What is the best way to start a middle school level essay that will impress your teacher?

There are a few things you can do to impress your teacher. In a five paragraph essay on Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl, your first paragraph is the most important. A good first paragraph does a couple of things:

• Introduces the book by summarizing the plot. Example: Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl is about a Jewish family who hides from the Nazis in occupied Amsterdam.


• Introduces the focus of your essay. Example: Inside the secret annex, living conditions were tough for the residents.


• Concludes with a clear thesis statement. Example: The cramped annex caused the tension between Anne and her family throughout the book.

If the above example was your thesis statement, each of your three body paragraphs would explain a different way the annex caused tension between Anne and her family.

Another way to make your first paragraph shine is carefully checking for spelling or other grammar errors. These mistakes distract the reader from what you're trying to say in your essay.