5 paragraph story essay

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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• 3 Changes That Will Take Your Essay From Good To Great
• An Introduction to Academic Writing
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• The Five Steps of Writing an Essay
• How to Write a Solid Thesis Statement
• The Introductory Paragraph: Start Your Paper Off Right

How to Write a 5-Paragraph Essay: Outline, Examples, & Writing Steps

If you wish a skill that would be helpful not just for middle school or high school, but also for college and university, it would be the skill of a five-paragraph essay. Despite its simple format, many students struggle with such assignments.

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A 5-paragraph essay structure consists of an introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. It is one of the fundamental techniques for primary English education. It is also used to test the level of knowledge in almost any humanities subject.

• 👣 7 Writing Steps
• 📝 Essay Examples

🔗 References

📑 5-paragraph essay outline.

This genre is probably the most structured type of writing. It starts from a broad explanation and definitions, continues with narrow argumentation, and finishes with another broad generalization. The Hamburger Format can help you memorize the step-by-step essay structure .

Top Bun: Five-Paragraph Essay Introduction

The first sentence is usually a hook . It may be a rhetorical question, a stunning fact, or an example from real life. Its purpose is to make the reader interested in what’s going to come next.

It is hard to recollect that some 20 years ago, cell phones used to be a luxury.

Then you are supposed to provide a “ trailer for the movie :” hint what you are going to talk about, without revealing the plot. Two or three sentences will suffice.

Secondary school teachers can tell the children to put away their gadgets, but this practice becomes hardly possible at college, where adult people are taught.

The last sentence of an introduction is a thesis . It introduces your message to the reader and is usually arguable.

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This essay explores why it is morally permissible to introduce cell phone control at colleges and what results it may entail.

5-Paragraph Essay Body

Lettuce: paragraph #1.

• The first paragraph should provide the most prominent and substantial argument .
• Start each paragraph with a topic sentence . It links your ideas to the thesis statement. If at some point, you realize that there is a discrepancy between your topic sentences and the thesis, you should update the latter.
• Then comes the evidence or explanation . Avoid generalizations here. Defend your argument in the most concise manner. If any words could be left out, they should be deleted.
• Finish each paragraph with an analysis : how does it refer to your thesis?

Tomato: Paragraph #2

The second and third paragraphs follow the same structure. Your “tomato” argument is the weakest and less evident than the first one.

Burger: Paragraph #3

Dedicate the last paragraph to the most persuasive claim. In an argumentative essay, the third paragraph dwells upon the opposing opinion, substantiating its wrongness.

Bottom Bun: Five-Paragraph Essay Conclusion

A conclusion intends to summarize the main body paragraphs and restate the thesis in different words. The last sentence of your conclusion should indicate that the text is over.

Having considered everything mentioned above, it shall be stated that the use of telephones ruins the learning process and should be controlled.

5-Paragraph Essay: Outline Template

To simplify the outline above, feel free to use the following 5-paragraph essay template. It will do for any essay length.

• “movie trailer”
• thesis statement
• topic sentence
• allusion to thesis
• overall concluding sentence

How Many Words Is a 5-Paragraph Essay?

A typical five-paragraph essay is 500 to 1000 words long . However, for easy writing, the average of 250 to 500 words is admissible. This word count should be distributed among the introduction, three body paragraphs (each consisting of a topic sentence and at least three evidence sentences), and the conclusion.

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👣 How to Write a 5-Paragraph Essay: 7 Steps

Step 1. choose your 5-paragraph essay topic.

As a rule, the teacher provides the topic or at least the scope of topics in the assignment. However, it may happen that you will have to come up with your own theme. To avoid changing the title in the course of writing and starting the whole work from the beginning, make sure you observe the following rules:

• Avoid overused subjects if you don’t want half of your classmates to have similar essays.
• Try to find a narrow topic that suggests an argument.
• The best topic is the one that you would argue with your friend for hours . If you feel excited thinking about it, your readers will enjoy learning about your opinion.

Step 2. Create Your Thesis Statement

Simply put, the thesis statement is the point of your essay. A well-developed thesis statement is a one- or two-sentence summary of what your essay shows and how it shows it. In other words, it should outline the points that will be made in your body and indicate the conclusion made from those points.

A thesis statement is the centerpiece of your essay. And this is why writing a thesis statement should happen first . It shouldn’t be the first sentence of your essay, but it must be in your introduction. Ideally, the thesis statement should be tucked into the middle or end of the first paragraph while writing essay introductions.

Here are a few thesis statement examples to make sure you understand the idea:

Thesis Statement Example #1

“There are many organic foods available today, but the vast majority of conventional foods can be eaten without any concern about the consumption of toxic pesticides. This is because many foods are not grown with pesticides, while thick peels cover the edible parts of other crops, and some agricultural foods are grown with nontoxic pesticides.”

Thesis Statement Example #2

“Detroit did not become the automotive capital of the United States overnight. Rather, automotive manufacturing became established in Detroit because of its position in proximity to raw materials like steel, navigable waterways, and the efforts of local entrepreneurs.”

Thesis Statement Example #3

“Three key design elements that defined the Art Deco movement were bold geometric shapes, rich colors, and luxurious ornamentation.”

Notice the similarities shared by these thesis statements. They each list three points that will be elaborated on in the body. Five paragraph essays rely upon this magic number of 3 points, which is discussed next. And you can also imagine the essay that each of these statements belongs to.

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Step 3. Structure Your 5-Paragraph Essay

Five paragraph essays require a very special sort of discipline. In this case, you only have five paragraphs to work with, so there is only one structure that makes sense: one introduction paragraph, three body paragraphs, and one conclusion paragraph. Above there is detailed information about the five-paragraph essay outline. In the next few paragraphs, its part’s goals and the ideas they should convey are described in more detail.

Step 4. Write Your 5-Paragraph Essay Introduction

The purpose of an introduction is to demonstrate the focus of the essay. An introduction should provide enough information to orient the reader to the essay subject, state the thesis statement, and roughly outline the body’s content.

• When you are writing an introduction, you first need to grab the attention of the reader . Your introduction’s first sentence should be a bold statement, a striking fact, or a provocative question. The trick here is to use something memorable. This is one reason many essays begin with a famous quote.
• After you have the attention of the reader, give a little more background about your essay topic.
• Then use your thesis statement to indicate what your essay is about clearly.
• After this, you should conclude your introduction with a quick summary of the points you will be making in the body.

Step 5. Write Your 5-Paragraph Essay Body

The purpose of a body is to explain the content of an essay. If you are writing a standard college essay, like an argumentative essay or an analytical essay, each of these paragraphs will unfold one of the points you mentioned in your introduction.

Every paragraph of the body is like a miniature essay:

• Each paragraph has a point or thesis statement
• Each paragraph starts with an introductory sentence
• Each paragraph ends with a brief conclusion

If the body paragraphs feature separate topics, sometimes they will appear disconnected to your reader. Transition sentences fix this problem. As the first or last sentence of a body paragraph, they help transition the reader from one idea to another.

There are countless ways to write transitions, but this is the easiest process. Write each of your body paragraphs as you naturally would. And then revise your text to link the ideas with transitions. One of the basic essay example thesis statements was from an essay about the automotive industry in Detroit. You could link a paragraph about access to raw materials with a paragraph about adjacency to waterways using the following transition sentences:

Transition Sentence: Example #1

“Steel was cheap because it was produced near Detroit, but this raw material was made even cheaper by the Great Lakes’ nearby waterways.”

Transition Sentence: Example #2

“Proximity to coal and iron ore was not the only advantage Detroit had in becoming the automotive capital of the 20th century.”

After you’ve written your essay, go back and check to make sure that you use a transition sentence between every paragraph. Often, you can turn the first or last sentence of a paragraph into a transition.

Step 7. Edit Your 5-Paragraph Essay

For most essays, you will have time to check your work and revise it. Though exams and tests may limit you, try to budget enough time to reread your essay. As you are doing that, here are some great questions to ask yourself. As you answer these questions about your writing , try to put yourself in the position of your reader.

The top trick for how to write a college essay is, of course, the same top trick for writing a high school essay or any other writing at all—that is, rewriting. This is the stage when good writing becomes great writing. This is your chance to fix the issues you uncovered while rereading your essay. Keep it simple. If you encounter a difficult sentence to understand or is more than two lines long, try to figure out ways to break it up. Simplifying your ideas is an essential part of the rewriting process.

📝 5-Paragraph Essay Examples

In this section, you’ll find a free 5-paragraph essay sample. It focuses on the disadvantages of home-based education. Note that the full version of the text is downloadable!

Disadvantages of Home-Based Education

Currently, education seems to be more accessible than ever before. The technological progress of the last century rendered information and learning instruments more available, facilitating alternative education types such as home-based learning. Compared to formal education, homeschooling practices seem to have a long-standing history since for a significant part of human existence knowledge and skills were transmitted directly from parents to their offspring. Although home-based education predates formal schooling, its long history should not be the reason to select this type of education since it has several downsides: effectiveness, socialization, and time and monetary resources.

5-Paragraph Essay Topics

• Cooperation of Treyarch and Pepsi’s from the virtue ethics perspective. 
• Examine the situation with food packaging litter in Ireland . 
• Should World Trade Organization tasks and policies be revised?  
• Discuss how Codex Hammurabi helps to understand the judicial system of ancient Babylon.  
• Analyze the stylistic devices Elie Wiesel uses in his novel Night .  
• What can be done to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia ? 
• Analyze the storming of the Bastille.  
• Describe the different meanings of the term honor .  
• Why the Internet is an effective instrument of advertisement.  
• How artificial intelligence facilitates the accountants’ work.  
• The collaboration agreement and its advantage to companies.  
• Analyze the Ritz-Carlton Hotel’s company. 
• Analyze the importance and methods of quantitative research .  
• Why do we have to protect sharks from extinction?  
• The influence of peers on behavior change of teenagers.  
• The role of clothing designer in a movie production.  
• Discuss college experience of a nursing student.   
• How to get rid of fear of public speaking .  
• Analyze the development of the U.S. household appliance stores.  
• Foreign relations of Korea in the first decades of the 19th century. 
• Review of the article Why the Student Loan Crisis Is Everyone’s Problem?  
• Describe the main character of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King.  
• The effect of cancer on the DNA replication .  
• Are the anti-bullying programs really working?   
• Examine the rhetorical techniques used in Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery . 
• The pathogenic bacterium of streptococcus : definition, prevention, and treatment.  
• Explore the task of the manager in modern empowered teams. 
• Analyze the reliability of the article Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment .  
• Discuss the issues and possible solutions for the gifted education program .  
• The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on social media activism .  
• The effectiveness of sensitivity training against workplace prejudices.  
• How does a vacuum cleaner work?  
• Describe the ways media can promote terrorists’ agenda .  
• The role of prayers in major world’s religions.   
• The defining traits of Meursault in The Stranger by Albert Camus . 
• Describe the field experience at the science lesson . 
• Discuss the importance of employee motivation.  
• Benefit corporations as a new element of modern business.  
• Role of advertisement in creating the nursing image .  
• Is goal attainment theory compatible with personal nursing philosophy?  
• Why it is critical to eliminate orientation-based prejudices in the workplace . 
• Reasons of the failure of Superior Bank FSB. 
• The crucial meaning of a qualified nurse for preservation of patient’s health.  
• Compare different ideas of a good life from an ethical perspective .  
• The importance of development the cybersecurity industry .  
• Explore how the authors reveal the theme of true freedom in The Cask of Amontillado , Dark They Were and Golden-Eyed , and The Story of an Hour . 
• Shakespeare’s sonnets from the perspective of Lynne Magnusson.   
• The interpretation of healthcare in Health Care Reform and Equity by Fiscella . 
• How can a leader establish a friendly and calm atmosphere in the team?  
• Role of social media in promotion of positive changes in society.  

✏️ 5 Paragraph Essay FAQ

A concise paper with an Introduction, 3 paragraphs in the body part, and a Conclusion, is a popular format for student essays. Each paragraph of the body should present a new idea with a couple of arguments or examples. This structure looks neat and cohesive.

A 5-paragraph essay is relatively fast and easy to write. Here are 3 simple steps you may take:

1. Create an outline with key ideas (at least 3 points for the body),

2. Write those 3 body paragraphs with examples,

3. Add an introduction and a conclusion.

The time you spend to write about 2 pages depends on multiple factors:

1. The complexity of the topic,

2. How experienced you are,

3. How serious you take the task.

In any case, 2 hours should be enough. Create an outline to save time.

The second paragraph typically opens the body part of the essay. Some ways to begin it are:

1. present the first argument;

2. provide an example (remember to explain why it is relevant);

3. write down a hypothesis.

In rare cases, the second paragraph might be an addition to the intro.

• The Ultimate Guide to the 5-Paragraph Essay: Grace Fleming, ThoughtCo
• Ending the Essay, Conclusions: Pat Bellanca, for the Writing Center at Harvard University
• Writing Paragraphs: The Writing Centre, University of Ottawa
• Essay Introduction: OWLL, Massey University
• The Basics of Effective Essay Writing: Becton Loveless, Education Corner
• Suggestions for Proofreading Your Paper: Purdue Writing Lab
• Basic Essay Structure: The Five-Paragraph Essay (Study.com)
• Example Five-Paragraph Essay (UW Madison)
• Write Your Essay | UNSW Current Students
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How to Write a Five Paragraph Essay

Last Updated: March 15, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Jake Adams and by wikiHow staff writer, Danielle Blinka, MA, MPA . Jake Adams is an academic tutor and the owner of Simplifi EDU, a Santa Monica, California based online tutoring business offering learning resources and online tutors for academic subjects K-College, SAT & ACT prep, and college admissions applications. With over 14 years of professional tutoring experience, Jake is dedicated to providing his clients the very best online tutoring experience and access to a network of excellent undergraduate and graduate-level tutors from top colleges all over the nation. Jake holds a BS in International Business and Marketing from Pepperdine University. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 522,841 times.

Five paragraph essays are a common assignment throughout your school career, especially in high school and college. Since any subject can include a five paragraph essay, you’ll want to be good at writing them. Luckily, five-paragraph essays are really easy to write if you know the expected format and give yourself the time you need to write it. To write your five paragraph essay, draft your introduction, develop three body paragraphs, write your conclusion, and revise and edit your essay.

Drafting Your Introduction

• For example, you could phrase your hook like this: Nature’s life cycle is often used as a metaphor to convey ideas about the passage of life.
• If you are writing a persuasive essay, don’t include your stance in your hook.
• Don’t say “In this essay” or “I am going to show.” Instead, use the “show, don’t tell” technique using descriptive language.
• It’s often easiest to come up with your hook after you write the rest of your essay. If you’re struggling to come up with one, use a basic placeholder and then create a better hook when you revise your essay.

• Don’t reveal your main points yet.
• For example, you could say something like this: While spring compares with birth, summer can symbolize maturity, with fall and winter showing a descent toward death.

• This sentence depends on what type of paper you’re writing. If it’s an argumentative paper, introduce both sides of the argument. In an informative paper, mention the central idea and focus.
• As an example, you could narrow your topic like this: Writers often use nature metaphors in their work to show themes about life, such as the blossoming of youth.

• For example, your thesis could read like this: In the poem “Raspberries,” the author shows youth through the ripening berries, summer blossoming, and blushing color of the fruit.
• Each of the three examples provided in the thesis will become the topic of a body paragraph. For the example thesis, you would have body paragraphs about ripening berries, summer blossoming, and the blushing color of the fruit.

Developing Three Body Paragraphs

• You should include three body paragraphs, one for each supporting point.

• Your topic sentence is like a mini-thesis for just that paragraph.
• Use a quote related to your thesis and analyze it in the body paragraph. If you use a topic sentence, put the quote next.
• For example, your topic sentence could look like this: Ripening berries show youth in the poem “Raspberries” by reaching maturity and becoming ready for picking.

• Each paragraph should contain two to three examples or pieces of evidence.
• If you use research, cite your sources in the appropriate format that your instructor specifies.

• Include two to three sentences of commentary for each example or piece of evidence.
• Depending on the type of evidence or examples, it’s often best to alternate your evidence and commentary throughout the paragraph. For example, provide one example, then provide the commentary.

• For example, you could wrap up your paragraph like this: As the girl plucks the ripe raspberries from the bush and eats them, her actions represent her own youth and readiness to be “plucked” by someone.

Drafting Your Conclusion

• For example, you could restate your thesis like this: The poem “Raspberries” provides an allegorical representation of youth through a metaphor of ripening berries, summer blossoming, and blushing color of the fruit.
• If you're a beginning writer, it's okay to start your conclusion with "In conclusion." However, if you're an advanced writer, avoid starting your conclusion with statements like “In conclusion,” “To conclude,” or “In the end.”

• Use an authoritative tone as you restate your arguments so that your reader walks away knowing that you are correct.

• Include a call to action.
• Provide a warning about what could happen if your stance is ignored.
• Create an image in the reader’s mind.
• Include a quote.
• Make a universal statement about life.

Revising and Editing Your Essay

• Always reread your sentence to make sure that the word processor is suggesting the right word. If you’ve misspelled a word that is similar to another word, then it’s possible that your spell check could suggest the wrong spelling, such as “then” instead of “than.”

• Look for errors that your spell checker missed.
• If you can, ask someone else to proofread your paper. They will usually spot errors that you overlooked.

• Combine choppy sentences.
• Breakup long, convoluted sentences into shorter sentences.
• Rewrite fragments and run-on sentences.

• If you have cited sources, make sure that you include a reference page in the style chosen by your instructor.

Expert Q&A

• Never plagiarize an essay, which means copying someone’s work or ideas without giving them credit. Your teacher will deny you credit for the essay, and you may also get a discipline consequence. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 1

You Might Also Like

• ↑ Jake Adams. Academic Tutor & Test Prep Specialist. Expert Interview. 20 May 2020.
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/five-paragraph-essay/
• ↑ https://www.jscc.edu/academics/programs/writing-center/writing-resources/five-paragraph-essay.html
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/college-writing/
• ↑ https://www.bucks.edu/media/bcccmedialibrary/pdf/FiveParagraphEssayOutlineJuly08_000.pdf
• ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4789530/
• ↑ https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/ending-essay-conclusions
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/the_writing_process/proofreading/proofreading_suggestions.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/the_writing_process/proofreading/steps_for_revising.html

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To write a five paragraph essay, start with an introductory paragraph that includes a hook to capture your audience’s attention, and a thesis that explains the main point you’re trying to make. Then, use the next 3 paragraphs to explain 3 separate points that support your thesis. As you explain each point, use evidence from your research or examples in the text you’re discussing. Finally, conclude your essay with a paragraph summing up the points you’ve made and telling the reader how those points support your thesis. For tips on how to revise your essay to improve the flow and formatting, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Write a 5-Paragraph Essay [+Bonus Template]

Writing an essay, choose a credible structure used by thousands of students around the world. This format is called 5-paragraph essay, and has a couple of simple rules to follow.

🎂 How is an essay like a cake?

🗼 the 3 pillars of a consistent 5-paragraph essay, 🍰 feature of the cake layers, 📑 create a refined essay with our writing hacks, 🕔 draft an astonishing essay with a 5-minute outline, 📝 write a killer paper using our 5-paragraph essay example as a guideline, 🅰 getting an a+ grade for 5 paragraphs writing is easy.

The best part about this type of outline is that it fits any topic. Whether you’re creating a paper on technology, friendship, or global warming, you can use this structure and get a fantastic logical essay with statements, details, and conclusions.

In this article, you’ll know all you need to turn your ideas into an excellent piece of academic writing.

Can’t wait?

So, let’s start!

Did you know that you can effectively unleash your creative capacity and astonish everyone with your talent by creating just 5 paragraphs? Writing a 5-paragraph essay can be easier and faster than baking a 5-layer cake if you know the secret ingredient. Keep reading to get to the essence of 5-PE mastery.

You may be wondering: “What does this kind of essay have in common with a 5-layer cake?”

In fact, both are well-structured. All their components are coherent and interrelated.

• They start with a solid background (in the essay, an introduction = in the cake, a firm biscuit base).
• They contain 3 middle layers (3 body paragraphs = 3 cheesecake layers).
• They finish with a summary that wraps it all up (conclusion = berry jelly with fruits).

The 5-paragraph essay writing method helps inexperienced writers to state their ideas within the given topic in the most clear and logical way. Once you understand and get used to this writing formula, you’ll become more comfortable with it. The basic elements of a 5-paragraph essay are 3 pillars you will come to lean on.

So you’ve got a five-paragraph essay assignment.

What does 5 mean here? Why not 2 or 7?

In fact, it consists of 5 paragraphs, made up of 3 main parts:

• Introduction

Here are the key insights to each component of a correctly structured essay:

Our “cake study comparison” reveals the following distinctive features of the cake layers:

• Introduction: the solid biscuit base of the cheesecake sets the overall style of your culinary masterpiece. Its sweet and melting taste makes it the most promising part for the end-consumer.
• Main body: 3 magnificent cheesecake layers, each one different in taste and color, each complementing the creamy flavor of the basic cheesecake part of the cake.
• Conclusion: a berry jelly with fruits to conclude. Its sour-sweet taste complements the main body and contrasts with the cheesecake, contributing to the inimitable aftertaste.

