How To Write A 5-Paragraph Essay Outline: Tips And Examples


So you have been tasked with writing a 5 paragraph essay outline, and you haven’t a clue where to start. Your brain has turned to mush, and your stomach is churning just at the very thought of it. Don’t panic, it this is a perfectly normal reaction, and thankfully, I am here to help you overcome this. Lecturers just love these paper, and they are the bread and butter of the course, the basics which when mastered corrected, the rest of your knowledge will flow like a spring.

  • The first thing to remember is that this a standard model within education. You are not the first person to be asked to do this, and you are certainly not going to be the last.

  • Do not be tempted to cut corners, or fall into the trap of thinking that you don’t require an outline. Trust me, you do. Failure to do this will most likely result in a poorly organized paper.

  • Choose an outline to follow and stick with it.

  • Use Roman Numerals

  • If you don’t have the luxury of choosing your topic, then you must ensure that you fully understand the topic that you have been allocated. Otherwise, you will end up writing something fluffy and irrelevant.

  • You need clarity of thought. Take the original content and reword it so that it totally makes sense to you.

  • Choose an opinion, or argument and stick with it consistently throughout. It helps if you believe the stance that you are taking. However, this is not compulsory.

  • Jot down subtitles in order or importance. Start with the most important and work down to least important.

  • This might seem blindingly obvious, but your introduction and conclusion need to be very different from each other. Getting the introduction and conclusion right from the start can make a vast difference. It is then just a case of joining the dots and filling in with the remainder.

  • An outline is the skeleton of your paper, and once that is in place then all it needs is padding out with the fleshy parts and made to look pleasing to the eye.

  • Front load new information. Inserting it into your conclusion will just seem like a lazy afterthought and could seriously impair your grade.

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