But Alex’s professor doesn’t like it. She underlines the first two sentences, and she writes, “This is simply too general. Arrive at the point.” She underlines the 3rd please help me write my essay and fourth sentences, and she writes, “You’re just restating the question I asked. What’s your point?” She underlines the final sentence, and then writes into the margin, “What’s your thesis?” because the last sentence when you look at the paragraph only lists topics. It doesn’t make a disagreement.
Is Alex’s professor just a grouch? Well, no—she is trying to teach this student that college writing isn’t about following a formula (the model that is five-paragraph, it is about making a disagreement. Her first sentence is general, the way she learned a five-paragraph essay should start. But from the professor’s perspective, it is far too general—so general, in fact, she didn’t ask students to define civil war that it’s completely outside of the assignment. The third and fourth sentences say, in so many 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 which will make a quarrel, only lists topics; it does not start to explore how or why something happened.
If you’ve seen plenty of five-paragraph essays, you are able to do you know what Alex will write next. Her first body paragraph will begin, “We can see a number of the different factors why the North and South fought the Civil War by looking at the economy.” What is going to the professor say about this? She might ask, “What differences can we come across? What an element of the economy are you referring to? How come the differences exist? What makes 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 already respond, “You’ve said this!”
What could Alex do differently? Let’s start over. This time around, Alex does not start with a notion that is preconceived of to organize her essay. Rather than three “points,” she decides 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 regulate how to organize her draft by taking into consideration the argument’s parts and just how they fit together.
After doing some brainstorming and reading the Writing Center’s handout on thesis statements, Alex thinks about a main argument, or thesis statement:
- 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.
Then Alex writes her introduction. But instead of beginning with a statement that is general civil wars, she gives us the ideas we have to know in order to understand most of the parts of her argument:
- The United States 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 in the republic that is young. But in the century that is nineteenth slavery made Northerners and Southerners see these values in completely different ways. By 1860, the conflict during these values broke out into a war that is civil nearly tore the nation apart. 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 in that war.
Every sentence in Alex’s introduction that is new your reader down the way to her thesis statement in an unbroken chain of ideas.
Now Alex turns to organization. You’ll find more about the thinking process she passes through inside our handout on organization, but here you will find 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 important values in the usa. Then she’ll write another background paragraph by which she shows the way the conflict over slavery developed as time passes. Then she’ll have separate paragraphs about Northerners and Southerners, explaining in detail—and giving evidence for—her claims about each group’s reasons behind planning to war.
Observe that Alex now has four body paragraphs. She might have had three or two or seven; what’s important is that she allowed her argument to tell her what number of paragraphs she needs to have and exactly how to suit them together. Furthermore, her body paragraphs don’t all“points that are discuss” like “the economy” and “politics”—two of them give background, as well as the other two explain Northerners’ and Southerners’ views at length.
Finally, having followed her sketch outline and written her paper, Alex turns to writing a conclusion. From our handout on conclusions, she knows that a “that’s my story and I’m sticking to it” conclusion doesn’t forward move her ideas. Applying the strategies she finds when you look at the handout, she decides that she will use her conclusion to describe why the paper she’s just written really matters—perhaps by pointing out that the fissures within our society that the Civil War opened are, in many cases, still causing trouble today.
Could it be ever OK to publish a five-paragraph essay?
Yes. Have you ever found yourself in times where somebody expects one to sound right of a body that is large of at that moment and write a well-organized, persuasive essay—in fifty minutes or less? Appears like an essay exam situation, right? When time is short plus the pressure is on, falling back in the good old essay that is five-paragraph save you time and offer you confidence. A five-paragraph essay might also work as the framework for a short speech. Try not to end up in the trap, however, of creating a” that is“listing statement when your instructor expects a quarrel; when making plans for your body paragraphs, think of three the different parts of a quarrel, instead 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 simply not a comprehensive list of resources from the handout’s topic, therefore we encourage you to do your own research to get the latest publications on this topic. Please do not 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 guidelines periodically and welcome feedback.