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 **************************************************************************** Treat your essay like a research paper. Outline your plan for each paragraph, and include only the quotes that provide support for your thesis. **************************************************************************** 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. **************************************************************************** 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."