Essay+Help

Essay Help The five paragraph essay is the most essential academic writing skill you'll need to know. It can be easily adapted to fit almost ANY prompt or test essay question. Learn it! = The Five Paragraph Essay = The five paragraph essay has three parts: an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
 * Please see color-coded example essays below. **

__ Introduction: Hook, TAG , Thesis __


 * The hook **--Come up with something interesting and catchy to start your essay. Something that will "hook" attention. Think about the overall topic of your essay--what is this paper ABOUT? Make your hook __relate__ to your topic. Some tricks: Use a question, an anecdote (a 1-2 sentence story), a famous quote, a shocking statement, a strong description, or something funny.
 * TAG**--This stands for **t**itle, **a**uthor, **g**enre. Mention the **title** of the literature you're writing about, give the **author**'s name, and say which **genre** it is (novel, play, poem, movie, speech, essay, etc.) You can put these in any order--GTA, ATG, AGT, TGA, GAT--but write a sentence that flows nicely.


 * Thesis **--This is the **main point** of your essay. It is sometimes your answer to the **prompt** or **question** you've been given; it is sometimes your opinion or theory about the topic you're covering in your essay. What have you been asked to write about? Your answer to this is your //thesis statement//. If you haven't been given a specific prompt, here are some good suggestions: identify a theme from the literature; make a statement about a character; identify why an author uses specific literary devices; write about the tone of the literary piece; or write about a pattern you noticed in the literature.

__ Body Paragraphs: Point, Support , Explanation __ **Do this __three__** **times with three __different__ points.**


 * Point **--This is also known as the **topic sentence** of the paragraph. What will this paragraph be //about//? You need to break your thesis into three sub-categories for your three body paragraphs. In your point sentence, introduce which of the three parts you will discuss in this paragraph.


 * Support **--Give an **example** from the literature, aka--a direct quote. Be sure it is an example of the topic you are writing about in this paragraph, and that it ties to your thesis statement. For example: If you are saying that the tone of the poem is one of [[image:http://worddreams.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/quotation-marks.jpg width="71" height="49" align="right"]]confusion, write about a literary device that illustrates confusion, such as repetition or onomatopoeia. Or: If you are saying that the theme from the short story is that family has a bond which goes beyond that of friendship, choose a quote that shows a character's development as s/he comes to realize this.

__ Conclusion: Re-State Thesis, Opinions, Tie to Hook __
 * Explanation **--Explain HOW your example supports your thesis, and tie it back to your thesis. Again, if you are saying that the author creates a tone of confusion through repetition, **explain //how//**. For example: "The use of repetition in this poem creates a sense of urgency which leads to the feeling of panic or confusion." Or: If you are saying that the theme is that family bonds surpass friendship bonds, explain how the character develops through and beyond friendship and into a deeper connection with family.


 * Re-state Thesis **--Re-state the thesis in different words. Remember, your thesis was the last sentence of your introduction paragraph. Sometimes, a nice trick is to flip the sentence by taking the last half and moving it to the first half of the sentence. Example: If your thesis is, "Family has a bond that goes beyond that of friendship", you might flip it to say "The bonds of friendship will never be a strong as that of family." If that doesn't work, consider using synonyms. For example: If your thesis is "Generosity is its own reward", consider changing it to "The act of giving creates honor."


 * Opinions **--Give any //opinions// about your thesis. This is where you get to say what YOU think about the topics you've covered in this essay. Stay on topic! Don't give your personal opinion about the book or poem. (Never say, "I liked this book/I didn't like this book." Sorry to be so blunt, but...nobody cares.) Give your thoughts about the //topics// or //ideas// you've covered in your essay. Keep it in third person, and apply it to the real world. Why does any of this matter? What can we all learn from this literature? Why should your reader care what you've just said?[[image:opinion.jpg width="303" height="262" align="right"]]

**Tie to Hook** --A nice trick is to make a statement that ties back to your hook at the very beginning of the essay. This creates a nice feeling of closure.

And finally...don't forget to **proofread**!

