Five Paragraph Essentials: Essay Types and Structures

You need basic skills and experience, but you do not need to be an expert or professional writer.  After you understand the basic structure of a five paragraph essay such as the introductory, concluding, three supporting paragraphs, hook, thesis statement or topic sentence and linking techniques, you will be ready to start choosing which type of five paragraph essay you wish to write. Whether you wish to write about an event, experience, persuade people to use or not use something or instruct, teach, review topics or techniques, choosing the correct  type of five-paragraph essay will increase the possibility of indemnification whether that be entrance to your university of choice or outright remuneration. There are three main types of five paragraph essays you should practice and master: Narrative, Expository and Persuasive.

The Narrative five paragraph essay, also known as a descriptive essay, imparts a story from a specific point of view, such as the hero’s brother or the author’s, and the use of adjectives, verbs and sensory facts are glowing, animated and absolute.  Writers who use this type of essay have a point to make and dwell on personal experiences to create a story with all its elements; setting, character, plot, climax and ending.

The Expository five paragraph essay is usually written in the third person to give, explain or define information on a subject through the use of statistical information, facts and examples. The clear-cut structure includes a narrowly defined topic supportable by the essay.  Each of the 3 supporting paragraphs must have an explicit topic with all following sentences relating to this explicit topic. Finally, the conclusion paragraph restates the thesis statement as well as the supporting paragraphs’ topics. There should never be new information in this paragraph. 

The Persuasive five paragraph essay’s goal is to validate the writer’s point of view. The topic has to have at least two sides, be debatable and not be factual. The introduction paragraph must state the three best supporting arguments which are supportable individually by separate facts.  The writer’s job is to definitively pave the path for the reader to conform to the writer’s conclusion.  The three supporting arguments are the topics for the three supporting paragraphs and are individually supported by facts, statistics, personal opinions and examples. You should logically link each paragraph. Restate the topic of the essay in the conclusion paragraph and summarize your main support ensuring you convince the reader of your point of view.

Writing five paragraph essays will assist you towards academic or monetary rewards. Choosing the correct type of essay and structure for the topic you are writing about helps you convey what your want to convey. The more essays you write, the better you become at writing essays and writing in general.