is an essay 3 or 5 paragraphs

How Many Paragraphs in an Essay?

As a rule, you’ll write your essay in three main parts. First, you’ll introduce your topic to your reader. Next, you will have body text in which you discuss the topic in more detail, and finally, you’ll have a conclusion that tells your reader what you were able to see after looking into the facts or thinking through the topic.

In its simplest form, an essay can consist of three paragraphs with one paragraph being devoted to each section. Proponents of the five paragraph essay say that the body text should consist of three paragraphs, but in reality, it’s fine to write more or fewer paragraphs in this section.

Guessing How Many Paragraphs Before You Begin

This is a rule of thumb, which means it won’t always work quite that way, but it’s handy all the same. In academic work, your paragraphs are likely to be a bit longer than most of the ones you see in this blog post. On average, there are usually 100 to 200 words in a paragraph . So if you’d like a guesstimate, you can assume that a 1,000-word essay will have between five and ten paragraphs.

What Points Do You Have to Cover?

Another, less limiting and more accurate way to work out how many paragraphs you need to cover your topic is to look at the main points you have to cover in the body text. A paragraph contains all the ideas that support or explain a single concept.

When you are planning your essay, you will think of or research the main elements that are needed in the body text. It would be safe to assume you need at least one paragraph for each of these. Of course, if there is a lot of information to cover in order to explore each area, you may need more.

For example, if you are writing an essay on childhood development and exposure to technology, you will want to look into the physical, psychological and cognitive developmental effects of tech on kids. When you research this topic, you will find that there are contrasting points of view and researchers have identified several physical, developmental, and psychological effects of technology use in children.

Assuming five psychological effects have been identified, you can assume you’ll need to write five paragraphs if you are going to write a relatively in-depth essay. But if both those who say technology is bad for kids and those who say it can be good have done a great deal of work on the sub-topic, you might want to make that ten paragraphs so that you can cover both sides of the argument and look into how earlier authors reached their conclusions.

Of course, if you have been set a relatively short word limit , you may not be able to go in-depth at all, in which case a paragraph for each of the main sub-topics (psychology, physical development, and cognitive development) will likely be adequate.

Essay Content Is More Important Than the Number of Paragraphs

Ultimately, your essay will be evaluated on the information you present, not on the number of paragraphs in the essay. Early in your academic life, teachers and lecturers may give you both a structure for your essay and a guideline on how long each part of the essay should be. I have seen essay instructions say how many marks are allocated for each section, and my trick is to take the total word count and allocate a percentage of words to each section based on the percentage of marks you can get for it. After all, if the teacher is allocating 80 marks for content in total and you can see 50% of the mark relates to a certain part of the essay, then 50% of your essay’s words should be devoted to that section.

Sometimes, you’ll just be given a topic and told to air your opinion. This gives you more freedom, but it’s a tad more difficult. The research will show you how many angles you should look at, and it’ll help you to find information that both supports and contradicts your point of view. To make a strong argument, you need to look at both supporting and contradictory information.

To avoid getting tangled up in one aspect of the discussion, you’ll have to decide how long it should be. If it’s the most important aspect informing your conclusion, you can spend a little more time (and words) on that particular point. It could run into several paragraphs rather than just one or two.

Always Remember the Purpose of Paragraphs

Paragraphs structure information into sub-topics, and they make your work easier to read and understand thanks to the structure they provide. With careful advance planning, you’ll be able to work out more or less how many paragraphs you need to complete your essay.

How many paragraphs is…

For those looking for a general rule-of-thumb, below are some estimates on the number of paragraphs there would be in an essay of different lengths based on an average length of 150 words per paragraph. Of course, the number of paragraphs for your essay will depend on many different factors. You can use the following information for a general reference, but don’t take these numbers as literal. .

Basic Essay Word to Paragraphs Conversions

A 100 word essay is 3 paragraph. (minimum for an essay)
A 200 word essay is 3 paragraphs. (minimum for an essay)
A 250 word essay is 3 paragraphs. (minimum for an essay)
A 300 word essay is 3 paragraphs. (minimum for an essay)
A 400 word essay is 3 paragraphs. (minimum for an essay)
A 500 word essay is 3 to 4 paragraphs.
A 600 word essay is 4 paragraphs.
A 700 word essay is 4 to 5 paragraphs.
A 750 word essay is 5 paragraphs.
A 800 word essay is 5 to 6 paragraphs.
A 900 word essay is 6 paragraphs.
A 1,000 word essay is 6 to 7 paragraphs.
A 1,250 word essay is 8 to 9 paragraphs.
A 1,500 word essay is 10 paragraphs.
A 1,750 word essay is 11 to 12 paragraphs.
A 2,000 word essay is 13 to 14 paragraphs.
A 2,500 word essay is 16 to 17 paragraphs.
A 3,000 word essay is 20 paragraphs.
A 4,000 word essay is 26 to 27 paragraphs.
A 5,000 word essay is 33 to 34 paragraphs.
A 6,000 word essay is 40 paragraphs.
A 7,000 word essay is 46 to 37 paragraphs.
A 7,500 word essay is 50 paragraphs.
A 8,000 word essay is 53 to 54 paragraphs.
A 9,000 word essay is 60 paragraphs.
A 10,000 word essay is 66 to 67 paragraphs.

I don’t understand, How can a 100, 200, 300 and 400 word essay all have 3 paragraphs if a paragraph is 100 to 200 words long? A 100 word essay should be 1 paragraph or 1/2 a paragraph, not 3 paragraphs. Can someone explain this too me?

A sentence is an idea. A paragraph is a group of ideas that relate to one another. That’s the most important point. The second most important one is remembering that your text consists of introduction, body, conclusion with at LEAST one paragraph for each. While teachers like 100 to 200 word paragraphs, you can’t always apply that. Call it a guideline rather than a rule!

the general rule is that 3 paragraphs are minimum for an essay. So, no matter how short your essay is, you should still need 3 paragraphs. If you are really for some reason writing a 100 word essay, then you should have one short sentence for both your introduction and conclusion.

I was always taught an essay has five paragraphs by my teachers. Did they lie to me? If an essay only needs three paragraphs, why would my teachers tell me that they should have five?

I think the five paragraphs for an essay is more of a rule-of-thumb number that is easy to teach students when they are first learning to write. Your teacher was just trying to make sure you understood how to write, not give you a rule you had to always obey.

I think five paragraphs is a good number to shoot for when writing, but it isn’t a hard-fast rule you need to hit every time. Each essay is different and require more or less paragraphs depending on the information you need to provide in the writing.

yes and no.. i would say a good on as 4 paragraph. Intro, 2 body P, and a conclusion.

My teachers always taught by eight paragraph essays, but five-paragraph essays normally lie precedent to the more advanced or larger essays.

I was taught essays should be 7 paragraphs long, not 5. My teacher said 3 central paragraphs never gives enough detail to the topic, so we should write 5. It makes sense to me and that is how I’ve always done it.

What you’re taught is often a general rule to shoot for, not a rule set in concrete. That’s the case with this. Your teacher felt that 7 paragraphs was a good number for the essays you wrote for her, but it doesn’t always have to be that way. it’s a general rule, not a concrete one.

How many sentences if we don’t know how many sentences we need to write?

The average paragraph contains 5-6 sentences. If you’re feeling a little extra, paragraphs can be 7-10 sentences.

It also depends on whether or not you are bringing outside information into the paragraph as well. Using quotes makes a paragraph longer than not doing so.

I think the length of a paper depends mainly on the instructions given by the instructor. Secondly, I would decide a paper length on the basis of the grading rubric.

I already knew an essay has three paragraphs

Inilividual project: follow all steps and develop a paragraph of your choice and write all expository essay with not less than 500 words of the povoloped paragraph?

On average for a five-paragraph essay, I write around 1,000-1300 words. For an eight paragraph essay, I write around 2,000-2,600 words on the document. Keep in mind your quotes too, you should have one quote per paragraph (expected) or two (recommended). It really is up to the person though, I have a buddy who writes considerably less than I do, but is able to get his point across. It is really up to the person.

Student A: Sir, do we have to write a long essay?

How will I determine my word count for 1300 to 1500 maximum words in the academic writing?

UMGC Effective Writing Center Secrets of the Five-Paragraph Essay

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Writing Resources

This form of writing goes by different names. Maybe you've heard some of them before: "The Basic Essay," "The Academic Response Essay," "The 1-3-1 Essay." Regardless of what you've heard, the name you should remember is "The Easy Essay."

Once you are shown how this works--and it only takes a few minutes--you will have in your hands the secret to writing well on almost any academic assignment. Here is how it goes.

Secret #1—The Magic of Three

Three has always been a magic number for humans, from fairy tales like "The Three Little Pigs" to sayings like “third time’s a charm.” Three seems to be an ideal number for us--including the academic essay. So whenever you are given a topic to write about, a good place to begin is with a list of three. Here are some examples (three of them, of course):

Topic : What are the essential characteristics of a good parent? Think in threes and you might come up with:

unconditional love

Certainly, there are more characteristics of good parents you could name, but for our essay, we will work in threes.

Here's a topic that deals with a controversial issue:

Topic : Should women in the military be given frontline combat duties?

The first reason that women should be assigned to combat is equality.
The second reason is their great teamwork.
The third reason is their courage.

As you see, regardless of the topic, we can list three points about it. And if you wonder about the repetition of words and structure when stating the three points, in this case, repetition is a good thing. Words that seem redundant when close together in an outline will be separated by the actual paragraphs of your essay. So in the essay instead of seeming redundant they will be welcome as signals to the reader of your essay’s main parts.

Finally, when the topic is an academic one, your first goal is the same: create a list of three.

Topic: Why do so many students fail to complete their college degree?

First, students often...
Second, many students cannot...
Finally, students find that...

Regardless of the reasons you might come up with to finish these sentences, the formula is still the same.

Secret #2: The Thesis Formula

Now with your list of three, you can write the sentence that every essay must have—the thesis, sometimes called the "controlling idea," "overall point," or "position statement." In other words, it is the main idea of the essay that you will try to support, illustrate, or corroborate.

Here’s a simple formula for a thesis: The topic + your position on the topic = your thesis.

Let’s apply this formula to one of our examples:

Topic: Essential characteristics of a good parent Your Position: patience, respect, love Thesis: The essential characteristics of a good parent are patience, respect, and love.

As you see, all we did was combine the topic with our position/opinion on it into a single sentence to produce the thesis: The essential characteristics of a good parent are patience, respect, and love.

In this case, we chose to list three main points as part of our thesis. Sometimes that’s a good strategy. However, you can summarize them if you wish, as in this example:

Topic: Women in combat duty in the military Your Position: They deserve it Thesis: Women deserve to be assigned combat duty in the military.

This type of thesis is shorter and easier to write because it provides the overall position or opinion without forcing you to list the support for it in the thesis, which can get awkward and take away from your strong position statement. The three reasons women deserve to be assigned combat duties--equality, teamwork, courage--will be the subjects of your three body paragraphs and do not need to be mentioned until the body paragraph in which they appear.

Secret #3: The 1-3-1 Outline

With your thesis and list of three main points, you can quickly draw a basic outline of the paragraphs of your essay. You’ll then see why this is often called the 1-3-1 essay.

