When I read the title “The Five Paragraph Essay,” my mind immediately went to the formula that we all know: introduction, body paragraph(s), conclusion, etc. Then, I remembered all the times I took a standardized test in which I had to write a five paragraph essay. During these times, I don’t recall feeling creative, being interested in, or enjoying what I was writing about. Back then, I may have thought it was because this writing was going to be graded and would affect my success in the next level of schooling. I might have even appreciated that I had a formula I could use for reference. But now, after reading this prompt, maybe the worst part of the five paragraph essay was that overwhelming feeling that I had to stick to the script at all costs. I had to find things to say that would fit into these paragraphs or else it had no place in this essay. My biggest concerns were hitting all the ‘bullet points’ of the five paragraph essay, and what I was actually writing came second to that. While this format isn’t necessarily bad, I do agree that it does not create a sense of confidence in one’s own ability to do good writing, and by extension, does not create good writing.

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