Transcript Intro Paragraphs vs. Regular Paragraphs

How to Write 5 Paragraph
Essays
-Mr. Welch
Intro Paragraphs vs.
Regular Paragraphs
Mr. Welch
“Regular” or Body Paragraph:

Has a thesis sentence that makes a
claim, followed by support.
If it is a one paragraph
(short answer) response:
Thesis sentence directly
answers and completely
reflects the prompt.
A “normal” ¶ not about a text:
1. Thesis sentence
2. Supporting evidence
3. Explanation of evidence
Repeat 2-3 Several Times
4. Concluding sentence
Example of a good “regular” ¶
Prompt: What is the most fun or exciting thing to do in D.C.?
The most fun or exciting thing to do in D.C.
is to visit the Smithsonian Air and Space
Museum. Chuck Yeager said, “they have some
great planes there.” Yeager flew fighters in
WWII and is an aviation expert. Additionally,
the museum hosts an air show each year in
Virginia. Thousands of people turn out to
watch stunt pilots like the Blue Angels careen
across the sky near the speed of sound. If you
want to learn or be entertained, check it out.
Topic Sentence:
The most fun or exciting thing to do in
the D.C. area is to visit the
Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
Support 1:
Chuck Yeager said, “they have some
great planes there.”
Explanation of 1:
Yeager flew fighters in WWII and
is an aviation expert.
Support 2:
Additionally, the museum hosts an air
show each year in Virginia.
Explanation of 2:
Thousands of people turn out to watch
stunt pilots like the Blue Angels careen
across the sky near the speed of
sound.
Conclusion:
If you want to learn or be
entertained, check it out.
A “Normal” Response ¶ (about a text)
1. Thesis sentence
2. Context
3. Evidence (Excerpts!)
4. Explanation
Repeat 2-4… several times
5. Concluding sentence
Introductory Paragraphs:

The first paragraphs in 5 paragraph
essays.

DON’T ANSWER PROMPTS 1st THING

END with the thesis sentence

DO NOT SUPPORT or give evidence for
the thesis.
So they don’t answer the prompt right away?
And they don’t give evidence for the thesis?
Introductory Paragraph

So what does it do? What is its purpose?
2 purposes:
1. Engage the reader
2. Present the thesis

THAT’S IT! NO EVIDENCE! NO
ARGUING FOR THE THESIS!
3 Elements of an Intro ¶:
1.
Begins with a “hook” – an exciting
opening that introduces the topic
subject of the essay. (FUN TO WRITE!)
2.
Connects the hook to the thesis
statement (lead in sentences)
3.
Gives a THESIS STATEMENT at the
END that reflects the prompt and
gives a three part answer to it.
Remember this Motto for Intro ¶’s







EXCITE,
EXCITE,
EXCITE,
EXCITE,
EXCITE,
EXCITE,
EXCITE,
CONNECT,
CONNECT,
CONNECT,
CONNECT,
CONNECT,
CONNECT,
CONNECT,
END
END
END
END
END
END
END
(with thesis).
(with thesis).
(with thesis).
(with thesis).
(with thesis).
(with thesis).
(with thesis).
Okay, Moving On
EXCITE
Connect
End
(with thesis)
Example of a Good Introductory ¶
While sitting in bleachers overlooking a
green field and the Potomac River, a deafening
roar rips through the sky above. The ground
shakes; it seems as if the earth is about to
erupt or tear itself apart. The crowd cheers as
five Navy Jets hurtle overhead toward the
horizon. This was no earthquake, but the
annual Smithsonian air show. Visiting the
Smithsonian Air and Space museum is the
most exciting thing to do in D.C. because of its
exhibits, its history, and its special events.
EXCITING Opening Sentence 1: While sitting in bleachers
overlooking a green field and the
Potomac River, a deafening roar rips
through the sky above.
EXCITING Opening Sentence 2: The ground shakes; it
seems as if the earth is about to erupt
or tear itself apart.
EXCITING Opening Sentence 3: The crowd cheers as five
Navy Jets hurtle overhead toward the
horizon.
CONNECT Sentence: This was no earthquake, but the
annual Smithsonian air show.
END (Thesis):
Visiting the Smithsonian Air and Space
museum is the most exciting thing to
do in D.C. because of its exhibits, its
history, and its special events.
What makes an exciting opening?


A specific moment or series of specific
actions from a situation (not just a
general situation by itself)
General statements = BAD:



“People everywhere love air shows.”
“From the dawn of time, man has wanted
to fly like a bird.”
General situations =


better, but
MEH
“Imagine you are at an air show.”
“You walk through the exhibits at the
aerospace museum.”
What makes an exciting opening?