Supporting Evidence for Claim 1
Supporting Evidence for Claim 2
Supporting Evidence for Claim 3

The five-paragraph essay consists of one introduction paragraph (with the thesis at its end), three body paragraphs (each beginning with one of three main points) and one last paragraph—the conclusion. 1-3-1.

Once you have this outline, you have the basic template for most academic writing. Most of all, you have an organized way to approach virtually any topic you are assigned.

Our helpful admissions advisors can help you choose an academic program to fit your career goals, estimate your transfer credits, and develop a plan for your education costs that fits your budget. If you’re a current UMGC student, please visit the Help Center .

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The Ultimate Guide to the 5-Paragraph Essay

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M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
B.A., History, Armstrong State University

A five-paragraph essay is a prose composition that follows a prescribed format of an introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph, and is typically taught during primary English education and applied on standardized testing throughout schooling.

Learning to write a high-quality five-paragraph essay is an essential skill for students in early English classes as it allows them to express certain ideas, claims, or concepts in an organized manner, complete with evidence that supports each of these notions. Later, though, students may decide to stray from the standard five-paragraph format and venture into writing an exploratory essay instead.

Still, teaching students to organize essays into the five-paragraph format is an easy way to introduce them to writing literary criticism, which will be tested time and again throughout their primary, secondary, and further education.

Writing a Good Introduction

The introduction is the first paragraph in your essay, and it should accomplish a few specific goals: capture the reader's interest, introduce the topic, and make a claim or express an opinion in a thesis statement.

It's a good idea to start your essay with a hook (fascinating statement) to pique the reader's interest, though this can also be accomplished by using descriptive words, an anecdote, an intriguing question, or an interesting fact. Students can practice with creative writing prompts to get some ideas for interesting ways to start an essay.

The next few sentences should explain your first statement, and prepare the reader for your thesis statement, which is typically the last sentence in the introduction. Your thesis sentence should provide your specific assertion and convey a clear point of view, which is typically divided into three distinct arguments that support this assertation, which will each serve as central themes for the body paragraphs.

Writing Body Paragraphs

The body of the essay will include three body paragraphs in a five-paragraph essay format, each limited to one main idea that supports your thesis.

To correctly write each of these three body paragraphs, you should state your supporting idea, your topic sentence, then back it up with two or three sentences of evidence. Use examples that validate the claim before concluding the paragraph and using transition words to lead to the paragraph that follows — meaning that all of your body paragraphs should follow the pattern of "statement, supporting ideas, transition statement."

Words to use as you transition from one paragraph to another include: moreover, in fact, on the whole, furthermore, as a result, simply put, for this reason, similarly, likewise, it follows that, naturally, by comparison, surely, and yet.

Writing a Conclusion

The final paragraph will summarize your main points and re-assert your main claim (from your thesis sentence). It should point out your main points, but should not repeat specific examples, and should, as always, leave a lasting impression on the reader.

The first sentence of the conclusion, therefore, should be used to restate the supporting claims argued in the body paragraphs as they relate to the thesis statement, then the next few sentences should be used to explain how the essay's main points can lead outward, perhaps to further thought on the topic. Ending the conclusion with a question, anecdote, or final pondering is a great way to leave a lasting impact.

Once you complete the first draft of your essay, it's a good idea to re-visit the thesis statement in your first paragraph. Read your essay to see if it flows well, and you might find that the supporting paragraphs are strong, but they don't address the exact focus of your thesis. Simply re-write your thesis sentence to fit your body and summary more exactly, and adjust the conclusion to wrap it all up nicely.

Practice Writing a Five-Paragraph Essay

Students can use the following steps to write a standard essay on any given topic. First, choose a topic, or ask your students to choose their topic, then allow them to form a basic five-paragraph by following these steps:

Decide on your basic thesis , your idea of a topic to discuss.
Decide on three pieces of supporting evidence you will use to prove your thesis.
Write an introductory paragraph, including your thesis and evidence (in order of strength).
Write your first body paragraph, starting with restating your thesis and focusing on your first piece of supporting evidence.
End your first paragraph with a transitional sentence that leads to the next body paragraph.
Write paragraph two of the body focussing on your second piece of evidence. Once again make the connection between your thesis and this piece of evidence.
End your second paragraph with a transitional sentence that leads to paragraph number three.
Repeat step 6 using your third piece of evidence.
Begin your concluding paragraph by restating your thesis. Include the three points you've used to prove your thesis.
End with a punch, a question, an anecdote, or an entertaining thought that will stay with the reader.

Once a student can master these 10 simple steps, writing a basic five-paragraph essay will be a piece of cake, so long as the student does so correctly and includes enough supporting information in each paragraph that all relate to the same centralized main idea, the thesis of the essay.

Limitations of the Five-Paragraph Essay

The five-paragraph essay is merely a starting point for students hoping to express their ideas in academic writing; there are some other forms and styles of writing that students should use to express their vocabulary in the written form.

According to Tory Young's "Studying English Literature: A Practical Guide":

"Although school students in the U.S. are examined on their ability to write a five-paragraph essay , its raison d'être is purportedly to give practice in basic writing skills that will lead to future success in more varied forms. Detractors feel, however, that writing to rule in this way is more likely to discourage imaginative writing and thinking than enable it. . . . The five-paragraph essay is less aware of its audience and sets out only to present information, an account or a kind of story rather than explicitly to persuade the reader."

Students should instead be asked to write other forms, such as journal entries, blog posts, reviews of goods or services, multi-paragraph research papers, and freeform expository writing around a central theme. Although five-paragraph essays are the golden rule when writing for standardized tests, experimentation with expression should be encouraged throughout primary schooling to bolster students' abilities to utilize the English language fully.

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How to write a perfect 5 Paragraph Essay

How to Write a 5 Paragraph Essay : A Complete Guide

Essay writing can be the bane of many a student’s life.

Gone are the days when many students tried writing in big letters to fill the allotted number of pages with minimal effort quickly.

Now, it’s all constant word count checks and taking a dozen words to say what could be said in three.

Of course, it doesn’t have to be like this. When students have a clear, set structure to follow, essay writing can be a much less painful experience. Indeed, it can even be enjoyable!

In this article, we’ll outline a clear template our students can follow to produce a well-organised essay on practically any topic effectively.

Let’s get started!

THE HAMBURGER ESSAY – THE STUDENT’S FRIEND

5 paragraph essay | Orange Illustrated Hamburger Graphic Organizer | How to write a perfect 5 Paragraph Essay | literacyideas.com

The common 5 paragraph essay structure is often referred to as the hamburger essay . And this is a memorable way to communicate the concept to your students.

The hamburger essay structure consists of five paragraphs or layers as follows:

Layer 1 – The Top Bun: The Introduction

The uppermost layer is the introductory paragraph which communicates to the reader the purpose of the essay.

Layers 2,3, & 4 – The Meat Patties: The Body Paragraphs

These are the meat patties of the essay and each paragraph makes an argument in support of the essay’s central contention as expressed in the introduction.

Layer 5 – The Conclusion: The Bottom Bun

The bottommost layer is the conclusion, where the arguments are summed up and the central contention of the essay is restated forcefully one last time. We have a complete guide to writing a conclusion here .

Soon, we’ll take a closer look at each of these parts in turn. But, there is more to an essay than just the writing of it. There are also the prewriting and post writing stages to consider. We will look at all these aspects in this article, but first, let’s examine what our students need to be doing before they even begin to write their essays.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON TEACHING PARAGRAPH WRITING

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This complete PARAGRAPH WRITING UNIT takes students from zero to hero over FIVE STRATEGIC LESSONS to improve PARAGRAPH WRITING SKILLS through PROVEN TEACHING STRATEGIES.

THE PREWRITING STAGE – DEFINING THE THESIS STATEMENT, RESEARCH & PLANNING

The thesis statement.

Every essay needs a clear focus. This focus is usually defined in a thesis statement that presents the topic of the essay in a sentence or two. The thesis statement should also include the writer’s stance on that topic.

As this will help guide the direction of the essay, it is essential that our students define their thesis statement before they begin the writing process.

Sometimes during the process of writing, we find out what we think about a given topic. The writing process can act as a kind of reflection on the merits of the various arguments, before finally revealing to us our own opinion. This is writing as a method of discovery.

Usually, though, it is more efficient for students to decide on their opinions prior to beginning to write.

Defining their thesis statement early on not only helps guide the students writing, but helps ensure their research is focused and efficient at the crucial prewriting stage.

Research & Planning

As students begin their research and gather their evidence to support their thesis statement, they should also be encouraged to pay particular attention to the counterarguments they come across.

A well-written essay does not ignore opposing viewpoints, students should be taught to preempt counterarguments where possible so as to strengthen the power of their own arguments. Good research is essential for this.

Not so long ago, research meant hours in dusty libraries being constantly shushed, but with the advent of the internet, there is now a wealth of knowledge right at our fingertips (and the end of a good Wifi connection).

While this has made research a much more convenient process, students need to be reminded of the importance of seeking out reliable sources to support their opinions. In an era of ‘fake news’, this is more important now than ever.

As students gather the information and supporting evidence for their essay, they’ll need to organize it carefully. Graphic organizers are an effective way of doing this, either on a paper printout or by using a premade template on the computer.

It can also be helpful for students to sort their collected information according to where they intend to use it in the five-paragraph outline or layers mentioned above.

Finally, while good research, organization, and planning are essential for producing a well-written essay, it’s important that students are reminded that essay writing is also a creative act.

Students should maintain an open mind when it comes to the writing process. They should allow their thoughts and opinions the room to develop over the course of writing their essay. They should leave the door open for including new thoughts and ideas as the writing progresses.

The Writing Stage: Introduction, Body Paragraphs, & Conclusion

The introduction.

A good introduction paragraph serves a number of important functions. It:

Grabs the reader’s attention and interest, known as the hook
Orientates the reader to the essays central argument, the thesis statement
Outlines briefly the arguments that will be explored in support of the thesis statement.

To become an effective writer, it is important that our students learn the importance of grabbing the reader’s attention, as well as keeping it. Opening with a ‘hook’ or a ‘grabber’ is a great way to achieve this.

There are a number of techniques students can use here. Let’s take a look at some of the more common ones.

The Surprising Fact – this can intrigue the reader to want to find out more, especially if it challenges some of their existing assumptions on a topic.
The Quotation – a carefully selected quotation can be a great way to secure the reader’s attention and there are many curated quotation collections freely available online to help get students started.
The Joke – this opening should be used judiciously as for some topics it may not be an appropriate way to open. In the right context however, humor can be a great way to engage the reader from the outset.
The Anecdote – anecdotes are a great way to personally connect with the essay’s topic. They are a helpful way of climbing down the ladder of abstraction when exploring more theoretical arguments. They assist the reader in relating universal themes to their own lives.

Practice Activity 1:

To encourage students to develop strong opening paragraphs in their essays, it can be helpful to isolate writing opening paragraphs.

In this activity, provide your students with a list of essay topics and challenge them to write four different opening paragraphs for their essay, one each for The Surprising Fact , The Quotation , The Joke , and The Anecdote as listed above.

When students have completed their four paragraphs, they can then share with each other in groups and discuss which worked best and why.

This activity will help students to remember the different types of opening and how they work. It will also give them a feel for which openings work best for different types of essays.

We’ve already discussed what a thesis statement is and what it is intended to achieve, but where does it fit into the overall shape of the introductory paragraph exactly?

