by Lucy E. Zahnle

Created on: November 06, 2009

The basic five paragraph essay, also known as the traditional or one-three-one essay, has been a staple of English composition classes and the bane of student writers for centuries. Part of the problem is that the traditional essay format forces people to write with a purpose and carefully organize their thoughts. Those who are accustomed to writing off the cuff can find all this planning and deliberation particularly painful. However, learning to write traditional essays is a good way for writers to train their minds to think in a logical, deliberate, ordered way.

The traditional or one-three-one essay consists of one introduction paragraph, three paragraphs for the essay's body, and one conclusion paragraph. In the introduction paragraph, the writer presents an opening series of sentences which grab the readers' interest and draws them in. The last sentence in the introduction paragraph should be the thesis statement.

Although some writers use two sentences, the thesis statement, also known as the argument, is usually a single sentence which presents the point or message that the writer wants the readers to believe after reading the essay. The whole purpose of the essay is to persuade readers to accept the thesis statement as truth.

In order to accomplish this goal, the writer presents three supporting points, each in its own paragraph. These paragraphs are the body of the essay and each one discusses one supporting point in detail, showing how it validates the thesis statement. Supporting points can be well-researched, documented facts, quotes, or statistics or they can be drawn from the writer's personal experiences. The type of evidence the writer uses depends on the topic of the essay. For instance, if an author is writing about saving an endangered species, documented evidence is highly desirable. If the author is writing about the irritations of standing in a grocery store checkout line, personal experience will work best as supporting evidence.

Once the supporting points have been fully explained, the writer uses the conclusion paragraph as one last opportunity to persuade readers to accept the essay's point of view. The conclusion paragraph summarizes the thesis statement and its supporting points in a few short sentences. The last few sentences of the conclusion paragraph should lead the readers out of the essay with a final, satisfying thought that leaves them smiling and agreeing with the thesis statement or a final observation or question that causes them to doubt any points of view that differ from the thesis statement. The conclusion paragraph should never be an exact copy of the introduction paragraph.

The traditional essay format is a basic template for writing essays. Unless the essay is destined for a teacher, professor, or publisher who has specifically stated that the five paragraph essay form must be followed exactly, it is okay to take some liberties with the format. Some authors present their supporting points first and place their thesis statement in their conclusion paragraph. Some authors use more than five paragraphs. Some authors provide more than three supporting points; others provide fewer. Some authors don't even present a thesis statement, choosing instead to use an inferred thesis statement that readers must figure out as they read the essay. As long as the writer provides the bare bones, an introduction paragraph that grabs the readers, a strong, arguable expressed or inferred thesis statement, persuasive supporting points, and a satisfying conclusion paragraph, the essay format should be effective.

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