Considering the 5-Paragragh Essay
So, the five paragraph essay. I’m grateful that we’re dedicating some time this week to discussing this topic, because I have not yet figured out my stance. When I was in eighth grade, the entire year was dedicated to mastering the five paragraph essay in preparation for the NJ ASK (New Jersey equivalent of MCA). My friends and I would complain incessantly about all of the boring, repetitive writing assignments and activities in class, wishing that we would do some creative writing or research essays to break up the monotony. However, the day after the ASK writing section, I remember talking to those same friends about how easy the test was. All that redundant practice of the same type of writing prepared us so well for the test that I had no anxiety going to the exam and ended up crushing it.
Now, looking back at that year of five paragraph essays, I can certainly see the benefits of continuing to teach this structure of writing. After reading the “Praise for the Five Paragraph Essay,” letter, my first instinct was to disagree. I doesn’t feel right to compare this kind of essay to poetic forms, except for maybe an acrostic poem; however, the essence of what I think the author was trying to say is that five paragraph essays are the most bare-bones structure, which if students can master, will serve as a jumping off point for them to begin crafting more complex and creatively written/structured essays. Perhaps the most important thing is that students are able to craft an essay, period.
My hesitation in embracing the five paragraph essay comes from my experience of the process through which it was taught. At the time we learned this structure, maybe to convince us that it was important to learn, my teacher made it seem like this was THE way to write essays. It took me years to embrace the idea that essays can be far more intricate than the five paragraph structure allows; in fact, I remember being anxious the first time I was assigned a five page paper, because I had no idea how I was going to make the paragraphs long enough to cover five pages!
My other issue with how I was taught to write this form of essay was, as I mentioned before, the redundancy. I got sick of writing papers about whether or not our school should have a uniform and why it’s important to recycle. This could have easily been resolved if we wrote essays about current events, responding to books and poems we read in class, about popular culture, etc. There are so infinite topics about which students will have (or at least, can develop) strong opinions, so if we are prioritizing the learning/practice of this skill - writing coherent essay - why not expand the contexts they’re writing in beyond dry, pre-prepared prompts from the ‘90s?
Now, looking back at that year of five paragraph essays, I can certainly see the benefits of continuing to teach this structure of writing. After reading the “Praise for the Five Paragraph Essay,” letter, my first instinct was to disagree. I doesn’t feel right to compare this kind of essay to poetic forms, except for maybe an acrostic poem; however, the essence of what I think the author was trying to say is that five paragraph essays are the most bare-bones structure, which if students can master, will serve as a jumping off point for them to begin crafting more complex and creatively written/structured essays. Perhaps the most important thing is that students are able to craft an essay, period.
My hesitation in embracing the five paragraph essay comes from my experience of the process through which it was taught. At the time we learned this structure, maybe to convince us that it was important to learn, my teacher made it seem like this was THE way to write essays. It took me years to embrace the idea that essays can be far more intricate than the five paragraph structure allows; in fact, I remember being anxious the first time I was assigned a five page paper, because I had no idea how I was going to make the paragraphs long enough to cover five pages!
My other issue with how I was taught to write this form of essay was, as I mentioned before, the redundancy. I got sick of writing papers about whether or not our school should have a uniform and why it’s important to recycle. This could have easily been resolved if we wrote essays about current events, responding to books and poems we read in class, about popular culture, etc. There are so infinite topics about which students will have (or at least, can develop) strong opinions, so if we are prioritizing the learning/practice of this skill - writing coherent essay - why not expand the contexts they’re writing in beyond dry, pre-prepared prompts from the ‘90s?
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