As for the 5-paragraph essay conclusion, its “aftertaste” is exactly what will stay with your readers after they put down your paper. So carefully consider the structure of your essay to make sure all its parts are coherent and balanced. Take a look at some essay examples to have a better idea of how it can look like.

Now you know about structure, which is the secret ingredient that makes your essay convincing and your cake delicious.

Whatever project you have to complete ‒ creating a 5-paragraph essay or a 5-layer cake ‒ the perfectionist in you may not feel fully satisfied until your masterpiece is flawless. Harness these useful tips if you need to create an engaging essay that your readers will enjoy reading and talking about.

• To make an effective start, you first need to get organized.
• Analyze your task in detail.
• Determine your purpose.
• Think about your step-by-step plan.
• Don’t get lost in the detail. Before you set out with the actual writing, map it out . Otherwise, you may get lost.
• Divide your future essay into sections; develop each piece separately and incrementally.
• First figure out how to make an outstanding outline, and then you can go ahead and start your essay-building process.
• Develop your unique writing style and stick to it.
• Start strong by grabbing the reader’s attention . Aim to keep it until you reach your final point. Stay powerful and convincing.
• Use active voice instead of passive whenever possible.
• Don’t let your reader fall asleep: play with your English, vary sentence structures, avoid repetition, sharpen and diversify your vocabulary when you revise the text.
• Brainstorm to search for the best ideas that support your case. Include only the arguments that are effective and that you have some knowledge of, otherwise you won’t do a good job of presenting them.
• Writing introductory paragraphs on different topics can be very helpful. It will help set the tone for the paragraph, making it easier to write the supporting sentences. Moreover, seeing your pattern progress is always inspiring!
• Supporting ideas, examples and other details should all be relevant to the subtopic. It will help you and the readers to stay focused.
• There are some other specific rules that you can use as a guide to creating an outstanding 5-paragraph essay.
• Don’t use abbreviations and contractions.
• Avoid casual language (it’s better not to begin sentences with “sure”, “well”, “yes” or “no”).
• Don’t use slang (there’s a big difference between academic writing and a message to your friend).
• Try not to begin your sentences with “There is/are”. For example, instead of “There is a need to edit the essay”, write “Essay editing is essential”.
• Don’t begin sentences with conjunctions (“and”, “but”, “for”, “yet”, “so”, “or”, “nor”).
• Avoid using phrases like “a lot”, “lots” and “lots of”. Think about replacing them with “many”, “most”, “much” or “often”.
• Avoid using exclamation points; stay more or less neutral in your writing.
• Forget about your writing! Get some rest… and then read it again with fresh eyes. Polish and refine your essay as many times as you need to ‒ you won’t be sorry for spending time on it. Ask someone knowledgeable to review and criticize your essay as well – they may make suggestions that surprise you.
• Check your writing for spelling and grammar mistakes.
• Make sure your ideas flow logically.
• Avoid too much detail or wordiness.
• Be concise, specific and brief, but do give details and examples.

Also, make sure to check out free handout about essay writing.

Humans crave order. Anything else can lead them astray. A 5-paragraph essay outline is essential for those who want to create their short essay in the most effective and timely way. An essay outline will streamline your writing; it will also make you focus on the main topic and on the subtopics exposed in each separate part of the paper.

Have a look at our 5-paragraph essay writing outline for “How to Make Lemonade When Life Gives You Lemons”, and use it as an essay sample whenever you need inspiration for the framework of your own essay. It will take you just 5 minutes, and it will considerably save time when it comes to your own essay writing.

How to Make Lemonade When Life Gives You Lemons

You will soon discover that it’s not that difficult to learn how to write a 5-paragraph essay that will hit the spot and win you the highest grade. Our tips for writing a good essay can help you to communicate your ideas clearly and effectively.

Think about all the possible 5-paragraph essay topics and select the one that’s best for you – that’s the one that will make five-paragraph essay writing interesting for you!

Good luck with your writing!

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I’m so grateful to have found this nugget because my students are struggling with essay writing. Thanks.

Thanks for your feedback, Justina! Glad you found my guide helpful 🙂

You’ve got it in one. Couldn’t have put it better.

Glad you liked, Cherilynn!

Good tips! I think it can be useful for my writing.

Thanks for the feedback, Sophy!

Actually I have difficulties in the introduction of each type of essay, for example, the expository essay “developed by examples or developed by definition”. I need more explanations about each type, please.

Thanks for the feedback, Rawya! We will take into account your suggestion for our next post on essays.

Your essay writing system is very good.

Thank you so much!

Thank you so much. It’ s really great and amusing explanation of how to write an essay.

You’re welcome, Doha! Glad you enjoyed the article.

Breathtakingly amazing article!

Thank you for your feedback! We greatly appreciate it!

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

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

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.

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!

Teaching Resources

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

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.

5 PARAGRAPH ESSAY VIDEO TUTORIALS

Structuring the Five-Paragraph Essay: Examples of Five-Paragraph Essays

• Examples of Five-Paragraph Essays

Grammar Tips

Grammar Bytes

This  grammar  review site includes detailed terms, interactive exercises, handouts, PowerPoints, daily Twitter practice, videos, teacher resources, and more!

Sample of a Persuasive / Argumentative Five-Paragraph Essay

A cat is a man's best friend.

This model essay is a good example of an Argumentative (or Persuasive) Essay. 

• A Cat is a A Man's Best Friend Compare & Contrast / Argument (Persuasive) Essay

SAMPLE PROCESS ESSAY

• Sample Process Essay with NOTES
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Stories From School

Practice meets policy, the five paragraph essay.

I was asked to switch from third grade to fourth grade this year. I'm enjoying the change, but one of the realities I'm facing is the increased emphasis on writing instruction. Third graders learn how to write paragraphs, while fourth graders learn how to write  with  paragraphs. Consequently, I've turned to the five paragraph essay: an effective, flexible starting point for young writers.

Like it or not, the five paragraph format is effective. There's something appealing about introducing a topic, expanding on it in three, detailed paragraphs and finishing with a succinct conclusion. If you can give three good reasons for holding an opinion, then you’ve got something. If you can’t, then you don’t. As there was no way I could come up with three good reasons why my mom should let me play with the lawn darts after my trip to the emergency room, the darts stayed hidden. Understanding the five-paragraph format is a useful tool for anyone with an opinion or an agenda.

It’s flexible. Not only does it work as an essay, but it also comes in handy when writing short stories. You introduce the characters and setting in the first paragraph, throw in a beginning, middle and end and wrap up the story with a fifth paragraph and boom: you’ve got yourself a story. Other uses come quickly to mind: fairy tales, pourquoi tales, even the standard three-part joke can trace its roots to the five-paragraph format. Once you’ve mastered the five paragraph essay, the sky’s the limit.

Although teachers and assessors may tire of the five-part, formulaic pablum put forth by fourth graders, working with young writers is a challenging endeavor. Good teachers know how to use scaffolds; and the five-part format is just that. Think of it as a literary algorithm. Or better yet, imagine John Coltrane or Andre Previn in their youth, banging out “Hot Cross Buns” and “Ode to Joy” while their parents patiently endured those tough times, knowing their future virtuosos had to master the basics before they could conquer the world. Like it or not, kids are not born knowing how to write.

There’s no shame in teaching the five paragraph essay. Not for me, anyway. Writing is easily the most complicated thing we teach. Students need a place to start; something they can grasp and understand and then improvise on. It's time to give the time-honored five-parter it's due.

8 thoughts on “ The Five Paragraph Essay ”

On voice: First of all, 99% of what adults write shouldn’t have voice. I’m talking emails, memos and reports. Things of that ilk. Secondly, there’s nothing about a 5P that prevents writers using their voice. If you look back at my post – a classic five paragaph essay – you’ll several examples in which you get a “sense of the writer behind the words.” That said, I agree with Mark, voice is over-rated. Structure, on the other hand, is under-rated.

In response to Nathan–I don’t think it is the five paragraph essay that makes a student lose voice. Voice is dependent on many things, not the least of which being a broad and diverse vocabulary and the capacity to draw upon that vocabulary with nuance and precision. Perhaps a formula holds a handful of kids back from personal expression, but I’ve worked with many kids for whom the concreteness of the 5p, or the Schaeffer (sp?) paragraph, or other formulas is actually empowering and freeing, enabling them to understand the expected parameters and then flourish within them to be effective in what is otherwise too often an abstract endeavor. Ideally, these formulas are but one step in the student’s progress as a writer, and if the voice is within them, they transcend the 5p model eventually. The more I work with struggling writers, the less I emphasize voice. For one, the reason many writers struggle is because they do not have the same intuition about writing that their English teacher might–the intuition that manifests as voice. Just as some athletes, artists, or musicians may have a natural inclination or predisposition, the same is true for writers. Take two individuals and offer the same training and the with the disposition toward the task will be the one who becomes exceptional, while the other may simply become effective or efficient. All of us can run, but not all of us can run a sub-five mile. All of us can draw, but some of us are limited to stick-figure-theater. We can all write–some of us can write with confidence and communicate in a voice that carries “a sense of the writer behind the words” as so many rubrics characterize “voice.” To write with voice (as an adolescent, or perhaps ever) requires either a natural inclination or the maturity that comes with experience and reflection. It is about what is teachable: idea development, organization, and conventions are teachable; Voice is not (and if I’m incorrect, please direct me toward resources for teaching voice that don’t rely on the premise of telling the student to “write what he feels” since not all students even want to do that). That’s a really long winded way of defending the 5p essay against the claim that it is guilty of stifling voice. 🙂

Nathan- First of all, as a fourth grade teacher, I can only dream that my young writers will need to be deprogrammed by an AP writing teacher. That they do only proves my point. Secondly, vertical alignment! If fourth graders master the 5P, they can then start working off of it in fifth grade, and so on. Teachers need to remember that we play a long game. We don’t need Faulkners in grade school.

In response to Tom White’s in defense of the 5-paragraph essay, his point is valid that in elementary school it is a good template to teach academic writing to kids. However, with the push for stream-ligned standards like the Common Core and the huge expectations for kids to perform well on standardized tests, the 5-paragraph has become what writing is for kids. The consequence of this is they completely lose their sense of voice in their writing. As an AP Language and Composition teacher, I need to deprogram them from their default, cookie-cutter 5-paragraph essay. We need teach the kids how to write as a craft again. The modes of writing: narrative, persuasive, expository, descriptive. How to establish voice as an author: weaving themes, descriptive and figurative language, the authoritative I. There is nothing wrong with teaching the 5-paragraph essay, unless we are teaching it as the only essay kids need to write.

Absolutely. All writers should BEGIN with the five paragraph essay. I have found, in a decade of trying to teach writing to 14-year-olds, that the more concrete we can make it, the better. Concrete = foundation. Foundation = that upon which we build…you have to have the foundation before you can add the flourishes and play with convention. Some people will never move past the concrete, and that’s just fine, they’ll still have a solid piece of work, even if it isn’t a Frank Lloyd Wright. There is no shame at all in teaching the five paragraph essay. Keep doing it. I’d say to leave the other exercises about different lengths of essays (4p, 6+p) to subsequent grades, once the kids have mastered the foundation.

David- In keeping with the music analogy, The FP is akin to the 12-bar blues. It’s simply a framework that, once learned, can be squeezed, expanded or morphed into whatever works. In the right hands it becomes a legal brief, a speech or, god forbid, a blog post. Like Travis said, we have to take the mystery out of writing and help kids understand that there’s an accessible process whereby anyone can put ideas onto a page. Your comment reminds me yet a gain of the need for coherent vertical alignment within our education system. Writing in fourth grade should progress into what you and Travis see in high school, but it should be a transparent progression that students understand. Like with music.

Yes. Yes! There is nothing wrong with the 5-paragraph essay. It is just that: a starting point. What I tire of is educators that say they don’t teach the 5-paragraph essay because it is to rigid. These teachers miss the point. It is a starting point. Once a student understands the structure, which strengthens the student’s knowledge of concepts, then the student goes beyond and adds style. I did not learn how to write well until my last semester of high school when I had a teacher who noticed that I lacked a foundation, and he gave it to me. Until that moment, I figured only “artsy” students could write. I did not understand that there was a system. Then I learned. I will forever thank Mr. Blair.

I totally understand your point, and in the hands of a great teacher like you, and a great school, we can avoid problems later. (Do you sense a “but” coming?) But, I do wish we could come up with some other term, and be more flexible about the number. Students arrive at high school thinking the 5-paragraph essay is a genre, somehow distinct from the 4 and 6-paragraph essays, which they imagine they never learned or will learn later! Okay, that’s a bit tongue in cheek, but let’s not endow the form or the number with any magical qualities. The 5-p format only makes sense for some situation. Form must follow function. I hope you can include some exercises in thinking about how many body paragraphs it takes to do the job. Sometimes 2, sometimes 3, or 4, or more.

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• Knowledge Base
• How to write a narrative essay | Example & tips

How to Write a Narrative Essay | Example & Tips

Published on July 24, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

A narrative essay tells a story. In most cases, this is a story about a personal experience you had. This type of essay , along with the descriptive essay , allows you to get personal and creative, unlike most academic writing .

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Table of contents

What is a narrative essay for, choosing a topic, interactive example of a narrative essay, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about narrative essays.

When assigned a narrative essay, you might find yourself wondering: Why does my teacher want to hear this story? Topics for narrative essays can range from the important to the trivial. Usually the point is not so much the story itself, but the way you tell it.

A narrative essay is a way of testing your ability to tell a story in a clear and interesting way. You’re expected to think about where your story begins and ends, and how to convey it with eye-catching language and a satisfying pace.

These skills are quite different from those needed for formal academic writing. For instance, in a narrative essay the use of the first person (“I”) is encouraged, as is the use of figurative language, dialogue, and suspense.

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Narrative essay assignments vary widely in the amount of direction you’re given about your topic. You may be assigned quite a specific topic or choice of topics to work with.

• Write a story about your first day of school.
• Write a story about your favorite holiday destination.

You may also be given prompts that leave you a much wider choice of topic.

• Write about an experience where you learned something about yourself.
• Write about an achievement you are proud of. What did you accomplish, and how?

In these cases, you might have to think harder to decide what story you want to tell. The best kind of story for a narrative essay is one you can use to talk about a particular theme or lesson, or that takes a surprising turn somewhere along the way.

For example, a trip where everything went according to plan makes for a less interesting story than one where something unexpected happened that you then had to respond to. Choose an experience that might surprise the reader or teach them something.

Narrative essays in college applications

When applying for college , you might be asked to write a narrative essay that expresses something about your personal qualities.

For example, this application prompt from Common App requires you to respond with a narrative essay.

In this context, choose a story that is not only interesting but also expresses the qualities the prompt is looking for—here, resilience and the ability to learn from failure—and frame the story in a way that emphasizes these qualities.

An example of a short narrative essay, responding to the prompt “Write about an experience where you learned something about yourself,” is shown below.

Hover over different parts of the text to see how the structure works.

Since elementary school, I have always favored subjects like science and math over the humanities. My instinct was always to think of these subjects as more solid and serious than classes like English. If there was no right answer, I thought, why bother? But recently I had an experience that taught me my academic interests are more flexible than I had thought: I took my first philosophy class.

Before I entered the classroom, I was skeptical. I waited outside with the other students and wondered what exactly philosophy would involve—I really had no idea. I imagined something pretty abstract: long, stilted conversations pondering the meaning of life. But what I got was something quite different.

A young man in jeans, Mr. Jones—“but you can call me Rob”—was far from the white-haired, buttoned-up old man I had half-expected. And rather than pulling us into pedantic arguments about obscure philosophical points, Rob engaged us on our level. To talk free will, we looked at our own choices. To talk ethics, we looked at dilemmas we had faced ourselves. By the end of class, I’d discovered that questions with no right answer can turn out to be the most interesting ones.

The experience has taught me to look at things a little more “philosophically”—and not just because it was a philosophy class! I learned that if I let go of my preconceptions, I can actually get a lot out of subjects I was previously dismissive of. The class taught me—in more ways than one—to look at things with an open mind.

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If you’re not given much guidance on what your narrative essay should be about, consider the context and scope of the assignment. What kind of story is relevant, interesting, and possible to tell within the word count?

The best kind of story for a narrative essay is one you can use to reflect on a particular theme or lesson, or that takes a surprising turn somewhere along the way.

Don’t worry too much if your topic seems unoriginal. The point of a narrative essay is how you tell the story and the point you make with it, not the subject of the story itself.

Narrative essays are usually assigned as writing exercises at high school or in university composition classes. They may also form part of a university application.

When you are prompted to tell a story about your own life or experiences, a narrative essay is usually the right response.

The key difference is that a narrative essay is designed to tell a complete story, while a descriptive essay is meant to convey an intense description of a particular place, object, or concept.

Narrative and descriptive essays both allow you to write more personally and creatively than other kinds of essays , and similar writing skills can apply to both.

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How to Write a 5 Paragraph Essay: Guide with Structure, Outline & Examples

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A 5-paragraph essay   is a common assignment in high school and college, requiring students to follow a standard structure. This essay format consists of five main components: an introduction paragraph, followed by 3 body paragraphs, and a final paragraph. Each paragraph serves a specific purpose and contributes to the overall coherence and organization of the essay.

Since this is one of the most popular assignments teachers give, you should be prepared to write using a five paragraph essay format. From structure and outline template to actual examples, we will explain how to write a 5 paragraph essay with ease. Follow our suggestions and you will be able to nail this task.

What Is a 5-Paragraph Essay: Definition

A 5-paragraph essay is as simple as it sounds: an essay composed of five paragraphs. It's made up of five distinct sections, namely an introduction , 3 body paragraphs and a concluding section . However, a 5 paragraph essay goes beyond just creating 5 individual sections. It's a method of organizing your thoughts and making them interconnected. 

Despite its straightforward 5-paragraph format, there's more going on beneath the surface. When writing a 5-paragraph essay, you should address the main objective of each part and arrange every section properly. 

Let’s learn about each of these sections more in detail.

5-Paragraph Essay Structure 

A five-paragraph essay structure is often compared to a sandwich that has 3 distinct layers:

• Introduction: This initial paragraph should introduce the main topic and tell what will be discussed further in the essay.
• Body: This part consists of three body paragraphs, each focusing on a specific aspect of your subject.
• Conclusion: The final paragraph rounds off the main points and offers key takeaways.

As you can notice, each of these sections plays an important role in creating the overall piece.

5-Paragraph Essay Outline & Template Example 

Imagine heading out for a journey in the woods without a map. You'd likely find yourself wandering aimlessly, right? Similarly, venturing into writing an essay without a solid essay outline is like stepping into the academic jungle without a guide. Most high school and college students ignore this step for the sake of time. But eventually they end up writing a five-paragraph essay that lacks a clear organization. 

It’s impossible to figure out how to write a 5-paragraph essay without having a well-arranged outline in front. Here’s a five-paragraph essay outline example showing subsections of each major part. 

5 Paragraph Essay Outline Example

• Hook: Spark the reader's interest.
• Brief background: Provide a general context or background.
• Thesis statement: State the main argument or position.
• Topic sentence: Introduce the main point of this paragraph.
• Supporting evidence/example 1: Provide data, examples, quotes, or anecdotes supporting your point.
• Analysis: Explain how your evidence supports your thesis.
• Transition: Tie the paragraph together and link to the next paragraph.
• Supporting evidence/example 2 : Provide further supporting evidence.
• Analysis: Discuss how the evidence relates back to your thesis.
• Transition: Summarize the point and smoothly shift to the next paragraph.
• Topic sentence: Present the main idea of this paragraph.
• Supporting evidence/example 3: Offer additional support for your thesis.
• Analysis: Show how this backs up your main argument.
• Transition: Sum up and signal the conclusion of the body section.
• Thesis reiteration: Revisit your main argument accounting for the evidence provided.
• Summary: Briefly go over the main points of your body paragraphs.
• Final thoughts: Leave the reader with a parting thought or question to ponder.

How to Write a 5-Paragraph Essay Outline? 

When creating an outline for 5-paragraph essay, begin by identifying your topic and crafting a thesis statement. Your thesis statement should encapsulate your main argument. Identify 3 ideas that support your thesis to lay the foundation of your body section. For each point, think about examples and explanations that will help convince the reader of your perspective. Finally, plan what you will include in the concluding section. 

Throughout this process, remember that clarity and organization are key. While it's not necessary for your 5-paragraph outline to be "perfect", it is indeed important for it to be arranged logically. 

Below, you can spot an example of an outline created based on these instructions.

How to Write a 5 Paragraph Essay Step-by-Step?

There is nothing difficult about writing a 5-paragraph essay. All you need to do is to just start creating the first sentence. But for most of us, it;s easier said than done. For this reason, we prepared informative step-by-step guidelines on how to write a 5-paragraph essay that your teacher will like. 

As we navigate these stages, remember that good writing isn't a destination, it's a process. So grab your notebook (or laptop) and let's dive into the art of crafting your five-paragraph essay.

>> Learn more: How to Write an Essay

1. Understand the Task at Hand 

The initial step is to make sure you have a full grasp of your assignment instructions. How well you understand the given guidelines can either make or break your 5-paragraph essay. Take a few minutes to read through your instructor’s requirements and get familiar with what you're supposed to do: 

• What’s your topic? Do you need to choose one yourself?
• What  essay type  do you need to write – argumentative , expository or informative essay ?
• What’s your primary goal – persuade, analyze, descibe or inform?
• How long should an essay be ? Is there any specific word count?