While there are no hard and fast rules here, thesis statements work well towards the end of the introductory paragraph – especially as the paragraph’s final sentence.

Readers are often hardwired to look for the thesis statement there. It connects the arguments that follow in the body paragraphs to the preceding sentences and contextualizes the essay for the reader.

THE BODY PARAGRAPHS

Now we get to the ‘meat’ of our essay. Each of the body paragraphs will explore one of the arguments supporting the thesis statement as laid out in the introduction.

While we are focused on the 5 paragraph essay here, longer essays will usually be constructed in exactly the same manner, they’ll just include more body paragraphs to cover the extra level of detail.

Generally, each body paragraph will open by stating the argument, with subsequent sentences supporting that argument by providing evidence along with some further explanation. Finally, a statement or phrase will help transition to the next paragraph.

The PEEL Paragraph Writing Process

The acronym PEEL can be a very useful tool to help students to understand how to organize each of their body paragraphs.

P oint : start the paragraph by expressing the central argument

E vidence : support the central argument of the paragraph by providing evidence or reasons. Evidence may come in many forms including facts and statistics, quotations from a text or other authority, reference to historical events etc.

E xplanation : explain how the evidence provided supports the paragraph’s central argument.

L ink : provide a transition into the next paragraph by linking this argument and the central thesis to the next point to be made.

5 paragraph essay | 1 PEEL PARAGRAPHS | How to write a perfect 5 Paragraph Essay | literacyideas.com

Practice Activity 2:

Just as students isolated the opening to their introductory paragraph for practice purposes, in this activity they’ll isolate a single argument on a chosen essay topic.

When they have chosen a topic and selected a single argument related to that topic, they can begin to write one body paragraph using the PEEL structure outlined above.

This activity works well when several students write on the same argument. When each has completed their paragraphs, they can then compare the results with each other.

It can be a fascinating experiment that allows the students to see just how diverse different treatments of the same argument using the same PEEL formula can be – there is freedom within the discipline of the structure!

THE CONCLUSION

The purpose of the conclusion is to close the circle of the essay. It is a chance for the writer to restate the thesis statement, summarize the main arguments, and tie up any loose ends as the writer drives home their point one last time.

At this stage of the game, no new arguments should be introduced. However, students should revisit the previous arguments made in the body paragraphs and it is acceptable to offer up a new insight or two on these.

The student should take care here to make sure they leave no doubt in the reader’s mind that the essay question is fully answered. One useful way of doing this is by incorporating words and phrases from the essay question into the conclusion itself.

To help students grasp the underlying structure of a concluding paragraph, the following sequential structure is useful to keep in mind:

Starts with a closing phrase such as In conclusion , There is no doubt , Finally etc
Restates the main thesis statement
Summarizes the main point of each of the body paragraphs
Leaves the reader with something to think about.

Practice Activity 3:

Again, here we will isolate the concluding paragraph for focused practice.

Students select a topic they know well, decide what they think about that topic, write down a few key arguments, and then begin writing a concluding paragraph to an essay on that topic.

Students should use the template above to structure that material.

You could also include an element of peer assessment here by having students swap their paragraphs with each other, before offering each other feedback.

The Post Writing Stage: Editing & Proofreading YOUR 5 paragraph ESSAY

The final stage of writing a five-paragraph essay is perhaps the least glamorous of an unglamorous process, but no less essential for it – the editing and proofreading.

Often, our students overlook this stage. After completing the process of research, planning, and writing their five-paragraph essay, they let themselves down at this final, crucial stage.

Frequently, students fail to adequately edit and proofread their work not just because of laziness, but because they are unsure of exactly what this process entails.

To avoid this, ensure students understand that editing and proofreading involve reading through and correcting mistakes in the following areas one after the other:

Text Organisation: title, headings, layout etc
Sentence Structure: coherence, grammar , sentence variety etc
Word Choice: suitable word choices, avoid repetition etc
Spelling and Punctuation: accuracy in both areas.

Practice Activity 4:

Once students have completed their essays, appoint each a partner to work with and each then edits and proofreads the other person’s work.

Sometimes students struggle to gain the necessary distance from their own work to adequately edit and proofread it, this exercise overcomes that issue while giving them an opportunity to gain some valuable editing and proofreading experience that will benefit them in future.

CLOSING THE CIRCLE

So, there you have it – how to write a five-paragraph essay from start to finish. As with anything, the more practice students get, the quicker they will improve.

But, bear in mind too that writing essays is hard work and you don’t want to put students off.

The best way to provide opportunities for students to develop the various skills related to essay writing is to isolate them in the manner apparent in the activities described above.

This way, students can soon sharpen up their skills, without learning to dread the word ‘essay’ itself!

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Teaching Resources

Use our resources and tools to improve your student’s writing skills through proven teaching strategies.

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Five Paragraph Essay exampleS (Student Writing Samples)

Below are a collection of student writing samples of 5 paragraph essays. Click on the image to enlarge and explore them in greater detail. Please take a moment to both read the 5 paragraph essay in detail but also the teacher and student guides which highlight some of the key elements of this structured model of essay writing here.

Please understand these student writing samples are not intended to be perfect examples for each age or grade level but a piece of writing for students and teachers to explore together to critically analyze to improve student writing skills and deepen their understanding of 5 paragraph essay writing.

We would recommend reading the example either a year above and below, as well as the grade you are currently working with to gain a broader appreciation of this text type.

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Writing Tips

How Many Paragraphs Should an Essay Have?

6-minute read
19th May 2023

You have an essay to write. You’ve researched the topic and crafted a strong thesis statement . Now it’s time to open the laptop and start tapping away on the keyboard. You know the required word count, but you’re unsure of one thing: How many paragraphs should you have in the essay? Gee, it would’ve been nice if your professor had specified that, huh?

No worries, friend, because in this post, we’ll provide a guide to how many paragraphs an essay should have . Generally, the number of paragraphs will depend on how many words and how many supporting details you need (more on that later). We’ll also explore the concept of paragraphs if you’re wondering what they’re all about. And remember, paragraphs serve a purpose. You can’t submit an essay without using them!

What Is a Paragraph?

You likely know what a paragraph is, but can you define it properly in plain English? Don’t feel bad if that question made you shake your head. Off the top of our heads, many of us can’t explain what a paragraph is .

A paragraph comprises at least five sentences about a particular topic. A paragraph must begin with a well-crafted topic sentence , which is then followed by ideas that support that sentence. To move the essay forward, the paragraph should flow well, and the sentences should be relevant.

Why Are Paragraphs Important?

Paragraphs expand on points you make about a topic, painting a vivid picture for the reader. Paragraphs break down information into chunks, which are easier to read than one giant, uninterrupted body of text. If your essay doesn’t use paragraphs, it likely won’t earn a good grade!

How Many Paragraphs Are in an Essay?

As mentioned, the number of paragraphs will depend on the word count and the quantity of supporting ideas required. However, if you have to write at least 1,000 words, you should aim for at least five paragraphs. Every essay should have an introduction and a conclusion. The reader needs to get a basic introduction to the topic and understand your thesis statement. They must also see key takeaway points at the end of the essay.

As a rule, a five-paragraph essay would look like this:

Introduction (with thesis statement)
Main idea 1 (with supporting details)
Main idea 2 (with supporting details)
Main idea 3 (with supporting details)

Your supporting details should include material (such as quotations or facts) from credible sources when writing the main idea paragraphs.

If you think your essay could benefit from having more than five paragraphs, add them! Just make sure they’re relevant to the topic.

Professors don’t care so much about the number of paragraphs; they want you to satisfy the minimum word requirement. Assignment rubrics rarely state the number of required paragraphs. It will be up to you to decide how many to write, and we urge you to research the assigned topic before writing the essay. Your main ideas from the research will generate most of the paragraphs.

When Should I Start a New Paragraph?

Surprisingly, some students aren’t aware that they should break up some of the paragraphs in their essays . You need to start new paragraphs to keep your reader engaged.

As well as starting a new paragraph after the introduction and another for the conclusion, you should do so when you’re introducing a new idea or presenting contrasting information.

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Starting a paragraph often involves using transitional words or phrases to signal to the reader that you’re presenting a new idea. Failing to use these cues may cause confusion for the reader and undermine your essay’s coherence.

Let’s consider examples of transitional words and phrases in action in a conclusion. Note that the essay is about too much mobile device screen time and that transitional words and phrases can occur later in a paragraph too:

Thanks to “In conclusion” and “Additionally,” the reader clearly knows that they are now in the conclusion stage. They can also follow the logic and development of the essay more easily.

How Do I Know Whether I Have Enough Paragraphs?

While no magic number exists for how many paragraphs you need, you should know when you have enough to satisfy the requirements of the assignment. It helps if you can answer yes to the following questions:

Does my essay have both an introduction and a conclusion?
Have I provided enough main ideas with supporting details, including quotes and cited information?
Does my essay develop the thesis statement?
Does my essay adequately inform the reader about the topic?
Have I provided at least one takeaway for the reader?

Conclusion

Professors aren’t necessarily looking for a specific number of paragraphs in an essay; it’s the word count that matters. You should see the word count as a guide for a suitable number of paragraphs. As a rule, five paragraphs should suffice for a 1,000-word essay. As long as you have an introduction and a conclusion and provide enough supporting details for the main ideas in your body paragraphs, you should be good to go.

Remember to start a new paragraph when introducing new ideas or presenting contrasting information. Your reader needs to be able to follow the essay throughout, and a single, unbroken block of text would be difficult to read. Transitional words and phrases help start new paragraphs, so don’t forget to use them!

As with any writing, we always recommend proofreading your essay after you’ve finished it. This step will help to detect typos, extra spacing, and grammatical errors. A second pair of eyes is always useful, so we recommend asking our proofreading experts to review your essay . They’ll correct your grammar, ensure perfect spelling, and offer suggestions to improve your essay. You can even submit a 500-word document for free!

1. What is a paragraph and what is its purpose?

A paragraph is a group of sentences that expand on a single idea. The purpose of a paragraph is to introduce an idea and then develop it with supporting details.

2. What are the benefits of paragraphs?

Paragraphs make your essay easy to read by providing structure and flow. They let you transition from one idea to another. New paragraphs allow you to tell your reader that you’ve covered one point and are moving on to the next.

3. How many paragraphs does a typical essay have?

An essay of at least 1,000 words usually has five paragraphs. It’s best to use the required word count as a guide to the number of paragraphs you’ll need.

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5.1: 5¶E – What is the 5 Paragraph Essay?

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You may not know what I mean when I say 5 Paragraph Essay, but even if the name is unfamiliar, the concepts of it are probably something you recall doing often in your prior education. In short, it is an essay where the following format was used:

Intro Paragraph (with a thesis statement in the last sentence or two…sometimes underlined)
Body #1 (the first point of the larger subject that you will address and likely mentioned in the thesis)
Body #2 (the second point of the larger subject that you will address and likely mentioned in the thesis)
Body #3 (the third point of the larger subject that you will address and likely mentioned in the thesis)
Conclusion (reiterate what you have already written and restate the thesis)

Does this look familiar now? Most of you probably used it extensively throughout high school (if that was your last educational experience) regardless of the subject/class you were in. It was likely a catch-all and worked for any and all subject matters from history to social studies. The question is whether this same format will work in college. The following are notes to consider as to the merits and/or downfalls of this familiar essay format:

5¶E (Five Paragraph Essay)

Two missing, most important factors which are integral and necessary in all good writing:

To whom are you writing?

