A+ Guide to Five-Paragraph Essays: A+ Guides to Writing, #1

By Alison Plus

This is not a textbook. This booklet contains very little writing theory or explanation of rhetorical concepts. Instead, it is a step-by-step method for writing a five-paragraph paper from the assignment through the final proofreading. Using sentence formulas, paragraph templates, and detailed checklists, the writer will be able to plug in subject matter for their assigned papers and build a finished product that is organized correctly.

For writers who need to create a five-paragraph (2-3 page) paper, this booklet will guide them through the process of getting the words down on the page. It does not matter if that paper is meant to be informative or persuasive. Regardless of tone or style, this booklet can guide the writer through to a finished paper.

Table of Contents:
How to Use This Booklet
Step One: Understand Your Assignment
Step Two: The Working Outline
Step Three: The Thesis Statement
- The Importance of Tone
- Checklist: Eight Things That Can Change Your Grade
Step Four: The Introductory Paragraph
Step Five: Body Paragraphs
- Checklist: How to Test Paragraph Organization and Development
Step Six: The Conclusion Paragraph
Step Seven: The Final Check
- The First Layer: Revising Out Loud
- The Second Layer: Sentence Triage
- The Third Layer: “Find” Searches
- The Fourth Layer: The Fine Points

Here's what people are saying about this booklet.

"The method for turning a thesis statement into topic sentences was very useful and easy to apply."

"I thought proofreading meant you should read the paper and hope you spot the mistakes. Now I have a better way to do that, using the layered technique."

"I thought outlining was a waste of time and a headache. But the 'working outline' was actually very helpful and made me see that an outline isn't about roman numerals and indents."
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Four-Ply Publishing
• Release date: Feb 3, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524259495

Book preview

About the A+ Method

You have purchased this booklet because you are looking for help with a writing assignment. Good news! Help is here!

The A+ Method was developed through years spent working with student writers on a variety of writing assignments. Regardless of the specific assignment type (five-paragraph essay, persuasive essay, narrative essay, literature review, etc.), it soon became clear that students shared one strong concern. They wanted to know what to put where. They had ideas about their topics, and they knew what they wanted to say, but they didn’t know how to present those ideas in an organized manner so that the paper could flow well.

The A+ Method assists the students with overcoming that concern. Each type of assignment follows a unique writing pattern, and each A+ Method booklet presents that pattern in easy-to-follow steps. The pattern shows the writer what to put where. Along the way, each booklet also addresses other writing concerns typical to a specific assignment type. By focusing on assignment type rather than on writing essays in general, each specific booklet targets the pedagogical goals in a way that leads to a greater likelihood of student success.

Choose the booklet that corresponds to your assignment type, and then follow the steps in the booklet. Working the steps carefully the first time will not only lead to a finished paper, but to a better understanding of how to write a specific type of paper. Then, with subsequent similar assignments, use the booklet as a refresher to guarantee that you will hit the assignment targets each time.

How to Use This Booklet

Your instructor has asked you to write a two-to-three-page paper, or what writing instructors call a five-paragraph essay. However, there is a problem. Even though you have assignment instructions, you are not sure where to start or how to proceed. Maybe you have never written a paper like this before and do not know what it should look like. Maybe you have written a paper like this in the past, but you were unhappy with your grade and you want to do better this time. Maybe, no matter your skills and experiences, you are just looking for extra help so that this kind of assignment will be easier to complete.

If you find it difficult to plan and draft a paper, it is probably not your fault. Writing instructors often focus on aspects of grammar and theory that students do not use when planning and drafting a paper. Although these aspects of writing are important for the improving the way we think about writing and for the way we proofread papers, planning and drafting rely upon a different skill set. Therefore, you might find it difficult to draft a paper simply because the skills you have been taught, while important, are related to other aspects of the writing process.

For example, maybe your instructor spent some time explaining the differences between expository writing, persuasive writing, narrative writing, and other types of writing. This can help you understand a lot about the mood and style and goal of a type of paper. But will it tell you how to organize your ideas? No. Will it tell you what to put in each paragraph? No. For that, a different kind of instruction is needed.

This booklet can help you by showing you the complete process of writing a paper. This practical, systematic method will start with your assignment and end with a final proofreading. In between that first and last step, this writing method relies upon templates to help you build a well-organized paper. These templates show you exactly what to include in different places within the paper. You will no longer need to guess what to write and where to write it. By using the templates, the various pieces of the paper will work together to create a coherent draft.

Follow the steps in order, from the first to the last, and do not skip any along the way. Each step builds on the previous steps. Assignment analysis turns into a working outline, the draft thesis statement turns into topic sentences, the working outline turns into supporting points, and so on. By completing each step before moving on to the next, the next step will be easier. And so will the