h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This is a fine entry and incorporates most of the ideas I used in my theory of 1-3-1 for term papers in college. Generally, the formula I used divided the assignment into parts, with part one being the introduction where I stated my position and what I intended to prove or accomplish. Part two would be the body of the work, expounding at least three reasons or sources of evidence for the thesis, and part three, the wrap-up where I would restate the intent and conclude with results.

The size of each section should be at least the same ratio too. If your first paragraph is your intro, your part two should be at least three paragraphs, etc. If you want a paper of 5 pages, your introduction and conclusion can be more expansive than a single paragraph, but your central part still should be at least three times as large as your introduction or concluding sections. This assures you of a paper that feels like a serious treatment of the issue, and not just a paper to meet an assignment, even if that is what it is.

Just don't write the generic "Five-Paragraph Essay"... it's so elementary school! My AP Engligh Lit teacher would rant for hours on the topic of those kind of essays.

Good tips, thanks.