing but are quite contrasting in nature.
     • Pick two subjects that may not have anything in common other than one surprising similarity. For example, bats versus whales - one is small and flies, one is massive and swims, but both hunt by using sound waves.
     • Pick two subjects that might appear to be the same but are different in many ways. For example, the Little Women novel versus the Little Women movie.

     Here’s a useful video by College of DuPage on organizing your ideas while writing essays

     

     • Introduction or Thesis Statement
     • Point 1: Analysis of Topic 1 and Topic 2
     • Point 2: Analysis of Topic 1 and Topic 2
     • Point 3: Analysis of Topic 1 and Topic 2
     • Conclusion

     In any assigned essay, the basic outline is divided into the introduction, three body paragraphs and lastly, the conclusion. This outline will form the skeleton of the essay and will help in structuring all the ideas and thoughts as well as organizing the main points of your topics.

     As you have finished brainstorming topic ideas for comparing and contrasting, organize your points according to the subject and highlight important characteristics from both the topics. Look for motives, consider major themes and select points that are central to the identity of both the topics. This will help you in writing a compelling, well-researched essay.

     It is also helpful to think about the question “so what?” as you strategize your essay, as this will make you question yourself and analyze your own points so that they can be viewed with clarity.

     

     Once you complete your hook sentence, engaging the reader, you should proceed with background information on the topic. Explain why it is important for the audience. Recall recent events in the society, economy or politics (depending on your topic) to show why your essay is relevant. Close your introduction with a thesis statement. It should be brief, catchy and contain a concrete statement, which you will support during the whole essay.

     A five paragraph essay is quite a popular college assignment. As you get from its name, it is a paper, which consists of five paragraphs: introduction, three arguments with supportive data, and conclusions, where you sum all the results of your work. Using this simple outline you will be able to cover every issue without missing anything out.

     So what is a 5 paragraph essay? It is a very common assignment both for high school and college, which aims to check your written skills, as well as abilities to analyze and put your thoughts on paper. It is mostly an informative writing, which contains your own narratives on the topic.

     • Argumentative to provide arguments on a topic, taken from reliable sources

       Step-by-Step Guide to Writing 5 Paragraph Essays

       

       You will surely need these skills in future, especially if you decide to take tests like SAT, IELTS, TOEFL and ACT. Knowing how to write a 5 paragraph essay is a solid part of any admission process, so if you want to complete it properly, get familiar with samples online and follow our simple guidelines.

       • Your introduction should consist of three to five sentences not to bore the reader but still introduce him to the subject

         Then you can add a hook sentence, which aims to engage the reader and make him want to learn more. Depending on the topic of your essay, its seriousness and target audience, a hook can be:

         • A joke or an anecdote