The document provides instructions and an example for writing a three paragraph essay. The introductory paragraph should include a thesis statement and transitional hook. The body paragraph presents the strongest argument or example and transitions to the final point. The summary paragraph restates the thesis and main ideas, references the introduction, and concludes the discussion. An example essay describes an embarrassing high school dance experience to illustrate the three paragraph structure.

1. Three Paragraph Essay
By
Dr. J

2. Three Paragraph Essay: Introductory
• The introductory paragraph should also include
the thesis statement, a kind of mini-outline for
the essay.
• This is where the writer grabs the reader's
attention.
• It tells the reader what the paper is about.
• The last sentence of this paragraph must also
include a transitional "hook" which moves the
reader to the first paragraph of the body of the
essay.

3. Three Paragraph Essay: Body
• This paragraph should include the strongest
argument, most significant example, cleverest
illustration, or an obvious beginning point.
• The subject for this paragraph should be in the
first or second sentence.
• This subject should relate to the thesis statement
in the introductory paragraph.
• The last sentence in this paragraph should
include a transition that signals the reader that
this is the final major point being made in this
essay.

4. Three Paragraph Essay: Summary
• The third paragraph is the summary
paragraph.
• It is important to restate the thesis and the
supporting idea in an original and powerful
way as this is the last chance the writer has to
convince the reader of the validity of the
information presented.

5. Three Paragraph Essay: Summary
• This paragraph should include the following:
– an allusion to the pattern used in the introductory
paragraph,
– a restatement of the thesis statement, using
some of the original language or language that
"echoes" the original language.
– a summary of the main point from the body of
the essay
– a final statement that gives the reader signals that
the discussion has come to an end

6. Example: 1st Paragraph
I've had a great many embarrassing moments in
my life. Some of the most embarrassing have
occurred while I was attending school. One of these
moments happened in high school during my junior
year. I remember it well because it concerned an
event that I deeply feared I would encounter during
my formative years: a high school dance. Not that I
was a poor dancer. Nothing of the sort! It was just
that I had to do it with girls. Later in life, I found out
that if I had to do it, doing it with girls had its
advantages. But that's another story.

7. Example 2nd paragraph
The scene was the high school cafeteria. The red-faced
moment occurred during a Sadie Hawkin's Day auction. There
was, you see, a particular girl attending said school who was
very ugly. She was so ugly, in fact, that we--my school
compadres and I--used the word "ooglay" to refer to her: a
word that connotes outright, without-a-doubt nastiness in the
looks department. Anyway, lucky me, old "parrot-beak" (as we
sometimes called her), with a great deal of fanfare and
flourish, picked me as the slob of the hour and plunked down
good money to confirm her choice. Embarrassed isn't really
the word I want here. Mortified is more like it. I was
mortified, horrified, embarrassed, and downright shocked at
the prospect of attending a school dance with the Beast of
Babcock High.

8. Example 3rd paragraph
Looking back at this event with an aged
eye, an eye steeped in a broth of maturity and
experience, I find that I am still embarrassed. My
embarrassment today, however, stems from the
realization that never was I so cruel and heartless as
I was at that auction some thirty years ago. Often
do I wonder how that girl must have felt as the jeers
and catcalls of an undisciplined mob cascaded
around her. I fervently hope that I shall never meet
this girl face to face in the present. That would
surely be the most embarrassing moment of my
life.