Understanding these crucial details will help you remain on course.

2. Research and Take Notes 

Now that you have a good idea of your assignment, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and start researching. Spend some quality time gathering relevant resources to get acquainted with the discussed topic. Make sure you don;t refer to outdated resources. Always give a preference to credible, recent sources.

Read these sources carefully and jot down important facts – this is what will form the basis of your essay's body section. Also, you will need to save the online sources to cite them properly.

3. Develop Your Thesis Statement

We can’t stress enough: your thesis statement will guide your entire essay. Write 1-2 sentences that convey your underlying idea. Keep in mind that your thesis  must be succinct. There is no need for long introductions or excessive details at this point.

4. Make an Outline 

A five-paragraph essay outline shows how your paper will be arranged. This visual structure can be represented using bullet points or numbers. You can come up with another format. But the main idea is to prepare a plan you are going to stick to during the writing process. 

Did you know that you can send an outline to professionals and have your essay written according to the structure. Order essay from academic experts should you need any assistance.

5. Write an Introduction Paragraph 

To start a 5-paragraph essay, compose an attention-grabbing statement, such as a question or fact. This is also known as an essay hook – an intriguing opening sentence. Its goal is to spark curiosity and draw your reader into your topic.

Next, you need to establish a background and show what;s under the curtains. Write 1-2 contextual sentences helping your reader understand the broad issue you're about to discuss.

Your 5-paragraph essay introduction won’t be complete without a thesis statement – the heart of your writing. This 1 or 2-sentence statement clearly expresses the main point you will develop throughout your essay. Make sure your thesis is specific, debatable, and defensible.

A staggering report by the World Health Organization reveals that poor diet contributes to more disease than physical inactivity, alcohol, and smoking combined. In our fast-paced world, convenience often trumps health when it comes to food choices. With an alarming rise in obesity and diet-related illnesses, a closer look at our eating habits is more critical than ever. For this reason, adopting a healthy diet is essential for individual health, disease prevention, and overall wellbeing.

>> Read more: How to Start an Essay

6. Create a Body Part 

A body section of a standard 5-paragraph essay layout comprises 3 paragraphs. Each body paragraph should contain the most important elements of the discussion:  

• Topic sentence  
• Detailed explanation
• Supporting evidence from credible sources
• Further exploration of examples
• Transition.

Begin your body paragraph by introducing a separate aspect related to your thesis statement. For example, if you are writing about the importance of physical activity, your body paragraph may start this way: 

Regular exercise is essential for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. 

Don’t just make a bold statement. You will need to expand on this idea and explain it in detail. You should also incorporate facts, examples, data, or quotes that back up your topic sentence. Your evidence should sound realistic. Try to draw the examples from personal experience or  recent news. On top of that, you should analyze how this evidence ties back to your overall argument. 

It’s not a good idea to finish your body paragraph just like that. Add essay transition words to keep your five-paragraph paper cohesive. 

First and foremost, a healthy diet plays a pivotal role in maintaining individual health and vitality. A balanced diet, rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins, provides the essential nutrients our bodies need to function effectively. A research study by the American Heart Association found that individuals who adhered to a healthy eating pattern had a 25% lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease. This data emphasizes that a proper diet is not just about staying in shape. It directly affects critical health outcomes, impacting our susceptibility to serious health conditions like heart disease. While the implications of diet on personal health are substantial, the preventative power of healthy eating against disease is equally noteworthy, as we shall explore next.

>> Read more: How to Write a Body Paragraph

7. Write a Concluding Paragraph 

Wrapping up your 5-paragraph essay might seem like a breeze after developing your introductory and body parts. Yet, it's crucial to ensure your conclusion is equally impactful. Don't leave it to the reader to join the dots – restate your thesis statement to reinforce your main argument. Follow this by a brief recap of the 2-3 key points you've discussed in your essay.

The last taste should be the best, so aim to end your 5-paragraph essay on a high note. Craft a compelling closing sentence that underscores the importance of your topic and leaves your reader considering future implications.

As was outlined in this essay, a balanced diet isn't just a lifestyle choice, but an essential tool for maintaining individual health, preventing disease, and promoting overall wellbeing. Healthy eating directly affects our personal health, its power in disease prevention, and how it contributes to a sense of wellness. What we consume profoundly impacts our lives. Therefore, a commitment to healthy eating isn't merely an act of self-care; it's a potent declaration of respect for the life we've been given.

>> Learn more: How to Write a Conclusion for an Essay

8. Review and Revise

Your 5-paragraph essay should be up to scratch now. However, double-check your work for any errors or typos. It's worth revising your essay at least twice for maximum impact. Our practice shows that revising your essay multiple times will help you refine the arguments, making your piece more convincing.

As you proofread, make sure the tone is consistent, and each sentence contributes something unique to the overall point of view. Also, check for spelling and grammar errors. 

Once you're happy with your 5-paragraph essay, submit it to your teacher or professor.

5 Paragraph Essay Example

Students can ease their life by exploring a sample five paragraph essay example shared by one the writers. Consider buying a college essay if you want your homework to be equally good.

Extra 5-Paragraph Writing Tips 

Here’re some bonus tips on how to write a good 5-paragraph essay:

• Be clear and concise Avoid fluff and filler. Every sentence should contribute to your argument or topic.
• Keep paragraphs focused Each paragraph should be dedicated to an individual point or idea.
• Use strong evidence To support your points, use solid evidence. This could be statistics, research findings, or relevant quotes from experts.
• Use active voice Active voice makes writing direct and dynamic. It puts the subject of the sentence in the driver's seat, leading the action.
• Avoid first-person pronouns To maintain a formal, academic tone, try to avoid first-person pronouns (I, me, my, we, our). First-person pronouns are acceptable only when writing a narrative essay , personal statement or college application essay .

Final Thoughts on How to Write a Five Paragraph Essay 

Writing a five-paragraph essay may seem challenging at first, but with practice and determination it can become a piece of cake. Don’t forget to use your secret power – an outline, so that you have a clear idea of what points to cover in each paragraph. Make sure that you stick to the right format and cite your sources consistently. With these tips and 5 paragraph essay examples, you will be able to write an effective piece.

If any questions pop out, do not hesitate to leave the comments below or contact our professional writing service for expert assistance with your “ write an essay for me ” challenge.

Our team of experienced writers is ready to provide you with high-quality, custom-written essays tailored to your specific requirements. Whether you're struggling with a complex topic or short on time, our reliable service ensures timely delivery and top-notch content. Buy essays online and forget about struggles.

FAQ About Five-Paragraph Essays

1. how long is a 5-paragraph essay.

A five-paragraph essay typically ranges from 300  to 500 words, depending on the topic and type of paper. It's important to consider the length of your essay when determining how much information you want to include in each paragraph. For shorter essays, it is best to stick to one main point per paragraph so that your essay remains concise and focused.

2. What is a 5-paragraph format?

The five-paragraph essay format is a classic structure used to organize essays and persuasive pieces. It consists of an introduction (which includes your thesis statement), 3 body paragraphs that explain each point, and a conclusion which sums up your fundamental ideas. Each paragraph should feature one main aspect, with supporting evidence discovered during research.

3. How to start a 5-paragraph essay?

The best way to start a five-paragraph essay is by writing an engaging introduction that contains your thesis statement. Your first paragraph should provide readers with some context as well as introduce your main argument. Make sure to cover at least 2 or 3 points in your thesis statement so that you have something to elaborate on further in your text.

Daniel Howard is an Essay Writing guru. He helps students create essays that will strike a chord with the readers.

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How to Write a Five-Paragraph Essay

The five-paragraph essay is often assigned to students to help them in this process. A good five-paragraph essay is a lot like a triple-decker burger, and it is therefore often called the hamburger essay. It requires a clear introduction and conclusion (the top and bottom bun) that hold the main body of the essay (the burger and all the juicy stuff) in place.

Before you start writing an essay, you need to get organised. Read through the task you are given several times, underlining important words that tell you what you are expected to do. Pay special attention to the verbs in the task you are given ('discuss', 'summarise', 'give an account of', 'argue'…). Make sure you do what you are asked and that you answer the whole question, not just parts of it.

Introduction

The introduction to a text is extremely important. A good introduction should accomplish three things:

• Firstly, try to capture the reader’s interest and create a desire to read on and learn more. There are many ways to achieve this. For example, you can start with a relevant quotation from a famous person or a short anecdote. You could also present some interesting statistics, state a startling fact, or simply pose a challenging question.
• Secondly, provide the reader with the necessary information to understand the main body of the text. Explain what the paper is about and why this topic is important. What is the specific focus of this paper? Include background information about your topic to establish its context.
• Thirdly, present your approach to the topic and your thesis statement. The thesis statement is the main idea of the essay expressed in a single sentence. Make sure your thesis statement comes out clearly in your introduction.

The body of the essay consists of three paragraphs, each limited to one idea that supports your thesis. Each paragraph should have a clear topic sentence: a sentence that presents the main idea of the paragraph. The first paragraph should contain the strongest argument and the most significant examples, while the third paragraph should contain the weakest arguments and examples. Include as much explanation and discussion as is necessary to explain the main point of the paragraph. You should try to use details and specific examples to make your ideas clear and convincing.

In order to create a coherent text, you must avoid jumping from one idea to the next. Always remember: one idea per paragraph. A good essay needs good transitions between the different paragraphs. Use the end of one paragraph and/or the beginning of the next to show the relationship between the two ideas. This transition can be built into the topic sentence of the next paragraph, or it can be the concluding sentence of the first.

You can also use linking words to introduce the next paragraph. Examples of linking words are: in fact, on the whole, furthermore, as a result, simply put, for this reason, similarly, likewise, it follows that, naturally, by comparison, surely, yet, firstly, secondly, thirdly …

This is your fifth and final paragraph. The conclusion is what the reader will read last and remember best. Therefore, it is important that it is well written. In the conclusion, you should summarise your main points and re-assert your main claim. The conclusion should wrap up all that is said before, without starting off on a new topic. Avoid repeating specific examples.

There are several ways to end an essay. You need to find a way to leave your reader with a sense of closure. The easiest way to do this is simply to repeat the main points of the body of your text in the conclusion, but try to do this in a way that sums up rather than repeats. Another way to do it is to answer a question that you posed in the introduction. You may also want to include a relevant quotation that throws light on your message.

A few notes before you hand in your essay

After you have finished, read through your essay with a critical eye. Does your thesis statement in the introduction match the discussion in the main body and the conclusive statements in the final paragraph? It is important that you build your text logically, so that each part of the essay supports, proves, and reflects your thesis.

You should also remember that a good writer of formal essays:

• does not use abbreviations or contractions.
• does not use first-person pronouns, such as 'I', 'me' and 'my'. It is better to make your statements more general, using 'it is commonly believed that', 'we tend to think', 'scientists argue that'…
• does not engage in personal stories. Stories about your own life experiences, or the experiences of your friends or families do not belong in academic writing.
• does not use a language which is too casual, such as sentences that begin with words like 'well', 'sure', 'now', 'yes', 'no' ...
• does not use slang. Words like 'gonna' and 'wanna' are not accepted in formal essays.
• does not start sentences with conjunctions: 'but', 'and', 'or', 'because'…”.
• uses linking words. This creates better logic and coherence in your text.

Below we have structured three short essays for you and given you the topic sentences for each paragraph. Choose one of them and write it as a full text. Add facts and reflections under each paragraph. Make sure there are good transitions between the paragraphs.

The importance of learning English

Introduction: the importance of learning English

Living in a multicultural world

International job market

A better travelling experience

The importance of a good education

Introduction: the importance of a good education

Competitive job market

Independence

Personal growth

Living in a digital world

Introduction: living in a digital world

Important for working life

Important in communication

Part of our everyday lives

Cite or use

Learning content.

Non-Fiction and Vocational Texts

How to Write a 5 Paragraph Essay: Outline, Example

‍ Imagine this:

You have to write your first essay, but you’re not sure where to start. You have a hundred questions , and more are coming to you every minute, but you’re afraid to ask the teacher for help.

What’s the difference between an argumentative essay and an informative essay? How will I be graded? What must I include? The list goes on. Well, first, take a breath. Before you tackle different essay varieties, grading rubrics, and the bullet points of exactly what should go in your essay, you need to make sure you understand structure. The 5 paragraph essay format is a classic example of an essay, and once you know how to create a 5 paragraph essay outline, you can write any essay that’s assigned to you.

Perfecting the art of essay writing is not only essential for acing your assignments but also for securing financial support as you transition from high school to college. A well-structured essay, such as the 5-paragraph essay, showcases your writing prowess and your ability to articulate ideas in a coherent and compelling manner. As you master the formula of a 5-paragraph essay, consider leveraging these skills to apply for scholarships. Numerous scholarships are specifically geared towards high school seniors, offering a financial launching pad for your college adventure. Discovering the best scholarships to apply for high school seniors can provide you with the resources you need to pursue your academic endeavors. The skills you hone while crafting precise and impactful essays will serve you well as you embark on the exciting journey of drafting scholarship essays, each one a stepping stone towards your higher education and a bright future.

The 5 Paragraph Essay Outline

Don’t know the 5 paragraph essay structure? It’s pretty simple. Here’s the basic outline you should follow:

Now let’s discuss what should go in each paragraph. The following 5 paragraph essay template by our service should tell you exactly what you need to do to complete your assignment.

Paragraph 1: Introduction

In the introduction, you should provide background information on your topic. Usually, this information should be factual, especially for a history paper, but you can be creative in how you present it. The key is that you want to intrigue the reader. You want to draw the reader into your topic by creating a natural curiosity about it.

Somewhere in the middle of your introduction, you need to present the 3 main points you will discuss in your 5 paragraph essay . These 3 points are crucial for the basic essay, as you need to ensure you have enough to talk about, and it’s best to introduce them in the first paragraph. However, keep in mind that as your essays get longer, you may need to use more than 3 main points. That’s not something you should worry about now, though.

In any essay, your introductory paragraph should end with a strong thesis statement that tells readers exactly what you aim to prove. If the essay is meant only to inform, the thesis statement should clarify to readers exactly what you’re going to inform them of.

Paragraph 2: First Main Point

The second paragraph is where you begin laying out the 3 main points that you promised in your introduction. In this paragraph, the first sentence should transition from the previous paragraph to the current one. It should also clearly introduce the topic, your first main point.

The sentences that follow should provide examples and support, or evidence, for your topic . Readers should see that every example and every piece of support you provide (e.g., quotes, graphs, paraphrased information) is connected to your topic. They should never be left wondering why you included something.

Paragraph 3: Second Main Point

The third paragraph of your 5 paragraph essay is where you lay out the second main point. As the previous paragraph, it should begin with a transition and a description of the topic you’re about to discuss. Any examples or support you provide should be related to the topic at hand.

Paragraph 4: Third Main Point

The fourth paragraph is where you lay out the third main point that you promised in your essay’s introduction. Like any paragraph, it should have a transition and a topic sentence, and any examples or support should be related and interesting.

Paragraph 5: Conclusion

The last paragraph of a 5 paragraph essay — or any length should be a conclusion . It should not present new information, but it should always wrap up your discussion. One way to conclude is to summarize your 3 main points and then leave the reader with some key takeaways or a final thought about your thesis that drives your essay home.

However, your essay should not end with a cliffhanger. Remember that idea of cohesion? When the reader finishes your essay, he or she should feel like the information or argument is complete and fascinating.

Creating the 5 Paragraph Essay Graphic Organizer

Now that you understand the 5 paragraph essay format, it’s time to begin planning and writing your essay. To do that, custom writing professionals suggest using a graphic organizer. It can be a simple outline in bullet points, or it can be more visual in nature.

For example, you can create a mind map with your thesis idea — or even the whole thesis sentence — in the middle. Circle your thesis. From there, you can draw lines from the thesis outward and create new bubbles for your mind map, perhaps showing the main points you intend to discuss. Your mind map can include any information that’s helpful, and you may find that you want to expand on each main point with new bubbles.

PRODUCTION: Create a simple drawing of a mind map. Put the word “Thesis” in the middle (circled), and then put the words “Point 1,” “Point 2,” and “Point 3” around it. Draw circles around those words, and connect them to “Thesis” using lines. See example below.

Don’t spend too much time creating a graphic organizer, though. At some point, you need to start writing your 5 paragraph essay! Then the real fun begins. Read more on how to reference an essay

The 5 Paragraph Essay Rubric

If you’re wondering how your essay will be graded, you’re not alone. While the exact rubric your teacher uses will vary, here’s a basic one that may help you see what’s expected in your essay.

Grade A: Excellent

• Both introduction and thesis are strong.
• Details and examples are strong and well organized.
• The conclusion is strong enough.
• Grammar is correct.

Grade B: Good

• Has some spelling and grammar errors.

Grade C: Fair

• The introduction is good, but the thesis is weak.
• Examples used are weak.
• The conclusion is weak.
• Has major spelling and grammar errors.

Grade D: Poor

• Introduction and thesis are weak.
• Details and examples are weak and somewhat unorganized.
• Details or examples are few.
• Does not have a conclusion.
• Has serious spelling and grammar errors.

Grade F: Unsatisfactory

• Does not contain a thesis, and introduction is weak.
• Details and examples are weak and have no clear organization, or there are none at all.

In some cases, your teacher may give you a rubric before you start your essay. If so, make sure you read it carefully and don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t understand something. The rubric should tell you exactly what the teacher is looking for, whether it’s a 5 paragraph essay or something much longer. To succeed with your task, please find some essay writing tips .

5 Paragraph Essay Sample

Below you can find free 5 Paragraph essay sample called " The Impact of Technology on Education ".

"In today's rapidly advancing world, technology has become an integral part of our daily lives, revolutionizing various sectors, including education. Its influence on the way we learn, teach, and interact with educational materials is undeniable. This essay examines the significant impact of technology on education, highlighting its benefits and exploring real-life examples that illustrate its transformative power.

One of the primary benefits of technology in education is the enhanced accessibility to information. The internet has brought a wealth of knowledge right to our fingertips. Students can now access a vast array of educational resources, such as e-books, online articles, and interactive learning platforms. For instance, platforms like Khan Academy provide video tutorials and practice exercises on various subjects, enabling students to learn at their own pace and revisit concepts as needed. Furthermore, online forums and discussion boards foster collaborative learning, connecting students and educators from around the globe to share ideas and insights.

Another key advantage of technology in education is its ability to promote active and personalized learning. With the advent of educational software and applications, students can engage in interactive activities that cater to their individual needs and learning styles. For example, adaptive learning platforms like Duolingo tailor language lessons based on the learner's proficiency level and progress. This personalized approach helps students stay motivated and enhances their comprehension and retention of the material. Additionally, digital simulations and virtual reality tools provide immersive learning experiences, allowing students to explore complex concepts in a hands-on and engaging manner.

Furthermore, technology has revolutionized the way educators deliver instruction and assess students' progress. Online learning management systems, such as Moodle and Canvas, enable teachers to create and share course materials, assign tasks, and provide timely feedback. These platforms streamline administrative tasks, giving educators more time to focus on designing innovative lessons and individualized support for students. Moreover, digital assessment tools offer immediate feedback, enabling students to track their progress and identify areas for improvement. Platforms like Kahoot! and Quizlet make learning enjoyable by incorporating gamification elements, making the assessment process interactive and engaging.

In conclusion, technology has had a profound impact on education, transforming the way we learn and teach. The accessibility to vast amounts of information, the promotion of active and personalized learning, and the innovative methods of instruction and assessment are just a few examples of the positive effects of technology in education. However, it is important to ensure that technology is used as a tool to enhance learning rather than replace traditional teaching methods. As we continue to embrace technological advancements, it is crucial to strike a balance between leveraging its benefits and maintaining the human element in education. By doing so, we can harness the full potential of technology to create a future where education is accessible, engaging, and empowering for all learners."

Final Thoughts on the 5 Paragraph Essay

Once you’ve mastered the format of the 5 paragraph essay, you can write a paper at any length imaginable. Remember that it’s helpful to create an outline or graphic organizer to organize your ideas before you start writing , especially for a longer essay. If you have a rubric ahead of time, you’ll know exactly what you need to watch out for as you edit and polish your paper.

With the above information at your disposal and a rubric in-hand, you should have no excuses for a poor grade. Just be mindful of how much time you have to work, and break the writing into small chunks if you need to. Always start early to get the best grade possible.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 3 great narrative essay examples + tips for writing.

General Education

A narrative essay is one of the most intimidating assignments you can be handed at any level of your education. Where you've previously written argumentative essays that make a point or analytic essays that dissect meaning, a narrative essay asks you to write what is effectively a story .

But unlike a simple work of creative fiction, your narrative essay must have a clear and concrete motif —a recurring theme or idea that you’ll explore throughout. Narrative essays are less rigid, more creative in expression, and therefore pretty different from most other essays you’ll be writing.

But not to fear—in this article, we’ll be covering what a narrative essay is, how to write a good one, and also analyzing some personal narrative essay examples to show you what a great one looks like.

What Is a Narrative Essay?

At first glance, a narrative essay might sound like you’re just writing a story. Like the stories you're used to reading, a narrative essay is generally (but not always) chronological, following a clear throughline from beginning to end. Even if the story jumps around in time, all the details will come back to one specific theme, demonstrated through your choice in motifs.

