While a well-done 5-paragraph essay may exhibit some traits that we value in other forms of writing – engaging opening, clear focus/thesis, transitions between ideas, general coherence – the writing ...

The five-paragraph essay is a mainstay of high school writing instruction, designed to teach students how to compose a simple thesis and defend it in a methodical, easily graded package.

In formal writing, it is sometimes incumbent upon us to write a paragraph to define what a term means or how we are going to use it in a particular situation. This is called a paragraph of definition.