Hey everyone. I thought I would show you guys how a 5 paragraph essay works for those who don't take English class.
Paragraph I: Introduction - State your opinion on the matter and BRIEFLY talk about what you're going to talk about in the rest of the essay.
Paragraph II: Body Paragraph - State one of the reasons you feel this way and expand upon it.
Paragraph III: Body Paragraph - State another one of the reasons you feel this way and expand upon it.
Paragraph IV: Body Paragraph - State another one of the reasons you feel this way and expand upon it.
Paragraph V: Conclusion - Wrap things up and maybe throw in another small piece of information to back your opinion up.
That's it. Since many people have never heard of the 5 paragraph format, I won't be too much of a nazi when it comes to formatting. Hopefully the other judges won't either. Also, if an absolutely amazing essay is written, but in incorrect format, I would choose for that specific essay to win over a TERRIBLE essay written in the correct format. The format is only one part of the criteria we are looking for. So don't go nuts over putting your essay in the correct format if you do not know how to do so. We mainly want people who are truly dedicated to this contest. So if you're a crappy English writer, don't worry too much. Sure it will lower your chances slightly, but if you're essay is full of great information that will impress us, you have a higher chance of winning compared to Mr. A+ English who doesn't make any sense in his essay.
So don't let this format scare you into not submitting an essay. We aren't going to be grammar nazis. We just want you to tell your ideas in an organized matter.
I hope that clears things up for those thinking about not writing an essay simply because they don't know how to write a 5 paragraph essay.
Also, if you give us data (Ex. 17,000 people die each year from witnessing a magic trick), please at the end of your essay, link us to the source that gave you such truthful data so we know you aren't making up statistics. (That statistic is true! I swear it!)
-Doug