Unlike many creative stories, however, your narrative essay should be based in fact. That doesn’t mean that every detail needs to be pure and untainted by imagination, but rather that you shouldn’t wholly invent the events of your narrative essay. There’s nothing wrong with inventing a person’s words if you can’t remember them exactly, but you shouldn’t say they said something they weren’t even close to saying.

Another big difference between narrative essays and creative fiction—as well as other kinds of essays—is that narrative essays are based on motifs. A motif is a dominant idea or theme, one that you establish before writing the essay. As you’re crafting the narrative, it’ll feed back into your motif to create a comprehensive picture of whatever that motif is.

For example, say you want to write a narrative essay about how your first day in high school helped you establish your identity. You might discuss events like trying to figure out where to sit in the cafeteria, having to describe yourself in five words as an icebreaker in your math class, or being unsure what to do during your lunch break because it’s no longer acceptable to go outside and play during lunch. All of those ideas feed back into the central motif of establishing your identity.

The important thing to remember is that while a narrative essay is typically told chronologically and intended to read like a story, it is not purely for entertainment value. A narrative essay delivers its theme by deliberately weaving the motifs through the events, scenes, and details. While a narrative essay may be entertaining, its primary purpose is to tell a complete story based on a central meaning.

Unlike other essay forms, it is totally okay—even expected—to use first-person narration in narrative essays. If you’re writing a story about yourself, it’s natural to refer to yourself within the essay. It’s also okay to use other perspectives, such as third- or even second-person, but that should only be done if it better serves your motif. Generally speaking, your narrative essay should be in first-person perspective.

Though your motif choices may feel at times like you’re making a point the way you would in an argumentative essay, a narrative essay’s goal is to tell a story, not convince the reader of anything. Your reader should be able to tell what your motif is from reading, but you don’t have to change their mind about anything. If they don’t understand the point you are making, you should consider strengthening the delivery of the events and descriptions that support your motif.

Narrative essays also share some features with analytical essays, in which you derive meaning from a book, film, or other media. But narrative essays work differently—you’re not trying to draw meaning from an existing text, but rather using an event you’ve experienced to convey meaning. In an analytical essay, you examine narrative, whereas in a narrative essay you create narrative.

The structure of a narrative essay is also a bit different than other essays. You’ll generally be getting your point across chronologically as opposed to grouping together specific arguments in paragraphs or sections. To return to the example of an essay discussing your first day of high school and how it impacted the shaping of your identity, it would be weird to put the events out of order, even if not knowing what to do after lunch feels like a stronger idea than choosing where to sit. Instead of organizing to deliver your information based on maximum impact, you’ll be telling your story as it happened, using concrete details to reinforce your theme.

3 Great Narrative Essay Examples

One of the best ways to learn how to write a narrative essay is to look at a great narrative essay sample. Let’s take a look at some truly stellar narrative essay examples and dive into what exactly makes them work so well.

A Ticket to the Fair by David Foster Wallace

Today is Press Day at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, and I’m supposed to be at the fairgrounds by 9:00 A.M. to get my credentials. I imagine credentials to be a small white card in the band of a fedora. I’ve never been considered press before. My real interest in credentials is getting into rides and shows for free. I’m fresh in from the East Coast, for an East Coast magazine. Why exactly they’re interested in the Illinois State Fair remains unclear to me. I suspect that every so often editors at East Coast magazines slap their foreheads and remember that about 90 percent of the United States lies between the coasts, and figure they’ll engage somebody to do pith-helmeted anthropological reporting on something rural and heartlandish. I think they asked me to do this because I grew up here, just a couple hours’ drive from downstate Springfield. I never did go to the state fair, though—I pretty much topped out at the county fair level. Actually, I haven’t been back to Illinois for a long time, and I can’t say I’ve missed it.

Throughout this essay, David Foster Wallace recounts his experience as press at the Illinois State Fair. But it’s clear from this opening that he’s not just reporting on the events exactly as they happened—though that’s also true— but rather making a point about how the East Coast, where he lives and works, thinks about the Midwest.

In his opening paragraph, Wallace states that outright: “Why exactly they’re interested in the Illinois State Fair remains unclear to me. I suspect that every so often editors at East Coast magazines slap their foreheads and remember that about 90 percent of the United States lies between the coasts, and figure they’ll engage somebody to do pith-helmeted anthropological reporting on something rural and heartlandish.”

Not every motif needs to be stated this clearly , but in an essay as long as Wallace’s, particularly since the audience for such a piece may feel similarly and forget that such a large portion of the country exists, it’s important to make that point clear.

But Wallace doesn’t just rest on introducing his motif and telling the events exactly as they occurred from there. It’s clear that he selects events that remind us of that idea of East Coast cynicism , such as when he realizes that the Help Me Grow tent is standing on top of fake grass that is killing the real grass beneath, when he realizes the hypocrisy of craving a corn dog when faced with a real, suffering pig, when he’s upset for his friend even though he’s not the one being sexually harassed, and when he witnesses another East Coast person doing something he wouldn’t dare to do.

Wallace is literally telling the audience exactly what happened, complete with dates and timestamps for when each event occurred. But he’s also choosing those events with a purpose—he doesn’t focus on details that don’t serve his motif. That’s why he discusses the experiences of people, how the smells are unappealing to him, and how all the people he meets, in cowboy hats, overalls, or “black spandex that looks like cheesecake leotards,” feel almost alien to him.

All of these details feed back into the throughline of East Coast thinking that Wallace introduces in the first paragraph. He also refers back to it in the essay’s final paragraph, stating:

At last, an overarching theory blooms inside my head: megalopolitan East Coasters’ summer treats and breaks and literally ‘getaways,’ flights-from—from crowds, noise, heat, dirt, the stress of too many sensory choices….The East Coast existential treat is escape from confines and stimuli—quiet, rustic vistas that hold still, turn inward, turn away. Not so in the rural Midwest. Here you’re pretty much away all the time….Something in a Midwesterner sort of actuates , deep down, at a public event….The real spectacle that draws us here is us.

Throughout this journey, Wallace has tried to demonstrate how the East Coast thinks about the Midwest, ultimately concluding that they are captivated by the Midwest’s less stimuli-filled life, but that the real reason they are interested in events like the Illinois State Fair is that they are, in some ways, a means of looking at the East Coast in a new, estranging way.

The reason this works so well is that Wallace has carefully chosen his examples, outlined his motif and themes in the first paragraph, and eventually circled back to the original motif with a clearer understanding of his original point.

When outlining your own narrative essay, try to do the same. Start with a theme, build upon it with examples, and return to it in the end with an even deeper understanding of the original issue. You don’t need this much space to explore a theme, either—as we’ll see in the next example, a strong narrative essay can also be very short.

Death of a Moth by Virginia Woolf

After a time, tired by his dancing apparently, he settled on the window ledge in the sun, and, the queer spectacle being at an end, I forgot about him. Then, looking up, my eye was caught by him. He was trying to resume his dancing, but seemed either so stiff or so awkward that he could only flutter to the bottom of the window-pane; and when he tried to fly across it he failed. Being intent on other matters I watched these futile attempts for a time without thinking, unconsciously waiting for him to resume his flight, as one waits for a machine, that has stopped momentarily, to start again without considering the reason of its failure. After perhaps a seventh attempt he slipped from the wooden ledge and fell, fluttering his wings, on to his back on the window sill. The helplessness of his attitude roused me. It flashed upon me that he was in difficulties; he could no longer raise himself; his legs struggled vainly. But, as I stretched out a pencil, meaning to help him to right himself, it came over me that the failure and awkwardness were the approach of death. I laid the pencil down again.

In this essay, Virginia Woolf explains her encounter with a dying moth. On surface level, this essay is just a recounting of an afternoon in which she watched a moth die—it’s even established in the title. But there’s more to it than that. Though Woolf does not begin her essay with as clear a motif as Wallace, it’s not hard to pick out the evidence she uses to support her point, which is that the experience of this moth is also the human experience.

In the title, Woolf tells us this essay is about death. But in the first paragraph, she seems to mostly be discussing life—the moth is “content with life,” people are working in the fields, and birds are flying. However, she mentions that it is mid-September and that the fields were being plowed. It’s autumn and it’s time for the harvest; the time of year in which many things die.

In this short essay, she chronicles the experience of watching a moth seemingly embody life, then die. Though this essay is literally about a moth, it’s also about a whole lot more than that. After all, moths aren’t the only things that die—Woolf is also reflecting on her own mortality, as well as the mortality of everything around her.

At its core, the essay discusses the push and pull of life and death, not in a way that’s necessarily sad, but in a way that is accepting of both. Woolf begins by setting up the transitional fall season, often associated with things coming to an end, and raises the ideas of pleasure, vitality, and pity.

At one point, Woolf tries to help the dying moth, but reconsiders, as it would interfere with the natural order of the world. The moth’s death is part of the natural order of the world, just like fall, just like her own eventual death.

All these themes are set up in the beginning and explored throughout the essay’s narrative. Though Woolf doesn’t directly state her theme, she reinforces it by choosing a small, isolated event—watching a moth die—and illustrating her point through details.

With this essay, we can see that you don’t need a big, weird, exciting event to discuss an important meaning. Woolf is able to explore complicated ideas in a short essay by being deliberate about what details she includes, just as you can be in your own essays.

Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin

On the twenty-ninth of July, in 1943, my father died. On the same day, a few hours later, his last child was born. Over a month before this, while all our energies were concentrated in waiting for these events, there had been, in Detroit, one of the bloodiest race riots of the century. A few hours after my father’s funeral, while he lay in state in the undertaker’s chapel, a race riot broke out in Harlem. On the morning of the third of August, we drove my father to the graveyard through a wilderness of smashed plate glass.

Like Woolf, Baldwin does not lay out his themes in concrete terms—unlike Wallace, there’s no clear sentence that explains what he’ll be talking about. However, you can see the motifs quite clearly: death, fatherhood, struggle, and race.

Throughout the narrative essay, Baldwin discusses the circumstances of his father’s death, including his complicated relationship with his father. By introducing those motifs in the first paragraph, the reader understands that everything discussed in the essay will come back to those core ideas. When Baldwin talks about his experience with a white teacher taking an interest in him and his father’s resistance to that, he is also talking about race and his father’s death. When he talks about his father’s death, he is also talking about his views on race. When he talks about his encounters with segregation and racism, he is talking, in part, about his father.

Because his father was a hard, uncompromising man, Baldwin struggles to reconcile the knowledge that his father was right about many things with his desire to not let that hardness consume him, as well.

Baldwin doesn’t explicitly state any of this, but his writing so often touches on the same motifs that it becomes clear he wants us to think about all these ideas in conversation with one another.

At the end of the essay, Baldwin makes it more clear:

This fight begins, however, in the heart and it had now been laid to my charge to keep my own heart free of hatred and despair. This intimation made my heart heavy and, now that my father was irrecoverable, I wished that he had been beside me so that I could have searched his face for the answers which only the future would give me now.

Here, Baldwin ties together the themes and motifs into one clear statement: that he must continue to fight and recognize injustice, especially racial injustice, just as his father did. But unlike his father, he must do it beginning with himself—he must not let himself be closed off to the world as his father was. And yet, he still wishes he had his father for guidance, even as he establishes that he hopes to be a different man than his father.

In this essay, Baldwin loads the front of the essay with his motifs, and, through his narrative, weaves them together into a theme. In the end, he comes to a conclusion that connects all of those things together and leaves the reader with a lasting impression of completion—though the elements may have been initially disparate, in the end everything makes sense.

You can replicate this tactic of introducing seemingly unattached ideas and weaving them together in your own essays. By introducing those motifs, developing them throughout, and bringing them together in the end, you can demonstrate to your reader how all of them are related. However, it’s especially important to be sure that your motifs and clear and consistent throughout your essay so that the conclusion feels earned and consistent—if not, readers may feel mislead.

5 Key Tips for Writing Narrative Essays

Narrative essays can be a lot of fun to write since they’re so heavily based on creativity. But that can also feel intimidating—sometimes it’s easier to have strict guidelines than to have to make it all up yourself. Here are a few tips to keep your narrative essay feeling strong and fresh.

Develop Strong Motifs

Motifs are the foundation of a narrative essay . What are you trying to say? How can you say that using specific symbols or events? Those are your motifs.

In the same way that an argumentative essay’s body should support its thesis, the body of your narrative essay should include motifs that support your theme.

Try to avoid cliches, as these will feel tired to your readers. Instead of roses to symbolize love, try succulents. Instead of the ocean representing some vast, unknowable truth, try the depths of your brother’s bedroom. Keep your language and motifs fresh and your essay will be even stronger!

Use First-Person Perspective

In many essays, you’re expected to remove yourself so that your points stand on their own. Not so in a narrative essay—in this case, you want to make use of your own perspective.

Sometimes a different perspective can make your point even stronger. If you want someone to identify with your point of view, it may be tempting to choose a second-person perspective. However, be sure you really understand the function of second-person; it’s very easy to put a reader off if the narration isn’t expertly deployed.

If you want a little bit of distance, third-person perspective may be okay. But be careful—too much distance and your reader may feel like the narrative lacks truth.

That’s why first-person perspective is the standard. It keeps you, the writer, close to the narrative, reminding the reader that it really happened. And because you really know what happened and how, you’re free to inject your own opinion into the story without it detracting from your point, as it would in a different type of essay.

Stick to the Truth

Your essay should be true. However, this is a creative essay, and it’s okay to embellish a little. Rarely in life do we experience anything with a clear, concrete meaning the way somebody in a book might. If you flub the details a little, it’s okay—just don’t make them up entirely.

Also, nobody expects you to perfectly recall details that may have happened years ago. You may have to reconstruct dialog from your memory and your imagination. That’s okay, again, as long as you aren’t making it up entirely and assigning made-up statements to somebody.

Dialog is a powerful tool. A good conversation can add flavor and interest to a story, as we saw demonstrated in David Foster Wallace’s essay. As previously mentioned, it’s okay to flub it a little, especially because you’re likely writing about an experience you had without knowing that you’d be writing about it later.

However, don’t rely too much on it. Your narrative essay shouldn’t be told through people explaining things to one another; the motif comes through in the details. Dialog can be one of those details, but it shouldn’t be the only one.

Use Sensory Descriptions

Because a narrative essay is a story, you can use sensory details to make your writing more interesting. If you’re describing a particular experience, you can go into detail about things like taste, smell, and hearing in a way that you probably wouldn’t do in any other essay style.

These details can tie into your overall motifs and further your point. Woolf describes in great detail what she sees while watching the moth, giving us the sense that we, too, are watching the moth. In Wallace’s essay, he discusses the sights, sounds, and smells of the Illinois State Fair to help emphasize his point about its strangeness. And in Baldwin’s essay, he describes shattered glass as a “wilderness,” and uses the feelings of his body to describe his mental state.

All these descriptions anchor us not only in the story, but in the motifs and themes as well. One of the tools of a writer is making the reader feel as you felt, and sensory details help you achieve that.

What’s Next?

Looking to brush up on your essay-writing capabilities before the ACT? This guide to ACT English will walk you through some of the best strategies and practice questions to get you prepared!

Part of practicing for the ACT is ensuring your word choice and diction are on point. Check out this guide to some of the most common errors on the ACT English section to be sure that you're not making these common mistakes!

A solid understanding of English principles will help you make an effective point in a narrative essay, and you can get that understanding through taking a rigorous assortment of high school English classes !

Need more help with this topic? Check out Tutorbase!

Our vetted tutor database includes a range of experienced educators who can help you polish an essay for English or explain how derivatives work for Calculus. You can use dozens of filters and search criteria to find the perfect person for your needs.

Melissa Brinks graduated from the University of Washington in 2014 with a Bachelor's in English with a creative writing emphasis. She has spent several years tutoring K-12 students in many subjects, including in SAT prep, to help them prepare for their college education.

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Part Two Paragraph Writing Skills and Essay Introduction

Unit 5 Narrative Paragraphs

Learning Objectives

• To learn what a narrative paragraph focuses on
• To understand and practice narrative paragraphs with a focus on the use of time transitions, past tenses, descriptive vocabulary, and specific supporting details
• To study narrative paragraphs through analyzing multiple models
• To apply the writing process to plan and write narrative paragraphs

I. Warm – Up

Read Paragraph “My Worst Trip” and do the activities that follow.

My Worst Trip

          My experiences at Miami Airport and during the flight to Chicago on September 29, 2007 were terrible because I could not understand English. I came from Mexico, and that was my first connecting trip out of my own country. After a long flight from my native country, I arrived at Miami Airport. I had been so excited walking in an American airport until a uniformed officer asked me something in English. I felt nervous because I did not speak English and did not know how to answer her questions. I just shook my head. I was not walking excitedly anymore because I realized that I did not speak the language. I already began to miss my own country! Suddenly, I looked at my watch, and it said 12:30 pm. I was so hungry that I needed to eat something. I had not eaten much on my first flight. I went to a small restaurant in the airport, looked at the pictures of the menu on the screen, and decided to have a coke and a sandwich. I could not see clearly or read what kind of sandwich that was, but it looked scrumptious [1] . I was just going to point to the picture and tell the waiter what I wanted. He came and spoke fast. Because I did not understand, I felt I had to say “Ok”. Well, he gave me a different meal, and it cost me almost $20! This situation was awful [2] . I ate the meal in sad silence. I could not tell what it tasted like because I was tired and upset. Finally, I got on my flight to Chicago in the evening. On the plane, I wanted to drink water, but I did not know how to ask for it. I just stayed in my seat quietly and felt despondent [3] . In the end, I met my family at the airport in Chicago at 11:30 pm. On our way home, I told them about my nightmare. They comforted me, “Don’t worry. All will be fine.” However, I could not shake off the feeling that I had just had a rocky start [4] on my life in this new country. On that day, I made a promise to myself that I would have to study English really hard.

By student,  ESL Writing III, Harper College. U sed with permission.

1. Color code the paragraph:

Title – pink                                               Background information – purple                          

Topic sentence – red                           Beginning of the story – green

Middle of the story – blue                  End of the story – green

Transitions – yellow                             Concluding sentence(s) – red

2. Discuss:

• What was your experience on your trip to the U.S.? Did you have a similar experience as the writer?
• Does the writer focus on telling a story, arguing for a controversial issue, or listing points to explain an idea?
• How is this paragraph similar to the ones you have studied in Unit 4 Enumerative Paragraphs?
• How is this paragraph different from the ones in Unit 4?
• What types of supporting ideas and details are used to explain the main idea?
• What do you like about this paragraph?
• How would you improve the paragraph?
• If you could ask the writer a question, what would you ask?

II. Focus of Narrative Paragraphs

Narration is a description of an experience, an event, a story, or a situation to show a point of view. You have already studied a narrative paragraph in Unit 3: My Valuable Life Lesson.

Narrative paragraphs have:

• a beginning: How did the story start?
• a middle: How did it progress?
• an ending: How did it end?

As you are telling a story in this type of paragraph, it is important to:

• provide the background information about the story: what, who, when, where. If applicable, include the information on why and how. The information is usually given in the beginning.
• use past tenses as you narrate a past experience or event.
• guide the readers in understanding the event by using appropriate time expressions and arrange the information in chronological order, meaning time order.
• use appropriate descriptive words and details to help the readers feel as if they were experiencing the event in person.

Exercise 1. Read the following paragraph titles. Which ones can be appropriate titles for narrative paragraphs? What will the paragraphs be about?  Click “True” for appropriate narrative titles and “False” for non-narrative titles.  You will get instant feedback after each sentence. The explanation is given in blue.

III. Topic Sentence in Narration

Read Paragraph “My Worst Trip” again. How does the writer start the paragraph? The beginning contains the topic sentence and background information.

Study one more example:

Exercise 2. Use the above examples as models. Fill in the information for the next three topics. In #3, you think of a topic of your own. Try writing your topic sentence with background information in one, two, or three sentences.

IV. Supporting Ideas in Chronological Order and with Time Transitions

Chronological Order

The information in the middle of the paragraph is going to be the main part of the story. All the events are arranged chronologically. What happened first is written first, what happened next is explained next, and so on. One way to make sure of the correct order is to draw a timeline. This could be used as a brief outline for a paragraph. Below is a t imeline for an interview experience:

Time Transitions

Another important aspect of narration is to use appropriate time expressions. They are transitions to guide the readers through the narration. You have already learned different transitions in Unit 3 Parts and Characteristics of a Good Paragraph and Unit 4 Enumerative Paragraphs.  ( For reviews, open Unit 3 here and Unit 4 here .)

Here are some time transitions. As you study them, pay attention to their punctuation.

Review Paragraph “My Worst Trip” in the beginning of this unit and discuss how the writer uses a variety of time transitions.

