{"id":256,"date":"2017-05-03T01:58:19","date_gmt":"2017-05-03T01:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/abensching\/?p=256"},"modified":"2017-05-03T03:25:32","modified_gmt":"2017-05-03T03:25:32","slug":"pros-and-cons-of-the-5-paragraph-essay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/abensching\/2017\/05\/03\/pros-and-cons-of-the-5-paragraph-essay\/","title":{"rendered":"The 5-Paragraph Essay"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you are taught to write essays, the five-paragraph essay is\u00a0put on a pedestal as the prime example of a great essay.<\/p>\n

And it looks a little like this, for those who don’t remember…<\/p>\n

Intro<\/p>\n

Body Paragraph 1<\/p>\n

Body Paragraph 2<\/p>\n

Body Paragraph 3<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The intro has a hook and spells out what the\u00a0three body paragraphs are going to be. Each body paragraph has a topic sentence \u00a0at the beginning and supporting evidence afterwards. The conclusion summarizes and might ask a broader question about the subject.<\/p>\n

“The Fiver” to Teach<\/strong><\/p>\n

It teaches young\u00a0writers\u00a0good habits like using a hook or having sentences which relate to each other in a paragraph or using the conclusion to gesture to outside questions.<\/p>\n

<\/a>

Source: Pexels.com<\/p><\/div>\n

But why don’t teachers tell us that it is a tool to teach us good habits? You gradually learn that breaking the five-paragraph format is \u00a0a better rule to abide by than following the five-paragraph essay format.<\/p>\n

You keep the intentions that the format is taught with, but apply them differently. For example the “having sentences which relate to each other in the same\u00a0paragraph” translates into a writing style with a logical flow of ideas and readability. Similarly, the gesturing the outside questions in your conclusion becomes a part of establishing the exigence of your piece.<\/p>\n

The Negatives of\u00a0“The Fiver”<\/strong><\/p>\n

What\u00a0sticking to an exact format does not help with is establishing any sort of voice, or style within your piece.\u00a0That’s why we end up breaking it all the time. So not everything looks and sounds\u00a0similar. Everyone can convey there ideas freely, in a way that suites their audience, voice, and subject\u00a0precisely.<\/p>\n

Let’s Get Scientific<\/strong><\/p>\n

In contrast, the scientific community uses a\u00a0report format that forces you to color within the lines a bit more.\u00a0This is not necessarily a bad thing though. The point of their similarity in style is to be able to convey information accurately and efficiently. Scientific reports are constructed in a way that allows the scientific community to determine the validity and results of a study quickly. They like to cut off the fat.<\/p>\n

So, no I am not saying\u00a0“a rigid format is a negative influence on writing”. In fact, in some disciplines it is certainly beneficial. I\u00a0intend, rather, to remind myself, and any fellow students, that though we bash the five-paragraph essay now, it has\u00a0it’s uses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you are taught to write essays, the five-paragraph essay is\u00a0put on a pedestal as the prime example of a great essay. And it looks a little like this, for those who don’t remember… Intro Body Paragraph 1 Body Paragraph … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1780,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"qubely_global_settings":"","qubely_interactions":"","kk_blocks_editor_width":"","_kiokenblocks_attr":"","_kiokenblocks_dimensions":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"gutentor_comment":105,"qubely_featured_image_url":null,"qubely_author":{"display_name":"abensching","author_link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/abensching\/author\/abensching\/"},"qubely_comment":105,"qubely_category":"Uncategorized<\/a>","qubely_excerpt":"When you are taught to write essays, the five-paragraph essay is\u00a0put on a pedestal as the prime example of a great essay. And it looks a little like this, for those who don’t remember… Intro Body Paragraph 1 Body Paragraph … Continue reading →","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/abensching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/abensching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/abensching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/abensching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1780"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/abensching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/abensching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":263,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/abensching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions\/263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/abensching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/abensching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/abensching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}