The 5-Paragraph Essay: A Simple Way to Write WAEC Essay

The 5-Paragraph Essay: A Simple Way to Write WAEC Essay

– Dr Ibraheem Dooba

When we were in secondary school, we had excellent English teachers. However, while they taught us essay writing, they paid scant attention to how to write it. That is, we were not shown the moves that matter in essay writing. This means that while we could tell a good essay from a bad one, we didn’t know the steps to follow to write good ones. So, we were left to shoot in the dark, sometimes we hit the target, some days we missed. Today, I want to remove students from the uncertain situation.

I understand that senior secondary students have started writing their NECO examinations and that they will sit for the English language exam on the second of August 2021.

Accordingly, the 5-paragraph essay is one useful tool that any student can use to write the required 450 words effortlessly. As the name implies, this essay is written in five paragraphs: one each for the introduction and conclusion and three paragraphs for the body.

The good thing about this tool is that you can use it to write any of the six questions in the essay section – from the formal letter to the article for publication.

But if I were a student writing the examination, I would choose to answer the debate question or the informal letter. The debate is easy to tackle. However, there are some years (such as WAEC 1997) that do not feature the debate question – even though such omissions are rare. When that happens, you should choose to write an informal letter.

In this article, I will show you how to write an essay using the 5-paragraph technique, then I will use one of the WAEC (1996) questions to implement the steps.

Here is a summary of how to write the essay: in the introduction, tell the readers what you want to tell them. In the body, tell them (using three or more points). Finally, use the conclusion to tell them that you have told them. Let me explain each step.

Introduction

The goal of the introduction is to tell your reader what the essay is about. Therefore, the introduction of a debate is divided into three parts: the greetings, stating your position (whether you’re opposing or proposing) and a brief mention of your three points.

Example:
“Mr Chairman, the panel of judges, the time-keeper, my co-debaters, ladies and gentlemen. I stand before you today to oppose the motion that says ‘the female child is more beneficial to her parents than the male child’. In doing that, I will support my position with the following three points: one, the male child is the only one guaranteed to keep the family name. Two, it is the male child who shoulders the responsibility of providing for the family and the male presence in the family is enough security. In the next paragraphs, I will argue each point in detail.”

Body

The body has three paragraphs. One paragraph for each point. Some students find the body to be the most difficult part to write. After writing the first sentence of their point, they get stuck. They don’t know how to explain the point to increase their word count. I have a solution. For every paragraph, follow five steps: one, state your point. Two, use meta-commentary to repeat the point once or twice (setting it off by using phrases like that is, this means that, in essence, etc.). Three, give an example. Four, use a proverb, a quote or a metaphor and explain it. Five, introduce a naysayer. That is, argue the viewpoint of your opponent and immediately attack it. For example, “my opponent will argue that female children are more beneficial to their parents because they help in the kitchen. But that argument is weak if you consider the fact that it is the male child who provides the food for the parents. So I believe that the person who provides is more useful than the person who prepares.”

Then move on to the next point. If you follow the above five steps for each paragraph, you would never be short of what to write again. To demonstrate, let me write one complete paragraph.

“First, the male child keeps the family name. This means that it is the boy who perpetuates the father’s name. In essence, the girl will get married and adopt her husband’s name. For instance, my friend’s sister got married and changed from Maryam Ahmad Bukar to Maryam Mahmud Sodangi. Since they are the only children of their parents, it became the sole responsibility of my friend to maintain the father’s name. I agree with our religious teacher who was fond of saying “you boys are supposed to be the providers, the protectors and guardians to your female relatives. You should remember this responsibility. A boy is never too young to learn this.” The essence of my teacher’s counsel was to prepare us to shoulder our responsibilities and be the pillars of our families and communities. I know that the opposing speakers would say that some cultures, such as Islam, allow – even mandate – their women to keep their fathers’ names. I concede that this is true. But you should also concede that even in the Islamic culture, some women prefer to use their husband’s names.”

Easy isn’t it? I generated 178 words in the paragraph above because I followed the five steps. Two additional paragraphs will fetch you 500 words. So you should follow the same steps for the remaining two points. If you do that, your problem would be having too many words. But that is a better problem to have than having too few.

Conclusion

The conclusion is like the introduction except that it restates what you have already stated and why that is important. So it also has three parts: one, restate your position. Two, mention the three points again. Three, mention why your position is important and why it should be accepted.

Example:

“In conclusion, I am opposed to the motion say says boys are less beneficial to their parents and poignantly argued my position with irrefutable facts; namely, the male child is the only one guaranteed to keep the family name, it is he who shoulders the responsibility of providing for the family and it is the male child who offers security for the family. This position is important because while it is commendable to fight for the equality of women, it is completely unacceptable to demote and demean the men in the process.”

I wish you the best grade in your examination.

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~ Ibraheem Dooba