The Five-Paragraph Essay

You have more space to work with in 5 paragraphs. But, unlike a magazine article or a book, the 5-paragraph essay does not offer enough space to present all of your ideas on one subject. You must still cut away ideas which lead nowhere, and just present the ideas that matter to your main point, which should be expressed in the concluding sentence. Use your extra words to develop that main point.

The big danger in expanding to 5 paragraphs, is that the reader may forget what you're talking about by the time you get to the 4th or 5th paragraph. So you need to organize carefully, and in the 4th paragraph you should remind the reader what it is you're talking about. That will lead into your conclusion, in the 5th paragraph, which answers: "SO WHAT?". The concluding sentence should reflect back to the introductory sentence, and lead onward in some direction.

The format I'm asking you to use this time is historical, and it works like this:
1) earliest time period
2) middle time period
3) later (perhaps recent) time period
4) Remind your reader of what you've been discussing in the first three paragraphs. In what direction is time pushing your idea? Will that direction continue, or change?
5) SO WHAT? Do you like the direction that has been expressed in the first three paragraphs? If it the direction will continue, what will the future bring? If the direction will change, what will be the result? And why does it matter?

For instance, you may discuss the progress of technology, from
(1) cavemen playing with fire and chipping stone tools, to
(2) ancient civilizations, with their pyramids, cities, irrigation and printed books, to
(3) modern civilization, in which technology has increased rapidly, to a high point.
Then in paragraph
(4) remind the audience that man has come a long way from the caveman days, and lives a much more complex life. If you think that's good, you might say so (and why). If you think there are problems with that, you could say so (and why). Will technology continue to advance rapidly, bringing ever-more-surprising innovations? (Many think so.) Or will it destroy itself by its own complexity, leading to nuclear war or a collapse of civilization?
Then, in paragraph
(5) you need to answer "SO WHAT?". Relate your reaction to the progress in paragraphs 1-3, and to the analysis in paragraph 4, to the introduction. "Now that I've told you all this stuff, you are ready to know my own conclusion about this theme." In paragraph 4, you analyzed the progression. If you stated that caveman technology was like a seed, and that the tree from which it sprang (civilization) will continue to grow and flourish, show us in paragraph 5 what the future is likely to bring:
flying cars, food factories in every refrigerator, robots serving our every need.
OR, on the other hand, if you stated that civilization is likely to crash, you might suggest that
future humans will possibly live like cavemen, in a simple existence stripped of modern luxury.

The first conclusion suggests that the trend shown in paragraphs 1-3 will continue like a straight line. The second conclusion suggests that the line will suddenly move in a different direction, because of ... what you stated in paragraph 4. In any case, your conclusion should relate the future back to the caveman ancestors and show where the whole progress of civilization will lead.

You can write about democracy in Taiwan, the progress of women's rights in the world, the biography of your grandfather -- or any topic that shows change over time. You can write about yourself, but stick to a particular theme in your life: your education, your study of English, or maybe your career. Here's my 5-paragraph essay:


How Lucky I Was to be Lucky

The world into which I was born contained only three billion people, and my own fortunate position gave me access to virtually all of its immense bounty. I grew up in mid-20th century America, perhaps the richest country that the world has ever known. Though my family was not especially wealthy, I had access to all the opportunities of forest, farm and city. I ate well, lived at peace, and got a good education.

Graduating from college, I did not worry about how I could make a living. The 1970s were a time of prosperity and opportunity in America, and I worked only occasionally as I travelled around the United States. With only a few hundred dollars, I moved to Hawaii. My little house on the Kona Coast was surrounded by fruit trees and coffee bushes and had a view of the ocean, yet I paid only $100 per month to live there. I worked part time in a vegetarian restaurant, hiking and swimming in the surf during my plentiful free time.

Eventually I grew bored of this paradise, and travelled to Asia, expecting that it would be the first leg of an immense journey around the world. My timing could not have been better: Taiwan, where I ended up, was experiencing an "economic miracle" that allowed foreigners to make good salaries teaching English part time. I hiked in the rural mountains whenever I could, studied the local culture and traveled to several nearby countries. What a life! My travels in Asia pointed toward success at a grand world tour, and it seemed that the sweet life would continue indefinitely.

Caught up as I was in my own pleasures, I did not really see the troubles that others experienced, or realize that my own freedom had any limit. Still very happy, I met an interesting girl, got serious, and stayed in Taiwan for more than ten years -- instead of travelling on to India, Africa and Arabia, as I had planned. Meanwhile, the population of the world topped 6 billion, resources became scarce, garbage piled up and corporations took over the world with the WTO. When I led my girlfriend (now wife) and our new baby to America, I was shocked to find that the land I had grown up in was gone: jobs were scarce, small businesses could not compete with gigantic firms, the forests had all been cut down and the rivers were badly polluted.

It was difficult to adjust to the idea that my career had been very special and fortunate. Not only had times now changed, but (I began to realize) most of the world had been experiencing much harder conditions, during the entire time I had been enjoying my easy life. I have now absorbed an important lesson: quality of life depends on conditions, which are not the same for all people, in all times and places. Now that I share the troubles of the world -- at least a little bit -- I have become much more sympathetic toward the nearly seven billion people now sharing the planet, and I've resolved to help them along as best I can.

......................................

In the first three paragraphs, I talk about three time periods, all of which reflect an easy life progressing in the direction of world travel and continuous enjoyment. Travel is a physical progression, and continuous enjoyment is more of a spiritual or psychic progression. Either one is fine, and both together can also be great. (NOTE: The topic sentence of paragraph 3 is the last one.)

In the fourth paragraph, I stop and see where the progression was going, and what happened to it. In this essay, the direction changed: it could not continue either physically (travel) or spiritually (continuous enjoyment). This leads me into the fifth paragraph, where I tell the result of this change.
Notice that the conclusion refers back to the introduction: to the population of the world, and to my own (now changed) condition in it. I started with 3 billion and a fortunate life, and ended with 7 billion and more troubles. My concluding sentence answers SO WHAT? -- I have learned a lesson and changed my attitude.