Read the new paragraph “My Memorable Interview” below.  It is developed based on the timeline above. The time transitions are underlined. Discuss:

• How does the writer begin the paragraph? What is the topic sentence? What is the controlling idea? What is the background information (what, who, when, where)?
• Does the paragraph follow chronological order?
• How are different types of time transitions used with different punctuations? (underlined)

My Memorable Interview

          In my last year of high school in Japan , I learned an important lesson from a memorable interview. I had applied to the Social Welfare Department of the college that I wanted to enter . To be accepted, I had to pass an interview and answer questions about a book the college professors had assigned . The book, What is the True Wealth, was a very famous book among the people studying social welfare in Japan. One month before the interview , I read the book but  understood  the topic only superficially [7] . To help myself understand the topic better, I then bought another book that described the current social situation in Japan. After reading it many times, I was able to understand the topic of social welfare more clearly. In the m iddle of February, I flew to the college for the interview. It was not a cold day, but I had chills  because of tension. I had never visited the prefecture where the college was located, so I felt the strain I had never felt before. The interview day arrived. The applicants were called in one by one from the waiting room. As soon as my name was called,  I took a deep breath before entering with a smile . The interview room was small, with six professors sitting across the table. It appeared to be a normal interview situation, but when five cards were put side by side on the table , I realized that it was not ! I could not understand what the cards  were for . My nervousness grew. One professor instructed, “Please choose one card on the desk. You will see our first question there about the assigned book.” It was like a card game!  Fortunately, I answer ed the question  calmly and clearly. During the interview ,   I express ed my opinions with confidence , thanks to the two books which I had read. At the end of the interview,  one professor asked me, “Have you read a nother book beside s  our assigned one?”   At that time, I thought, “Good for me!” I spoke about my additional book and explained why I had chosen it, what I had learned from it, and how it had helped me with the interview. The professors looked impressed . I was so glad that I almost jumped for joy. They nodded to me and to each other. That afternoon, I flew back home , feeling happy . From this experience, I have learned a lesson essential to my success. It is important to prepare elaborately [8] before an important event . Hard work in advance would give me confidence and help me in unexpected situations.

By C . Kotani (student), ESL Writing III, Harper College. U sed with permission.

Exercise 3. Read Paragraph “The Day My Daughter Was Born” and discuss:

• How does the writer begin the paragraph? What is the topic sentence? What is the controlling idea? What is the background information (what, who, when, where, why)?
• Underline the time transitions. How are different types of time transitions used with different punctuations?

The Day My Daughter Was Born

          The day I met my daughter Ela has been the most significant day in my life. When I was in my 38th week of pregnancy, my husband and I went to the hospital for a routine pre-natal exam. While the doctor was checking me, she said, “We have to take the baby.” We were so shocked. If I had not had a problem, she would not have said such a thing. Right away, she started to explain my problem. My daughter could not move herself because there was not enough water in my womb. Upon hearing this, I wanted to go back to my house to bring the baby stuff, but she did not allow me. My husband was little panicked, for he did not know what to do. Actually, I was so scared and also excited at the same time. My daughter was coming to my life! Our family had been waiting for her arrival for a long time, and we could not wait to take her into our arms. In the next ten minutes, the doctor did some tests on me and took me to the surgery room. I was not aware how many minutes or hours had passed. When I opened my eyes, everything had already finished. My first question was if she was OK. My doctor reassured me, “Don’t worry. She is OK”. After that, the medical staff took me to my room. All my family members were waiting eagerly there. I asked my husband if he had seen our daughter. He said no. We could not wait to see her, and we were so happy, for she was born without any problem. Everybody in the room was happy and asking how I was feeling. I had totally forgotten myself! Soon, the doctor brought her to the room, and I will never forget the moment when I laid my eyes on her for the first time. I cried so much from happiness. There was my little baby Ela, so tiny and soft, and most important all, so beautiful! Her “baby smell” was the most heart-warming scent. My husband’s face was full of joyful pride. Everyone wanted to hold Ela for a second but stopped as she was sleeping soundly. At that moment, I understood that my life would change forever because of this precious new life. I promised myself and her that I would always be by her side.

By Z. Turkmen (student), ESL Writing III, Harper College. U sed with permission.

V. Past Tenses in Narration

In most narrative paragraphs, you are describing past events, so you need to use mostly past tenses even though present and future tenses are also possible in some parts of the paragraph. Past tenses include simple past, past progressive, past perfect, and past perfect progressive, and future past. However, the most common one is the simple past.

T here are detailed explanations and practice in verb tenses from Unit 11 through Unit 14  in this book.  (Open Unit 11 Present Tenses , Unit 12 Past Tenses , Unit 13 Future Tenses , Unit 14 Mixed Tenses here .)

Review paragraphs “My Worst Trip”, “My Memorable Interview”, and “The Day My Daughter Was Born”. Underline all the past tense verbs and discuss how these verbs are used.

Read another new paragraph “A significant Meeting” below and discuss:

• What is the topic sentence? What is the controlling idea?
• What is the background information (what, who, when, where)?
• Does the writer explain the event in chronological order?
• How are different types of time transitions used?
• Underline all the verbs in past tenses. Why are some verbs in past perfect (bold-faced), one in past progressive (bold-faced), and one in simple future (bold-faced)?

A Significant Meeting

          My first meeting with my future husband in real life on March 18, 2017 was so significant that it changed my life. This was my first visit to the U.S.A when I met Sergey. We had communicated and seen each other only through the Internet before that. Our meeting happened in beautiful New York City. The smell of early spring, with blooming trees, sunny weather, and breathtaking views of this city, reinforced my romantic mood. I woke up very early to prepare for the meeting that was supposed to happen at breakfast. I arrived at the restaurant before 10 am. 10 am was not a perfect time for a romantic date, but we had planned to spend the whole day together and visit sights. Just then, Sergey called to apologize that he had overslept on his flight to New York and would not arrive until 11 pm. I became very angry and disappointed. I could not believe how a person could approach [9] such an important event so irresponsibly [10] . As a result, I assumed [11] that he would not be my destiny and my second half. When I arrived back at the hotel, I suddenly noticed a man standing with flowers and staring at me with a guilty look. He was wearing a formal gray suite with a matching tie. After a couple of seconds, I realized this man was Sergey! He had gotten a few transfers to arrive earlier than expected. I was so surprised to see him at that moment. I did not know whether to be joyful or angry, but I instantly forgot about the morning case. Of course, I gave him one star for diligence [12] . During our live communication, all invisible borders were erased. We quickly connected and understood each other. His surprises did not end at our lunch. He gave me a helicopter flight over the city! I was in heaven with happiness and beauty around me. In addition, Sergey had another surprise at dinner. He produced two tickets, for the most anticipated fight show of the year by my favorite boxer Gennady Golovkin in the famous Madison Square. I could not believe that another dream would come true that day. At the end of that fantastic day, I came to realize that my future husband was very attentive [13] . He had remembered everything that I loved and dreamed about. He fulfilled my one desire after another. Sergey was like a genie [14] , and I possessed his lamp. By the end of our first day together, I had decided to give him all stars and pluses. Our meeting transformed [15] my whole life, and these first happy moments will remain forever in my memories.

By E . Yugay (student), ESL Writing III, Harper College. U sed with permission.

Exercise 4. Read Paragraph “Meeting My Best Friends” and fill in each blank with the correct verb tense. When you finish this exercise, you can click “Check” to see how you did.  You can retry or see all the answers. The first one is an example.

VI. Descriptive Vocabulary and Details in Narration

Words are your tools in writing. Choosing specific, descriptive words will help your readers “see” or “picture” the event you are describing. Read the pairs of sentences below and discuss which sentence is better in each pair.

• They have a large house.
• They have a 2-story, red brick house.
• An old man walked on the street.
• An eighty-seven-year-old man stumbled [16] along Algonquin Road.
• Mrs. Kim is the best teacher I have ever had.
• Mrs. Kim is the most humorous and hardworking teacher I have ever had.

In each pair, the second sentence helps the reader “see” the house, the man, and Mrs. Kim more vividly [17] . Using descriptive words will make your writing more interesting and effective.

Words like “big, good, nice, great, bad” are very general and can be replaced by other better, more interesting ones. Many of the words below are “sensory” words that describe sight, sound, smell, flavor, and feeling.

Before you use any new vocabulary, make sure you check an English-English dictionary to see its exact meaning and use it only when appropriate. Try using two or three new descriptive words in each paragraph you write.

Details are the key to interesting paragraphs. In a narrative paragraph, details in the middle of the narration – how the story progresses – are even more critical [18] .

As you learned in the earlier units, color-coding is a helpful strategy to make sure:

• The paragraph has all the essential parts.
• All the parts are in the right order.
• Some parts need to be longer and more detailed.

Here is the color-coded paragraph “The Worst Trip” you read in the beginning of this unit. Discuss:

• Which color covers the most information?
• How does the part in blue help you “see” or “experience” what the writer was going through?
• Underline some descriptive or specific vocabulary . In what way does it make the paragraph more interesting?

          My experiences at Miami Airport and during the flight to Chicago on September 29, 2007 were terrible because I could not understand English. I came from Mexico, and that was my first connecting trip out of my own country. After a long flight from my native country, I arrived at Miami Airport. I had been so excited walking in an American airport until a uniformed officer asked me something in English. I felt nervous because I did not speak English and did not know how to answer her questions. I just shook my head. I was not walking excitedly anymore because I realized that I did not speak the language. I already began to miss my own country! Suddenly, I looked at my watch, and it said 12:30 pm. I was so hungry that I needed to eat something. I had not eaten much on my first flight. I went to a small restaurant in the airport, looked at the pictures of the menu on the screen, and decided to have a coke and a sandwich. I could not see clearly or read what kind of sandwich that was, but it looked scrumptious. I was just going to point to the picture and tell the waiter what I wanted. He came and spoke fast. Because I did not understand, I felt I had to say “Ok”. Well, he gave me a different meal, and it cost me almost $20! This situation was awful. I ate the meal in sad silence. I could not tell what it tasted like because I was tired and upset. Finally, I got on my flight to Chicago in the evening. On the plane, I wanted to drink water, but I did not know how to ask for it. I just stayed in my seat quietly and felt despondent. In the end, I met my family at the airport in Chicago at 11:30 pm. On our way home, I told them about my nightmare. They comforted me, “Don’t worry. All will be fine.” However, I could not shake off the feeling that I had just had a rocky start on my life in this new country. On that day, I made a promise to myself that I would have to study English really hard.

Exercise 5. Try to write a new sentence with descriptive vocabulary by replacing the words underlined.

Example :       

The family carried the big mattress into the small apartment.

Improved:  The family carried the bulky mattress into the one-bedroom apartment.

• The big cruise ship has 18 decks and is 1188 feet long.
• My upcoming interview is going to be important to my career.
• The family made a big decision to immigrant to the U.S. one year ago.
• The mother walked into the baby’s room quietly.
• The graduates walked proudly onto the stage to receive their diploma.
• Some parents have a bad influence on their children.
• In darkness, I was very afraid when I heard a strange noise behind me.
• I love looking at the stars in the night sky.
• The mom said no, but the boy still asked for more ice cream.
• The students are nervous about their grades.

Exercise 6. Use Paragraph “My Worst Trip” you just discussed as an example. Color code Paragraph “My Memorable Interview” as follows and discuss the questions below.

Title – pink                                                 Background information – purple

Topic sentence – red                             B eginning of the story – green

Middle of the story – blue                     End of the story – green

Transitions – yellow                                Concluding sentence(s) – red

• Underline the descriptive or specific vocabulary. In what way does it make the paragraph more interesting?

VII. More Narrative Paragraph Examples

As you read more narrative paragraphs below, you may color code them as you have done for the earlier paragraphs.

• How does the writer start the paragraph? How many sentences does the writer have for the topic sentence and background information? What is the controlling idea?
• Does the background information include what, who, when, and where?
• Are the events arranged in chronological order?
• What different types of time transitions are used?
• Does all the information in the story support the main idea?
• Is the middle of the story the longest in the paragraph?
• Underline some specific descriptions. How do they help make the story more interesting?
• Does the writer use past tenses to narrate the story? Are present and future tenses used? If so, why is the past tense changed to a present or future one?
• What do you like about the paragraph? How would you like to improve it?
• If you could ask the writer one question, what question would it be?

Exercise 7. Read the following two paragraphs. You may color code them as you have done for the earlier paragraphs. Discuss the following questions in your group.

• What is the topic sentence? Is there a controlling idea in the topic sentence? If not, write one.
• Does the background information include what, who, when, and where? If something is missing, add it.
• Are the events arranged in chronological order? If not, correct the order.
• Does all the information in the story support the main idea? If anything is irrelevant, cross it out.
• Are the transitions used appropriately? If a transition is wrong, correct it. If a transition is missing, add it.
• Are there enough descriptive details in the middle of the story? What more ideas can you add?
• Does the writer use correct past tenses to narrate the story?
• Are there any present and future tenses? If so, why is there a shift in verb tenses?
• What do you like about the paragraph?
• If you could ask the writer one question, would question would you ask?

VIII. Unit Review Practice: Writing Assignments

Now you are ready to write your own narrative paragraph! As you have learned in Unit 2 The Writing Process, ( Open Unit 2 here. ) the best way to plan a paragraph is to follow the proper steps.

Narrative Paragraph Writing Assignments

You will be writing two at-home narrative paragraphs. The second one will start after the first one is complete. For both assignments, follow the instructions below.

Purpose : To show your understanding of planning and writing a narrative paragraph. Use the writing process to help you.

Topic :  Choose from the list below.

Brainstorm and Outline : Brainstorm for ideas. Then use one of the templates below to make an outline. Your outline is due on _________. Bring it to class.

Paragraph : Your paragraph should have a title, a topic sentence, background information, beginning of the story, middle of the story with details, the end of the story, a conclusion, and appropriate time transitions.  Include at least 5 descriptive vocabulary from Section VI in this unit (Descriptive Vocabulary and Details in Narration).

Format: Type your paragraph, double spaced, font size 12, with 1-inch margins on four sides of the page. Type your name, class, and date on the upper right-hand corner of the page. The first line of your paragraph should be indented. Save your paragraph in a Word file.

Self Checklist : When you finish writing, use the Self Checklist below. Put a checkmark beside each item if you think you did a good job in that area.  Otherwise, improve your paragraph until you can check off the item. Save your work again.

Submission : Submit your paragraph on the Blackboard.  Go to your Blackboard course site and follow the instructions there.  Due by __________.

Choose one of the following topics.  If you wish to write about a topic of your own, discuss with your professor first.

• Your first class (reading, writing, grammar, communication skills, or another class) experience at Harper College
• A time when you helped someone in need
• Your proudest moment
• Your most embarrassing experience
• A disappointing shopping trip
• An experience where you got to know yourself better
• An experience where you got to know another person better
• An experience that changed your opinion of an event
• An interview you had (any kind of interview)
• The day when you got your first cell phone

Narrative Paragraph Outline Template #1

Topic: _____________________

Controlling idea: ____________________

Background information:

What: ____________________________________

When: ____________________________________

Where: ___________________________________

Who: _____________________________________

Topic + controlling idea + background information (1 – 3 complete sentences):

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Narrative Paragraph Outline Template #2

Beginning of the story:

Middle of the story:

End of the story:

Narrative Paragraph Self Checklist

Note:  #7 – #10 may include more specific aspects of grammar depending on how many editing units you have already studied.

NSNT Practice

Go to The NSNT Free Writing Approach and Additional Weekly Prompts for Writing in Appendix A. ( Open Appendix A here. ) Choose two topics to write a paragraph each. You may start with the NSNT approach and then revise and edit the paragraphs using the Self Checklist above. You are encouraged to share your writing with your partner and help each other improve.

Vocabulary Review

The words here have appeared in this unit.  The best way to learn them is to guess the meaning of each word from the context.  Then hover your computer mouse over the number beside each word to check its meaning and part of speech. These words are also listed in the footnote area at the end of each unit.

Here, you can use the flashcards below to review these words.

• A narrative paragraph focuses on describing an event, an experience, or a story.
• A narrative paragraph should have a title, a beginning with a topic sentence and background information, a middle with details, and an ending.
• Descriptive vocabulary and details will make the paragraph interesting.
• The story should be narrated in the chronological order and should use proper time transitions.
• Past tenses are used primarily, but other tenses are often needed, too.
• Following the writing process (pre-writing, writing, and post-writing) can ensure a well- organized and well-supported paragraph.

Media Attributions

• a man sitting on a chair at an airport © Photo by Marco López on Unsplash
• an opened book with a leaf © Photo by Kaboompics .com from Pexels
• interview timeline
• a hand holding pink and blue heart-shaped lollipop candy © Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
• a cruise ship © Lin Cui is licensed under a CC0 (Creative Commons Zero) license
• a narrative timeline © Lin Cui is licensed under a CC0 (Creative Commons Zero) license
• a pen writing in a notebook © Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
• a page in a dictionary © Pixabay
• scrumptious: adjective, delicious ↵
• awful: adjective, terrible ↵
• despondent: adjective, feeling sad and hopeless ↵
• a rocky start: noun phrase, not a smooth beginning ↵
• exhausting: adjective, very tiring ↵
• Misfortune goes hand in hand: a saying, bad things happen one after another. ↵
• superficially: adverb, on the surface, not deeply ↵
• elaborately: adverb, with great care and effort ↵
• approach: verb, handle, deal with ↵
• irresponsibly: adverb, not responsibly, carelessly ↵
• assume: verb, guess or think based on what has happened ↵
• diligence: noun, good efforts ↵
• attentive: adjective, giving careful attention ↵
• genie: noun, a spirit that makes wishes come true for people ↵
• transform: verb, change in significant ways ↵
• stumble: verb, walk unsteadily, as if going to fall ↵
• vividly: adverb, lively and brightly ↵
• critical: adjective, extremely important ↵

Building Academic Writing Skills Copyright © 2022 by Cui, Lin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

The Golden Age of American Jews Is Ending

Anti-Semitism on the right and the left threatens to bring to a close an unprecedented period of safety and prosperity for Jewish Americans—and demolish the liberal order they helped establish.

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Updated at 1:35 p.m. ET on March 13, 2024. This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here .

Stacey Zolt Hara was in her office in downtown San Francisco when a text from her 16-year-old daughter arrived: “I’m scared,” she wrote. Her classmates at Berkeley High School were preparing to leave their desks and file into the halls, part of a planned “walkout” to protest Israel. Like many Jewish students, she didn’t want to participate. It was October 18, 11 days after the Hamas invasion of southern Israel.

Zolt Hara told her daughter to wait in her classroom. She was trying to project calm. A public-relations executive, Zolt Hara had moved her family from Chicago to Berkeley six years earlier, hoping to find a community that shared her progressive values. Her family had developed a deep sense of belonging there.

Explore the April 2024 Issue

Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read.

But a moral fervor was sweeping over Berkeley High that morning. Around 10:30, the walkout began. Jewish parents traded panicked reports from their children. Zolt Hara heard that kids were chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a slogan that suggests the elimination of Israel. Rumors spread about other, less coy phrases shouted in the hallways, carrying intimations of violence. Jewish students were said to be in tears. Parents were texting one another ideas about where in the school their children could hide. Zolt Hara placed a call to the dean of students. By her own admission, she was hysterical. She says the dean hung up on her.

By the early afternoon the walkout was over, but Zolt Hara and other Jewish parents worried that it was a prelude to something worse. They joined Google Groups and WhatsApp chains so they could share information. Zolt Hara organized a petition, pleading with the school district to take anti-Semitism more seriously. It quickly received more than 1,300 signatures.

Most worrying was what parents kept hearing about teachers, both in Berkeley and in the surrounding school districts. They seemed to be using their classrooms to mold students into advocates for a maximalist vision of Palestine. A group of activists within the Oakland Education Association, that city’s teachers’ union, sponsored a “teach-in.” A video trumpeting the event urged: “Apply your labor power to show solidarity with the Palestinian people.” An estimated 70 teachers set aside their normal curriculum to fix students’ attention on Gaza.

Even classes with no discernible connection to international affairs joined the teach-in. Its centerpiece was a webinar titled “ From Gaza to Oakland: How Does the Issue Connect to Us? ,” in which local activists implored the kids to join them on the streets. They told the students—in a predominantly Black and Latino school district—that the Israeli military works hand in glove with American police forces, sharing tips and tactics. “Repression there ends up cycling back to repression here,” an activist named Anton explained. Elementary-school teachers, whose students were too young for the webinar, were given a list of books to use in their classes. One of them, Handala’s Return , described how a “group of bullies called Zionists wanted our land so they stole it by force and hurt many people.”

The same zeal was gripping schools in Berkeley. Zolt Hara learned from another parent about an ethnic-studies class in which the teacher had described the slaughter of some Israelis on October 7 as the result of friendly fire. She saw a disturbing image that another teacher had presented in an art class, of a fist breaking through a Star of David. (Officials at Berkeley High School did not respond to requests for comment.) In her son’s middle school, there were signs on classroom walls that read Teach Palestine .

Zolt Hara didn’t need to imagine how kids might respond to these lessons. She heard about incidents at her children’s schools. One kid walked up to a Jewish student playing what he called a “Nazi salute song” on his phone. Another said something in German and then added, “I don’t like your people.” A Manichaean view of the conflict even filtered down to the lowest grades in Berkeley. According to one parent complaint to the principal of Washington Elementary School, a second grader suggested that students divide into Israeli and Palestinian “teams,” and another announced that Palestinians couldn’t be friends with Jews.

On November 17, the middle school that Zolt Hara’s son attends staged its own walkout. Zolt Hara was relieved that her son was traveling for a family event that day. But she heard about video of the protest, recorded on a parent’s phone. I tracked down the footage and watched it myself. “Are you Jewish?” one mop-haired tween asks another, seemingly unaware of any adult presence. “No way,” the second kid replies. “I fucking hate them.” Another blurts, “Kill Israel.” A student laughingly attempts to start a chant of “KKK.”

