The Five Paragraph Essay Format

The Outsiders Music Essay

The First Paragraph: Begin with a topic sentence that introduces your

chosen theme from the novel. This is a general statement.

Should follow the topic sentence that narrows the focus of the theme, so that it is less general.

Introduce the author, title of novel, the song and artist that you are comparing. Narrow the discussion of the topic by identifying an issue or problem.

Finish by making a debatable claim as the thesis statement which is defined as a debatable point in the novel.

The thesis statement should always be located in the final sentence of the introductory paragraph.

I will look for the beginning of your compare/contrast argument here.

Now construct the body of your essay. This should have a minimum of 3 paragraphs. The format will be the same.

Begin with a topic sentence that clearly relates to the theme you are comparing.

The following sentences should elaborate on the argument that you are supporting.

They should demonstrate a clear connection to the thesis statement.

Your conclusion: Begin with a topic sentence that clearly relates to the

theme that you are comparing as you stated in your introductory paragraph.

Your sentences should make connections with or revisit the three points made in the body of your paper.

These points should help you close your argument. State a final comment that ties all of your points

together in a final argument for your theme statement. Do not repeat but create new sentences.

Things not to do! Do not use contractions. Do not use first person pronouns such as

“I”, “me” or “my”. Do not use second person pronouns such as

“you”, “your” or “yours”. Do not include personal stories about

yourself, your life or your friends. Do not plagiarize!!!!!!!!!

More things not to do! Do not begin sentences with conjunctions:

but, and, or, nor, for, so or yet. Do not put any questions in your essay.

Make statements instead. Do not address the reader to do anything

such as “think about the fact that…” Avoid using casual sentence structure such

as “well, sure, now, yes, no”.

In each paragraph, you should have make a clear connection to the theme you have chosen.

Each paragraph should have a sentence that makes a claim about the problem, issue or topic that you are discussing.

Use quotes or examples to support your argument or theme.

Give your interpretation of that quote or example. In other words, explain!

Things to do! Create an original title for this paper, The

Outsiders Music Essay is not original. Use transitional words or phases such as: First of

all, Also, However, In addition, For example, Finally,

I. Introductory Paragraph:A. General theme sentence

B. Form your second sentence to include the following:

1. Title of novel

2. Author

3. song title

4. artist

I. Introductory paragraph continued:C. Adding a third and fourth sentence to include: 1. background information a. Include characters describing how their character traits relate to your chosen theme. b. Include how experiences and main events relate to the them. D. What is the overall message that you what the audience

understand? What is the theme you are comparing.? This is your final sentence in this paragraph.

Use the One, Two, Three Rule!The body of the paragraph should have:1) A debatable claim!

2) Should support the claim with a quote or example.

3) Explain the connecting theme between your song and the novel. Make an intellectual conclusion.

II., III., IV. Format for three supporting paragraphs:A. Major support 1. Describe character and event that provides proof for

this major support. 2. Add supporting quote from the novel, if you have

one. 3. Describe how quote or proof supports the theme. 4. Describe information from you song that supports

your theme. 5. Tie the two together.

V. Concluding paragraph:A. Summarize the main theme, including the

three supporting paragraphs in the body.

B. Connect the your chosen theme to relate to a general truth in life.

Turning in final product:1. Create a rough draft.

2. Turn it in corrections.

3. Type your final draft.

4. Attach your song lyrics to the back of your handout, rough draft and final draft.

5. If you follow the rubric, you should do well. Good luck!