Five Paragraph Theme Essay: Every sentence in an essay has a JOB.
Introduction:
First sentence or two: State the author, title, and a general theme.
Two or three sentences: Briefly indicate what each body paragraph will be
about.
Concluding sentence: strong thesis statement
Body paragraphs:
First sentence: Provides transition into the topic of the paragraph.
Six to nine sentences: Explain the story events or character actions that
relate to the topic to the thesis.
Concluding sentence: restate or reiterate thesis,.
Conclusion:
First sentence: Provides transition into conclusion.
Several sentences: Revisit body paragraph topics and weave together the
ideas.
Concluding sentence: End with your best "socko!" thesis statement
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Treat your essay like a research paper. Outline your plan for each
paragraph, and include only the quotes that provide support for your
thesis.
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OUTLINE FOR LORD OF THE FLIES ESSAY
Use Roman numerals for each paragraph, and letters for the details in the
paragraphs.
I. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies deals with the idea that mankind
attempts to create a perfect society, but is doomed to fail. (write a global
thesis statement that applies to the world and/or people in a general
way). The novel begins with a group of boys stranded on a Pacific island
during a world war. Ralph emerges as their leader. (give a short summary of
the plot)
A. In an attempt to institute a democratic government on the
island, Ralph assigns jobs to people according to their strengths.)
(Provide a specific application of the thesis from the novel)
B. As time progresses, several characters do not fulfill their
duties (Provide a specific application of the thesis from the novel. You
will )
C. In the end, the boys destroy all that is good and peaceful on the
island (Provide a specific application of the thesis from the novel)
D. The forces of chaos and anarchy prevail as the novel comes to a
close. (END EACH PARAGRAPH WITH A CONCLUDING SENTENCE THAT REITERATES THE
THESIS)
II. At first, the boys succeed in organizing a society (Begin each
paragraph with a transitional sentence)
A. Ralph and Piggy discover a conch shell, and blow it to call the
other boys to a meeting (Develop the idea of a newly created democracy with
specific story detail and quotes).
B. Story Detail
C. Story Detail
D. Story Detail (Make sure you fully explain and develop your ideas,
and focus on proving your thesis. Body paragraphs should be at least seven
sentences).
E. END EACH PARAGRAPH WITH A CONCLUDING SENTENCE THAT REITERATES THE
THESIS
III. Develop the second idea fully, following the same pattern as Roman
Numeral II. (You should have A through
IV. Same as III
V. Come to a conclusion that states your main ideas and brings the essay to
a close with your strongest thesis statement at the end.
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WIKIPEDIA WARNING!!!! BE AWARE OF THE QUALITY OF THE SOURCES YOU USE WHEN
DOING RESEARCH.
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales last year told a Pennsylvania audience he gets
about 10 e-mails a week from students who end up in trouble because they
cited the online encyclopedia in a paper and the information turned out to
be wrong. He doesn't have much sympathy for their plight, though. "For God
sake," he said, "you're in college; don't cite the encyclopedia."
There is no doubting the influence of Mr. Wales's online collaborative
encyclopedia. It now ranks in the top 10 websites on the Internet in terms
of traffic and just about any Google search will turn up a Wikipedia article
as one of the first few hits. Started in 2001, the online encyclopedia now
logs more than two million articles, with approximately 60,000 new articles
being added each month.
Some of the articles are excellent. Others are very poor. The difficult
part, many say, is telling the difference. The beauty of Wikipedia is that
anyone can edit it. The problem is that anyone does. Yet, despite the
warnings that come from Mr. Wales and a number of others about citing
Wikipedia as a source, many professors find students relying on the site
more and more. Dr. Daniel O'Donnell, an associate professor and chair of the
Department of English at the University of Lethbridge, says that it is rare
these days to see an undergraduate paper that doesn't rely on Wikipedia.
This is not surprising. After all, throughout the culture, Wikipedia has
become as common a source to cite as any traditional media source.
"I've used Wikipedia a ton of times," says Walter Zimmerman, electronic
services librarian at the University of Western Ontario. "You just have to
realize what it is and how it works." Mr. Zimmerman has been helping
students with research for more than 30 years, but these days he finds that
one of the basic roles he performs is to teach students some basic
information literacy. "You should consider Wikipedia as a survey of the
collective wisdom on a topic," he says.
"Wikipedia can be a great starting point," Mr. Zimmerman points
out, "because it covers topics that don't traditionally get room in an
encyclopedia.
"The most important thing to consider, though, is the potential bias in a
Wikipedia article and where it might come from. That's something that we
teach students: to consider the biases inherent in any source, not just
Wikipedia. All media need to be viewed through a critical lens."
