5.1 Essay Basics
For college, an essay is a collection of paragraphs that all work together to express ideas that respond appropriately to the directions and guidelines of a given written assignment. Depending on the instructor, course, or assignment, you might also hear essays called papers, term papers, articles, themes, compositions, reports, writing assignments, and written assessments, but these terms are largely interchangeable at the beginning of college.
Essays and their assignments vary so much that there is no single right kind of essay, so there are no clear answers to questions such as, “How many paragraphs should a college essay have?” or, “How many examples should I use to help convey my ideas?” etc.
But with that said, most essays have a few components in common:
- The Introduction: the beginning parts that show what is to come
- The Body: the bulk of the essay that says everything the assignment calls for
- The Conclusion: the ending parts that emphasize or make sense of what has been said
One rudimentary type of essay that displays these components in a way that’s easy to demonstrate and see is the five-paragraph essay.
The Five-Paragraph Essay
The term “five-paragraph essay” refers to a default structure that consists of the following:
- One paragraph for the introduction
- This should clearly state the main idea of the whole essay, also called the essay’s claim or thesis.
- This should also include a brief mention of the main ideas to come, which is the essay map.
- Three paragraphs for the body
- Each paragraph should be about one main point that supports the main idea of the essay (the claim or thesis).
- The topic sentence of each paragraph should be its main point.
- The rest of the sentences of each paragraph should explain or support that topic sentence.
- One paragraph for the conclusion
- This should clarify the most important ideas or interpretations regarding what the essay has said in the body.
Keep in mind that the five-paragraph essay is a rudimentary essay form. It is excellent for demonstrating the key parts of a general essay, and it can address many types of short writing assignments in college, but it is too limited to sustain the more complex kinds of discussions many of the higher-level college essays need to develop and present. The five-paragraph essay shows that you can form a basic thesis statement, organize your paragraphs, find evidence, and maybe even introduce an argument. In college, you will develop these writing skills.
For those kinds of essays, you will need a deeper and more complete understanding of the general essay structure (below), as well as an understanding of various writing modes and strategies, research, and format. As you continue reading and writing, these skills will be improved upon.
Complete General Essay Structure
A complete general essay structure can be applied to many of the essay assignments that you will encounter in many of your college classes, regardless of subject matter. Although innumerable alterations and variations are possible in successful essays, these concepts are foundational, and they merit your understanding and application as a writing student.
Also note that there is no set number of paragraphs using a complete general essay structure, as there is in the five-paragraph essay (one introductory, three body, and one concluding). A good introduction can be broken up into more than one paragraph, as can a conclusion, and body paragraphs might number more than three. But this complete general essay structure can indeed be achieved in five paragraphs as well.
Additional Readings
- Check out this article on 5 Paragraph Essay Example: Tips and Free PDF Samples for additional tips on writing essays in this style.
- “A review of the five-paragraph essay” is one section in the OER, A Guide to Rhetoric, Genre, and Success in First-Year Writing by Melanie Gagich & Emilie Zickel. That chapter and the textbook offer many more insights into writing essays.
Attributions
The Writing Textbook by Josh Woods, editor and contributor, as well as an unnamed author (by request from the original publisher), and other authors named separately is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
A Guide to Rhetoric, Genre, and Success in First-Year Writing by Melanie Gagich & Emilie Zickel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
This chapter has additions, edits, and organization by James Charles Devlin.
