Everything in Moderation
There appears to be a large controversy over teaching the five paragraph essay (FPE) to students. Do we teach the FPE to help students succeed in a society that relies heavily upon them in the business world, or do we teach them innovation encouraging a possible revolutionary writing format for the future? Do we teach the FPT to give students some direction, or do we allow the students to create their own direction.
Tracy A. Novick’s article Praise for the Five Paragraph Essay, suggests the FPE helps students who “have a difficult time making or supporting a point because they have no idea how to pull their ideas together….[who] lack focus, direction, voice, support, and very often, any mark of personality�. The FPE, according to Novick will help beginning and improving writers organize their ideas and help bring out writing skills. Novick also argues against the accusation that the FPE does not allow for creativity, claiming that even Shakespeare had strict guidelines within a sonnet, but nobody would consider him lacking in originality or thought.
Thomas Nunnaly also supports the FPE in his article, Breaking the Five-Paragraph-Theme Barrier. Nunnally, however, suggests helping students understand the FPE is not “an end in itself�. It is a teaching tool students can excel beyond, breaking the barrier by adding more paragraphs and building more onto their thought.
We live in a world where dieters are encouraged to either completely give up bread or calories, forgetting that both bread and calories can be healthy. The key to a healthy body is a well balanced diet, meaning taking everything in moderation.
Teaching students effecting writing formats and techniques is very similar. We should not teach only the FPE or another writing formula, such as the multigenre paper. If we did we would be missing important and crucial learning benefits that both offer. As teachers, we should be exposing students to all forms of writing to help their skills grow in the future, teaching all in moderation, rather than emphasizing one over the other or completely missing out on one such skill.
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After browsing the web for topics on the five paragraph essay, I found an interesting website that helps guide students into writing a FPE. It is so restraining, however, that it gives students boxes and step by step directions, not allowing you to go 'out of the box'. Click on the site below to start your FPE.