The author of The Five-Paragraph Essay explained my opinion of this format into two perfect words: empty vessel. The practice of trying to fit one’s writing content into this rigid structure limits creativity and ideas. Writing is a journey and the destination should be determined by the writer and not rushed by the format.
Contrary to popular belief, the five-paragraph essay was created to help the graders and not the students. It allows the grader to follow a standardized requirement when judging the essay and makes it easier for them to compare their students’ proficiency. This method, however, does not give credit to the student’s creativity. For this reason, when a student receives a poor grade for not meeting the requirements of a standardized format, they are forced to believe their ideas are wrong.
Writing is a form of art that should not be approached by a cookie cutter method. An alternative method to the five-paragraph essay is not to have a format at all. Writers should not be given a vessel, they should create their own.
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Thank you Tasmim. You’re right to point out the beneficiary of the five paragraph method is absolutely the instructor. It gives them something concrete to look for and eliminates the need to look at each student’s writing individually!
DW