Sample Intro paragraph:

“That’s what us Tucks are, Winnie. Stuck so’s we can’t move on. We ain’t part of the wheel no more. Dropped off, Winnie. Left behind. And everywhere around us, things is moving and growing and changing.” -Tuck

The idea of being a part of “the wheel” is something everyone has thought of at some point in their lives. The human mind is fascinated with __the idea__ of forever. As far as we know, that’s all it is though, an idea. But, what if there was no definite beginning or end. Perplexingly, possibly immortality has been at the tip of our fingers all along and we just didn’t know it. Would we want to? The novel, __“Tuck Everlasting”__ written by Natalie Babbitt and the film directed by Jay Russell, demonstrates that very thought. - Immortality, never continuing, never contributing, being stuck: would be a curse beyond reverse. --Amanda Pavillard

Sample Body paragraph:

 I want you to take a minute and feel your temples. Located right under the skin and bones of your temple is a part of the brain called the human limbic system. The human limbic system controls and carries out your emotions. One of them being love. The emotion or experience of love is one of the best things in life, some people say. If you don’t experience human connection and love in your life, you can’t reach the fullness of life which reflects in bitterness. The oldest Tuck sibling, Miles knows that first hand. “My wife, she finally made up her mind I’d sold my soul to the Devil. She left me.” (39). Miles is unable to achieve love and intimacy because his immortality causes an impression of skepticism and uneasiness. His inability to not age stops his wife from trusting and loving him. In Jay Russell’s movie version of the story, Mile’s wife still leaves him but he is left with an even greater degree of hurt and anger. Miles is more abrasive in the film version. He holds a lot on his plate including, dealing with his own suffering but is also grief stricken that he and his immortality drove his wife into a mental institution. Miles experience with immortality shows that someone who is stuck on the wheel of life indefinitely, would never be able to be a willing participant in love. --Ashley Zbylski

Example Essays //These are REAL essays written by an ACTUAL students from my class! (With a few tiny revisions by me...) These are examples of strong essays that will get you a good grade.// __** Please use this color-coded key for an analysis of the essays: **__ __ Introduction paragraph: __ Hook, TAG , Thesis __ Body paragraphs: __ Point, Support , Explanation __ Conclusion paragraph: __ Re-State Thesis, Opinions , Conclusion

At times it seems like human beings can be the world's worst enemy. The human race is the cause of violence, destruction, pollution, murder, and so much more. It's no wonder why the state of the world is what it is today. In the movie //The Stoning of Soraya M.//, by Freidoune Sahebjaman and the play //The Crucible//, by Arthur Miller, you clearly see how humans can be the world's worst enemy. Humans become animals when faced with certain situations such as mob mentality, religion, and power trips.

When dealing with mob mentality, one is looking at a leader and a group of followers either by choice or by force. In the play //The Crucible//, Abigail got a huge group of girls to follow and do whatever she said. This then turned into the whole town believing in whatever came out of her mouth. In the movie //The Stoning of Soraya M//., Soraya's husband Ali manipulates three men into believing and following whatever he said. Both characters used blackmailing to get their authority and power. Blackmailing created fear in all of those people and they preferred to follow than to feel the wrath of Ali's and Abigail's consequences. This ignorance on the behalf of the citizens shows how people can become animals in the face of mob mentality.

In the world, more people have died and killed over religion than anything else. In the movie //The Stoning of Soraya M.// and the play //The Crucible//, they verify just that statement. In the play //The Crucible//, the dictator Abigail twisted the words and work of God and the words of the Bible for her own evil vengeance. She made the people of Salem believe that she was actually doing God's work in condemning people of witchcraft when in reality she was lying just to get a man she was in love with. The town of Salem was believed to be full of pure "Christians," so they believed everything that came out of Abigail's mouth. In the movie //The Stoning of Soraya M.//, Soraya's husband Ali used the law and the Quran to justify why Soraya should be stoned. Ali told the small village that Soraya was cheating on him, and punishment of that needs to be nothing else than death. Ali uses dictatorship to make certain people say things that weren't true. Thus both films justify why religion is nothing to play with and how it can be made into something it's truly not. When power is handed into the hands of wrong is when people really become animals.

"No one man should have all that power"--Kanye West. When a person is granted with power, that person should be someone trustworthy, with a good heart, and one that will use their power for the greater good. When power is handed into the wrong hands, so much destruction and madness can be done. In the movie //The Stoning of Soraya M//., Soraya's husband Ali wanted to divorce Soraya and marry another woman. In Ali's head, he needed to get rid of Soraya in order for this to happen. Ali's power trip of wanting to marry another woman is what lead to the death of Soraya. Because Soraya wouldn't give Ali the divorce he wanted, he took matters into his own hands. In the play //The Crucible//, Abigail's power trip lead her into nothing but more lies and madness. Abigail could not be with the man she longed to be with, so she decided to get rid of his wife. How she does this is she gets a group of loyal followers to stand behind her in whatever she says. This then leads to the townspeople believing her every word, which leads to a supreme court having her best interest at heart. Whoever tries to cross Abigail in her evil ways would automatically be accused of witchcraft. Abigail gets so confident in her power trip that she actually tries to condemn a known reverend's wife, which backfires. Abigail's power trip is purely out of selfishness and hatred. Like animals, Abigail and Ali stop at nothing and care nothing about others who might have gotten hurt during the process.

