THE WRITING PAGE

Composition is an important part of our day! 

There are many kinds of writing. We may write creatively, using stories and poems to amuse and entertain ourselves and friends. We may also write informally, in the form of letters, or even spoken words, to share information or tell jokes, or persuade our friends to do something we want them to do. Most school writing, however, fits into a different category. 

The purpose of most School Writing is to communicate ideas or answer questions. Such writing requires a whole different set of rules. When we tell a joke or story, it is fun to stretch it out, to get the listener all involved as we get further and further into the material, so we can spring the punch line on our listeners: "You stole my golden arm!" or ". . .because he was stapled to the chicken," are great endings for stories because they are unexpected. School writing requires no such surprises. School Writing (and, by extension, Business Writing) must be succinct, terse, and to the point. 

ANSWERING ESSAY QUESTIONS 

Single paragraph essay answers for any subject can be written following a simple format. I've prepared a Powerpoint Presentation which gives the students instructions. You can go to the Slide Show page by clicking on the title card below:

THE FIVE PARAGRAPH ESSAY

Tell us exactly what you're going to say in your first sentence. Explain how you're going to prove it in your first paragraph. Get it done simply and easily in the body paragraphs. Sum it all up in the conclusion, just in case the reader forgot what you were trying to say in the first place. School Writing is easy, once you understand that it is different from creative writing. Follow this simple plan: 

Paragraph #1 (Introduction) 

(Your topic sentence tells the reader exactly what you plan to prove:) I like ice cream.(Okay. That's easy. We can't be confused by that. If you said, "The French Revolution had many causes" or "American Motors has many great new cars this year" we would also know exactly what your paper was about. Now, how are you going to attack this issue? What subtopics are we going to use?) It has many different flavors. (Good. We can develop that idea.) It reminds me of my youth. (That should be fun.) Ice Cream cools me off on hot days. (That's three good subtopics which can easily be developed, but we are not done, because we need to tie the whole paragraph off with a conclusion, just in case the reader isn't following our plan:) I really enjoy ice cream.

Now, let's look at the whole introductory paragraph: 

The Body paragraphs (two, three, and four):

The most difficult part of the composition is finished. We have told the reader exactly what our paper is about and we have laid out a plan of attack for us to follow. The rest of the composition is just filling out the details. For the topic sentence of our second paragraph, we simply look at the second sentence of our introduction: (Ice Cream has many different flavors.) We can copy our third sentence as the topic sentence of our third paragraph, and our fourth in the same way. It is then a simple matter to fill in three specific examples in each paragraph to clarify our ideas. The body of the essay, then, should look something like this:

Ice cream reminds me of my youth. Every time I have an ice cream cone I remember the fun I had when I was 14 and I spilled my cone down Margaret Miller's bathing suit. Everyone laughed when she ran screaming down the beach. Ice Cream sundaes remind me of the many great times we had at Jahn's when I was younger, ordering huge concoctions called, "Kitchen sinks." Just hearing the sound of the ice cream man's truck brings back good memories of all the times we used to sit under the tree on my lawn waiting for the Good Humor man. Even my dog used to get a Dixie cup once in awhile. Ice Cream today always brings back great memories. 

Ice Cream is a great way to cool off. Once, when it was 110 degrees in the shade, I had a vanilla thick shake and felt very cool. Another time, it was so hot, we got cool just standing around the ice cream truck and enjoying the cool breeze. Last week, the beach was so hot I was burning my feet in the sand. I got some ice cream and put a little on my feet to soothe the heat. Whenever I've needed cooling down, I have always turned to ice cream. 

5th paragraph (conclusion):

We've varied the wording, added specific details, and made sure to conclude each sentence with a general remark that rephrased our topic sentence. We turn now to our last paragraph which sums up all our arguments and basically restates our introduction: 

I have many reasons for loving ice cream. It is a great cooler downer. It brings back many fun memories of my childhood. It comes in all kinds of great flavors. When I scream, it's for ice cream! 

I like to restate my arguments in reverse order. This is especially good for more sophisticated essays in which one has put arguments in order, with the strongest argument at the end. 

If you would like to see this essay in my Powerpoint Slideshow format, click on the slide below:

SOME TRIED AND TRUE FIVE PARAGRAPH ASSIGNMENTS

Kids design their own hex signs and then write about them. (includes links to the Pennsylvania Dutch)

A way of writing book reports using the five paragraph essay format.

You might be interested in these pages which have some good material about writing:

HOW TO WRITE REAL GOOD 

RETURN TO THE MULTIMEDIA CLASSROOM 

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