On a damp morning this winter, I joined about 40 kids assembled in a classroom at a public high school in the East Bay for a meeting of the Jewish Student Union. I promised that I wouldn’t identify their school in the hopes that they might speak freely, without fear of retribution from teachers or peers. The first boy to raise his hand proudly announced that he supported a cease-fire. But as the conversation progressed, students began to recall how painful their school’s walkout had felt. Their classmates had left them alone with teachers, who they suspected would think less of them for having stayed put. At every stop in their education in this progressive community, they had learned about a world divided between oppressors and the oppressed—and now they felt that they were being accused of being the bad guys, despite having nothing to do with events on the other side of the world, and despite the fact that Hamas had initiated the current war by invading Israeli communities and murdering an estimated 1,200 people .

At the end of the session a student in a kippah, puffer jacket, and T-shirt pulled me aside. He said he wanted to speak privately, because he didn’t want to risk crying in front of his peers. After October 7, he said, his school life, as a visibly identifiable Jew, had become unbearable. Walking down the halls, kids would shout “Free Palestine” at him. They would make the sound of explosions, as if he were personally responsible for the bombardment of Gaza. They would tell him to pick up pennies. As he was walking into the gym to use one of its courts, a kid told him, “There goes the Jew, taking everyone’s land.” I asked if he’d ever told any of this to an administrator. “Nothing would change,” he said. Based on how other local authorities had responded to anti-Semitism, I didn’t doubt him.

Like many American Jews , I once considered anti-Semitism a threat largely emanating from the right. It was Donald Trump who attracted the allegiance of white supremacists and freely borrowed their tropes. A closing ad of his 2016 presidential campaign flashed images of prominent Jews—Lloyd Blankfein, Janet Yellen, and George Soros—as it decried global special interests bleeding the people dry.

Trump’s victory inspired anti-Semitic hate groups, long consigned to the shadows, to strut with impunity. Less than two weeks after Trump’s election, the white nationalist Richard Spencer came to Washington, D.C. , and proclaimed, “Hail Trump! Hail our people!” as supporters responded with Nazi salutes. In August 2017, angry men carried tiki torches through Charlottesville, Virginia, chanting , “Jews will not replace us.” In 2018, the consequences of violent anti-Semitic rhetoric became tangible: At the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 11 people were fatally shot . The following year, on the last day of Passover, at a synagogue in a San Diego suburb, a gunman killed one and wounded three others, including a rabbi .

After each incident, my anxiety about the safety of my own family and synagogue would spike, but I consoled myself with the thought that once Trump disappeared from the scene, the explosion of Jew hatred would recede. America would revert to its essential self: the most comfortable homeland in the Jewish diaspora.

From the May 2023 issue: Is Holocaust education making anti-Semitism worse?

That reassuring thought required downplaying the anti-Semitism that had begun to appear on the left well before October 7—on college campuses, among progressive activists, even on the fringes of the Democratic Party. It required minimizing Representative Ilhan Omar’s insinuation about Jewish control of politics —“It’s all about the Benjamins baby”—as an ignorant gaffe. And it meant dismissing intense outbreaks of anti-Zionist harassment by pro-Palestinian demonstrators, which coincided with tensions in the Middle East, as a passing storm.

Part of the reason I failed to appreciate the extent of the anti-Semitism on the left is that I assumed its criticisms of the Israeli government were, at bottom, a harsher version of my own. I opposed the proliferation of settlements in the West Bank, the callousness that military occupation required, and the religious zealotry that had begun to infuse the country’s right wing, including its current ruling coalition.

Such criticisms were not those of a dissident— the majority of American Jews share them . The Palestinian leadership has a long record of abject obstructionism, historical denialism, and violent irredentism, but American Jews heap blame on recalcitrant right-wing Israeli governments, too. Polling by the Pew Research Center in 2020 found that only one in three American Jews said they felt that the Israeli government was “sincere” in its pursuit of peace. But whatever criticism American Jews leveled against Israel, the anger was born of love. Eight in 10 described Israel as either “essential” or “important” to their Jewish identity. And they still held out hope for peace. In that same poll, 63 percent of American Jews said they considered a two-state solution plausible. Jews were, in fact, more likely than the overall U.S. population to believe in the possibility of peaceful coexistence with an independent Palestine.

Among the brutal epiphanies of October 7 was this: A disconcertingly large number of Israel’s critics on the left did not share that vision of peaceful coexistence, or believe Jews had a right to a nation of their own. After Hamas’s rampage of rape, kidnapping, and murder, a history professor at Cornell named Russell Rickford said Palestinians were understandably “exhilarated by this challenge to the monopoly of violence.” He added, “I was exhilarated.” A student at the same university was arrested and charged with posting online threats about slitting the throats of Jewish males and strafing the kosher dining hall with gunfire. In Philadelphia, a mob descended on a falafel restaurant, chanting about the Israeli American co-owner’s complicity in genocide. Over the three-month period following the Hamas attacks, the Anti-Defamation League recorded 56 episodes of physical violence targeting Jews and 1,347 incidents of harassment. That 13-week span contained more anti-Semitic incidents than the entirety of 2021—at the time the worst year since the ADL had begun keeping count, in 1979.

I don’t want to dismiss the anger that the left feels about the terrible human cost of the Israeli counterinvasion of Gaza, or denounce criticism of Israel as inherently anti-Semitic—especially because I share some of those criticisms. Nor do I believe that anti-Zionist is a term that should be considered axiomatically interchangeable with anti-Semite . The elimination of Israel, in my opinion, would be a profound catastrophe for the Jewish people. But I have read idealistic critics of Israel, such as the late historian Tony Judt , who imagined that it could be replaced by a binational state, where Jews and Palestinians live side by side under one democratic government. That strikes me as naive in the extreme—especially after the Hamas pogrom of October 7—and very likely the end of Jewish existence in the Levant. But not everything that is terrible for the Jews is anti-Semitic.

Anti-Semitism is a mental habit, deeply embedded in Christian and Muslim thinking, stretching back at least as far as the accusation that the Jews murdered the son of God. It’s a tendency to fixate on Jews, to place them at the center of the narrative, overstating their role in society and describing them as the root cause of any unwanted phenomena—a centrality that seems strange, given that Jews constitute about 0.2 percent of the global population. Though it shape-shifts over time, anti-Semitism returns to the same essential complaint: that Jews are cunning, bloodthirsty, and mad for power. Anti-Zionism often takes a similar form: the dehumanization, the unilateral casting of blame, and the fetishizing of Jewish villainy.

Liberal Jews once celebrated Israel as the lone democracy in a distinctly undemocratic region. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition of theocrats and messianists seems bent on shredding the basis for that claim . But many governments in the world share these undesirable traits. Still, no one calls for the eradication of Hungary or El Salvador or India. No one defaces Chinese restaurants in San Francisco because Beijing imprisons Uyghurs in concentration camps and occupies Tibet.

The anti-Zionism that has flourished on the left in recent years doesn’t stop with calls for an end to the occupation of the West Bank. It espouses a blithe desire to eliminate the world’s only Jewish-majority nation, valorizes the homicidal campaign against its existence, and seeks to hold members of the Jewish diaspora to account for the sins of a country they don’t live in and for a government they didn’t elect. In so doing, this faction of the left places itself in the terrible lineage of attempts to erase Jewry—and, in turn, stirs ancient and not-so-ancient existential fears.

Nowhere is this more fully on display than in the Bay Area. After October 7, protesters flooded city-council meetings, demanding cease-fire resolutions and rejecting any attempt to include clauses condemning Hamas for the rape and murder of Jews. One viral video compiled enraged citizen comments at an Oakland city-council meeting. These citizens weren’t just showing solidarity for the people of Gaza, but angrily amplifying wild conspiracy theories. One woman declared, in the style of a 9/11 truther, that “Israel murdered their own people on October 7.” Another, in the manner of a Holocaust denier, described the events of that day as a “fabricated narrative.”

For months, the Berkeley city council resisted the pressure to pass a cease-fire resolution; the mayor regarded foreign policy as far beyond its jurisdiction . But the pressure grew so intense that the council could hardly conduct any other business. Protesters disrupted official meetings, forcing the mayor to keep adjourning deliberations to another room where the public was not allowed. Police offered to escort council members to their cars after meetings. The mayor’s unwillingness to condemn Israel was anomalous, even in his own city. On December 4, the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board voted to endorse a cease-fire .

Impassioned support for the Palestinian cause metastasized into the hatred of Jews. Anti-Semitism has become part of the landscape. In 2021, a community space in San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood, owned by a progressive gay Jewish activist, was defaced with messages including Zionist pigz. After October 7, the windows of Smitten Ice Cream, owned by a Jewish woman, were smashed and spray-painted with the words Out the Mission .

During Hanukkah, a menorah sponsored by Chabad Oakland and perched on the shore of Lake Merritt, in the center of the city, was torn apart by its branches and hurled into the water , replaced by graffiti reading your org is dying, we’re gonna find you, you’re on fucking alert . Oakland Public Works quickly painted over the message and other anti-Semitic graffiti. But when I walked the trail around the lake several weeks after Hanukkah, I found a weathered metal box, built to display a work of public art. On its side was a laminated message titled “The World We Wish to See.” What followed was a lyrical vision of liberation that imagined a future in which “all beings are treated with dignity.” But whatever display had once existed in the box had been removed. What was left were the etched words Zionist KILLER .

In the hatred that I witnessed in the Bay Area, and that has been evident on college campuses and in progressive activist circles nationwide, I’ve come to see left-wing anti-Semitism as characterized by many of the same violent delusions as the right-wing strain. This is not an accident of history. Though right- and left-wing anti-Semitism may have emerged in different ways, for different reasons, both are essentially attacks on an ideal that once dominated American politics, an ideal that American Jews championed and, in an important sense, co-authored. Over the course of the 20th century, Jews invested their faith in a distinct strain of liberalism that combined robust civil liberties, the protection of minority rights, and an ethos of cultural pluralism. They embraced this brand of liberalism because it was good for America—and good for the Jews. It was their fervent hope that liberalism would inoculate America against the world’s oldest hatred.

For several generations, it worked. Liberalism helped unleash a Golden Age of American Jewry, an unprecedented period of safety, prosperity, and political influence. Jews, who had once been excluded from the American establishment, became full-fledged members of it. And remarkably, they achieved power by and large without having to abandon their identity. In faculty lounges and television writers’ rooms, in small magazines and big publishing houses, they infused the wider culture with that identity. Their anxieties became American anxieties. Their dreams became American dreams.

But that era is drawing to a close. America’s ascendant political movements—MAGA on one side, the illiberal left on the other—would demolish the last pillars of the consensus that Jews helped establish. They regard concepts such as tolerance, fairness, meritocracy, and cosmopolitanism as pernicious shams. The Golden Age of American Jewry has given way to a golden age of conspiracy, reckless hyperbole, and political violence, all tendencies inimical to the democratic temperament. Extremist thought and mob behavior have never been good for Jews. And what’s bad for Jews, it can be argued, is bad for America.

I grew up at the apex of the Golden Age. The nation’s sartorial aesthetic was the invention of Ralph Lifshitz, an alumnus of the Manhattan Talmudical Academy before he became the denim-clad Ralph Lauren. The national authority on sex was a diminutive bubbe, Dr. Ruth. Schoolkids in Indiana read Anne Frank’s diary. The Holocaust memoirist Elie Wiesel appeared on the nightly news as an arbiter of public morality. The most-watched television show was Seinfeld . Even Gentiles knew the words to Adam Sandler’s “The Chanukah Song,” which earned a place in the canon of festive music annually played on FM radio. Jews accounted for roughly 2 percent of the nation’s population at the time , but I’d estimate that my undergraduate class at Columbia University was one-third Jewish; soon, a third of the justices on the Supreme Court would be Jewish as well. In 2000, Joe Lieberman, a Shabbat-observant Jew with a wife named Hadassah, fell 537 votes short of becoming vice president. None of these occurrences sparked a backlash worthy of note.

By the mid-’90s, experts had declared the end of anti-Semitism. It persisted, of course, in the dark corners of American political culture—in the wacky cosmology of the Nation of Islam and in the malevolent rantings of David Duke, the ubiquitous ex-Klansman—but that proved the point. The only Jew haters to be found were hopelessly fringe; anti-Semitism disappeared from polite conversation. Leonard Dinnerstein, a historian who devoted his life’s work to studying anti-Semitism, concluded his magnum opus , published in 1994, with the admission that his scholarly obsession was becoming a relic: “It has declined in potency and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.”

That last sentence was an expression of triumphalism, rendered in the spirit of the times. Like the end of history, the end of anti-Semitism was a post–Cold War reverie, a naive declaration of a golden age without end. American Jews now worried that they might become too accepted. The great anxiety of the fin de siècle was intermarriage.

The threat of assimilation had frightened the Orthodox Jews who came to the United States during the great wave of immigration in the last decades of the 19th century. Fathers who had fled the Pale of Settlement feared that their sons would trade ancestral traditions for the allure of American culture. (A quite popular, very American musical is energized by these anxieties.) One of those sons, however, made it his intellectual project to find a way for Jews to enjoy the bounties of American society without having to fully abandon their Jewishness.

Born in Silesia in 1882, the eldest of eight, Horace Kallen had a preordained calling: to become a rabbi like his father. But a Boston truant officer forced him, against his parents’ wishes, to attend a secular grammar school. This set him on the path to Harvard, where he paid his way by reading meters for the Dorchester Gaslight Company. Kallen never felt at ease with patrician classmates like Franklin D. Roosevelt, though the philosopher William James embraced him as a protégé.

Kallen’s breakthrough came in the course of an argument with another Jew. In 1908, the British-born playwright Israel Zangwill had a hit called The Melting-Pot , a melodrama about a pogrom survivor who sets out to marry a Christian woman in the hopes that he will no longer be haunted by his identity. This vision of assimilation was a warmed-over version of the devil’s bargain that Western Europeans had offered Jews ever since Napoleon: In exchange for the rights of citizenship, Jews would have to give up their distinctive identity.

Yair Rosenberg: How to be anti-Semitic and get away with it

Kallen didn’t want to surrender his identity. He wasn’t religious, but he had read Spinoza and devoured the works of the early Zionist thinkers. At Harvard, he co-founded the Menorah Society, a Jewish affinity group. His rebuttal to Zangwill took the form of unabashed patriotism. In essays that were intellectual bombshells at the time, Kallen extolled the mongrel nature of American society, the phenomenon known as hyphenation. Harvard’s Brahmin elite believed that newcomers must assimilate in full, commit to what they called “100 percent Americanism.” But to Kallen, the hyphen was the essence of democracy. He described America as a “symphony of civilization,” an intermingling of cultures that resulted in a society far more dynamic than most of the countries back in the Old World. The genius of America was that it didn’t coerce any minority group into abandoning its marks of difference.

That argument was idealistic, though also self-interested. Kallen’s polemics implicitly targeted the Protestant monopoly controlling academia, politics, and every other corner of the establishment, which reverted to desperate measures to block the ascent of Jews , imposing quotas at universities and restrictive housing covenants in well-to-do neighborhoods. His ideas were emblematic of an emerging strain of Jewish political philosophy, a set of arguments that would define American Jewry for generations.

The sons and daughters of immigrants may have dabbled in socialism, but in the 1930s and ’40s, liberalism became the house politics of the Jewish people. Walter Lippmann, a descendant of German Jews, first used the term liberal in the American context, to describe a new center-left vision of the state that was neither socialist nor laissez-faire. Louis Brandeis, the first Jewish justice on the Supreme Court, conceptualized a new, expansive vision of civil liberties. Lillian Wald and Henry Moskowitz co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, in the belief that all minorities deserved the same protections. Jews became enthusiastic supporters of the New Deal, which staved off radical movements on the left and the right that tended to hunt for Jewish scapegoats. As a Yiddish joke went, Jewish theology consisted of die velt (“this world”), yene velt (“the world to come”), and Roosevelt.

The historian Marc Dollinger titled his 2000 narrative of Jewish liberalism Quest for Inclusion . Jews set out to achieve that goal procedurally—opposing prayer in public school, knocking down discriminatory housing laws, establishing new fair-employment rules. But it was also a project of mythmaking and dream-casting. Widely read mid-century intellectuals such as Louis Hartz, Daniel Boorstin, and Max Lerner wrote books reimagining America as the home of a benevolent centrism—tolerant, cosmopolitan, unique in the history of nations.

Reality began to resemble the myth: In the years following World War II—and especially as the world began to comprehend the extent of the Nazi genocide—a liberal consensus took hold, and anti-Semitism receded. After Auschwitz, even three-martini Jewish jokes at the country club felt tinged by the horrors. In 1937, the American edition of Roget’s Thesaurus had listed cunning , rich , extortioner , and heretic as synonyms for Jew . At that time, nearly half of Americans said Jews were less honest in business than others. By 1964, only 28 percent agreed with that assessment . It became cliché to refer to America as a “Judeo-Christian nation.” Quotas at universities fell to the side.

As anti-Semitism faded, American Jewish civilization exploded in a rush of creativity. For a time, the great Jewish novel—books by Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, Norman Mailer, Joseph Heller, and Bernard Malamud, inflected with Yiddish and references to pickled herring—was the great American novel. Under the influence of Lenny Bruce, Sid Caesar, Mel Brooks, Elaine May, Gilda Radner, Woody Allen, and many others, American comedy appropriated the Jewish joke, and the ironic sensibility contained within, as its own.

During the Golden Age, Jews created new genres of Americana, and in turn remade America’s image of itself, through the idealized vision of the heartland found in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! ; the folk revival popularized by Bob Dylan, Art Garfunkel, and Paul Simon; the movies mythologizing the decency of the American Everyman produced by David O. Selznick, Louis B. Mayer, and Jack Warner. (To say that “the Jews” run Hollywood is conspiratorial; to say that Jews founded it is factual.) Only in America could Jews—Irving Berlin, George Wyle, Sammy Cahn—write the Christmas songbook.

It wasn’t just mass culture. The New York Intellectuals, a group with a name as euphemistic as it sounds, acquired a priestly authority in the realm of aesthetics and political ideas, and included the likes of Alfred Kazin, Clement Greenberg, Irving Howe, and Susan Sontag. Betty Friedan, Bella Abzug, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg ushered second-wave feminism into the world. Jews became the prophetic face of American science (J. Robert Oppenheimer) and the salvific one of American medicine (Jonas Salk). The intellectual rewards of Jewish liberation could be measured in medals: Approximately 15 percent of all Nobel Prize winners are American Jews.

In the Golden Age, Jews in America embraced Israel. Enjoying their political and cultural ascendance, they looked to the new Jewish state not as a necessary refuge—they were more than comfortable on the Upper West Side and in Squirrel Hill and Brentwood—but as a powerful rebuttal to the old stereotypes about Jewish weakness, especially after the Israeli military’s victory in the Six-Day War of 1967. As The New York Times ’ Thomas Friedman has put it , American Jews “said to themselves, ‘My God, look who we are! We have power! We do not fit the Shylock image, we are ace pilots; we are not the cowering timid Jews who get sand kicked in their faces, we are tank commanders.’ ”

A now-obscure cultural event captures, for me, this newfound sense of self and self-confidence. In 1978, ABC aired The Stars Salute Israel at 30 , a kitschy prime-time variety show filmed in front of a full house at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, in Los Angeles, the same venue that hosted the Oscars. Like the Oscars, it featured an A-list slate: Barry Manilow in a white suit, surrounded by backup singers in sequins; Henry Winkler, the Fonz himself, playing a rough-hewn Israeli in a sketch; and, of course, Sammy Davis Jr. Near the conclusion, Barbra Streisand emerged in a white gown to talk via remote hookup with Golda Meir as a camera filmed the former prime minister in a book-filled room in Israel—the two most celebrated Jewish women of the century kibitzing on American TV.

In the early decades of Hollywood, Jewish stars had hidden behind stage names—Emanuel Goldenberg performed as Edward G. Robinson; Issur Danielovitch transformed himself into Kirk Douglas. Streisand had also changed her name, dropping the a from Barbara, but that was an instance of a diva’s bravado, not a sop to the goyim. What made her stardom so emblematic of the Golden Age was that she never allowed herself to be bullied into suppressing her Jewish identity. Her crowning achievement was Yentl , an adaptation of an Isaac Bashevis Singer short story. For the grand finale of the ABC telecast , Streisand sang “Hatikvah,” the Israeli national anthem, for 18.7 million viewers. “The good feelings and the love will always remain,” she told them.

The Jewish vacation from history ended on September 11, 2001. It didn’t seem that way at the time. But the terror attacks opened an era of perpetual crisis, which became fertile soil where the hatred of Jews took root. Though Osama bin Laden claimed credit for the plot, that didn’t stop some people from trying to shift the blame. One theory explained in exquisitely absurd detail how Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, had toppled the Twin Towers.

But there was also a more sophisticated version of this conspiracy theory, one that had a patina of academic respectability. On the left, it became commonplace to fulminate against the neoconservatives, warmongering intellectuals said to be whispering in the ear of the American establishment, urging the invasion of Iraq and war against Iran.

