In Defense of the Much Maligned Five-Paragraph Essay

Below is recent opinion piece . . . and below that, my response in defense of the much maligned five-paragraph essay. 

FOUR CHEERS FOR THE DEATH OF THE FIVE-PARAGRAPH ESSAY.

This is why you shouldn't teach or require it...except, perhaps, as one of a thousand possible organizational forms.

Don't take a course based on it. Don't demand it as standard. As the primary model for expression, it short-circuits insight, devalues writing, and gives a cheap highway to conclusion.

The five-paragraph essay, bête noire of writing professors, encapsulates this: a straitjacket format never seen in the wild, where actual writers have to be flexible, creative, and intuitive based on genre and audience, the five-paragraph model is wholly artificial. And since the only person who reads it is an adult who holds a grade over the writer’s head, this example of “education folklore” (Warner’s term) socializes students to obsess about grades (which research shows are detrimental to learning and merely increase anxiety) and view The Teacher as the only arbiter of quality, who judges everything according to a strict rubric. All that matters is the final score, which can be standardized, rather than the kind of rich, in-depth, guiding feedback that only experienced teachers can provide their students. In overcrowded, over-tested classrooms, students come to see every assignment as just another flaming hoop to jump through.

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/students-want-to-write-well-we-dont-let-them/?fbclid=IwAR2H4xxmxXNetV0EaNhnB-_o3QRmh1eRi_LplreCp8lzsy0RP_S7DcPHc5k#!

I STRONGLY disagree. I've encountered similar criticisms before, and I think all of them miss the point of the five-paragraph essay: to organize one's thoughts logically. Its structure requires young writers to build a well supported essay that logically describes their topic, or logically supports their thesis. I liken it to learning to read via phonics, versus the whole word 'exposure' approach. Once a student learns to build a thorough and logical explanation of a topic or defense of a thesis, s/he can branch out to other writing formats. 

 What is it the five-paragraph essay?  First paragraph: introduce your readers to your topic or thesis.  2nd, 3rd, 4th (and more, if you wish) paragraphs: devoted to topical information or arguments supporting your thesis.  Final paragraph: summary of the information, or a logical conclusion based upon your arguments.  IOW, the five-paragraph essay is a means to an end, not the pinnacle of writing style. It's a structure and a plan.

It's comparable to learning how to build a basic house - foundation, walls, roof.  Once you've mastered the basics, you can design your future homes as creatively as you wish. But the young builder needs more than a pile of shingles and 2x4s; the young writer needs more than ideas and arguments piled onto a paper.  

This critic of the five-paragraph format makes another mistake, asserting that teaching the five-paragraph structure precludes teachers providing "rich, in-depth, guiding feedback . . . " While uninspiring teaching exists, we cannot lay that at the feet of the five-paragraph organizational format.  A good teacher can teach both structure and style, both logical sequence and sentence variety, both critical analysis and story-telling.

So . . . .we will continue to use the five-paragraph essay format to teach writing at Trinity Prep.  

Thanks for joining me for another Trinity Prep Talk!

---Leslie Kent
School Director