The Five-Paragraph Critical Essay
Nine Stages to Success
Stage I – Identify a Topic
A topic is an area in which to narrow your focus, but is still too broad to build a critical essay on.
Stage II – Return to Your Sources
Identify as many examples as you can which are related to your topic. Use whatever methods are comfortable for you – graphic organizers, word webs, brainstorming, group discussions, or old-fashioned jotting-notes-down-on-paper.
Stage III – Reexamine Your Examples
Re-read, re-view, re-hear those passages that you have identified as relevant. This is where you begin to narrow your topic. Decide which of those examples fit together (and how). Those examples that don’t seem to fit should be discarded at this time.
Stage IV – Select a Tentative Thesis
This is a crucial step. A thesis is a one-sentence statement containing the core of the results of your analysis. It’s what you have learned, and what you want to convey to your audience. In addition to being informative, a good thesis will be challenging and provocative.
Stage V – Choose Your Weapons
For a five-paragraph critical essay, find the three examples that will best support and explain your thesis.
Reexamine and rework these examples, bearing in mind how they pertain to your thesis. (As you do so, you may find that you want to adjust or fine-tune your thesis).
Stage VI – Outline Your Essay
Before you begin writing, think about the best order in which to present your arguments and examples. Consider how the paper will flow from one paragraph/example to the next. Will C-B-A make a better paper than A-B-C? How about B-A-C?
Make a written outline. This may seem like a waste of time, but it’s not. Organization can make or break a paper. Include the main idea of each paragraph – make sure there is only one! – and the supporting example. Check to see that the main idea supports/defends your thesis.
Stage VII – Write the First Draft
Whew! After all that preliminary work, this is the easy part. (If you’ve done your job well, written a good outline, you could even hand it off to someone else to write – and she’d be able to do it.) Pay attention to minor details: spelling, grammar, word choice, etc.
(You might find yourself revising your thesis at this point. As you have to finally put ideas into words, you will find them clarifying and sometimes changing.)
Stage VIII – Comment and Feedback
You can do this yourself, and you should learn to do it yourself, but it can be helpful to have someone else do it for you (and the more unfamiliar he is with the material, the better).
Identify passages that are not clear, arguments that do not stand up. Look for silly technical errors that have crept in. Polish where you can.
Stage IX – Rewrite and Submit
Make sure that the final product is technically flawless. Careless errors send bad messages to your readers. Make sure the overall appearance is as becoming as possible. While presentation is no substitute for content, it can act as a lovely garnish.
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