The Good Old Reliable Three- Point Essay. Does your mind go blank when you have to prepare a speech or write an English assignment? Do you stare at your

The Good Old Reliable Three-

Point Essay

Does your mind go blank when you have to prepare a speech or

write an English assignment?

Do you stare at your notebook, chew your pen, and ask yourself

helplessly, "What can I write about?" or "What can I say?"

If so, there is an easy solution to your problem

- a solution that preachers, politicians, and commencement

speakers have known about for years

All you have to do is pick a topic - any topic - and say three things

about it.

Give three examples of good sportsmanship,

three reasons why your school should abolish tardies,

three qualities that make a perfect football player,

three results of poor study habits,

three things you hate about worms.

In the study of composition, such

an essay is called a three-point

enumeration

The three-point essay is:• short, • easy to organize, • easy to prepare, and • easy for a reader or

listener to remember.

For a student, the best way to organize a three-point essay is

to plan five paragraphs.

In the first paragraph, you should introduce your subject and indicate what your approach will be, perhaps even listing your three points.

Avoid boring introductions such as "in this paper I will try to explain three results of poor study habits."

Instead, you might begin like this:

Brrrrrrring! The alarm clock sounds in my ear. I grab the clock and throw it against the wall, and let out a loud groan. Another Monday morning has arrived, and I never opened a book all weekend. What if Mr. Johnson gives another one of his diabolical pop tests today? Suddenly I feel too sick to eat breakfast. My poor study habits are giving me nervous indigestion, ruining my self-confidence, and destroying my hopes for a college scholarship.

Brrrrrrring! The alarm clock sounds in my ear. I grab the clock and throw it against the wall, and let out a loud groan. Another Monday morning has arrived, and I never opened a book all weekend. What if Mr. Johnson gives another one of his diabolical pop tests today? Suddenly I feel too sick to eat breakfast. My poor study habits are (1) giving me nervous indigestion, (2)ruining my self-confidence, and (3) destroying my hopes for a college scholarship.

The next three paragraphs should cover the three main points: - a paragraph about indigestion, - a paragraph about self-confidence, - and a final, perhaps longer, paragraph about college and scholarships. * Be sure to save your most important and interesting point until this fourth paragraph.

Your fifth paragraph should be a conclusion in which you summarize or perhaps suggest some kind of action.

But I refuse to give up. I'm tired of being sick to my stomach, tired of feeling guilty, tired of worrying about college. Starting today, I'm going to use the study hall and the library for studying instead of daydreaming. Starting tonight, I'll finish my homework before I watch television. University of Chicago, Here I come!

You may be wondering whether it is necessary to limit yourself to three points. Why not four or seven or nineteen? There's no magic in the number three, but a good writer or speaker will be wary of boring or confusing his readers or audience.

For example..

I want to say three things about freedom…

…the Mayor of Springfield begins his speech at the annual Fourth of July picnic.

He might also say four or five things about freedom and still keep everyone's attention.

But if he says seven things about freedom, he's flirting with trouble,

And if he says 29 things about freedom, his speech will be a disaster, even if he somehow manages to keep it down to fifteen minutes.

Half of the audience will be snickering, the other half will be grinding their teeth, and no one will remember any of the 29 points.

Shakespeare said “Brevity (shortness) is the soul of wit (intelligence).” He was right! (to a point). Too long, you bore your audience. Too short, you won’t have an effective paper. Three main points is juuuuuust right!

The End

NOW

A Little Refresher!

Body Paragraphs –

The Basic Building Block

Topic Sentence First Sentence of proof Second sentence of proof Third Sentence of proof Concluding Sentence

Now, if you can string five of these paragraphs together….

Paragraph Multi-Paragraph

Topic Sentence

First Sentence of proof Second sentence of proof Third Sentence of proof

Concluding Sentence

Introductory Paragraph First paragraph of proof Second paragraph of proof Third paragraph of proof Concluding Paragraph

Review: Three Points, Five Paragraphs

IntroductionThesis Statement: My poor study habits aregiving me nervous indigestion, ruining my self-confidence, and destroying my hopes for a college scholarship.

¶ 1

A paragraph about

indigestion

A paragraph about self-confidence

A paragraph about college

and scholarships

Conclusion & Call to ActionMay restate thesis in different words

Sick to my stomach Feeling guilty Worrying about college

¶ 2 ¶ 3 ¶ 4

¶ 5

Review: Three Points, Five Paragraphs

IntroductionThesis Statement:

May list the three points¶ 1

A paragraph about point

one

A paragraph about point two


three


¶ 2 ¶ 3 ¶ 4

¶ 5

DOING THE MATH

IntroductionThesis Statement:

May list the three points¶ 1


one

A paragraph about point two


three


¶ 2 ¶ 3 ¶ 4

¶ 5

3-5 sentences or more

5 sentences or more

5 sentences or more

5 sentences or more

3-5 sentences or more

TOTAL:21-25

sentences or more

What To Remember(Write this Down)

- You should have one introductory paragraph.- You should have at least 3 body paragraphs.- You should have one concluding paragraph.

- That’s five paragraphs total.- Each of the body paragraphs should have at

least five to seven sentences.- The introduction and conclusion should have

three to five sentences.


- Your introduction should do three things:- 1. Have some attention grabbing sentence or

two to begin the paragraph.- 2. Present the issue in the second or third

sentence.- 3. Present your thesis (what you’re going to

prove) in the third, fourth, or fifth sentence.- Your introduction should not do these things:

- 1. Say “In this paper…”- 2. Say “I’m going to prove…


- Your body paragraphs should do the following:- 1. Have a topic sentence.- 2. Have three to five supporting sentences.- 3. Have a concluding sentence.

- Your conclusion should do the following:- Have an attention grabbing first sentence.- Restate the thesis in the second sentence.- Sum up the entire piece in the third sentence

or have a call to action for the audience (i.e. tell them what you want them to do).

Making it Quality(write this down)

Things to Avoid:

• Saying “I, me, or we”*• Saying “you or your”*• Using emotional appeals• Stating opinions as facts• Restate the same

evidence in more than one paragraph

Things to Do:• Use “one” or “many”

instead of I, me, you, or

we*• Provide real world

examples• Appeal to logic• Quote an expert• Include a counter-argument

and refute it*unless the prompt asks you to write a personal piece.

THE END

Now you try!

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The Good Old Reliable Three- Point Essay. Does your mind go blank when you have to prepare a speech or write an English assignment? Do you stare at your