Why are you writing?

The Five Paragraph Essay is devoid of any consideration of AUDIENCE and PURPOSE since the audience is always the teacher and the purpose largely revolves around getting a good grade by pleasing the teacher. The idea that you are writing to a teacher for a grade is not realistic in real world writing and will not likely work for all of your paper assignments in college. That said, you need not abandon ship on it all together, but there is a real likelihood that it will not work in all instances, even in academic settings. AUDIENCE and PURPOSE are key in all quality writing and the Five Paragraph Essay does not account for these. If one considers these two factors, it can help shape how you approach writing and how the structure will unfold. To demonstrate, consider the following:

1) You’re writing an email to a friend asking him/her to come visit this weekend.

2) You got pulled over recently and you’re writing a letter to the judge to ask for clemency.

What would both of these writing instances sound/look like? Would the tone and structure be the same for each of these instances? The Five Paragraph Essay assumes they would, and thus you should be able to switch out the writing in each situation. Do you think you’d write a formal email to your friend or an informal letter to the judge? This is why AUDIENCE and PURPOSE are so important to succeeding in writing.

5u00b6E - What is the 5 Paragraph Essay?. Authored by : Jason Brown. Provided by : Herkimer College. Project : AtD OER Course. License : CC BY: Attribution

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How long is an essay? Guidelines for different types of essay

How Long is an Essay? Guidelines for Different Types of Essay

Published on January 28, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on July 23, 2023.

The length of an academic essay varies depending on your level and subject of study, departmental guidelines, and specific course requirements. In general, an essay is a shorter piece of writing than a research paper or thesis .

In most cases, your assignment will include clear guidelines on the number of words or pages you are expected to write. Often this will be a range rather than an exact number (for example, 2500–3000 words, or 10–12 pages). If you’re not sure, always check with your instructor.

In this article you’ll find some general guidelines for the length of different types of essay. But keep in mind that quality is more important than quantity – focus on making a strong argument or analysis, not on hitting a specific word count.

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In an academic essay, the main body should always take up the most space. This is where you make your arguments, give your evidence, and develop your ideas.

The introduction should be proportional to the essay’s length. In an essay under 3000 words, the introduction is usually just one paragraph. In longer and more complex essays, you might need to lay out the background and introduce your argument over two or three paragraphs.

The conclusion of an essay is often a single paragraph, even in longer essays. It doesn’t have to summarize every step of your essay, but should tie together your main points in a concise, convincing way.

The suggested word count doesn’t only tell you how long your essay should be – it also helps you work out how much information and complexity you can fit into the given space. This should guide the development of your thesis statement , which identifies the main topic of your essay and sets the boundaries of your overall argument.

A short essay will need a focused, specific topic and a clear, straightforward line of argument. A longer essay should still be focused, but it might call for a broader approach to the topic or a more complex, ambitious argument.

As you make an outline of your essay , make sure you have a clear idea of how much evidence, detail and argumentation will be needed to support your thesis. If you find that you don’t have enough ideas to fill out the word count, or that you need more space to make a convincing case, then consider revising your thesis to be more general or more specific.

The length of the essay also influences how much time you will need to spend on editing and proofreading .

You should always aim to meet the minimum length given in your assignment. If you are struggling to reach the word count:

Add more evidence and examples to each paragraph to clarify or strengthen your points.
Make sure you have fully explained or analyzed each example, and try to develop your points in more detail.
Address a different aspect of your topic in a new paragraph. This might involve revising your thesis statement to make a more ambitious argument.
Don’t use filler. Adding unnecessary words or complicated sentences will make your essay weaker and your argument less clear.
Don’t fixate on an exact number. Your marker probably won’t care about 50 or 100 words – it’s more important that your argument is convincing and adequately developed for an essay of the suggested length.

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In some cases, you are allowed to exceed the upper word limit by 10% – so for an assignment of 2500–3000 words, you could write an absolute maximum of 3300 words. However, the rules depend on your course and institution, so always check with your instructor if you’re unsure.

Only exceed the word count if it’s really necessary to complete your argument. Longer essays take longer to grade, so avoid annoying your marker with extra work! If you are struggling to edit down:

Check that every paragraph is relevant to your argument, and cut out irrelevant or out-of-place information.
Make sure each paragraph focuses on one point and doesn’t meander.
Cut out filler words and make sure each sentence is clear, concise, and related to the paragraph’s point.
Don’t cut anything that is necessary to the logic of your argument. If you remove a paragraph, make sure to revise your transitions and fit all your points together.
Don’t sacrifice the introduction or conclusion . These paragraphs are crucial to an effective essay –make sure you leave enough space to thoroughly introduce your topic and decisively wrap up your argument.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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When You Write

Breaking Down Essays: How Many Paragraphs Should You Have?

Writing an essay and figuring out the basic structure of an essay is one of the biggest challenges faced by students. But have no fear! Today we’re here to tackle one particularly tricky aspect of writing essays: how many paragraphs should be included?

We’ll look at some rules and guidelines for determining when it’s time to move on to a new paragraph – so you can easily craft your next great essay with confidence.

In this article, I’ll take you through the process step-by-step, offering up examples and strategies that will help readers understand what they need to know in order to write dynamic, engaging essays.

Perfect for anyone looking for ways to break free from tired formulae and express their story ideas in innovative ways.

What Is An Essay?

Essays are a common form of writing used in education and work. They can range from persuasive to argumentative, but all require an organized structure with clear thesis statement , topic sentences and supporting evidence. Writing an essay is like creating a piece of art: you have to know the rules before you break them.

When it comes to understanding the basic structure of an essay, there are typically three primary elements: introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion.

The introduction should provide readers with background information about the subject matter or arguments that will be discussed throughout the essay. It also lays out your main point (thesis statement) for readers so they have an understanding of what is coming next.

Body paragraphs usually follow the introduction, as this is where writers present their arguments and support their points with evidence. Each paragraph serves its own purpose; each one introducing one idea at a time until the writer has made his/her case through multiple topics. To make sure this happens effectively, each paragraph must start with a strong focus sentence (topic sentence) which introduces what that particular section will discuss further on.

From here, we move on to crafting our conclusion – wrapping up all ideas presented within our body paragraphs while reiterating our initial thesis statement and providing some final thoughts on the overall subject matter at hand.

This part should not simply repeat what was previously said but rather tie everything together into something meaningful for readers to take away from our essay’s message.

Understanding The Basic Structure Of An Essay

Ah, the art of essay writing. It’s a crafty exercise that can induce feelings of dread and extreme boredom in many high schoolers—not to mention college students. But, like all arts, it has its place in education and there are various ways to create an effective piece of work.

To understand how to write an essay effectively, you must first learn about its basic structure: paragraphs. Paragraphs are essential components of essays; they provide organization for your thoughts and ideas and should be used throughout the entire paper. Generally speaking, each paragraph should contain one main idea which is then supplemented by evidence from outside sources or personal examples. The length of these paragraphs will vary depending on whether you’re writing a short article or longer research paper, but typically five to six sentences work best for most formats.

To get started on drafting your masterpiece, decide what type of essay you’re going to write (persuasive argumentative etc.) and determine the recommended number of paragraphs per format.

After this step is complete, start brainstorming topics related to the essay prompt and begin jotting down notes as well as any relevant quotes or data points that could support your arguments further down the line.

Once these tasks are accomplished, it’s time to dive into actually constructing those individual paragraphs!

Types Of Essays And Recommended Paragraph Structure

When it comes to essays, there are a variety of types and structures. The number of paragraphs can vary depending on the type of essay being written.

The most common format is the five-paragraph essay:

an introduction,
three body paragraphs, and
a conclusion.

Each paragraph should have around six sentences that are focused on one main idea or point. An argumentative or persuasive essay usually follows this structure as well, but may contain more than five paragraphs if necessary for evidence support.

A cause-and-effect essay typically has two parts;

an introduction followed by
either two or four body paragraphs

in which causes and effects are discussed respectively. A research paper contains the same elements as other essays but also includes citations from sources used to back up claims made throughout the document. Personal essays often don’t conform to any specific structure because they focus on feelings rather than facts; however, some writers prefer organizing them into three sections with three separate points per section.

No matter what type of essay you’re writing, it’s important to recognize how many paragraphs each requires so your work meets expectations and flows properly between ideas!

Factors Influencing The Number Of Paragraphs In An Essay

As the old adage goes, “form follows function.”

The same is true for essays: how many paragraphs an essay contains depends on its purpose and complexity of the topic.

When writing an essay, it’s important to consider the length of the assignment, time available to complete the task, and resources at hand.

An essay typically consists of three parts: introduction, body containing three body paragraphs, and conclusion.

Depending on the length of the essay and other factors such as difficulty level or argumentative depth, one may need more than three body paragraphs to fully explain their stance on a given subject matter.

The introduction should include information that draws readers in while also setting up what will be discussed in main points throughout your essay.

After this comes your three body paragraphs where you can expand upon each point made by providing evidence or examples from reliable sources.

Finally, conclude with a clear summary of all key topics that have been addressed in your paper without introducing any new ideas not previously mentioned.

When editing and proofreading your work after completion, look out for ways to improve paragraphing based on readability considerations; ensure your paragraph transitions are logical so readers can follow along easily; check if there is enough text within each body paragraph relative to other sections; identify redundancies or irrelevant information that could be eliminated; and finally re-read sentences to make sure they align with the thesis statement set forth in the introduction section.

With these tips in mind, you’ll be well on your way towards crafting impressive essays!

Paragraphing Tips For Editing And Proofreading

When editing and proofreading an essay, it’s important to make sure the paragraphs are properly structured. Many people don’t realize that the number of paragraphs included in an essay can make a huge difference.

Generally, essays should have between three and seven paragraphs, depending on the length of the essay. For shorter essays, three paragraphs is usually enough, while for longer ones, seven is the maximum.

In addition, each paragraph should be focused on a particular idea or topic and should have a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Proofreading

When proofreading, it’s also important to pay attention to the length of each paragraph. Paragraphs should be long enough to contain a full thought or idea, but not so long that they become hard to follow.

As a rule of thumb, each paragraph should be around five sentences. If a paragraph is too short, it might not contain enough information. If it’s too long, the point of the paragraph might get lost. It’s also important to make sure that each paragraph logically flows into the next, so the reader can understand the essay’s overall argument.

Having someone else read over your work can be useful because they might spot something you didn’t notice before-but remember to take their advice on board if it’s valid!

In conclusion, the number of paragraphs in an essay can vary depending on its purpose and type.

However, it’s important to ensure that each paragraph is cohesive and serves a clear purpose within your overall argument.

To make sure each paragraph flows naturally into the next, I recommend editing and proofreading for any errors or awkward phrasing.

What this handout is about

This handout will help you understand how paragraphs are formed, how to develop stronger paragraphs, and how to completely and clearly express your ideas.

What is a paragraph?

