I’d like to applaud Otis Blackwell, Eddie Cooley and Peggy Lee for writing the closest thing I’ve ever heard to a five-paragraph-essay song.
(Please note that I’m not here to discuss whether the thesis of the essay is CORRECT, nor to discuss the ethics or accuracy of the examples. This is just about the FORMAT of the essay. Feel free to analyze the content in another post.)
1. Hook: A personal anecdote that introduces the main idea of the essay
Never know how much I love you Never know how much I care When you put your arms around me I get a fever that's so hard to bear You give me fever
2. Thesis: Clearly stating the point illustrated by their anecdote:
Everybody's got the fever That is something you all know Fever isn't such a new thing Fever started long ago
3. Body Paragraph 1: Specific example with commentary to support the thesis.
’Romeo loved Juliet Juliet, she felt the same When he put his arms around her He said, "Julie, baby, you're my flame" Thou giveth fever
4. Body Paragraph 2: Specific example with commentary to support the thesis
Captain Smith and Pocahontas Had a very mad affair When her daddy tried to kill him She said, "Daddy, oh, don't you dare" He gives me fever
5. Conclusion: Restate your thesis
Now you've listened to my story Here's the point that I have made Chicks were born to give you fever Be it Fahrenheit or Centigrade They give you fever
My only note is of course that the hook here takes up two whole paragraphs, with a third for the thesis, while there are only two body paragraphs. For a more traditional five paragraph format, they should tighten up that hook to be more of a teaser, so the hook and thesis together can be paragraph one, Then they can add a third body paragraph where they expand on that personal story introduced in the hook. But considering they were PROBABLY not intending to turn this in for English class, they did a remarkably good job and damn do I wish I was still teaching so I could use this for an example. But I’m not, so tumblr gets to read it instead :P
