Five (5) Paragraph Essays:
Including Examples (Samples)

How to Write the Five-Paragraph Essay (Includes Examples / Samples)

"Five (5) Paragraph Essays" Introduction

I am not sure where the five-paragraph essay came from, but for many students it has arrived and has been around for a while. There are all kinds of tools that teachers can use to help students develop writing skills, and the five-paragraph essay is one of those tools. It is up to your teacher to decide if you are to write a descriptive, narrative, or some other type of essay. We will mention the basics of a five-paragraph essay. Basically, it is a scaled-down research paper. The five-paragraph essay introduces the students to the main elements of a research paper such as the introductory paragraph with thesis statement, body of the paper, and the conclusion. The big difference between a major research paper and a five-paragraph essay is the length of the five-paragraph essay. The five-paragraph essay is just five paragraphs and usually is not five, ten, or more pages long like a research paper.

Writing a five-paragraph essay can be tricky. It has a special format.

• The first paragraph is the introductory paragraph that explains and tries to interest the reader enough to make the reader view the entire essay. This first paragraph includes the thesis statement which will list the reasons of support for your thesis statement. The following example (sample) essays farther down this page will help show you what we mean. However, here is an example of an introductory paragraph WITH the thesis statement for a five-paragraph essay arguing FOR school uniforms:    (We place the Thesis Statement in BOLD for instructional purposes, only, to help show YOU an example of a thesis statement. We placed a statement in red to help show you the reasons that support the thesis statement. We would NOT bold or put any text in color if we were handing this in).

“Historically, the concept of school uniforms is familiar to many European schools and private schools within the United States.  However, much more attention to the importance of school uniforms arose when a significant movement began in the 1980’s to introduce dress codes within public schools in the United States. As more and more public schools implemented dress codes, more and more parents and students questioned the real value of school uniforms as a tool to curb violence in schools and promote achievement. Both sides of this controversy can present valid arguments for their respective views. However, school uniforms are a real solution to many of the issues that schools face. School uniforms help produce a safe academic learning environment which helps students achieve. School uniforms reduce competition among students for designer clothes; reduces tension due to gang-related clothing; and creates a sense of team spirit and respect.”
The text, above in bold, is the thesis statement. The statement in red that follows the thesis provides the reasons why school uniforms are a solution to the many distractions that students face. The three reasons of “reduce competition among students for designer clothes”, “reduces tension due to gang-related clothing”, and “creates a sense of team spirit and respect” support the thesis statement and form the topics for each of the three paragraphs within the body of the five-paragraph essay.

• Please keep in mind that some teachers prefer to have the most credible reason of support for the thesis statement in your second paragraph. When it comes to arguing for school uniforms, most people and a majority of the literature will automatically say that reducing the stress that students face to compete with their fellow students because of designer clothes IS the number one reason why to implement a school uniform dress code in schools. Because this may be the best argument FOR school uniforms then this should be the topic of the second paragraph. Less credible arguments should be the topics of the third and fourth paragraphs.
  
  
• Preventing issues with gangs is an argument for implementing school uniforms in schools BUT it is not as strong as the designer clothes argument. For that reason we would write about school uniforms solving gang-related issues within schools in the third paragraph.
  
  
• There is not a lot of literature and opinions that school uniforms form a sense of team spirit and bonding among students. However, there ARE enough opinions on this to make this an argument in the fourth paragraph.
  
  
• Ah, now to the fifth paragraph which is the conclusion. We spend some time on all of these topics such as thesis statements, body of the paper, and conclusion on the "How to Write a Research Paper/Essay Web Page (PDF file)." However, here we will say that in the conclusion you will repeat the thesis in an artsy, creative way. You should try not to repeat all of the exact words that were used in the introductory paragraph, but you should try to summarize briefly what you just wrote in the body of the essay in a creative way. I know that this can be confusing if you have never done this before. Here is an example of how we would conclude the five-paragraph essay a little differently than what we wrote in the introduction. You can compare the introductory paragraph at the top of this web page with the following concluding paragraph. Please notice how the two paragraphs are a little different. We placed in BOLD letters the reference to the thesis statement for the purpose of showing you the change in some of the sentences that lead up to the thesis. We remind you that we used BOLD for instructional purposes and we would NOT give this to the teacher like this.

