A Flexible Essay Model - Academic Skills - Trent University

Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay

Beyond the Five Paragraph Essay Model
Use A More Flexible Essay Model

Beyond the Five Paragraph Essay Model

Most high school courses teach only one way to block an argument: the 5 paragraph essay. One main argument is broken down into 3 clear examples which support that argument. The example below shows how a thesis might be organized into a 5-paragraph essay:

The High School Five-Paragraph Essay Model

Thesis: "During the 1920s, the image of the ideal American woman underwent dramatic changes in terms of fashion, athleticism, and sexuality. While these changes seemed to make women more liberated, in reality, they had little impact on most women’s everyday lives."

Paragraph 1: Introduction

Paragraph 2: Changes in Fashion had little impact on most women

fashion before 1920s
changes during the 1920s
little real impact

Paragraph 3: Changes in Athleticism had little impact on most women

athleticism before 1920s
changes during the 1920s
little real impact

Paragraph 4: Changes in sexuality had little impact on most women.

sexuality before 1920s
changes during the 1920s
little real impact

Paragraph 5: Conclusion

The five paragraph essay was devised with the good intention of helping students write essays by offering a one-size-fits-all pattern or structure that students could follow. There is nothing inherently wrong with the five-paragraph essay as a learning tool for writing short essays, but it doesn't work for a ten-page paper or prove a thesis that makes two arguments. A five-paragraph essay template in these (and most academic) cases usually results in a frustrating paper that contains overly long paragraphs and an unclear structure.

Use A More Flexible Essay Model

University assignments require organizational forms that incorporate more than 5 paragraphs and do more than simply list examples to develop a single point. For example, the thesis in the example above would be supported more effectively if it were organized into a different organizational scheme:

A Flexible, Academic Model for Organizing Arguments

Thesis: During the 1920s, the image of the ideal American woman underwent dramatic changes in terms of athleticism, sexuality, and fashion. While these changes seemed to make women more liberated, in reality, they had little impact on most women’s everyday lives.

First Paragraph : Introduction

Argument 1 (could be more than 1 paragraph): Before the 1920s, the ideal American woman was seen as domestic and pure and this was reflected in the restrictive, feminine clothing of the era.

Argument 2 (could be more than 1 paragraph): During the 1920s, this image changed as the physically fit, overtly sexual, and masculine-dressed flapper became the new ideal.

Argument 3 (could be more than 1 paragraph): This new ideal seemed to make women more liberated.

Argument 4 (could be more than 1 paragraph): In reality, it had little impact on women’s everyday lives.

Last Paragraph: Conclusion

In this example, the argument first describes the change that occurred and then evaluates its impact. There are no limits on the number of paragraphs you can or should write. Instead, each section develops one part of the thesis in however many paragraphs are needed.