This wasn’t fully untethered from reality: The neocons were a group of largely Jewish think-tank denizens and policy operatives, some of whom held top posts in President George W. Bush’s administration. But the angry talk about neocons also trafficked in dangerous old tropes. It inflated their role in world events and ascribed the worst motives to them. Men like Paul Wolfowitz, the second-highest-ranking official in Bush’s Pentagon, and William Kristol, the editor of The Weekly Standard , were portrayed by critics on the left as bamboozlers undermining the national interest in service of their stealth loyalty to Israel. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, for one, took exception to the idea that Jews were pulling the strings of the United States government. “I suppose the implication of that is that the president and the vice president and myself and Colin Powell just fell off a turnip truck to take these jobs,” he said.

In 2007, Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, professors at Harvard and the University of Chicago, respectively, spelled out what others implied in The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy , a book published by a venerable house, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, that soon arrived on the New York Times best-seller list. This was the opposite of the schmaltzy Streisand tribute—the Jewish state as not a friend but a villain surreptitiously manipulating American power to further its own ends.

One year later, Lehman Brothers, a bank founded in 1850 by the son of a Jewish cattle merchant from Bavaria, collapsed. That news was followed by the revelation that Bernie Madoff had masterminded the largest-known Ponzi scheme in history. Although politicians, on the whole, refrained from casting Jews as the primary culprits of the 2008 financial crisis—which was, in fact, systemic—a sizable portion of the public harbored this thought. Stanford University professors conducted a survey that found that nearly a quarter of the country blamed Jews for crashing the global economy. Another 38.4 percent ascribed at least some fault to “the Jews.”

In the era of perpetual crisis, a version of this narrative kept recurring: a small elite—sometimes bankers, sometimes lobbyists—maliciously exploiting the people. Such narratives helped propel Occupy Wall Street on the left and the Tea Party on the right. This brand of populist revolt had long been the stuff of Jewish nightmares. A fear of the mob suffused masterworks of the Golden Age—Theodor Adorno’s The Authoritarian Personality , Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism , Richard Hofstadter’s Anti-intellectualism in American Life . Haunted by the Holocaust and inherited memories of pogroms, these writers warned how a society might fall prey to a demagogue who tapped into prejudice.

After 2008, a version of their prophecy came to pass. The right settled on a Jewish billionaire as their villain of choice: George Soros. An idea took hold, and not just on extremist blogs. The mainstream of the Republican Party seeded the image of Soros as the “shadow puppet master,” in the words of the former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly. In elevating the figure of Soros and invoking him so frequently, Fox News and Republican politicians were also, intentionally or not, drawing on the deeply implanted imagery of the Jewish financier bankrolling the destruction of Christian civilization.

In 2018, Fox News began carrying images of migrant caravans headed from Central America toward Texas, a tide of humanity it described as an “invasion.” Though they had no evidence to bolster the charge, Republican politicians insinuated that the caravans were paid for by Soros. Representative Matt Gaetz tweeted a video of two men handing out cash to a line of Honduran migrants, accompanied by the question “Soros?” When President Trump was asked about Soros’s role in funding a caravan, a week after a pipe bomb was found in Soros’s mailbox, and days after the Tree of Life shooting, he told reporters, “I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Soros was a central character in a new master narrative, much of it adapted from European sources. The spine of the story was borrowed from a French author named Renaud Camus, a socialist turned far-right reactionary who wrote a 2011 book called The Great Replacement , warning that elites intended to diminish the white Christian presence in Europe by flooding the continent with migrants. The Jews weren’t a central feature of Camus’ theory. But when elements of the American right embraced it, they inserted Soros and his fellow Jews as the masterminds of the elite plot. This became the basis for the chant “Jews will not replace us.”

Jews were the antagonists of the conspiracy theory because they occupied a special place in the bizarre racial hierarchy of American ethno-nationalism. Eric Ward, an activist who is among the most rigorous students of white supremacy, has put it this way: “At the bedrock of the movement is an explicit claim that Jews are a race of their own, and that their ostensible position as White folks in the U.S. represents the greatest trick the devil ever played.” That is, Jews were able to pass as white people, but they were really stealth agents working for the other side of the race war, using immigration to subvert white Christian hegemony.

This notion planted itself in the mind of Robert Bowers, a loner who lived in a suburb of Pittsburgh. He became obsessed with the work of HIAS , originally the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. It was formed in 1902 with the intention of easing the arrival of Jewish refugees fleeing pogroms. The group’s evolution was emblematic of the trajectory of Jewish liberalism. As American Jews settled into a comfortable existence in their new land, HIAS’s mission expanded. It has field offices in more than 20 countries, including a branch on a Greek island to tend to Syrian, Iraqi, and Afghan migrants. On October 19, 2018, the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh was participating in a National Refugee Shabbat, which was the brainchild of HIAS.

The event stoked Bowers’s rage. “HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people,” he wrote on Gab, the Christian-nationalist social-media site. Just before he entered the synagogue’s sanctuary, armed with three semiautomatic pistols and an AR‑15 rifle, he posted, “Open you Eyes! It’s the filthy EVIL jews Bringing the Filthy EVIL Muslims into the Country!!”

A faith in immigration—the idea of America as a sanctuary for the refugee, the belief that subsequent groups of arrivals would experience the same up-from-the-shtetl trajectory—was a core tenet of Jewish liberalism. A Jewish poet had written the lines about huddled masses inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty. If America was a nation of immigrants, that made Jews quintessential Americans. But now this ideal was the basis for Jews’ vilification. At the Tree of Life synagogue, it was used to justify their slaughter.

In the old Jewish theory of American politics, the best defense against the anti-Semitism of the right was a united left: minorities and liberal activists locking arms. When I was young, rabbis and elders reverently told us about the earnest young Jews in chunky glasses who had jumped aboard the Freedom Rides; about Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, in his unmissable kippah, marching right next to Martin Luther King Jr.; and about the martyrdom of Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, two Jews who had been murdered alongside James Chaney, a Black Mississippian, for their work registering Black Americans to vote. A coalition of the tolerant pressed the country to live up to its ideals.

Later, I would learn that those memories were a bit gauzy. In the late 1960s, former comrades began to quietly, then brusquely, discard this spirit of common cause. Younger activists in the civil-rights movement took a hard turn toward Black Power and dismissed the old liberal theory of change as a melioristic ruse. Anti-war protesters embraced the decolonization struggles of the developing world. After Israel captured the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in 1967, many came to view the Jewish state as a vile oppressor. (This was well before right-wing Israeli governments saturated the occupied territories with Jewish settlers.) Even as Israel’s shocking victory in the Six-Day War, 22 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, filled American Jews with pride and confidence, a meaningful portion of America’s left turned on Israel.

The turmoil of the late ’60s presaged the rupture that has occurred over the past decade or so. A new ideology has taken hold on the left, with a reordered hierarchy of concerns and an even greater skepticism of the old liberal ideals.

This rupture was propelled by the menace of Donald Trump. His election jolted his opponents to take emergency measures. The left began describing itself as the Resistance, which implied a more confrontational style than that of Nancy Pelosi floor speeches or Center for American Progress white papers.

Even before Trump took office, the Resistance announced a mass protest set to defiantly descend on the capital, what organizers called the Women’s March on Washington. In an early planning meeting, at a New York restaurant, an activist named Vanessa Wruble explained that her Judaism was the motivating force in her political engagement. But Wruble’s autobiographical statement of intent earned her a rebuke. According to Wruble, two members of the inner circle planning the march told her that Jews needed to confront their own history of exploiting Black and brown people. Tablet magazine later reported that Wruble was told that Jews needed to repent for their leading role in the slave trade—a fallacious charge long circulated by the Nation of Islam. (The two organizers denied making the reported statements.) That moment of tension never really subsided, either for Wruble or for the left.

When the march’s organizers published their “unity principles,” they emphasized the importance of intersectionality, a theory first introduced by the law professor Kimberlé W. Crenshaw . It would be insufficient, she argued, for courts to focus their efforts on one narrow target of discrimination when it takes so many forms—racism, sexism, homophobia—that tend to reinforce one another. Her analysis, incisive in the context of the law, was never intended to guide social movements. Transposed by activists to the gritty work of coalition-building, it became the basis for a new orthodoxy—one that was largely indifferent to Jews, and at times outwardly hostile.

When the Women’s March listed the various injustices it hoped to conquer on its way to a better world, anti-Semitism was absent. It was a curious omission, given the central role that Jews played in the conspiracies promoted by the MAGA right, and a telling one. Soon after the march, organizers pushed Wruble out of leadership. She later said that anti-Semitism was the reason for her ouster. (The organizers denied this charge.)

The intersectional left self-consciously rebelled against the liberalism that had animated so much of institutional Judaism, which fought to install civil liberties and civil rights enforced by a disinterested state that would protect every minority equally. This new iteration of the left considered the idea of neutrality—whether objectivity in journalism or color blindness in the courts—as a guise for white supremacy. Tolerance, the old keyword of cultural pluralism, was a form of complicity. What the world actually needed was intolerance, a more active confrontation with hatred. In the historian Ibram X. Kendi’s formulation, an individual could choose to be anti-racist or racist , an activist or a collaborator. Or as Linda Sarsour, an activist of Palestinian descent and a co-chair of the Women’s March, put it, “We are not here to be bystanders.” To be a member of this new left in good moral standing, it was necessary to challenge oppression in all its incarnations. And Israel was now definitively an oppressor.

The American left hadn’t always imposed such a litmus test. During the years of the Oslo peace process, groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine had no problem attending events with liberal Zionists. Back then, the debate was over the borders of Israel, not over the fact of its existence. But that peace process collapsed during the last days of the Clinton administration, and whatever good faith had existed in that brief era of summits and handshakes dissipated. Hamas unleashed a wave of suicide bombings in the Second Intifada. And in the aftermath of those deadly attacks, successive right-wing Israeli governments presided over repressive policies in the West Bank and an inhumane blockade of Gaza.

Palestinian activists and their allies began the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, pushing universities to divest from Israel. The new goal was no longer coexistence between Arabs and Jews. It was to turn Israel into an international pariah, to stop working with all Israeli institutions—not just the military, but also symphonies, theater groups, and universities. In that spirit, it became fashionable for critics of Israel to identify as “anti-Zionist.”

Within the Jewish establishment, there’s a tendency to impute anti-Semitism to anyone who describes themselves that way. That has always struck me as intellectually imprecise and, occasionally, as a rhetorical gambit to close down debate. But there’s a reason so many Jews bristle at the thought of anti-Zionism finding a home on the American left: Zionist can start to sound like a synonym for Jew . Zionists stand accused of the same crimes that anti-Semites have attached to Jews since the birth of Christianity; Jews are portrayed as omnipotent, bloodthirsty baby-killers. Knowing the historical echoes, it’s hard not to worry that the anger might fixate on the Jewish target closest at hand—which, indeed, it has.

In 2014, dorms at NYU where religiously observant Jews lived received mock eviction notices—“We reserve the right to destroy all remaining belongings,” read the flyer slipped under doors—as if intimidating college kids with unknown politics somehow represented a justifiable reprisal for Israeli-government action in the West Bank. The same notices appeared at Emory University, in Atlanta, in 2019. At the University of Vermont and SUNY New Paltz, groups that helped sexual-assault survivors were accused of purging pro-Israel students from their ranks. “If you don’t support Palestinian liberation you don’t support survivors,” the Vermont group exclaimed. Years before October 7, students at Tufts University, outside Boston, and the University of Southern California moved to impeach elected Jews in student government over their support for Israel’s existence. This wasn’t normal politics. It was evidence of bigotry.

Among the primary targets of the activists were the Hillel centers present on most college campuses. These centers occasionally coordinate trips to Israel and, on some campuses, sponsor student groups supportive of Israel. Those facts led pro-Palestinian activists to describe Hillel as an arm of the “Israeli war machine.” At SUNY Stony Brook, activists sought to expel Hillel from campus, arguing, “If there were Nazis, white nationalists, and KKK members on campus, would their identity have to be accepted and respected?” At Rice University, in Texas, an LGBTQ group severed ties with Hillel because it allegedly made students feel unsafe. What made this incident darkly comic is that Hillel couldn’t be more progressive on issues of sexual freedom. What made it so worrying is that Hillel’s practical purpose is not to defend Israel, but to provide Shabbat dinners and a space for ritual and prayer. To condemn Hillel is to condemn Jewish religious life on campus.

Gal Beckerman: The left abandoned me

As exclusion of Jews became a more regular occurrence, the leadership of the left, and of universities for that matter, had little to say about the problem. To give the most generous explanation: Jews simply didn’t fit the analytic framework of the new left.

At its core, the intersectional left wanted to smash power structures. In the American context, it would be hard to place Jews among the ranks of the oppressed; in the Israeli context, they can be cast as the oppressor. Nazi Germany definitively excluded Jews from a category we now call “whiteness.” Today, Jews are treated in sectors of the left as the epitome of whiteness. But any analysis that focuses so relentlessly on the role of privilege, as the left’s does, will be dangerously blind to anti-Semitism, because anti-Semitism itself entails an accusation of privilege. It’s a theory that regards the Jew as an all-powerful figure in society, a position acquired by underhanded means. In the annals of Jewish history, accusations of privilege are the basis for hate, the kindling for pogroms. But universities too often ignored this lesson from the past. Instead, they acted, as the British comedian David Baddiel put it in the title of his prescient book about progressive anti-Semitism, as if “ Jews don’t count .”

In the death spiral of liberalism, extremism on the right begets extremism on the left, which begets further extremism on the right. To protest the censoriousness of the new progressives, right-wing edgelords and trolls attempted to seize the mantle of liberty.

The most powerful of the edgelords was Elon Musk, who purchased Twitter ostensibly to save discourse from the woke mob. To make good on his noble aims, he reversed bans that the platform’s previous regime had imposed on the most vile anti-Semites, including the white nationalist Patrick Howley, the comic Sam Hyde, and the Daily Stormer’s founder, Andrew Anglin. By restoring them to the site, Musk was, in essence, conceding that their words shouldn’t have been considered taboo in the first place. He legitimized their claims of victimhood, the sense that they had been excluded only because they’d offended the wrong people.

In fact, Musk hinted that he shared this conspiratorial view of censorship. In May 2023, he retweeted an aphorism that he attributed to Voltaire: “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” Those words were actually uttered by a neo-Nazi named Kevin Alfred Strom, not the French philosopher. It shouldn’t have been hard to imagine that the words had dubious origins, because they captured a view of the world in which shadowy forces furtively censor their enemies.

Nor was it hard to imagine that those shadowy forces might include the Anti-Defamation League, which relentlessly called attention to the proliferation of Jew hatred on Twitter under Musk’s ownership. Musk threatened to sue the group, accusing it of trying to “kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic.” The Jews, he all but spelled out, were those who couldn’t be criticized—which, by the logic of the Strom quote, made them society’s secret masters.

Musk wasn’t alone in this argument. In 2022, Dave Chappelle used the opening monologue of Saturday Night Live to muse about the cancellation of the hip-hop artist Ye (formerly Kanye West), who had lost a deal with Adidas after he promised, among other things, to go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.” Chappelle exuded empathy for Ye. “I don’t want a sneaker deal, because the minute I say something that makes those people mad, they’re going to take my sneakers away … I hope they don’t take anything away from me,” he said, adding with a smile and a conspiratorial whisper: “Whoever they are.” There was no mystery about his use of pronouns: “I’ve been to Hollywood … It’s a lot of Jews. Like, a lot.” He went on, “You could maybe adopt the delusion that the Jews run show business.”

Chappelle practices shock comedy as a form of shock therapy: The authoritarian impositions of the left justify offensive comments, which are a form of defiance. He has taken a genuine problem—anti-liberalism on the left—and used it as a pretext for smuggling anti-Semitism into acceptable discourse.

That Chappelle and Musk see fit to indulge anti-Semitism in order to protect freedom of speech contains a dark irony. In the 20th century, starting with Louis Brandeis’s dissents on the Supreme Court, Jews stood at the vanguard of the movement to protect “subversive advocacy,” even when it came at their own expense. This could be understood as a defense of the Talmudic tradition of disagreement, what Rabbi David Wolpe calls the “Jewish sacrament” of debate. The movement culminated in Skokie, Illinois, in 1977, when the ACLU deployed the lawyer David Goldberger to sue to allow neo-Nazis to march through the Chicago suburb, which was filled with Holocaust survivors. The Jewish community was hardly unanimous on the Skokie question—unanimity would have been inconsistent with the tradition—but the ACLU position reflected a commitment to free speech officially espoused by major Jewish communal institutions in the postwar years.

In the Jewish vision of free speech, open interpretation and endless debate mark the path to knowledge; the proliferation of discourse is the antidote to bad ideas. But in the reality of social media, free speech also consists of Jew hatred that masquerades as comic entertainment, a way to capture the attention of young men eager to rebel against the strictures of what they decry as wokeness.

When I asked Oren Segal, who runs the ADL’s Center on Extremism, to point me to a state-of-the-art anti-Semitic hate group, he cited the Goyim Defense League. The spitefully silly name reflects its methods, which include pranks and stunts broadcast on its website, Goyim TV. Its leader sometimes dresses as an ultra-Orthodox Jew, calling himself the “Honest Rabbi.” In one demented piece of guerrilla theater, he apologizes on behalf of the Jewish people for fabricating stories about the Holocaust. The group has attempted to popularize the slogan “Kanye is right about the Jews,” hanging a banner proclaiming it on a freeway overpass in Los Angeles and projecting it on the side of a football stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, as 75,000 fans filed out. GDL hecklers have stood in front of Florida synagogues and Holocaust museums, shouting, “Leave our country. Go back to Israel” and “Heil Hitler.”

In a short span, as the edgelords successfully pushed the limits, American culture became permissive regarding what could be said about Jews. Anti-Semitism crept back into the realm of the acceptable.

For a brief moment , it felt as if the October 7 attacks might reverse the tide, because it should have been impossible not to recoil at the footage of Hamas’s pogrom. Israel had yet to launch its counterattack, so there was no war to condemn. Still, even in this moment of moral clarity, the campus left couldn’t muster compassion. At Harvard, more than 30 student groups signed a letter on October 7, holding “the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.” Days later, the incoming head of NYU’s new Center for Indigenous Studies described the attacks as “affirming.” This sympathy for Hamas, when its crimes were freshest, was a glimpse of what was about to come.

On the afternoon of October 11, Rebecca Massel, a reporter at the Columbia Daily Spectator , received a tip. She was told that a woman, her face wrapped in a bandanna, had assaulted an Israeli student in front of Butler Library in a dispute over flyers depicting hostages held by Hamas. The woman’s alleged weapon was a broomstick. Her battle cry was said to be “Fuck all of you prick crackers.” After striking him with the broomstick, the man said, she attempted to punch him in the face. By the end of the fracas, she had bruised one of his hands and sprained a finger on the other.

Massel began to report out the story . She spoke with the victim, who told her, “Now, we have to handle the situation that campus is not a safe place for us anymore.” She spoke with the NYPD, which confirmed that it had arrested the woman, who was charged with hate crimes and has pleaded not guilty. Massel and her editors curbed their impulse to quickly score a scoop, double-checking every sentence. They didn’t publish the story until 3 a.m. on October 12.

Later that morning, Massel, a sophomore studying political science, was sitting in her Contemporary Civilization seminar when her phone lit up. It was her editor, calling her back. She had texted him to get his sense of the response her article had elicited, so she stepped out of class to hear what he had to say. She had already caught a glimpse of posts on social media, harping on her Jewishness and accusing her of having a “religious agenda.” She’d worried that these weren’t stray attacks. The editor told her the paper had been inundated. The messages it had received about the article were vitriolic, but he didn’t give her any specifics. Before returning to class, she checked her own email. A message read, “I hope you fucking get what you deserve … you racist freak.”

Read: The juvenile viciousness of campus anti-Semitism

For as long as she could remember, Massel had wanted to be a journalist. She’d founded the newspaper at her elementary school. During high school, she’d read She Said , Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s book about investigating Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assaults. The New York Times reporters insisted that they were journalists, not feminist journalists. Massel vowed to take the same approach. The accusations of bias, therefore, didn’t just feel anti-Semitic. They felt like an attack on the integrity that she hoped would define her work.

But anger was an emotion for another day. At that moment, she was overwhelmed by fear. She thought about what the Israeli student had told her the day before. A dean had apparently advised him to leave campus because the university couldn’t guarantee his safety. Now Massel felt unsure of her own physical well-being. She decided that she would stay with her parents until she could get a better sense of the fury directed at her.

In her unnerved state, Massel threw herself into her journalism. She decided to interview Jewish students, from all corners of the university, to gauge their mood. After the office of public safety assured her that she could return to campus, she parked herself in the second-floor lounge of Columbia’s Hillel center. When she overheard a student mention an incident, she would approach them and ask to talk.

Over the course of two weeks, Massel spoke with 54 students . What she amassed was a tally of fear. Thirteen told her that they had felt harassed or attacked, either virtually or in person. (One passerby had barked “Fuck the Jews” at a small group of students.) Thirty-four reported that they felt targeted or unsafe on campus. (At one precarious moment, the Hillel center went into lockdown, out of concern that protesters might descend on the building.) Twelve said that they had suppressed markers of their Jewish identity, wearing a baseball cap over a yarmulke or tucking a Star of David necklace into a sweatshirt. She learned that a group of students had created a group-chat system to arrange escorts, so that no Jew would have to walk across campus alone if they felt unsafe.