Example of the Conclusion:

“Definitely, the implementation of school uniforms within a school system has advantages and disadvantages. Each school system and community is different. However the constant is that most school administrators, teachers, students, parents, and communities want to see students achieve. In order to achieve, one of the main factors that has to be considered is a safe, secure, learning environment with the least possible distractions. There is plenty of anecdotal stories and a few research studies that show that school uniforms reduce competition among students for designer clothes; reduces tension due to gang-related clothing; and creates a sense of team spirit and respect which all contribute to create a positive force to help create the necessary conditions to produce an environment that promotes student achievement.”

If you have never written a research paper or essay, then all of this can be very confusing and frustrating. We are going to provide examples/samples of a few five-paragraph essays and some websites that provide more explanation. There are classes on how to write an essay or research paper, so it may be difficult to explain on a website all that needs to be said about how to write an essay or research paper. However, we hope that this information helps.

The College and Career Library provides examples of research papers and five-paragraph essays:

Kathy Livingston provides an excellent website that helps explain how to write a basic essay. She provides a clear example of a five-paragraph essay including the thesis statement, paragraphs and conclusion.  http://lklivingston.tripod.com/essay/sample.html

Sandhills Community College provides a very good explanation of the 5 paragraph essay. http://www.sandhills.edu/academic-departments/english/essaybasics/5_paragraph_essay.html
The actual sample essay is located at http://www.sandhills.edu/academic-departments/english/essaybasics/5_paragraph_essay-double-spaced.html

The Study Zone gives an explanation of the five-paragraph essay at http://studyguidezone.com/5paragraphessay.htm

Example/Sample of Asian Carp Five-Paragraph Essay

The FORMAT of the essay is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. Double-spacing, indentation, alignment, and more are EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. We know that the following information may look different on different computer screens due to screen size and resolution. For that reason, we suggest that you click on this Five-Paragraph Paper Link in order to view the five-paragraph essay samples in PDF format. PDF locks in the formatting and will not change due to screen size or resolution.

We have placed the thesis statement in BOLD to help show you what a thesis statement looks like. When we hand this in, we would not bold anything. The first paragraph is the introduction including the thesis statement. The second, third, and fourth paragraphs cover the reasons/statements within the thesis statement. The fifth paragraph is the conclusion. Please remember that your teacher may want you to format the five-paragraph essay according to MLA, APA, or some other "style" rules. For most papers, it is standard to double-space the sentences so we will do that with these examples of a five-paragraph essay. Depending on the format, you will have to format the essay more then just double-spacing the sentences. Please check with your teacher. Please note that this text may not be centered properly depending on the screen resolution of your computer.

Asian Carp

        The United States has seen plenty of invasive species. This includes all kinds of grasses, shrubs, bushes, vines, insects, animals, and more. Many of

these were introduced for innocent reasons, some were introduced by accident, while some were meant to help solve problems rather than cause

problems. The Asian carp is one of the newer invasive species that has become a problem that needs to be recognized as a real danger by a

number of organizations in order to find a solution. This species of fish threatens the ecological system of the Great Lakes disrupting the

fishing, recreational, and shipping industries.

      The main concern is that these big fish will eat food that other species require to live. Originally, these bottom feeders were imported to help clean

southern catfish ponds of algae and other unwanted growth. As the story goes, many carp escaped from the ponds into the Mississippi River during times

of flooding. The carp swam north to the Illinois river and are ready to enter  Lake Michigan. The Great Lakes support a $7 billion annual fishing industry

and 800,000 jobs through multiple states and Canada. Asian carp can produce enough offspring that have a tendency to outlive and outgrow native

species. These are large fish weighing up to 100 pounds and can be four-feet long.  Their consumption of plankton and other bottom plants can starve off

many other fish such as whitefish and perch and create all kinds of ecological issues for the Great Lakes.

     The Silver carp is especially dangerous to the Great Lakes recreation industry.  This particular Asian carp has a tendency to jump as high as ten feet as

it seems to fly through the air. Many boaters have described the experience of being hit by these flying fish to like being hit with a bowling bowl. The Great

Lakes Commission estimates that there are about one million boats and other watercraft that operate on the Great Lakes. With millions of people

accessing the Great Lakes each year, there is a high potential for many people to be injured by being struck by flying fish.  The thought of injury when

operating a boat or personal watercraft is a threat to the tourism industry.

     One of the permanent solutions to the stopping Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes is to close the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal which is the

only connection between the Mississippi River system and the Great Lakes. However, this would be disruptive to the shipping and transportation systems.