Paragraphs are the building blocks of papers. Many students define paragraphs in terms of length: a paragraph is a group of at least five sentences, a paragraph is half a page long, etc. In reality, though, the unity and coherence of ideas among sentences is what constitutes a paragraph. A paragraph is defined as “a group of sentences or a single sentence that forms a unit” (Lunsford and Connors 116). Length and appearance do not determine whether a section in a paper is a paragraph. For instance, in some styles of writing, particularly journalistic styles, a paragraph can be just one sentence long. Ultimately, a paragraph is a sentence or group of sentences that support one main idea. In this handout, we will refer to this as the “controlling idea,” because it controls what happens in the rest of the paragraph.

How do I decide what to put in a paragraph?

Before you can begin to determine what the composition of a particular paragraph will be, you must first decide on an argument and a working thesis statement for your paper. What is the most important idea that you are trying to convey to your reader? The information in each paragraph must be related to that idea. In other words, your paragraphs should remind your reader that there is a recurrent relationship between your thesis and the information in each paragraph. A working thesis functions like a seed from which your paper, and your ideas, will grow. The whole process is an organic one—a natural progression from a seed to a full-blown paper where there are direct, familial relationships between all of the ideas in the paper.

The decision about what to put into your paragraphs begins with the germination of a seed of ideas; this “germination process” is better known as brainstorming . There are many techniques for brainstorming; whichever one you choose, this stage of paragraph development cannot be skipped. Building paragraphs can be like building a skyscraper: there must be a well-planned foundation that supports what you are building. Any cracks, inconsistencies, or other corruptions of the foundation can cause your whole paper to crumble.

So, let’s suppose that you have done some brainstorming to develop your thesis. What else should you keep in mind as you begin to create paragraphs? Every paragraph in a paper should be :

Unified : All of the sentences in a single paragraph should be related to a single controlling idea (often expressed in the topic sentence of the paragraph).
Clearly related to the thesis : The sentences should all refer to the central idea, or thesis, of the paper (Rosen and Behrens 119).
Coherent : The sentences should be arranged in a logical manner and should follow a definite plan for development (Rosen and Behrens 119).
Well-developed : Every idea discussed in the paragraph should be adequately explained and supported through evidence and details that work together to explain the paragraph’s controlling idea (Rosen and Behrens 119).

How do I organize a paragraph?

There are many different ways to organize a paragraph. The organization you choose will depend on the controlling idea of the paragraph. Below are a few possibilities for organization, with links to brief examples:

Narration : Tell a story. Go chronologically, from start to finish. ( See an example. )
Description : Provide specific details about what something looks, smells, tastes, sounds, or feels like. Organize spatially, in order of appearance, or by topic. ( See an example. )
Process : Explain how something works, step by step. Perhaps follow a sequence—first, second, third. ( See an example. )
Classification : Separate into groups or explain the various parts of a topic. ( See an example. )
Illustration : Give examples and explain how those examples support your point. (See an example in the 5-step process below.)

Illustration paragraph: a 5-step example

From the list above, let’s choose “illustration” as our rhetorical purpose. We’ll walk through a 5-step process for building a paragraph that illustrates a point in an argument. For each step there is an explanation and example. Our example paragraph will be about human misconceptions of piranhas.

Step 1. Decide on a controlling idea and create a topic sentence

Paragraph development begins with the formulation of the controlling idea. This idea directs the paragraph’s development. Often, the controlling idea of a paragraph will appear in the form of a topic sentence. In some cases, you may need more than one sentence to express a paragraph’s controlling idea.

Controlling idea and topic sentence — Despite the fact that piranhas are relatively harmless, many people continue to believe the pervasive myth that piranhas are dangerous to humans.

Step 2. Elaborate on the controlling idea

Paragraph development continues with an elaboration on the controlling idea, perhaps with an explanation, implication, or statement about significance. Our example offers a possible explanation for the pervasiveness of the myth.

Elaboration — This impression of piranhas is exacerbated by their mischaracterization in popular media.

Step 3. Give an example (or multiple examples)

Paragraph development progresses with an example (or more) that illustrates the claims made in the previous sentences.

Example — For example, the promotional poster for the 1978 horror film Piranha features an oversized piranha poised to bite the leg of an unsuspecting woman.

Step 4. Explain the example(s)

The next movement in paragraph development is an explanation of each example and its relevance to the topic sentence. The explanation should demonstrate the value of the example as evidence to support the major claim, or focus, in your paragraph.

Continue the pattern of giving examples and explaining them until all points/examples that the writer deems necessary have been made and explained. NONE of your examples should be left unexplained. You might be able to explain the relationship between the example and the topic sentence in the same sentence which introduced the example. More often, however, you will need to explain that relationship in a separate sentence.

Explanation for example — Such a terrifying representation easily captures the imagination and promotes unnecessary fear.

Notice that the example and explanation steps of this 5-step process (steps 3 and 4) can be repeated as needed. The idea is that you continue to use this pattern until you have completely developed the main idea of the paragraph.

Step 5. Complete the paragraph’s idea or transition into the next paragraph

The final movement in paragraph development involves tying up the loose ends of the paragraph. At this point, you can remind your reader about the relevance of the information to the larger paper, or you can make a concluding point for this example. You might, however, simply transition to the next paragraph.

Sentences for completing a paragraph — While the trope of the man-eating piranhas lends excitement to the adventure stories, it bears little resemblance to the real-life piranha. By paying more attention to fact than fiction, humans may finally be able to let go of this inaccurate belief.

Finished paragraph

Despite the fact that piranhas are relatively harmless, many people continue to believe the pervasive myth that piranhas are dangerous to humans. This impression of piranhas is exacerbated by their mischaracterization in popular media. For example, the promotional poster for the 1978 horror film Piranha features an oversized piranha poised to bite the leg of an unsuspecting woman. Such a terrifying representation easily captures the imagination and promotes unnecessary fear. While the trope of the man-eating piranhas lends excitement to the adventure stories, it bears little resemblance to the real-life piranha. By paying more attention to fact than fiction, humans may finally be able to let go of this inaccurate belief.

Troubleshooting paragraphs

Problem: the paragraph has no topic sentence.

Imagine each paragraph as a sandwich. The real content of the sandwich—the meat or other filling—is in the middle. It includes all the evidence you need to make the point. But it gets kind of messy to eat a sandwich without any bread. Your readers don’t know what to do with all the evidence you’ve given them. So, the top slice of bread (the first sentence of the paragraph) explains the topic (or controlling idea) of the paragraph. And, the bottom slice (the last sentence of the paragraph) tells the reader how the paragraph relates to the broader argument. In the original and revised paragraphs below, notice how a topic sentence expressing the controlling idea tells the reader the point of all the evidence.

Original paragraph

Piranhas rarely feed on large animals; they eat smaller fish and aquatic plants. When confronted with humans, piranhas’ first instinct is to flee, not attack. Their fear of humans makes sense. Far more piranhas are eaten by people than people are eaten by piranhas. If the fish are well-fed, they won’t bite humans.

Revised paragraph

Although most people consider piranhas to be quite dangerous, they are, for the most part, entirely harmless. Piranhas rarely feed on large animals; they eat smaller fish and aquatic plants. When confronted with humans, piranhas’ first instinct is to flee, not attack. Their fear of humans makes sense. Far more piranhas are eaten by people than people are eaten by piranhas. If the fish are well-fed, they won’t bite humans.

Once you have mastered the use of topic sentences, you may decide that the topic sentence for a particular paragraph really shouldn’t be the first sentence of the paragraph. This is fine—the topic sentence can actually go at the beginning, middle, or end of a paragraph; what’s important is that it is in there somewhere so that readers know what the main idea of the paragraph is and how it relates back to the thesis of your paper. Suppose that we wanted to start the piranha paragraph with a transition sentence—something that reminds the reader of what happened in the previous paragraph—rather than with the topic sentence. Let’s suppose that the previous paragraph was about all kinds of animals that people are afraid of, like sharks, snakes, and spiders. Our paragraph might look like this (the topic sentence is bold):

Like sharks, snakes, and spiders, piranhas are widely feared. Although most people consider piranhas to be quite dangerous, they are, for the most part, entirely harmless . Piranhas rarely feed on large animals; they eat smaller fish and aquatic plants. When confronted with humans, piranhas’ first instinct is to flee, not attack. Their fear of humans makes sense. Far more piranhas are eaten by people than people are eaten by piranhas. If the fish are well-fed, they won’t bite humans.

Problem: the paragraph has more than one controlling idea

If a paragraph has more than one main idea, consider eliminating sentences that relate to the second idea, or split the paragraph into two or more paragraphs, each with only one main idea. Watch our short video on reverse outlining to learn a quick way to test whether your paragraphs are unified. In the following paragraph, the final two sentences branch off into a different topic; so, the revised paragraph eliminates them and concludes with a sentence that reminds the reader of the paragraph’s main idea.

Although most people consider piranhas to be quite dangerous, they are, for the most part, entirely harmless. Piranhas rarely feed on large animals; they eat smaller fish and aquatic plants. When confronted with humans, piranhas’ first instinct is to flee, not attack. Their fear of humans makes sense. Far more piranhas are eaten by people than people are eaten by piranhas. A number of South American groups eat piranhas. They fry or grill the fish and then serve them with coconut milk or tucupi, a sauce made from fermented manioc juices.

Problem: transitions are needed within the paragraph

You are probably familiar with the idea that transitions may be needed between paragraphs or sections in a paper (see our handout on transitions ). Sometimes they are also helpful within the body of a single paragraph. Within a paragraph, transitions are often single words or short phrases that help to establish relationships between ideas and to create a logical progression of those ideas in a paragraph. This is especially likely to be true within paragraphs that discuss multiple examples. Let’s take a look at a version of our piranha paragraph that uses transitions to orient the reader:

Although most people consider piranhas to be quite dangerous, they are, except in two main situations, entirely harmless. Piranhas rarely feed on large animals; they eat smaller fish and aquatic plants. When confronted with humans, piranhas’ instinct is to flee, not attack. But there are two situations in which a piranha bite is likely. The first is when a frightened piranha is lifted out of the water—for example, if it has been caught in a fishing net. The second is when the water level in pools where piranhas are living falls too low. A large number of fish may be trapped in a single pool, and if they are hungry, they may attack anything that enters the water.

In this example, you can see how the phrases “the first” and “the second” help the reader follow the organization of the ideas in the paragraph.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Lunsford, Andrea. 2008. The St. Martin’s Handbook: Annotated Instructor’s Edition , 6th ed. New York: St. Martin’s.

Rosen, Leonard J., and Laurence Behrens. 2003. The Allyn & Bacon Handbook , 5th ed. New York: Longman.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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On Paragraphs

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The purpose of this handout is to give some basic instruction and advice regarding the creation of understandable and coherent paragraphs.

What is a paragraph?

A paragraph is a collection of related sentences dealing with a single topic. Learning to write good paragraphs will help you as a writer stay on track during your drafting and revision stages. Good paragraphing also greatly assists your readers in following a piece of writing. You can have fantastic ideas, but if those ideas aren't presented in an organized fashion, you will lose your readers (and fail to achieve your goals in writing).

The Basic Rule: Keep one idea to one paragraph

The basic rule of thumb with paragraphing is to keep one idea to one paragraph. If you begin to transition into a new idea, it belongs in a new paragraph. There are some simple ways to tell if you are on the same topic or a new one. You can have one idea and several bits of supporting evidence within a single paragraph. You can also have several points in a single paragraph as long as they relate to the overall topic of the paragraph. If the single points start to get long, then perhaps elaborating on each of them and placing them in their own paragraphs is the route to go.

