The 5-Paragraph Essay
Fun writing exercises are … FUN. And everyone knows that mastering the five paragraph essay is essential to solid, coherent writing skills. Sometimes it’s been so painstakingly drilled into kids that college educators plead with high school teachers not to wear out students with the clichéd, boring style that permeates all their creative writing endeavors sometimes for years to come.
Still, to master the elements of a five paragraph essay, in my view, enables one to write just about anything with confidence and flow. Shakespeare writes in five acts; many films are written in five acts. Most good novels, if you analyze their structure, are five part stories. So, the practice of writing the five-paragraph essay is not just for expository essays on “Planned Obsolescence” or “My Summer Vacation.”
This is how you can try it:
Act I: Create a setting. In this paragraph you are setting the scene – and most of all you’re setting the mood. Right away the reader should know if they’re going to be creeped out by the tale, or sent into gales of laughter, or they’re going to learn about the best tropical island to visit. You’re placing the reader in a season or a relationship; you’re describing a dark city street or someone flying a kite on a sunny hilltop. If you’re writing about a science experiment, you’re stating what the experiment is and why you’re doing it. Or, what you’re setting out to prove.
Act II: Action begins. This is where you put in the Inciting Incident or the generating circumstances – long words for … ACTION! “A sharp cry pierced the darkness.” Or, “The wind picked up unexpectedly, and before I knew it, I was sailing up over the rooftops.” Or, in the case of a science experiment, “We carefully poured the vinegar into the oil and watched it sink to the bottom. Then we added some salt.” Seriously – that’s action.
Act III: The Plot Twist. This is usually the hardest section for anyone to write. In a novel it’s where most readers may lose interest. If you’re writing about “My Summer Vacation,” you may very well start listing the activities you did, one after another. Boring! Or if you’re writing a thriller-type of story, you might get lost in a flurry of pointless events that are leading straight from the inciting incident to the car chase. Boring! Even a science experiment needs some zip in this stage of the essay. The best way is to bring in something unexpected. A surprise! A new character! An unexpected development in the process! A new direction!
Act IV: The climax or crisis. This has to be the most tense, exciting part of the essay. What will happen now? How will it resolve? Jack falls down the hill, but will Jill find out in time and save him? What happens when the oil and vinegar is poured on the red ripe tomatoes and basil and sea salt is sprinkled on top – the teeth bite in, the tongue tingles… this section of the essay needs to be written with the sharp, succinct intensity of a thriller.
Act V: The Resolution or conclusion. This paragraph must resolve the story, the experiment, or the expository essay. If you have a thesis statement in the beginning, you must go back to it here and say, “This is why … “ If you have a prince and a princess in love, this is where they ride off into the sunset. Conclusions can be varied and personal, but they must somehow contain the essence of the entire essay or story.