Tutors 21 | - Freelance Writer
Jan 12, 2019 | #1
As grammar school students, the rudiments of writing are provided as story telling lessons. "How Did You Spend Your Summer?" being one of the common story topics that seem like a rite of passage for students learning to write. The instructions are simple. Write 5 sentences in 5 paragraphs. Describe your summer in no more than 250 words. 5 paragraphs, 250 words - these are the basis for essay writing. What's wrong with that? Uniformity has its benefits. It keeps the guesswork out of writing. The students need instructions to learn how to do something right, that includes essay writing. Well, as an educator, I don't really believe in the 5-paragraph essay. Why? Let's consider several reasons, which, I am sure you will agree with as students.
I. Formulaic writing only works for beginner.
When I first started writing essays as a child, I knew very little about the world around me and could not write anything beyond what happened to me at school during the day. Having these preset instructions to follow helped me get my homework done. I knew that if I wrote 5 sentences and formatted it to look like a paragraph, I would have met the most basic requirements of my teacher. Whether I wrote anything of value or not at this point was not an issue. I just needed to remember the format for future use. As I advanced academically though, I began to find that the 5-paragraph essay was become increasingly difficult to stick to.
II. 5 Paragraphs only starts the discussion.
For high school students who have the gift of gab or a love of research, the 5-paragraph essay won't do them much good. 5 paragraphs will only help them introduce and discuss one topic in relation to a given instruction. The one topic per paragraph requirement that worked early on will no longer cut it. The student needs more space to let his knowledge and understanding flow. The student will have worked himself up to at least a 10-paragraph essay by that point.
III. 5 paragraphs don't prove the student learned about the discussion topic.
If a teacher or professor really wants to discover the student is paying attention in class, he needs to assign more than a 5-paragraph, 250 word essay. That is because the more the student must write, the more evidence of learning will be produced through the essay. What and how the student understands the lesson can be discovered by the amount of useful and authoritative information the student can include in an essay.
IV. 5 paragraph writing stifles the thinking process.
If a student is to become intellectually mature, observational, and inquisitive, more room must be provided for this type of development in essay writing. This requires more words to be written, more paragraphs to be developed, and more probing prompts to be provided. Things that a 5-paragraph essay will not provide due to the limited discussion space allotted.
V. Short essay writing does not prepare the student for college.
College essay papers are normally research papers of no less than 5 pages. Professors require the students to be able to write clear and well-structured essays that show an advanced writing skill. Since the students are used to writing only short essays, they come to college ill prepared for the rigorous and demanding research papers for their subjects.
It is imperative that the thinking process of a student be developed in preparation for college as soon as he starts learning to write essays. Encouraging the student to write more analytical pieces, filled with clear and informative paragraphs will best prepare him for the writing requirements of his eventual college course and will lessen his need to require writing help as a college student.
I. Formulaic writing only works for beginner.
When I first started writing essays as a child, I knew very little about the world around me and could not write anything beyond what happened to me at school during the day. Having these preset instructions to follow helped me get my homework done. I knew that if I wrote 5 sentences and formatted it to look like a paragraph, I would have met the most basic requirements of my teacher. Whether I wrote anything of value or not at this point was not an issue. I just needed to remember the format for future use. As I advanced academically though, I began to find that the 5-paragraph essay was become increasingly difficult to stick to.II. 5 Paragraphs only starts the discussion.
For high school students who have the gift of gab or a love of research, the 5-paragraph essay won't do them much good. 5 paragraphs will only help them introduce and discuss one topic in relation to a given instruction. The one topic per paragraph requirement that worked early on will no longer cut it. The student needs more space to let his knowledge and understanding flow. The student will have worked himself up to at least a 10-paragraph essay by that point.
III. 5 paragraphs don't prove the student learned about the discussion topic.
If a teacher or professor really wants to discover the student is paying attention in class, he needs to assign more than a 5-paragraph, 250 word essay. That is because the more the student must write, the more evidence of learning will be produced through the essay. What and how the student understands the lesson can be discovered by the amount of useful and authoritative information the student can include in an essay.
IV. 5 paragraph writing stifles the thinking process.
If a student is to become intellectually mature, observational, and inquisitive, more room must be provided for this type of development in essay writing. This requires more words to be written, more paragraphs to be developed, and more probing prompts to be provided. Things that a 5-paragraph essay will not provide due to the limited discussion space allotted.
V. Short essay writing does not prepare the student for college.
College essay papers are normally research papers of no less than 5 pages. Professors require the students to be able to write clear and well-structured essays that show an advanced writing skill. Since the students are used to writing only short essays, they come to college ill prepared for the rigorous and demanding research papers for their subjects.
It is imperative that the thinking process of a student be developed in preparation for college as soon as he starts learning to write essays. Encouraging the student to write more analytical pieces, filled with clear and informative paragraphs will best prepare him for the writing requirements of his eventual college course and will lessen his need to require writing help as a college student.