Elements of a paragraph

To be as effective as possible, a paragraph should contain each of the following: Unity, Coherence, A Topic Sentence, and Adequate Development. As you will see, all of these traits overlap. Using and adapting them to your individual purposes will help you construct effective paragraphs.

The entire paragraph should concern itself with a single focus. If it begins with one focus or major point of discussion, it should not end with another or wander within different ideas.

Coherence is the trait that makes the paragraph easily understandable to a reader. You can help create coherence in your paragraphs by creating logical bridges and verbal bridges.

Logical bridges

The same idea of a topic is carried over from sentence to sentence
Successive sentences can be constructed in parallel form

Verbal bridges

Key words can be repeated in several sentences
Synonymous words can be repeated in several sentences
Pronouns can refer to nouns in previous sentences
Transition words can be used to link ideas from different sentences

A topic sentence

A topic sentence is a sentence that indicates in a general way what idea or thesis the paragraph is going to deal with. Although not all paragraphs have clear-cut topic sentences, and despite the fact that topic sentences can occur anywhere in the paragraph (as the first sentence, the last sentence, or somewhere in the middle), an easy way to make sure your reader understands the topic of the paragraph is to put your topic sentence near the beginning of the paragraph. (This is a good general rule for less experienced writers, although it is not the only way to do it). Regardless of whether you include an explicit topic sentence or not, you should be able to easily summarize what the paragraph is about.

Adequate development

The topic (which is introduced by the topic sentence) should be discussed fully and adequately. Again, this varies from paragraph to paragraph, depending on the author's purpose, but writers should be wary of paragraphs that only have two or three sentences. It's a pretty good bet that the paragraph is not fully developed if it is that short.

Some methods to make sure your paragraph is well-developed:

Use examples and illustrations
Cite data (facts, statistics, evidence, details, and others)
Examine testimony (what other people say such as quotes and paraphrases)
Use an anecdote or story
Define terms in the paragraph
Compare and contrast
Evaluate causes and reasons
Examine effects and consequences
Analyze the topic
Describe the topic
Offer a chronology of an event (time segments)

How do I know when to start a new paragraph?

You should start a new paragraph when:

When you begin a new idea or point. New ideas should always start in new paragraphs. If you have an extended idea that spans multiple paragraphs, each new point within that idea should have its own paragraph.
To contrast information or ideas. Separate paragraphs can serve to contrast sides in a debate, different points in an argument, or any other difference.
When your readers need a pause. Breaks between paragraphs function as a short "break" for your readers—adding these in will help your writing be more readable. You would create a break if the paragraph becomes too long or the material is complex.
When you are ending your introduction or starting your conclusion. Your introductory and concluding material should always be in a new paragraph. Many introductions and conclusions have multiple paragraphs depending on their content, length, and the writer's purpose.

Transitions and signposts

Two very important elements of paragraphing are signposts and transitions. Signposts are internal aids to assist readers; they usually consist of several sentences or a paragraph outlining what the article has covered and where the article will be going.

Transitions are usually one or several sentences that "transition" from one idea to the next. Transitions can be used at the end of most paragraphs to help the paragraphs flow one into the next.

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How to Write a 3 Paragraph Essay: Outline and Examples

If you’re looking for a short 3-Paragraph Essay because you’re having trouble fitting all of your important information into three paragraphs, you might have found the right page. The next article explains How to Write a 3 Paragraph Essay , gives many examples, and explains how it is put together and what its goal is. The tried-and-true 3-paragraph essay may be the simplest way to organize an essay. Beginner writers may find the three-paragraph essay useful because it has the same framework as a longer essay without being as long. Advanced writers can learn how to write concisely by going to Researchwritings.com and reading about new writing methods.

3 Paragraph Essay

The 3-paragraph essay is just a study or interpretation of a piece of literature. It has an introduction, a body, and an end. It normally looks at its topic from a limited or personal point of view. Usually, these types of essays are used in schools.

In a three-paragraph essay, the opening explains what the essay is about and makes a case for why the reader should read it. In the body of the essay, the author talks about the topic and talks about its pros and cons. In a 3-paragraph essay, we had to start with a topic line and then back it up with one or two words. Also, we had to write a line evaluating this data in light of your case or topic sentence, and the last paragraph of our 3-paragraph essay had to go into more detail about its importance.

Essay Length

Usually, an essay with three paragraphs is a short piece of writing. Most of the time, these writings have between 500 and 750 words. These essays are written in a way that makes them fit the framework of an essay. They are between 300 and 600 words long. They have a beginning, a main part, and an end. The only way to tell these pieces apart is by their main body, which gives a thorough defense of the subject.

How to Write a 3-Paragraph Essay

If you want to compose a perfect three-paragraph essay, then the following principles must be followed: The steps are:

Plan ahead: think about how you will present your points. It is the process of choosing what to put in your essay. It makes points that are clear and make sense. So, a well-planned structure makes it easier for the reader to understand the points.

Making a draft (write down all the ideas you have and start to explain them) Mind mapping is another name for this process. When an author writes, he or she puts his or her ideas into complete sentences and paragraphs.
The first paragraph of the paper. The information in the body paragraph must be clear and connected to the topic. The body paragraph needs to talk about the topic’s points of view and how you feel about them.
The end comes after the main part of the paragraph. The end of the essay should be short and give an overview of the whole thing. It could also have your thoughts about the subject.
To revise (revise) , you have to read the line you just wrote carefully and look for mistakes you made while writing the essay.
Editing: Write down all of the mistakes you made while writing the essay and fix them to make it better.

How to Structure a three Paragraph Essay

Introduction.

In the introduction, you must talk about the subject’s past and how people think about it now. Each opening paragraph must start with a theme sentence, also called a thesis statement. A thesis statement is one sentence that says what the paper is about and what the main point is. The second line builds on the first to explain more about the main point being made. The importance of your point needs to be brought out. In the third and final line, you should give a brief summary of the information you plan to present in the body and how you plan to present it. For example, if you were writing a 3-paragraph essay on global warming, the beginning might look like this:

Introduction Example Human activities have been damaging our ecosystem for centuries, and the result is global warming due to rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. It is impossible to turn a blind eye to global warming, and urgent action is required to combat the problem.

In the main part of the essay, the writer must describe the topic and talk about its pros and cons, as well as any consequences or effects. The number of sentences in the body of your essay should match the number of points you want to make. You should spend at least three lines on each of your points to show that you understand it well. The main body of a three-paragraph essay would look something like this:

Body Paragraphs Example Carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants in the earth’s atmosphere have increased due to human activities, including power plant emissions, transportation, and deforestation. Global warming, caused by greenhouse gases that trap solar radiation in the atmosphere, has the potential to alter the entire planet’s topography, uprooting communities, inundating entire nations, and wiping out countless species. Global warming has many direct effects, one of which is more extreme weather. The negative consequences of global warming on Earth’s ecosystems are numerous and will only increase. Cutting down additional trees should be prohibited, and afforestation should be promoted as the best way to protect the planet from further destruction. Get started by planting trees close to your home or place of work, then attend events and share the message about the value of tree planting with others.

In the third and last line of your essay, you should say what you think about what you’ve written. Start by putting the topic sentence in your own words. Summarize the main points, then ask the reader to think about them. In the end, the author must say what he thinks about the subject. As an example:

Conclusion Example As long as humans continue to release greenhouse gases, global warming will increase and cause further ecological devastation. Stopping global warming is crucial, and we all share responsibility for doing so. Get started by planting trees close to your home or place of work, then attend events and share the message about the value of tree planting with others. The damage can’t be undone, but it can be stopped from spreading.

Also Read: How to Write a 600 Word Essay

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Benefits of Visiting ResearchWritings

We know that in a three-paragraph essay, you have to explain your supporting points in just one paragraph. For young writers or students of the English language, visiting our website may be a good idea because it is easy and they can do it without any trouble or stress. Aside from that, its structure gives the reader the basic argument three times: first in the introduction, then in the main body, and finally in the conclusion. This helps new learners understand and learn because each point in the essay relates back to the first paragraph. By writing these kinds of essays, students can finally learn how to make and defend their own arguments, use evidence well, and improve their general writing skills.

3 Paragraph Essay Topics

Three-paragraph essays do not require any special topics, like research papers. We can write these kinds of essays on very basic and usual topics, including:

Natural resources
The civil war.
The child’s exploitation.
The culture.
Use of artificial technology
The wonder of science.
Solar power
Natural disasters.
Solar system.
Wildlife conservation.
Your leader.
Human rights.

Apart from this, there are many other topics, including climate change, music, the importance of reading, and many others, that we can use as our topic for writing a 3-paragraph essay.

3 Paragraph Essay Examples

A few examples of the best three-paragraph essays are:

Example #1 >> Artificial Intelligence: Its Pros and Cons

AI is becoming one of the areas that is growing the fastest in the world. It helps make our lives easier and gives us different chances that we can use for the good of all people, but we also know that everything made by people in this universe has both pros and cons. In the following article, the pros and cons of artificial intelligence are talked about.

Here are some of the good things about AI: It’s a big part of how people in our society live their lives. Aside from that, it lets you do more than one thing at once and makes it possible to do less work with the same tools. It also means getting things done without spending a lot of money, and we can use it all the time without stopping. Aside from the good things it does for welfare and society, it has a lot of bad effects that are not only bad for computers but also cause a lot of trouble for people. AI technologies aren’t making people any better, and they’re making them more lazy every day. Aside from this, being able to make a machine that can make people smarter is a big challenge, takes a lot to work on, and is also causing people to lose their jobs. It was all made by people, so it depends on the skills and abilities of different people. This is one of the biggest problems with this technology because it is not creative. It can only do what we want it to do or answer the questions we are tired of asking. Other than that, it is useless. Humans are losing their jobs because artificial technology methods are taking over.

Artificial intelligence is a change in technology that has more bad effects than good ones and could endanger the world. The rise of artificial intelligence makes sure that people are setting up traps that will lead to their own deaths. AI is giving us a lot of great chances, but if we don’t take care of it, it will be hard for us to stay alive, and it could even kill us.

Example #2: Exhibition

An exhibition is the display or presentation of works of art or items of interest to the public. It also focuses on the identification and interpretation of collective things. The exhibition was first introduced to the public in the 19 th century, but before the 19 th century, there had been different temporary exhibitions, especially the display of new arts in the major cities introduced to the public in the 19th century, but before the 19th century, there had been different temporary exhibitions, especially display of new arts in the major cities. The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacturing, and Commerce held the first modern public exhibition on April 21, 1760, in London. It was the first in a series of fine arts exhibitions held by the institution, later known as the Society of Arts. One of the most famous exhibitions was the Academie des Beaux-Arts of the Paris Salon, which was started in 1667 and opened to the public in 1737. The following essay is going to give a brief description of exhibitions.

Exhibition planning is an engaging process. They are usually the experiences of people; they provide communication of ideas, information, feelings, and values. Exhibitions usually occur within cultural, educational, or many other places, which include museums, art galleries, parks, libraries, or different exhibition centers. It is an integrative and multidisciplinary process that often combines architecture, interior design, graphic design, multimedia, lighting, audio, technology, and other disciplines to create a complex narrative around a topic In its most general sense, it is an organized presentation and display of selected items. There is no set method for planning an exhibition, although there are general guidelines that professionals follow. These guidelines include an estimate of how many organizational accommodations are possible. It is because exhibition proponents are strongly encouraged by the partners, and they must involve several co-organizers. It also includes publicizing the exhibition and informing people about it through advertisements or distributing notices.