A Specific Scene (a vignette ,or small
story) from a general situation: YES!

“While sitting in a green field… a deafening
roar rips through the sky above”


“Through the glass of the exhibit, the deadliest
machine from 1944 stares back at you.”
What word(s) make(s) this specific? “Glass!”
Within this scene, you can pose a specific problem or ask
compelling questions. “Is it a Tank? A gas canister?”


“Would you cheer? Gasp?”
Tips for Great Exciting Intros.



Remember the key difference between a general situation
vs. a vivid, specific moment from such a situation.
Use physical, descriptive language. Describe the layout of
the setting and features of characters in extreme detail.
(trees vs. blue-gray pines)
Be original & creative (e.g. similes and metaphors).
Screeching tires sound “like shrieking monkeys.” (Konrad
Woo) Nice.

Don’t give it all away. Keep your reader guessing about
what’s happening or being described.

Don’t worry about covering all three points from your
thesis. Intro ¶’s can just relate to one.
Tips for Connecting/Lead-In Sentences

Make clear what your exciting intro was all about.


If your intro is already clear, you can generalize from it.



“Crimes like this happen every day, but this one affected me
personally.”
You can ask compelling questions based on your intro.


“This was no earthquake, but the annual Smithsonian air and
space museum air show.”
“If this happened to you, what would you do?”
Keep it to only 1 or 2 sentences
If you’re writing about a text, include the story title
and author name in your connecting sentences to free
up your thesis sentence!

“In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth faces this very dilemma.”
Thesis Statements for 5¶ Essays
Thesis Statements for 5¶ Essays



A potential three-part answer to a question.
Example Prompt:
Who is the best basketball player of all time?
Thesis Statement:
Michael Jordan is the best basketball player of all
time because of his six championships, his total
team wins, and average points per game.
Why a 3 Part Thesis Statement?





Think about it…
How many paragraphs will you be writing?
If the first is an intro paragraph, what will
the last one do?
So how many paragraphs will support and
presenting evidence for the thesis?
3 part thesis statements for 3 body ¶’s
3 Part Thesis Statement

The three idea points of your thesis statement set up
the three body paragraphs of your essay.
Michael Jordan was the best ever because of:
Idea Point 1: Six championships
Idea Point 2: Total Team Wins
Idea Point 3: Average points per game

The first sentence for paragraph 2 (the first body
paragraph) will now be something like:
Michael Jordan is the best basketball player of all time
because of his six championships.


The topic sentence for paragraph 3 will be what?
Proportionally, Jordan’s team wins are the most ever.
Thesis statements come at the very
END of your intro ¶.
There should be nothing after them.
Just start your first body ¶.
Topic Sentence vs. Thesis Statement
Regular ¶:
TOPIC SENTENCE.___
________________________
________________________
________________________
________________________
________________________
________________________
______.
Intro ¶:
_________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_. THESIS STATEMENT.
Question:


So, if the intro relates to your thesis, and if
the thesis forms the backbone of the rest
of the essay (the topic sentences of the
body ¶s), what part of the intro paragraph
do you need to compose (i.e. come up
with) first?
THESIS STATEMENT

Compose it first, but place it at the end of
the intro paragraph.
Now try an intro ¶:
Prompt:
1.Write
your thesis (place it at bottom)
2.Think of an exciting opening that
relates to it (2-4 sentences)
3.Connect the opening to the thesis (1-2
sentences).
Prompt:

When was your life most in danger?
A Tip for Advanced Thesis Statements

Don’t write out your three idea points if
you can avoid it.


Doing so is pretty cliché in high school essays
Still have your 3 idea points in mind as
you write your thesis, and make sure
your body paragraphs each reflect one.

(you can write your thesis with them, then
simply delete them later!)
Body Paragraphs

Each must begin with a topic sentence
that connects back to the thesis and
encapsulates the rest of the paragraph
that follows.



