Five-paragraph essay

The Five-Paragraph Research Essay
IT'S EASY! It's a formula. Here is what to do.

Choose a topic. It is best to choose something in which you have interest, or something you need to know more about. Say your child was just diagnosed with ADHD, for example. That may be the perfect topic, since you will be motivated to do research and learn about the condition.

Now, read all you can on the topic. It is fine to use Wikipedia, but most instructors do not accept Wikipedia for sources. Just use it to familiarize yourself with the topic. Once you have done that, you will need to choose a thesis.

A thesis! Don't worry. It is not what graduate students do in this case. It simply means the main idea. You have ADHD as a topic, but it is very broad. You cannot write all about ADHD in a five-paragraph essay, right? You will need to choose one aspect of the topic. You can choose anything you want, but for our purposes we will choose ADHD and medication. Your job is now much easier.

You can research ADHD medications, to find out the risks and benefits. To narrow the topic even further, choose the benefits of medication. See how you need to filter the topic? This process will enable you to write all five paragraphs.

Write your introduction. Just like in life, first impressions are lasting. If you meet someone and they are clean and have a fresh smell, you will likely enjoy their company. If you write an interesting introduction, you will get and keep the attention of your reader.

Start with a hook. What this means is that you need to start with a catchy opening line. Don't start with a boring opening like ADHD is a serious issue in our society. That will put your readers to sleep and they won't want to finish reading. As an educator, it is a big turnoff. It won't make a good impression on me. Instead, start like this: If a student is swinging on the light fixtures, there is a big possibility that ADHD is at play. ADHD is a treatable condition, and medication may be indicated.

You need to choose three main points you will cover regarding medication.

Medication may be considered to calm the child down, allow the child to focus on schoolwork and enable the child to remain in the classroom if removal has been deemed necessary.

I will label the three main points, so you can follow them in the essay.

Paragraph two: Mediation can calm the child down.

Paragraph three: Medication can help the child focus on schoolwork.

Paragraph four: Medication can allow the child to remain in the classroom.

It's a formula!

Now, you will need to flesh out each of the body paragraphs; this is where your research will come in handy. Find out how medication can work to calm the child down. This will have to do with hyperactivity, which is a big part of the condition. Write a signal sentence to introduce a direct quote. Say something like, According to Dr. Smith of Columbia University, "Ritalin can help to calm the child down" (1989). Note: I am making this up. You will need to use a real doctor and a real quote. I am just showing you how to go about using quoted material.

Do this with the other paragraphs. Do not use too much quoted material! You should have no more than 20%. The rest must be in your own words. You may paraphrase something you read, but make sure you cite the original author. To do this, just include the author's name in parenthesis, directly following the quoted material, like this: (Smith).

Write your conclusion. The conclusion should summarize what you have said. It should also speculate on the future of the thesis. Mediation is important when a child is out of control, it can help with overall focus, and can allow children to remain in classrooms where they have been disruptive.

Notice how I did not use the same exact language as was in the thesis statement? You want to vary the language in the face of the summary.

Many advances have been made with ADHD medications. The future looks good, with new breakthroughs on the horizon.

You will need a reference page. This will contain any sources you used in the essay. Use page insert to create a separate page. Go to a resource like Perdue Writing Owl for instructions on the reference page. []