Perhaps even more ominously, Massel uncovered incidents in which teachers expressed hostility toward Jewish students. One Israeli student told Massel that a professor had once said to him, “It’s such a shame that your people survived just in order to perpetuate another genocide.” When I made my own calls to students and faculty, I heard similar stories, especially instances of teaching assistants seizing their bully pulpit to sermonize. One TA wrote to their students, “We are watching genocide unfold in real time, after a systematic 75+ years of oppression of the Palestinian people … It feels ridiculous to hold section today, but I’ll see you all on Zoom in a bit.” One student left class in the middle of a professor’s broadside against Israel in a required course in the Middle East–studies department. Afterward, he sent an email to the professor explaining his departure, to which the professor wrote back, saying they could discuss it in class later. When the student returned, the professor read his email aloud to the whole class, and invited everyone to discuss the exchange. It felt like an act of deliberate humiliation.

When I talked with Jewish students at Columbia, I was struck by how they, too, tended to speak in the language of the intersectional left. They described their “lived experience” and trauma: the pain they felt on October 7 as they learned of the attacks; the fear that consumed them when they heard protesters call for the annihilation of Israel. They sincerely expected their university to respond with unabashed empathy, because that’s how it had responded in the past to other terrible events. Instead, Columbia greeted their pain with the soon-to-be-infamous concept of “context,” including a panel discussion that explained the attacks as the product of a long struggle. This historicizing felt as if it not only discounted Jewish students’ suffering but also regarded it as a moral failing. (In early November, in response to criticism, Columbia announced that it would create a task force on anti-Semitism.)

There are many reasons for the unusual intensity of events at Columbia, which is located in a city that is a traditional bastion of the American left; its campus is where the late Palestinian American literary critic Edward Said achieved legendary status. But Columbia is also a graphic example of the collapse of the liberalism that had insulated American Jews: It is a microcosm of a society that has lost its capacity to express disagreements without resorting to animus.

The events on campus that followed October 7 were a sad coda to the Golden Age. When I was a student at Columbia, in the ’90s, the Ivy League was a primary plot point in a triumphalist tale. During the first half of the 20th century, Columbia had deployed extraordinary institutional energy to limit the presence of Jews. The modern college-application process was invented by Columbia President Nicholas Murray Butler to more effectively weed out Jews. In the late ’20s, the university created an ersatz version of itself in Brooklyn, Seth Low Junior College, so that it could educate otherwise qualified Jewish applicants there, rather than having them mingle with the Gentiles in Morningside Heights. But once Columbia lifted its quotas after World War II, the Jewish presence swelled. By 1967, the student body was 40 percent Jewish. The institution that arguably had fought hardest to exclude them became a welcoming home.

But in the 21st century, the Jewish presence in the Ivy League has steadily receded . In the 2000s, Yale was 20 percent Jewish. The proportion is now about half that. The University of Pennsylvania went from being a third Jewish to about 16 percent. The reasons for that plummet aren’t nefarious. There has been a deliberate institutional drive to reengineer the elite, to provide opportunities to first-generation college students and students of color. Some Jews have chafed at this reengineering. But the concept of meritocracy that Jews celebrated was far from a pure reward for test scores and grades. Jewish alumni came to benefit from the same dynastic system of preference that their Protestant predecessors had taken advantage of. Their children applied from prestigious high schools, which maintained a cozy relationship with university admissions offices. It was a system that desperately required reforming in the name of fairness.

The problem exposed in the limp university response to campus anti-Semitism after October 7—distilled to then–Harvard President Claudine Gay’s phrase, “It depends on the context”—is that Jewish students aren’t just a diminished presence but a diminished priority. Whereas Jews thought of themselves as a vulnerable minority—perhaps not the most vulnerable, but certainly worthy of official concern—their academic communities apparently considered them too privileged to merit that status. This wasn’t just scary. It carried the sting of rejection.

There’s a number that haunts me. In 2022, the Tufts political scientist Eitan Hersh conducted a comprehensive study of Jewish life on American college campuses, which surveyed both Jews and Gentiles. Hersh found that on campuses with a relatively high proportion of Jewish students, nearly one in five non-Jewish students said they “wouldn’t want to be friends with someone who supports the existence of Israel as a Jewish state.” They were saying, in essence, that they couldn’t be friends with the majority of Jews.

Each spring , during the Passover seder, Jews recite this phrase from the Haggadah: “In every generation, our enemies rise up to destroy us.” To participate in the most universally observed of all Jewish rituals, a celebration of liberation and survival, is to be reminded of the grim cycle of Jewish history, in which golden ages are moments of dramatic irony, the naive complacency just before the onset of doom. Some of these moments are within living memory.

In 1933, the Central Union of German Citizens of the Jewish Faith published a 1,060-page book meticulously enumerating the achievements of the community. It was quite a list. Weimar Germany is remembered as a period of instability, a time of beer-hall-putschists, louche cabarets, and rampant assassinations. But Weimar was also the pinnacle of Jewish power, a golden age in its own right, especially if one considers the whole of German culture, which sprawled across borders on the map. During the first decades of the 20th century, Jewish contributors to German music included Gustav Mahler, Kurt Weill, and Arnold Schoenberg; to German literature, Franz Kafka, Stefan Zweig, and Walter Benjamin; to science, Albert Einstein. Jews presided over the Frankfurt School of social criticism and populated the Bauhaus school of art and architecture. The Central Union’s compendium could be read as the immodest self-congratulation of a people who represented 0.8 percent of the total population—or as a desperate, futile plea for Germany to return the love that Jews felt for the country.

Americans maintain a favorable opinion of Jews . The community remains prosperous and politically powerful. But the memory of how quickly the best of times can turn dark has infused the Jewish reactions to events of the past decade. “When lights start flashing red, the Jewish impulse is to flee,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, told me.

Back in 2016, many liberals blustered about leaving the country if Donald Trump was elected president; after he won, many Jews actually hatched contingency plans. My mother tried, in vain, to get a passport from Poland, the country of her birth. An immigration lawyer I know in Cleveland told me that he had obtained a German passport, and suggested that I call the German embassy in Washington to learn how many other American Jews had done the same.

The German government, for understandable reasons, doesn’t count Jews. But the embassy sent me a tally of passport applications submitted under laws that apply to victims of Nazi persecution and their descendants. In 2017, after Trump’s election, the number of applications nearly doubled from the year before, to 1,685, and then kept growing. In 2022, it was 2,500. These aren’t large numbers in absolute terms; still, it’s extraordinary that so many American Jews, whose applications required documenting that their families once fled Germany, now consider the country a safer haven than the United States.

I also saw signs of flight in Oakland, where at least 30 Jewish families have been approved to transfer their children to neighboring school districts —and I heard similar stories in the surrounding area. Initial data collected by an organization representing Jewish day schools, which have long struggled for enrollment, show a spike in the number of admission inquiries from families contemplating pulling their kids from public school.

After 1967, the previous moment of profound political abandonment, the American Jewish community began to entertain thoughts of its own radical reinvention. A coterie of disillusioned intellectuals, clustered around a handful of small-circulation journals and think tanks, turned sharply rightward, creating the neoconservative movement. Among activists, the energy that had once been directed toward Freedom Rides was plowed into the cause of Soviet Jewry, which became a defining political obsession of many synagogues in the 1970s and ’80s. Meanwhile, Jewish hippies turned inward, creating new spiritual movements centered on prayer and ritual.

Although not all of these movements proved equally fruitful, this history, in a way, is cause for optimism, an example of how conflict might provide the path to religious renewal and a fresh sense of solidarity. It’s also a reminder that the Golden Age was not an uninterrupted rise.

The case for pessimism, however, is more convincing. The forces arrayed against Jews, on the right and the left, are far more powerful than they were 50 years ago. The surge of anti-Semitism is a symptom of the decay of democratic habits, a leading indicator of rising authoritarianism. When anti-Semitism takes hold, conspiracy theory hardens into conventional wisdom, embedding violence in thought and then in deadly action. A society that holds its Jews at arm’s length is likely to be more intent on hunting down scapegoats than addressing underlying defects. Although it is hardly an iron law of history, such societies are prone to decline. England entered a long dark age after expelling its Jews in 1290. Czarist Russia limped toward revolution after the pogroms of the 1880s. If America persists on its current course, it would be the end of the Golden Age not just for the Jews, but for the country that nurtured them.

*Lead image source: Top row from left to right : Michael Ochs Archives / Getty; Universal History Archive / Getty. Middle row from left to right : Robert Mitra / WWD / Penske Media / Getty; Ulf Andersen / Getty; Jean-Régis Roustan / Roger Viollet / Getty; CBS Photo Archive / Getty; Daily Herald / Mirrorpix / Getty; Bettmann / Getty; David Lefranc / Getty; Bettmann / Getty; Frederick M. Brown / Getty; CBS Photo Archive / Getty; Theo Wargo / Getty; Max B. Miller / Archive Photos / Getty. Bottom row from left to right : ABC Photo Archives / Getty; Bachrach / Getty; Getty; Bernard Gotfryd / Getty.

This article appears in the April 2024 print edition with the headline “The End of the Golden Age.” When you buy a book using a link on this page, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic.

NH is pausing its use of AI to grade standardized test essays — but just temporarily

For the first time in at least five years, New Hampshire elementary and middle school students who take the state’s writing tests will have their essays scored by humans, rather than computers.

Cambium , the company that administers the statewide assessment, typically uses automated scoring — basically, artificial intelligence — to grade most students’ essays. A portion of the essays, usually between 15 and 25%, are routed to human scoring due to unusual responses or other reasons.

This hybrid approach, using a mix of automated and manual scoring, is becoming more common for standardized tests nationwide; the idea is that it’s cheaper, faster and as accurate as relying entirely on human scorers.

But this year, the Department of Education says it’s returning old-fashioned human grading. The reason? There’s a batch of new writing prompts, which were developed in consultation with New Hampshire teachers, and Cambium’s AI isn’t yet trained to score these.

Cambium directed questions about its scoring process to the New Hampshire Department of Education. State officials who are in charge of assessments say they’ve relied on computer-assisted essay scoring for at least the last five years. Tests are expected to be scored by hand just this year, and this year’s manual scoring process will be used to train the new automated scoring system for future years.

During the writing assessments, each student receives a randomly selected essay prompt. The new prompts are meant to include more variety, including a focus on testing different kinds of writing — for example, asking students to write a narrative piece instead of a persuasive one. The state encourages schools to require students to complete the essays in a single sitting, though it’s not mandatory.

Schools must administer the writing tests for grades three through eight by March 15.

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The Americas

Gabriel garcía márquez's last novel is published against his wishes.

Carrie Kahn

Gabriel García Márquez greets journalists and neighbors on his birthday outside his house in Mexico City on March 6, 2014. Edgard Garrido/Reuters hide caption

Gabriel García Márquez greets journalists and neighbors on his birthday outside his house in Mexico City on March 6, 2014.

Before his death almost 10 years ago, Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez had nearly completed his final book. Struggling with the ravages of dementia, he told his sons to rip it up and never publish it.

But they decided to go against his wishes and on Wednesday, on what would have been García Márquez's 97 birthday, they are releasing the novel in Spanish. (The English version will be out on March 12.)

Rodrigo García says his father told him and his younger brother, Gonzalo García, that the novel, titled En Agosto Nos Vemos in Spanish, or Until August in English, just did not work and that it made no sense.

An unpublished novel by Gabriel García Márquez is set for release next year

"We concluded that the book, though unfinished, made a lot of sense and was very moving," said Rodrigo García from his home in Mexico City. The screenwriter says he and his brother hadn't thought about publishing it; they recently reread it and really liked it.

"When he said it doesn't make sense he didn't realize it didn't make sense to him anymore," García said.

García Márquez spent much of the last decade of his life with debilitating dementia — an ironic cruelty for a master of chronicling memories, said his eldest son.

Book cover for Until August Penguin Random House hide caption

Book cover for Until August

"Often he would sit down to read one of his own books and couldn't make a sense of it and it wasn't until he reached the last page and saw his picture on the back cover that he realized that this is one of my books and he'd start to read it again," García said.

In Until August , a middle-aged woman, Ana Magdalena Bach, pays annual visits to an unnamed island to lay flowers on her mother's grave. It's an exploration of love, fidelity, sexuality and aging.

The book's editor, Cristóbal Pera, said it was a departure from the magic realism genre García Márquez mastered. It was to be the second in a series of short novels the author planned to write exploring love in the time of the elderly.

The Two-Way

Book news: gabriel garcia marquez's collection gets a texas welcome.

"In this one there are some hints that he was also exploring and — maybe, I don't know, maybe I'm wrong — the romance novel. Of course it's not a trashy romance novel, it is an amazing work of art," Pera said.

Pera had worked with García Márquez on his memoirs and the two had become friends. On one visit to the family home in Mexico City, where the Colombian-born author lived for years, Pera read three of the chapters aloud. On another visit, García Márquez surprised him with the final scene.

"And he laughed and said, 'Yes, I have an ending' and he read it to me very proud and it is exactly the same ending that readers are going to find," he added.

Gabriel García Márquez's son Gonzalo García Barcha speaks during a news conference for the book launch of En Agosto Nos Vemos on Tuesday in Madrid. Isabel Infantes/Getty Images hide caption

Gabriel García Márquez's son Gonzalo García Barcha speaks during a news conference for the book launch of En Agosto Nos Vemos on Tuesday in Madrid.

Pera was given access to five drafts of the book that are part of the large collection of García Márquez's work housed at the University of Texas at Austin . He also worked with a separate draft that the writer's longtime secretary had saved.

"He had many notes on the margins, but the novel was complete. All the characters, everything. ... I didn't of course, and I would never dare to add anything of my own," Pera says with a laugh.

And Pera agrees with García Márquez's sons' decision to publish the work posthumously. He says that Until August , with its strong woman protagonist, adds to the writer's cannon.

Remembering The Short Fiction Of Gabriel Garcia Marquez

In García's previous book, Memories of My Melancholy Whores , ostensibly the first in the elderly series, a 90-year-old man pines for a 14-year old virgin. Even in the early 2000s, way before the #MeToo era, the book drew criticism.

Fellow Nobel laureate Salman Rushdie, who befriended García Márquez later in life, says the author's works need no new additions.

Listen to audio of UNTIL AUGUST - excerpt read by Catalina Sandino Moreno. courtesy Penguin Random House Audio

"I really worry that something has been authorized which should not be authorized," he told an audience at a book event last year in Spain . Rushdie made it clear he doesn't want any of his own unpublished manuscripts released. He's concerned that Until August could damage García Márquez's reputation. "It may not do him justice," Rushdie said.

Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez strolls in Rome's piazza Navona with his wife Mercedes and sons Gonzalo and Rodrigo on Sept. 6, 1969. Vittoriano Rastelli/Getty Images hide caption

Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez strolls in Rome's piazza Navona with his wife Mercedes and sons Gonzalo and Rodrigo on Sept. 6, 1969.

Rodrigo García appreciates such allegiance to his father but says Rushdie still has the intellectual power to judge which of his books should be published.

"Our father lost that, he did not have that, so we decided for him," he said.

In the end he says both of his parents often told him and his brother that after they were dead the siblings could do "whatever the hell they wanted to."

"We are speaking for our father because he gave us permission to speak for him. Is there some betrayal? Yes, of course. This is not the last wish of an aging writer," García said.

But García says he is willing to let the readers judge. And as he and his brother wrote in the preface to Until August , if the audience is delighted then hopefully their father will forgive them.

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Guest Essay

Italy’s Oscar Nominee Is a Great Film, but It Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story

By Richard Braude

Mr. Braude is a translator and writer. He wrote from Palermo, Sicily.

Of all the offerings this Oscar season, one stands out: “ Io Capitano .” A nominee for best international feature film, it is a visually stunning and often harrowing account of the journey from West Africa to Europe. Based on many real-life stories, it shows the horrors of the perilous route across the Sahara and the Mediterranean Sea that more than one million people have taken over the past decade, along which thousands have died .

At a time when Italy’s far right is in government, introducing draconian anti-migrant laws amid a flood of poisonous rhetoric, “Io Capitano” is an important intervention by its director, Matteo Garrone. Well known for his 2008 film about the Neapolitan mafia, “ Gomorrah ,” and for his faithful, magic-realist retelling of “ Pinocchio ” in 2019, Mr. Garrone has now cemented his reputation as one of Italy’s most prized directors.

The film makes several bold choices. It focuses not on someone fleeing a war zone but on a young so-called economic migrant from Senegal. Wolof dominates the script, claiming a place for a language that, though present in Italian society, has been nearly absent from Italian cinema. And moments of magic realism provide the viewer — and the protagonist — with some momentary relief from the tortures of the desert and detention, weaving a Muslim angel into its visual world. All told, it is a worthy Oscar nominee.

Yet for all its achievements, the film doesn’t tell the whole story.

“Io Capitano” owes its title to the final scenes of the film, in which the Senegalese protagonist, Seydou, is strong-armed into helming a rusty fishing trawler that takes him and hundreds more from Libya to Lampedusa, Italy’s southernmost island. His heroic actions save everyone’s lives, and the film ends with him screaming “Me, Captain!” over and over again, as a helicopter whirs above the boat. Here, Seydou is a hero just as much as Walt Whitman’s celebrated captain — “The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won” — but survives to tell the tale.

But does he get to tell it? The film leaves Seydou with the thundering helicopter, tailing off precisely where many would have wanted it to continue. Because what happens next to people like Seydou is arrest, interrogation, often lengthy trials and, in most cases, prison. Anyone who assists a boat crossing the Mediterranean with irregular migrants on board can be accused of people smuggling, whether they are humanitarians on a rescue mission or migrants who, for whatever reason, have taken the responsibility of steering the boat to safety.

This is no small issue. There are over 1,000 foreigners imprisoned in Italy for helping people cross the country’s borders, many of whom arrived in the same manner as the fictionalized protagonist of “Io Capitano.” Indeed, the film is partly based on the story of Amara Fofana , a teenager from Guinea who only narrowly avoided spending years in prison, though he still had to perform community service. Many others were not so lucky.

My organization in Italy, Porco Rosso , has been following such cases for almost 10 years. We’ve met people from across Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe who have been imprisoned simply for driving boats to shore. One of them is Bakary Cham , a young man from the small West African country of Gambia who, just like Seydou, took a flimsy vessel from Libya to Italy in 2015. On arrival he was accused of being the captain and a people smuggler and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

I got to know him two years later, when a friend of his — another Gambian asylum seeker — told us about his case. We started exchanging letters. Mr. Cham wrote to us about his vain attempts to prove his innocence, the difficulties he faced in prison, his fears about what would come next. With time off for good behavior, he was released in 2022. Thanks to some excellent lawyers, he is now happily settled in Palermo, helping us write letters to some of the many other West Africans who have been arrested.

Others have been given far longer prison sentences. One of them is Alaa Faraj , a man from Libya who dreamed of being a professional soccer player in Europe. He took a boat in 2015, fleeing the civil war in his country; packed into the hold by the unscrupulous organizers of the journey, almost 50 people died from the engine fumes. Italy wanted a culprit for the bodies that arrived in port, and Mr. Faraj and a group of other Arabic speakers on board were later accused of being the crew. Mr. Faraj was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He has already seen his youth pass by in Italian cells.

The arrests continue. As many as 200 people were arrested in 2023, including Maysoon Majidi , an Iranian women’s rights activist arrested on the last day of the year by the police in Calabria. She, too, faces years in prison if her case goes the wrong way. These arrests are part of the fight against people smugglers, which might seem like a benign endeavor. But it has become a central weapon against human mobility, deployed by governments in Europe and America to block migration. In a large majority of cases, it is migrants themselves — not shadowy people smugglers — who bear the brunt of the crackdown.

Yet the distinction between the bad smuggler and the good migrant is suspect. Shahram Khosravi , a professor of social anthropology at the University of Stockholm who was smuggled out of Iran in the 1980s, has written compellingly about how smuggling is intrinsic to migration. Often “local communities do not associate smuggling with crime but rather see it as necessary for survival,” he wrote in the collection “ Seeing Like a Smuggler .” By targeting those who facilitate border crossings, governments don’t stop people from coming — but do make their journeys worse.

Mr. Khosravi is not alone in speaking up against such policies. A United Nations report on migration to the Canary Islands — en route to which 6,000 people died last year — stated that “a crackdown on migrant smuggling on certain sea routes can lead to increased use of alternative routes, worsening the risks for people who are smuggled by sea.” The harm done by human traffickers is undeniable. But far from protecting migrants’ lives, the criminalization of people smugglers can end up contributing to maritime disasters.

“Io Capitano” portrays a simpler world, in which Europe’s role in hardening borders is sidestepped rather than confronted — and in which the punishment of captains is covered over by the credits. This is not to cast it aside: When Mr. Cham went to see the film, he laughed out loud at the comic moments. Yet we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that, whether the film wins at the Oscars or not, Italy continues to imprison the people who should really be taking an award home.

Richard Braude is a translator, writer and organizer based in Palermo, Sicily.

Source photographs by Greta de Lazzaris/Cohen Media Group.

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