In our last installment, we looked at how the traditional 5 Paragraph
essay becomes less viable the longer the paper is that the student is
asked to write. We also discussed the fact that longer essays demand
more detail and more complex exploration of ideas. This leads into
another weakness of the 5 Paragraph essay model.
essay becomes less viable the longer the paper is that the student is
asked to write. We also discussed the fact that longer essays demand
more detail and more complex exploration of ideas. This leads into
another weakness of the 5 Paragraph essay model.
The 5 Paragraph essay boils any argument or subject down to 3
supporting ideas. No more. No less. Three of course is an arbitrary
number. Who is to say that there three and only 3 supporting ideas?
What if a student has 4 valid supporting ideas? What about 5? Or 6?
The 5 Paragraph essay can stunt the development of students' thoughts by
holding them to an unnecessarily restrictive formula. Discussions of
intricate social and historical issues, or detailed analysis of a literary text cannot often be handled sosimply. In fact, handling them in such a way unfairly lead a reader to
conclude that a particular issue has not been fully understood or
considered by a reader.
supporting ideas. No more. No less. Three of course is an arbitrary
number. Who is to say that there three and only 3 supporting ideas?
What if a student has 4 valid supporting ideas? What about 5? Or 6?
The 5 Paragraph essay can stunt the development of students' thoughts by
holding them to an unnecessarily restrictive formula. Discussions of
intricate social and historical issues, or detailed analysis of a literary text cannot often be handled sosimply. In fact, handling them in such a way unfairly lead a reader to
conclude that a particular issue has not been fully understood or
considered by a reader.
For this reason, as students--particularly those in high school--become
more sophisticated in their thinking and opinions, it is best to begin
distancing them from the comfortable and reassuring 5 Paragraph model.
No comments:
Post a Comment