Exhibitions usually provide platforms for your product. It is usually the advertisement of your product to the general public and the acknowledgment of the benefits of the product. It provides the opportunity for potential buyers to meet a wide range of sellers in a single location.

Example #3: Fashion

In the last few decades, fashion has become a worldwide phenomenon. Fashion has always been an important part of human life. Fashion styles have changed over the years. Because younger people care more about how they look on the outside, the fashion industry is driven by people who want to look and act like the outside world has changed.

When styles change, people wear new clothes and act in new ways. One way that the modern world is always changing is in the fashion business. The first step to looking chic is to know what’s in style. The modern sense of fashion gives people another way to show who they are. Styles can change from one season to the next or in reaction to a certain need. In the United States, fashion is the lifeblood of the glamorous world, and you could even say that the glamorous world inspires and guides fashion itself. Trends change every day because they are based on styles in the business world, which in turn depend on a glamorous world. Fashion has an effect on both physical society and how people talk to each other online. The ever-changing world of fashion gives us a nice break from our daily lives by giving us ideas for how to look good, be confident, and be in step with the times.

So, in conclusion, the young people of today are so affected by the glitzy fashion industry that it shows in every part of their appearance, including their clothes, hair, accessories, language, and attitude. The way we dress is an interesting part of our lives. It makes us feel good about ourselves and like we belong in the world. Fashion is a big part of what makes culture what it is today. Because of this, each of us learns something new. People’s attitudes, personalities, ways of dressing and acting, and even their hobbies and pleasures can all be seen as examples of fashion.

Example #4: Pros And Cons Of Social Media

Social media has become very popular in recent years because it is easy to use and easy to get to. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. are making it easier for people to connect with each other. Yes, thanks to social media, you can quickly connect with anyone, anywhere in the world, with just a tap of your finger. The kids of today are among the people who use social media the most.

There are a lot of good things about using social media. Most importantly, it is an excellent way to learn. Anyone can get to any and all information with just a few taps. Students can learn about a wide range of topics by using social media. This medium also lets people talk to each other in real time. You can watch a talk in the U.S. from where you are sitting in India. Also, as more people stop reading print media, they are getting their news from social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. It gives you the most up-to-date news about the world around you. As a person learns more about world issues, they become more aware of them. It also helps you get closer to the people who are most important to you. With social media, it doesn’t matter how far away someone is. If you have friends or family in another country, it’s easy and quick to get in touch with them. Above all, it gives young singers who are just starting out a free, big stage to perform on. You can also find out about good job opportunities through social networking. Promoting a trademark is another good thing for businesses. Because of this, social media has become a central place for promoting, and it’s a great place to take photos with clients. Even though social media has clear benefits, it is often seen as a big threat to public safety. When people use social media without limits, bad things can happen. It is dangerous because technology breaks down barriers to dialogue that used to be impossible to get past. When kids share too much online, they make it easy for crooks and hackers to find them and hurt them. Because of this, cyberbullying happens, which can be very bad for anyone’s self-esteem. So, it’s important to keep an eye on the social media status updates that kids mostly make. Next, we’ll talk about things that teens like to do, like social networking. When a student spends more time on social media instead of reading, it hurts their grades. When people spend too much time on social media, they tend to push other people away. Its use spreads false information, which in turn poisons the thoughts of people who would otherwise be peaceful.

In a word, using social networking has both pros and cons. But in the end, it depends on the person. A lot of focus should be put on helping the youth of today find a good balance between doing well in school, being active, and using social media. Like any other drug, spending too much time on social media can lead to bad things. So, it’s up to us to find the right mix and work toward a happy life.

Example #5: Women’s Education

Education for women can be seen as a way to teach them things that will make them feel more valuable and worthy. This knowledge can be taught in a number of different ways. Women’s contributions to society can be seen in their jobs as wives, mothers, sisters, coworkers, nurses, and in many other ways. They are better organized and care more about what other people need. Mothers with more education have more chances to contribute to the progress and wealth of their country, and they can do this with the help of men. This essay will give a brief summary of how important women’s education is to the growth of a country.

A good education can help a community in many ways, such as by making people more employable, increasing their wages, and improving their social standing. It can also open up new opportunities for personal and professional growth. Women’s schooling is important for the progress of society as a whole. When it comes to money and making decisions about their health and careers, women with more schooling are more likely to be in charge of their own lives. Educating women will not only help them become financially independent, but it will also give them the skills they need to take care of their own homes. A mother with a good education knows what she needs to do and has the tools to raise good people. She gives birth to children who are driven and have goals. Getting women educated is very important if we want to stop the violence that still happens to them in many parts of the world. If a woman has a good education, she is much less likely to be sexually assaulted or abused in other ways. Women getting an education has helped get rid of problems like dowry and jobless. Education for women has a big effect on population growth because it gives women the power to make choices about their own health that affect their ability to have children. The rate of literacy in a country can be raised by making sure that as many children as possible have moms who have finished school. Muslims think that going to school is a moral duty. A verse in the Holy Quran and a hadith say that women, like men, should learn more and try to learn more. A mother who has gone to college will always be treated with respect, and other women will look up to her as an example.

The progress of society rests on women being able to go to school. As a way to fix the fact that we aren’t making any progress, it should get our attention on a personal, social, and national level. Governments, civil society groups, and individuals can work together to improve gender equality and remove barriers to higher education for women. If we invest in women’s education, we can make sure that everyone has a more prosperous and fair future.

Example # 6: Poverty

Poverty means that a family can’t provide for itself in terms of food, schooling, a place to live, and clothes. Poverty is shown by not having enough food, not having a place to live, not having good child care, living in a hostile area, and not having enough money for public institutions. The poverty barrier, also called the poverty line, is the very least amount of money a person needs to make in a country to be able to live. In this post, we’ll look at poverty and its effects around the world from a high level.

We say that a person, a family, or a whole community is poor when they don’t have enough money to meet their most basic wants. This means that it is hard to get even the most basic things, like food, clothes, a place to live, and medicine. Poverty keeps happening from one generation to the next. Some of the problems that can happen as a result are sickness, hunger, lying, and not having clean places to live. Poverty has many causes, such as rising prices of living, low wages, unemployment, and not getting enough money from social security. People living below the poverty line are also hurt by climate change, inequality or social injustice, not having enough schooling, not getting enough help from the government, and many other things. A rise in the poverty rate is linked to the number of people with mental sickness, chronic diseases, higher death rates, and a shorter life expectancy. Children make up most of the age group that is the poorest. Poverty needs to be stopped because it hurts human capital and slows down economic growth. There are effective ways to do this. Giving everyone the same rights is the first step to stopping unfairness. Getting people skills and jobs is another way to help them get out of poverty. Those who can’t support themselves and can’t read or write, so that we can give them money.

To sum up, then, what we mean when we say someone is poor is that they don’t have enough money to buy the things they need. A national problem like poverty can’t be fixed by just one person. Effective steps should be taken right away to solve the problem. For people, communities, countries, and economies to grow in a way that is long-lasting and all-encompassing, poverty must be eliminated. This is a requirement for growth in any of these areas.

Also Read: Romeo and Juliet Essay

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Example #7: Newspaper Reading

A newspaper is a weekly or daily written report on what’s going on in the world. It usually has a white or gray background and black writing. A good habit is to read the newspaper every day. It’s a great way to find out what’s going on in the world. We learn about current events from reliable source. Newspapers help us learn more about a lot of different things, from politics and culture to the economy and sports. We’ll talk quickly about why it’s important to read the news.

The newspaper is an important way for the people and the government to talk to each other. No matter how small, it all adds up to the whole. It helps us learn more and be better people. Reading the newspaper can help you find a better job. The newspaper tells us about business and job opportunities from different companies, so we can choose the best one. We can also advertise our goods and services in the newspaper with little work. By reading a newspaper, a person will improve their language and grammar the most. You can learn new words and improve your language by reading the newspaper. If someone reads newspapers often, they are likely to have a large and interesting language as well. They have more things in common with other people and can talk about most things more easily. Since you can read a newspaper alone, it keeps us from being bored and lonely. People don’t read newspapers as much as they used to because they can get all the news they need on their phones and computers. This is why newspaper reading is on the slide. Printing newspapers not only lose a lot of paper but is also an inefficient way to spread the news.

The newspaper is a good way to get news at home. Because they gather information and data from all over the world, they are very important to our everyday lives. It has news and opinion about the business world, politics, pop culture, sports, and economics. This practice will help you improve not only as a student but also as a speaker and writer. Because of this, everyone needs to make it a habit to read the newspaper every day.

Example #8: Child Explanation

Exploiting children is bad for them. When a kid or young person is exploited, they are “groomed” with things like gifts, drugs, money, status, and love. In return for doing something illegal, this is sometimes called “child criminal.” When a child abuser threatens to hurt them physically or uses other ways to scare them, the child may feel useless. They might give out a lot of money or valuable things like drugs and other things. In the next essay, the effects of exploiting children and possible answers to the problem are talked about.

There are many ways to take advantage of children. In a practice called “trafficking,” children are sometimes taken from their homes and used for sexual reasons. They can be moved to other parts of the country and hurt physically and sexually. All acts of violence or neglect against children that cause major physical or mental harm or put the child’s life in danger are included here. Bullying and cyberbullying, which usually happen at school, are two of the most common ways to take advantage of children. This also covers a lot of different kinds of abuse, like sexual attacks, domestic violence, and more. About one-fourth of American girls and one-thirteenth of American boys have been abused as children. When a kid is exploited, they are groomed, pressured, or forced to do something they don’t want to do for an adult’s benefit. One way we can help keep our kids safe is to learn about the signs of physical and sexual abuse for ourselves and for other people. Watch over your kids, teach them how to be safe, and give them good advice. These steps could make it much less likely that a child will be abused or neglected.

Abuse and neglect of children have effects on a lot more people than just the close family. To protect children from this danger, preventive steps and legal remedies need to be put in place.

Editing of a 3 Paragraphed Essay

For the editing of an essay, we had to take the following steps:

Checking the Structure

First of all, you have to check the overall structure of the essay to see if it has the proper structure. Checking structure means checking the introduction, main body, and conclusion of your essay.

Logical Sequence

Make sure that each and every paragraph that you have written has a clear main point that relates to the argument, and check that the paragraphs you have written are arranged in a logical sequence.

Explanation of the Points

Make sure that you have explained the points you used in your essay and try to use more appropriate sentences.

Revise Sentences

Check the words you use in your essay and try to make them simple and accurate.

Punctuation

Before submitting, you must check the grammatical errors and punctuation mistakes if any, because correct grammar use adds beauty to your writing skills.

Tips for Writing a Good Essay

Follow the following steps on How to write a 3 paragraph essay :

For a good paragraph essay, we should begin our essay by describing the thesis statement to remind the reader of the purpose of our writing.
Introduce the supporting data with the facts to back it up in the introduction.
For a good essay, always try to write it in a logical flow and use transitional words to separate the paragraphs..
A good 3-paragraph essay just requires us to condense our points into one body paragraph, and they just require a single supporting point before reaching the conclusion.
Remember to add an in-text citation for every quote or piece of information.
Apart from this, the other qualities needed for writing a good essay are focus, development, unity, coherence, and correctness.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

The following article has tried to solve all the problems related to 3 paragraph essay. Above are mentioned all the details in easy words that can help you to compose a well-written short assignment for your class. Also, if you want a well-written essay to be composed by a professional, you can get in touch with our writers through the link Researchwritings.com .

