Let's see. There are five senses, five fingers, five great lakes, 5-star restaurants - heck, five golden rings! Ok, I'll never sing again. Take my word for it; the number five is really important. We associate five with prime numbers, major world religions and yes, even the standard for basic essay construction. The 5-paragraph essay is really a tried and true format that allows writers to adequately argue their thesis as well as provide readers a full circle experience by including an introduction and a conclusion. Meet my friend Connie. Connie recently started a new semester at Five Rivers Academy. On the first day of class, and without much instruction, her new teacher assigns an essay on the most influential pop star of the last decade. While other students in her class panic, the calm and confident Connie knows exactly what to do. Not only does she love any chance to sing the praises of her idol, the desire of her affection, the reason she gets up in the morning - Just'n Beeber - she also remembers that constructing an essay around the always-important 'five' provides the perfect balance of information.

Connie knows that the most important element of the introductory paragraph, perhaps even the whole paper, is the thesis statement. The thesis will identify the argument she'll make through her research and provide readers with a preview of the essay's main points. Without a properly formatted thesis statement, Connie's essay is doomed to failure. Since Connie has three body paragraphs to make her argument, she'll need to make sure she has - that's right - three main points or one for each paragraph. This one sentence provides readers with a wealth of information. What is Connie arguing? She'll use her research to make the case that Just'n Beeber is the most influential artist of the last decade. Readers will most likely know that Just'n Beeber is successful, but an opponent could easily take issue with identifying 'the Beebs' as the most influential artist of the past ten years. We know her thesis is arguable and not simply setting up a report on the artist. How is she going to prove her argument? Here is where the body paragraphs come into play. Connie will identify quality information to support each of her claims identified in the thesis. In the order she laid out, Connie will devote one paragraph to the support Just'n receives from his family, one paragraph to the influence his mentors have in the industry and one paragraph on the importance of his desire to succeed. When considering the evidence to incorporate in her argument, it's important for Connie to stick with a variety of quality, up-to-date information from reliable sources. Databases, validated educational websites and official music industry publications are all examples of reliable sources. Simply trolling the 'I Love Beeber' chat room for unconfirmed rumors posted by her BFF, Jane, doesn't give Connie's argument much authority and leads to an unreliable essay full of holes.

For example, a thesis statement could look like this: “Although pre-prepared and highly processed foods are cheap, they aren’t good for students. It is important for schools to provide fresh, healthy meals to students, even when they cost more. Note that this thesis statement isn’t a three-prong thesis. You don’t have to state every sub-point you will make in your thesis (unless your prompt or assignment says to). You do need to convey exactly what you will argue. Brainstorm your evidence. Once you have chosen your topic, do as much preparation as you can before you write your essay. This means you need to examine why you have your opinion and what evidence you find most compelling. Here’s also where you look for counterarguments that could refute your point. A mind map could be helpful. Start with your central topic and draw a box around it. Then, arrange other ideas you think of in smaller bubbles around it.

Connect the bubbles to reveal patterns and identify how ideas relate. Don’t worry about having fully fleshed-out ideas at this stage. Generating ideas is the most important step here. Research, if necessary. Once you have your ideas together, you may discover that some of them need research to support them. Doing your research before you begin “writing” your essay will make the writing process go smoothly. For example, if you’re arguing for healthier school lunches, you could make a point that fresh, natural food tastes better. This is a personal opinion and doesn’t need research to support it. However, if you wanted to argue that fresh food has more vitamins and nutrients than processed food, you’d need a reliable source to support that claim. If you have a librarian available, consult with him or her! Librarians are an excellent resource to help guide you to credible research. Outline your essay. Persuasive essays generally have a very clear format, which helps you present your argument in a clear and compelling way. Here are introduction paragraph for an argumentative essay of persuasive essays: - An introduction. This data was created with Essay Writers.