Illinois has argued that over $16 billion dollars in goods is shipped through their waterway annually and closing the canal would be a serious blow to the

economy and jobs.

     The Asian carp is another invasive species that can be added to a very long list of invasive species that has become a nuisance to many, many people.

Although multiple attempts have been made to prevent this invasion, the problem continues to exist as a serious threat to multiple industries surrounding the

Great Lakes region. Many people are hoping that passage of the Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act can provide enough resources to bring about a

permanent solution to the Asian carp issue which continues to threaten the ecological and financial welfare of all who occupy the Great Lakes area.

Example/Sample of School Uniforms 5-Paragraph Essay

The FORMAT of the essay is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. Double-spacing, indentation, alignment, and more are EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. We know that the following information may look different on different computer screens due to screen size and resolution. For that reason, we suggest that you click on this Five-Paragraph Paper Link in order to view the five-paragraph essay samples in PDF format. PDF locks in the formatting and will not change due to screen size or resolution.

We have placed the thesis statement in BOLD to help show you what a thesis statement looks like. When we hand this in, we would not bold anything. The first paragraph is the introduction including the thesis statement. The sentence right after the bolded statement are the reasons that favor implementing a school uniform policy. The second, third, and fourth paragraphs cover the reasons. The fifth paragraph is the conclusion. Please remember that your teacher may want you to format the five-paragraph essay according to MLA, APA, or some other "style" rules. For most papers, it is standard to double-space the sentences so we will do that with these examples of a five-paragraph essay. Depending on the format, you will have to format the essay more then just double-spacing the sentences. Please check with your teacher. Please note that this text may not be centered properly depending on the screen resolution of your computer.

The Pros of School Uniforms

       Historically, the concept of school uniforms is familiar to many European schools and private schools within the United States.  However, much more

attention to the importance of school uniforms arose when a significant movement began in the 1980’s to introduce dress codes within public schools in the

United States. As more and more public schools implemented dress codes, more and more parents and students questioned the real value of school

uniforms as a tool to curb violence in schools and promote achievement. Both sides of this controversy can present valid arguments for their respective

views. However, school uniforms are a real solution to many of the issues that schools face. School uniforms help produce a safe academic

learning environment which helps students achieve. School uniforms reduce competition among students for designer clothes; reduces tension due to

gang-related clothing; and creates a sense of team spirit and respect.

       One of the major arguments for school uniforms is that wearing a uniform helps prevent students from feeling that they need to have the latest and

greatest clothes or other objects to keep pace with their fellow classmates. The desire that children have to find acceptance from their peers is a natural

part of life. As the child develops throughout his/her young life, the child becomes aware of what others think about them. The implementation of school

uniforms helps with positive child development. With a dress code, competition based on designer clothes, shoes, and other such materials are eliminated.

Students who cannot afford expensive designer clothing do not have to feel economically inferior to anyone. Social-economic barriers are removed from

the learning environment. Clothing no longer is a factor on how students judge each other.  Students can belong to one big peer group that respects each

other which helps with creating a positive identity and self-esteem.

       Gang action presents all kinds of problems for schools. Gangs are known to associate with a variety of illegal or unwanted activities including drugs,

theft, intimidation, and violence. The influence of a gang can be present all through a school whether it is in the classrooms, gym, cafeteria, or on the

outside grounds. Gang presence has to be curbed in order to provide a safe learning environment. School uniforms can help eliminate the baggy gang-

inspired look that makes it easy for students to smuggle in weapons, drugs and other such items. With a dress code, gang members who attend school

may not be able to recognize rival gang members. There is no place for gang colors and messages on school uniforms. 

        From middle school through high school, many students continue to face challenges of self identity, self-image, and self-esteem. School uniforms help

students have a sense of belonging, school spirit, team work, and school pride. A dress code establishes order, discipline, and less distractions.

       Definitely, the implementation of school uniforms within a school system has advantages and disadvantages. Each school system and community is

different. However the constant is that most school administrators, teachers, students, parents, and communities want to see students achieve. In order to

achieve, one of the main factors that has to be considered is a safe, secure, learning environment with the least possible distractions. There is plenty of

anecdotal and a few research studies that show that school uniforms reduce competition among students for designer clothes; reduces tension due to

gang-related clothing; identifies intruders; and creates a sense of team spirit and respect which all contribute to create a positive force to help create the

necessary conditions to produce an environment that promotes student achievement.