Brannon, Lil, Courtney, Jennifer Pooler, Urbanski, Cynthia P., Woodward, Shana V., Reynolds, Jeanie Marklin, Iannone, Anthony E., Haag, Karen D., Mach, Karen, Manship, Lacy Arnold, & Kendrick, Mary. (2008). The five-paragraph essay and the deficit model of education. English Journal, 98(2), 16-21.
This strongly worded essay decries the prevalent practice of teaching students to write using the five-paragraph essay consisting of a thesis paragraph,three supporting ideas and a concluding paragraph.
I have never had much faith in five-paragraph essays, or in formulaic writing of any kind. The authors’ idea, that such writing teaches mechanistic compliance and prepares urban students for the working clan only, resonated strongly with me. When, in life, do we see such structures? No professional I know uses them. Literary authors do not. It’s a structure created by the school culture and validated by a culture of testing. So I argued with every point made in the essay, which was a response to two essays defending the five-paragraph essay in this same journal (Seo, November 2007, and Smith, March 2006).
My only concern is that the way this essay is written and its choice of language verges at times on “over the top,” which may stop some readers from engaging with its points. A healthy debate would be a good thing.
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