Topic sentences are just like your thesis
from a single ¶ response ¶, only now they
connect back with a bigger (3 part) thesis.
They should have tons of rich evidence,
such as detailed examples or excerpts.
For writing about stories, still follow the
context-quote-explanation pattern.
Tips for Topic Sentences



Don’t just repeat verbatim (word-forword) one of the three idea points
already written out in your thesis.
Re-word the idea point, and
Begin to Develop the idea point.
Thesis: Michael Jordan is the best basketball player of all time because
of his six championships, average points per game, and total team
wins.
Example great topic sentence for body ¶2: Jordan’s average of 30.12
points per game far surpasses that of any other player.
*Notice how the topic sentence begins to give more information about the
idea point than what is found in the thesis. What would an basic t.s. do?
Tips for Body ¶s when writing essays
about stories



Stay on topic—discuss only one idea
point from your thesis.
Still follow the context-quoteexplanation pattern
I’m looking for at least 3 excerpts
per body paragraph (and that’s the
bare minimum).
Concluding Paragraphs





Last paragraphs of your essays
Begin with re-presenting your thesis.
Do NOT argue any more for the thesis
Sum up the evidence/argument from
the body ¶s (no more than 3 sents.)
Suggest broader significance of thesis
and where further discussion may go.
Elements of a Concluding ¶
1.
2.
3.
4.
Re-presents thesis (reword it, or
state it to account for discussion)
Summarizes evidence
States further implications of the
thesis
Suggests where further discussion
might lead
Example of Good conclusion ¶
Joseph Asagai’s dream was to marry Beneatha
younger and move with her back to Nigeria, but
her new-age values, inattentiveness, and
tendency to flip-flop get in the way. These
obstacles appear numerous times during their
conversations at her apartment and before the
action of the play, as well as in their letters. The
reader is left wondering whether or not the
relationship between the two will work out.
Perhaps it will, and perhaps it will not, but
whatever the case, Asagai faces a conflict not only
of individuals, but of cultures.
*Ask yourself: what did each body ¶ discuss?
Concluding Paragraph: Breaking it Down
Restates/rewords thesis: Joseph Asagai’s dream was to marry
Beneatha younger and move with her back to Nigeria, but her
new-age values, inattentiveness, and tendency to flip-flop get in
the way.
Summarizes evidence: These obstacles appear numerous times
during their conversations at her apartment and before the
action of the play, as well as in their letters.
States further implications of the thesis/
Suggests where further discussion might lead:
The reader is left wondering whether
or not the relationship between the
two will work out. Perhaps it will, and
perhaps it will not, but whatever the
case, perhaps Asagai faces a conflict
not only of individuals, but of
cultures.
Putting it All Together
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Intro Paragraph ending with Thesis
1. Thesis has idea points A, B, and C
First body paragraph (Claim A is topic
sentence)
Second body paragraph (Claim B is topic
sentence)
Third Body paragraph (Claim C is topic
sentence)
Concluding paragraph re-presents thesis.
Example Essay
Original Title: African Man seeks American Female
Sample Intro Paragraph:
The mud huts carved out of the jungle around you have no running water or
electricity, but they are warm. You guard your brown goats, listening vigilantly to
rustling beneath the gentle African breeze. You are strong and can boldly ward off
hyenas and leopards with your long wooden staff. Two weeks later, gray steel
skyscrapers blot out the sun. The only plants are small strips of brown grass between
busy streets. Steel vehicles whirl by in a cloud of smog—they can kill instantly. Would
you want to return home? Joseph Asagai, a Nigerian immigrant to Chicago in Lorraine
Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, must have gone though such a transition. Asagai wants
to marry Beneatha Younger, an American girl, but her progressive thoughts about
relationships, inattentiveness, and indecisiveness are obstacles to his dream.
Sample Body Paragraph:
Asagai is traditional-minded compared to Beneatha. Visiting her apartment for the
first time, he tells Beneatha during a serious conversation, “Between a man and a
woman, there need be only one kind of feeling. “ Asagai wants to marry Beneatha and
thinks that the only “King of feeling” needed for a relationship is love, not intellectual
attraction. Benethea values education and believes marriage should be between equals.
Toward the end of the play, Asagai tells Beneatha, “my dear young creature of the New
world—I do not mean [to return] across the city—I mean across the ocean: home—to
Africa.” Asagai wishes to return to his home country instead of assimilating into
mainstream American culture. He implies that his home culture is more traditional than
American culture by referring to the U.S. as the “New World.”
Sample Conclusion paragraph:
Joseph Asagai’s dream was to marry Beneatha younger and move with her
back to Nigeria, but her new-age values, inattentiveness, and tendency to flip-flop
get in the way. These obstacles appear numerous times during their conversations
at her apartment and before the action of the play, as well as in their letters. The
reader is left wondering whether or not the relationship between the two will work
out. Perhaps it will, and perhaps it will not, but whatever the case, Asagai faces a
conflict not only of individuals, but of cultures.