In conclusion, both stories illustrate the madness and destruction people cause to others without care. It also clearly shows how faith and religion play big roles in how people act and how they're supposed to act. When people become greedy, caught up in mob mentality, or overly powerful, they sometimes forget to be human and begin acting like animals. by Asia Black

Here is another example of a great essay:

//Just in 2009 there were 15,241 murders in the United States. Besides the murders, there is all the violence that we see all around the world and some of the gruesome crimes that are being committed. This just shows us how difficult it is to tell what a person is capable of. Only by looking at them we don't know if they're capable of inhuman things, like murder. In all of human time, humans have always had an evil history.// **For example, //The Stoning of Soraya M.//, by Freidoune Sahebjam, and //The Crucible//, by Arthur Miller, just show a little of what humans are capable of.** __Both these stories demonstrate the potential of humans and their inner "evil". This inner evil occurs for a number of reasons. Some of the main reasons inner evil may come out of humans is due to mob mentality, greed, and misuse of religion.__

The paragraph above is the introduction to the essay. An introduction should include a //hook (an attention-grabber that relates to your thesis)//, a **TAG line (where you mention title, author, and genre)**, and a thesis statement (the sentence that states your main point in the essay). //The hook is italicized.// **The TAG line is in bold.** __The thesis statement is underlined.__

//Mob mentality is when a group of people think as one and they follow a leader who most likely is evil. The followers follow whether it is right or wrong.// **In both cases of the movies, someone intentionally lied and started false rumors and false accusations which lead to sad and unnecessary endings.** __Mob mentality creates fear--a fear of being "left out" from society.__ **The mayor (//The Stoning of Soraya M.//) did not want to stop Soraya's stoning. Even when he had "divine" signs, he did not stop it because everyone thought it was the "right" thing to do. Abigail (//The Crucible//) had all the other girls follow her in all the lies just to get what she wanted.** __This shows how mob mentality is evil in the wrong hands.__

This paragraph is the first body paragraph. The body paragraphs include: //point//, **support**, and explanation. //The point is the topic sentence of the paragraph; it is the sentence that introduces the topic of this particular paragraph.// **The support portion of the paragraph is the part in which you give examples from the literature to back up your point in the paragraph.** The explanation is the final part of the paragraph; it is the part in which you explain your support, how it ties to the topic of this paragraph, and how it applies to your thesis statement. You should always come back to your thesis statement in your explanation. //The point is italicized.// **The support is in bold.** __The explanation is underlined.__ The next two paragraphs follow the same pattern:

//In every story, the villain is almost always greedy. These two movies are no different. They show that human beings are capable of doing anything just to get what they want.// **In the movie //The Stoning of Soraya M//., almost everyone is willing to lie, especially her husband. He lies about Soraya, saying she was unfaithful. His evidence was more than doubtful--a priest with a very shady past, and other little scenes. He did all of this, just for a fourteen-year-old girl and her father's money. In //The Crucible//, Abigail lied about people being witches, falsely accusing innocent people. She was greedy not for gold, but for a man she could not have.** __This shows people are willing to kill to get what they want.__

//The biggest evil that has always happened is the misuse of religion, something that should be very sacred.// **In both movies people of higher power used religion to make their evil ways seem just. The priest in //The Stoning of Soraya M.// said that it was okay to kill Soraya to "cleanse" the village, even when there were more than one "divine" signs. This sort of thing also happened in //The Crucible//. The priest and many others went along with the witch accusations because it was something "unholy". Their evidence was not knowing the Ten Commandments or being around when "evil" things happened.** __Even when religion is being used in all the wrong ways, people will go along with it.__

__These are just a few of many stories that show humans' dark, evil, and vile side.__ **This gives small hope for mankind; people are willing to see other people die for their dark desires. And in the end, both the stories end with needless violence. An innocent and respectful woman stoned to death by the village and people she loves, innocent people being hung and without their dignity. These stories are based on real events and real people. What I just can't imagine is how these people managed to do this. Did their conscience not haunt them? Did they feel guilt or remorse?**

This is the conclusion paragraph. The conclusion should wrap up the paper with your thoughts and opinions about the topics and ideas you've covered in the essay. You should NOT give your opinion about the book/literature, but your opinions about the big ideas you've discussed throughout the paper. You should also restate your thesis. __The thesis statement is underlined.__ **Opinions are in bold.** ** by Esmeralda Lopez **