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❓ Frequently Asked Question (FAQ)

For a good 3-paragraph essay, the writer should go for two references per paragraph. It is not compulsory to give references in the introduction and the conclusion, while in all the paragraphs (the main body), the writer should go for two references to make his essay worth reading.

If you double-space a three-paragraph essay, it usually takes two to three pages. We know that it depends on the size of the fonts, the width of the borders, and the space between the lines on a double-spaced page. So, it's usually around 750 words, or 250 words per page.

The average writer needs about 37 and a half minutes to type a three-paragraph essay where each paragraph is on its own page and about 1 hour and 30 minutes to write it by hand. But this time can go up to 3 hours or more if the content needs study, links, citations, or graphs, like in blog posts or high school essays.

Yes, a 500-word essay can be three paragraphs. Generally, a 500-word essay is around 2 pages long, double-spaced. That is why we can say that a 500-word essay can be a 3-paragraph essay.

A paragraph does not depend on lines. It depends on the number of sentences. A typical paragraph should be at least three sentences long.

Yes, a three-paragraph essay can be one page, but a good general rule is 2 to 3 paragraphs per page.

The structure of an essay means that it needs at least three parts. So, three parts aren't much and are just a normal amount for an essay to have.

Yes, an article with three paragraphs is short. A normal essay is made up of four or five paragraphs.

Yes. We can write a good essay with three paragraphs in two hours. Two hours may seem like a long time to write an essay, but this time can go up or down based on the number of citations, sources, and how complicated the topic is.

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COMMENTS

How Many Paragraphs in an Essay?
A 1,750 word essay is 11 to 12 paragraphs. A 2,000 word essay is 13 to 14 paragraphs. A 2,500 word essay is 16 to 17 paragraphs. A 3,000 word essay is 20 paragraphs. A 4,000 word essay is 26 to 27 paragraphs. A 5,000 word essay is 33 to 34 paragraphs. A 6,000 word essay is 40 paragraphs.
Secrets of the Five-Paragraph Essay
The five-paragraph essay consists of one introduction paragraph (with the thesis at its end), three body paragraphs (each beginning with one of three main points) and one last paragraph—the conclusion. 1-3-1. Once you have this outline, you have the basic template for most academic writing. Most of all, you have an organized way to approach ...
How to Craft a Stellar 5-Paragraph Essay: A Step-by-Step Guide
Write the Introduction. Start the essay with a " hook "—an attention-grabbing statement that will get the reader's interest. This could be an interesting fact, a quote, or a question. After the hook, introduce your topic and end the introduction with a clear thesis statement that presents your main argument or point.
What Is an Essay? Structure, Parts, and Types
Parts of an essay. An impactful, well-structured essay comes down to three important parts: the introduction, body, and conclusion. 1. The introduction sets the stage for your essay and is typically a paragraph long. It should grab the reader's attention and give them a clear idea of what your essay will be about.
The Ultimate Guide to the 5-Paragraph Essay
Students can use the following steps to write a standard essay on any given topic. First, choose a topic, or ask your students to choose their topic, then allow them to form a basic five-paragraph by following these steps: Decide on your basic thesis, your idea of a topic to discuss. Decide on three pieces of supporting evidence you will use to ...
How to Write a Five-Paragraph Essay (with Examples)
Write the hook and thesis statement in the first paragraph. Write the conflict of the essay in the second paragraph. Write the supporting details of the conflict in the third paragraph. Write the weakest arguments in the fourth paragraph. Write the summary and call-to-action prompt in the fifth paragraph.
The Beginner's Guide to Writing an Essay
Essay writing process. The writing process of preparation, writing, and revisions applies to every essay or paper, but the time and effort spent on each stage depends on the type of essay.. For example, if you've been assigned a five-paragraph expository essay for a high school class, you'll probably spend the most time on the writing stage; for a college-level argumentative essay, on the ...
Five-paragraph essay
The five-paragraph essay is a form of essay having five paragraphs : one concluding paragraph. The introduction serves to inform the reader of the basic premises, and then to state the author's thesis, or central idea. A thesis can also be used to point out the subject of each body paragraph. When a thesis essay is applied to this format, the ...
How to write a perfect 5 Paragraph Essay
The hamburger essay structure consists of five paragraphs or layers as follows: Layer 1 - The Top Bun: The Introduction. The uppermost layer is the introductory paragraph which communicates to the reader the purpose of the essay. Layers 2,3, & 4 - The Meat Patties: The Body Paragraphs.
How Many Paragraphs Should an Essay Have?
As a rule, five paragraphs should suffice for a 1,000-word essay. As long as you have an introduction and a conclusion and provide enough supporting details for the main ideas in your body paragraphs, you should be good to go. Remember to start a new paragraph when introducing new ideas or presenting contrasting information.
5.1: 5¶E
The following are notes to consider as to the merits and/or downfalls of this familiar essay format: 5¶E (Five Paragraph Essay) Pros. Cons. Helps you stay organized. Easy/familiar. Helps create proficiency. Good format for timed tests since it's structured and formulaic. Aids in student survival because it's familiar and often utilized in ...
How Long is an Essay? Guidelines for Different Types of Essay
Essay length guidelines. Type of essay. Average word count range. Essay content. High school essay. 300-1000 words. In high school you are often asked to write a 5-paragraph essay, composed of an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. College admission essay. 200-650 words.
The Five-Paragraph Essay
See, first, Writing Introductory Paragraphs for different ways of getting your reader involved in your essay. The introductory paragraph should also include the thesis statement, a kind of mini-outline for the paper: it tells the reader what the essay is about. The last sentence of this paragraph must also contain a transitional "hook" which ...
Breaking Down Essays: How Many Paragraphs Should You Have?
Generally, essays should have between three and seven paragraphs, depending on the length of the essay. For shorter essays, three paragraphs is usually enough, while for longer ones, seven is the maximum. In addition, each paragraph should be focused on a particular idea or topic and should have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
3 Paragraph Essay: Structure and Writing Guide
The issue at hand revolves around a constraint - the limited scope of this essay type. How many words is a 3 paragraph essay? This format is more restrictive compared to a 5 paragraph essay, which offers more room to expound upon a topic. Within three paragraphs, the space for providing background information and supporting evidence is ...
Paragraphs
Paragraphs are the building blocks of papers. Many students define paragraphs in terms of length: a paragraph is a group of at least five sentences, a paragraph is half a page long, etc. In reality, though, the unity and coherence of ideas among sentences is what constitutes a paragraph. A paragraph is defined as "a group of sentences or a ...
How to Write a 3 Paragraph Essay
The three-paragraph essay consists of an introduction, a body paragraph, and a conclusion. Your introduction needs to announce your topic, engage your reader, and present your argument or point of view. In persuasive writing, your thesis should be debatable, provable, specific, and clear. Your body paragraph begins with a topic sentence that ...
On Paragraphs
Separate paragraphs can serve to contrast sides in a debate, different points in an argument, or any other difference. When your readers need a pause. Breaks between paragraphs function as a short "break" for your readers—adding these in will help your writing be more readable. You would create a break if the paragraph becomes too long or the ...
How to Write a 3 Paragraph Essay: Outline and Examples
The next article explains How to Write a 3 Paragraph Essay, gives many examples, and explains how it is put together and what its goal is. The tried-and-true 3-paragraph essay may be the simplest way to organize an essay. Beginner writers may find the three-paragraph essay useful because it has the same framework as a longer essay without being ...
How to Write in the Format of a 3.5 Essay
3. Write Three Body Paragraphs. The middle of your 3.5 essay is made up of three body paragraphs; each paragraph should focus on a point mentioned in your introduction and thesis statement. Subsequently, each body paragraph should start with a topic sentence to transition readers from point to point.
How to Write an Argumentative Essay
The number of paragraphs may vary depending on your assignment requirements and topic complexity. A standard 5-paragraph argumentative essay has three body paragraphs: two are for arguments that support your thesis, and one is for a rebuttal (counterarguments your opponents have on the issue).
Guernica Editor Who Published Israeli Writer's Coexistence Essay
The editor-in-chief of the prestigious literary magazine Guernica, whose decision to publish an Israeli writer's essay about the war in Gaza last month led to the mass resignation of the magazine's staff, has herself resigned from the publication, saying she disagreed with the decision to retract the essay.

How Many Paragraphs in an Essay?

Guessing How Many Paragraphs Before You Begin

What Points Do You Have to Cover?

Essay Content Is More Important Than the Number of Paragraphs

Always Remember the Purpose of Paragraphs

How many paragraphs is…

Basic Essay Word to Paragraphs Conversions

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UMGC Effective Writing Center Secrets of the Five-Paragraph Essay

Secret #1—The Magic of Three

Secret #2: The Thesis Formula

Secret #3: The 1-3-1 Outline

Personal Information

The Ultimate Guide to the 5-Paragraph Essay

Writing a Good Introduction

Writing Body Paragraphs

Writing a Conclusion

Practice Writing a Five-Paragraph Essay

Limitations of the Five-Paragraph Essay

How to write a perfect 5 Paragraph Essay

How to Write a 5 Paragraph Essay : A Complete Guide

THE HAMBURGER ESSAY – THE STUDENT’S FRIEND

A COMPLETE UNIT ON TEACHING PARAGRAPH WRITING

THE PREWRITING STAGE – DEFINING THE THESIS STATEMENT, RESEARCH & PLANNING

Research & Planning

The Writing Stage: Introduction, Body Paragraphs, & Conclusion

THE BODY PARAGRAPHS

The PEEL Paragraph Writing Process

THE CONCLUSION

The Post Writing Stage: Editing & Proofreading YOUR 5 paragraph ESSAY

CLOSING THE CIRCLE

Teaching Resources

Five Paragraph Essay exampleS (Student Writing Samples)

5 PARAGRAPH ESSAY VIDEO TUTORIALS

How Many Paragraphs Should an Essay Have?

What Is a Paragraph?

Why Are Paragraphs Important?

How Many Paragraphs Are in an Essay?

When Should I Start a New Paragraph?

Find this useful?

How Do I Know Whether I Have Enough Paragraphs?

Conclusion

1. What is a paragraph and what is its purpose?

2. What are the benefits of paragraphs?

3. How many paragraphs does a typical essay have?

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5.1: 5¶E – What is the 5 Paragraph Essay?

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Breaking Down Essays: How Many Paragraphs Should You Have?

What Is An Essay?

Understanding The Basic Structure Of An Essay

Types Of Essays And Recommended Paragraph Structure

Factors Influencing The Number Of Paragraphs In An Essay

Paragraphing Tips For Editing And Proofreading

Proofreading

Recommended Reading...

What this handout is about

What is a paragraph?

How do I decide what to put in a paragraph?

How do I organize a paragraph?

Illustration paragraph: a 5-step example

Step 1. Decide on a controlling idea and create a topic sentence

Step 2. Elaborate on the controlling idea

Step 3. Give an example (or multiple examples)