A Five-Paragraph Literature Essay Example

During you time in school you will be asked to write a literary essay on the book that you are reading.  This might be an analysis of the meaning to the story or even you opinion on what you have read.  And the basic essay that is used for this type of essay is a five paragraph one.  This kind of essay is short and to the point.  So you want to use relevant information for this kind of essay since it is so short.  I will tell how to write this kind of essay and what you should do first before you even put your fingers on the paper.

What To Do First

• The first thing you should always do before you begin an essay is to make sure you read the material you are writing the essay on.  This means you should read the entire book and you can also use cliff notes to help you recall what you have read.


• Next you should make an outline of what will be in the essay.  Here you want to outline each paragraph and brainstorm what will be in each.  This will eliminate time wasted from writer’s block and make writing the essay faster and easier.

How Do You Write A Five Paragraph Essay

• The first paragraph of your essay is your introduction.  This paragraph grabs the read and explains to them what you will be talking about in your essay.  You also want to always end your introduction with your thesis statement.


• The next three paragraphs is the body of your essay.  Each one of these paragraphs provides evidence and examples to support your thesis.  You want to start off strong and end strong with these paragraphs.


• The last paragraph is your conclusion, here you want to tie up all of your information and leave the audience fulfilled with your work.  This is also where you reword your thesis so that you can show the reader what your essay was centered around and what you were trying to convey in it.

Still Having Trouble

• If you are still having trouble writing your essay, you can use the Internet to find examples of these kinds of essays.  This will give you an idea of what it should look like and what should be in it.


• When you are looking for examples of this type of essay.  I would start with school sites, like universities and colleges.  A lot of these places have great examples of essays and other assignments that you might need help with.