Week 4 Resources

Harvard Referencing Guide
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/nursing/sonet/rlos/studyskills/harvard/index.html

HOW TO WRITE A 5-PARAGRAPH ESSAY.  SENTENCE BY SENTENCE.

Writing an essay seems like a daunting task, because it's hard to figure out what to put in it.  The truth is, there is actually a very strict guideline for what to put in it.  Almost all teachers know this formula, they want this formula, but for some reason they won't tell it to you.  Well, here it is, to spite them.

First Paragraph

(1) Eye opening sentence that catches the reader's attention; this needs to be about your subject, but it can be funny or even a little overblown, if you admit it to be such.  (1a) You can elaborate briefly on what you just said, to make it connect to your real argument.  (2) Summary of your first body paragraph's argument.  (2a) These summaries can be two sentences depending on how much you have to say.  (3) Summary of your second paragraph's argument. (3a) See 2a.  (4) Summary of your third paragraph's argument.  (4a) Again, see 2a.  (5) Thesis statement: this is a summary of the entire argument of your paper, built upon the three points from your paragraphs.  (5a) Your thesis can definitely be more than one sentence, but try to keep it to less than three for a 5-paragraph essay.

Body Paragraph WRITE THREE OF THESE IN SUPPORT OF YOUR THESIS

(1) Topic sentence: A summary of the argument you make in this paragraph.  (1a) This can be two sentences if the point is complex.

Then use this structure to fill your paragraphs, and use it twice per body paragraph.

Claim: Make a claim about your text, your experimental data, or whatever else the assignment is about.  A claim is just a small, individual piece of your total argument.

Evidence: Quote, or summarize very closely, from the text or data you're working from.  Even if that data is life experience, you should most definitely cite a specific experience.  Do not be general.  If you need to quote a large block of text or data, that's fine.  Just make sure that you only quote the meaningful text or data.

Warrant: Explain how your evidence proves your claim.

As I said above, perform this 3-pronged attack twice per paragraph, for each body paragraph.

TWO MORE BODY PARAGRAPHS

Last Paragraph

(1) Restate your thesis statement with slightly more elaboration than the first time you said it.  Do not repeat your thesis verbatim, but do repeat its contents in light of three paragraphs of explaining you just did.  (2) Re-summarize the argument of your first body paragraph.  (3) Re-summarize the argument of your second body paragraph.  (4) Re-summarize the argument of your third body paragraph.  (5) Closing statement to tie it together.

ESSAY CHECKLIST

Print this out and check each item off as you put it in your essay.

First Paragraph

EYE OPENER

-Paragraph 1 argument summary

-Paragraph 2 argument summary

-Paragraph 3 argument summary

-Thesis statement

Body Paragraph 1

-Topic sentence

-Claim

-Evidence

-Warrant

-Claim

-Evidence

-Warrant

Body Paragraph 2

-Topic sentence

-Claim

-Evidence

-Warrant

-Claim

-Evidence

-Warrant

Body Paragraph 3

-Topic sentence

-Claim

-Evidence

-Warrant

-Claim

-Evidence

-Warrant

Last Paragraph

-Restated thesis.

-Restated first paragraph argument

-Restated second paragraph argument

-Restated third paragraph argument

-Closing sentence