April 1, 2008
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Does the five-paragraph essay still exist?
It seems odd to me to limit writing in that way.
Then again, I ask for an amount of words on my assignments.
Does the five-paragraph essay still exist?
It seems odd to me to limit writing in that way.
Then again, I ask for an amount of words on my assignments.
Comments (3)
Not only does it exist, it’s what’s tested for writing on the ISAT and the PSAE and the ACT. If kids in Illinois can’t do it, the school goes on the watch list, and your school wonders if you’re doing your job. Gotta love NCLB.
Silly college teacher. You want kids to think? To be original? BUT THEY HAVE TO PASS THE STATE TEST!
(In a more serious response, though, as boring as the five-paragraph essay is, kids do need some sort of instruction in organization, argumentation, critical thinking, et. al., before you encourage them to break out on their own and ignore the “rules”… good writing comes from deliberate choices.)
I hear you on that; however, when our dept met with high school teachers in our area of ND, the teachers were already teaching that (and going beyond in some cases to basic research papers). So, I guess, I figure that students are already getting that organizational skill at the high school level. They should be, and can be, doing multi-genre work in college with minimal problems.
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