Introductions and the Five-Paragraph Essay

It is easy to overlook the importance of an introduction to an argumentative text.  This is especially true if you are pressed for time or are not rigorous in your reading habits.  But if your goal in reading an argumentative text is to understand its meaning, as it should be, then you will be more likely to reach that goal by paying close attention to the introduction.  Introductions are important in reading, as they are in interpersonal interactions.

In Chapter 5 of Reading I discussed six types of introductions to argumentative texts.  I discussed one other type in the Workbook.  In this post I will draw a connection between the so-called “five-paragraph essay,” which many of you learned in an English composition course (if you haven’t yet learned this writing tool, this is a great opportunity to learn it quickly and easily), and my prior discussions of introductions.

Most English writing courses in high school or college teach how to write the five-paragraph essay.  In the introduction, paragraph one, the author states what she intends to do in the essay and how she intends to do it.  Paragraphs two, three, and four do what the author has said she would do.  And paragraph five says, in effect, “I told you I was going to do X; I did X in the prior three paragraphs; and now you know about (or should believe) X.”  If you are struggling with writing a short essay, this is a tried-and-true method for writing a clear and clean one.  It is formulaic and lacks some of the more artistic bells and whistles, but it gets the job done.  Most importantly, it imposes a structure and discipline on your writing that will help clarify and refine your thoughts.

Here’s an example of a five-paragraph essay.

       In this essay, I am going to prove to you that if the major industrialized countries of the world undertook actions A, B, and C, we would reduce global emissions of CO₂ by at least 50 percent.  In the next paragraph, I present the evidence that doing A will reduce global emissions of CO₂ by 20 percent.  In the paragraph following that, I will show that doing B will reduce global emissions of CO₂ by 20 percent.  And in the fourth paragraph, I show that doing C will reduce global emissions of CO₂ by at least 10 percent, and maybe more.  [Paragraph 1]

       Scientific studies have shown that doing A will reduce global emissions of CO₂ by 20 percent.  [This is followed by a discussion of the studies.]  [Paragraph 2]

       Other scientific studies have shown that doing B will reduce global emissions of CO₂ by 20 percent.  [This is followed by a discussion of the studies.]  [Paragraph 3]

       Finally, some scientific studies have shown that doing C will reduce global emissions of CO₂ by at least 10 percent and maybe more.  [This is followed by a discussion of the studies.]  [Paragraph 4]

       I have demonstrated that the major industrialized countries can reduce global emissions by at least 50 per cent.  As established in the studies discussed above, each of the three actions is technically feasible.  The question which none of these studies discuss, because it is not a scientific or technical question, is whether these industrialized nations have or will have the political will to take these actions.  If so, we can expect some of the effects of global climate change will be lessened or delayed.  If not, we can expect the consequences of global climate change to worsen in the short and long term.  [Paragraph 5]

What is the relationship of the five-paragraph essay to our discussion of introductions in Reading and in the Workbook?  The introduction to the five-paragraph essay is a simplified form of the Road Map introduction, and such an essay can be an argumentative text in which one the author a Road Map.  If you understand what a Road Map introduction looks like, you likely will be a better writer, since you will have a tool you need to construct a five-paragraph essay, or a much longer one.  If you understand how to write a five-paragraph essay, you likely will have an easier time understanding argumentative texts that employ the Road Map introduction.  This illustrates that being a better writer and being a better reader are just two sides of the same coin.