Essay Writing for Dummies

When I was in the 6^th grade my teacher taught us how to write an essay. The method he taught us was simple, yet it carried me through high school and college classes. Here I will explain the technique so you too can write an essay with confidence.

This essay method was taught to be used for either a 3 paragraph essay or a 5 paragraph essay. I have adapted it when needed to write as many paragraphs as I need since the format is the same regardless. I will outline a 5 paragraph essay here, as I think it would be most useful.

First it is important to know what a paragraph is. A paragraph must have at least 4 sentences. The first sentence introduces the subject of the paragraph. The next sentences talk about the subject. The last sentence concludes the paragraph. This paragraph, for example, is now complete as I have completed my description of a paragraph.

Let us assume we are writing an essay about the role of women in the civil war.

Paragraph 1- This is your introductory paragraph. How I remember it is "say what you're going to say". Your first sentence will tell the reader what your topic is. Your next three sentences will tell the reader what you will write about in the following paragraphs. You may then choose to write a sentence to transition your reader to the next paragraph. Here is an example:

The role of women in the civil war was an important one. Women became responsible for chores normally done by men. Some women chose to fight in the war, disguising themselves as men. Many women cared for sick or injured soldiers. The courage of these women should not be forgotten.

Paragraph 2- In this paragraph you will write more about what you mentioned in the second sentence of your introduction. Using the example, you would write about women being responsible for chores normally done by men.

Paragraph 3- Here you will write about the subject of the third sentence of your introduction. From my example, this sentence would be about women who chose to fight in the war.

Paragraph 4- Now you will write about the fourth sentence of your introduction. In my example it would be the women who cared for sick and injured soldiers.

Paragraph 5- This is your conclusion paragraph. How I remember this one is "say what you've said". Basically this is where you close out the subject. This paragraph will be very similar to the first. Here is an example:

Now you can see how the role of women in the civil war was vital. Women took over the men's responsibilities at home. Some women played a key part by fighting in the war themselves. Still other women kept soldiers fighting by nursing them back to health. Without the contribution of women, the war may have ended very differently.

This method of writing an essay is appropriate for both children in school and adults in college. It can be used when taking achievement tests such as the G.E.D. and S.A.T. Writing a good essay takes practice, but using this format can make all your essays passable.