How the Five-Paragraph Essay is Ruining Creative Writing

Posted by peteradmin on Nov 21, 2011 in Writing | 1 comment

The five-paragraph essay is destroying creative writing. This model is often used in grade schools and doesn’t allow children to express themselves creatively. The five-paragraph essay model should be thrown out because, it forces a strict style of writing, creates similar essays, and encourages poor writing habits.

First, it forces a strict style of writing. Creative writing is not a rigid activity. Depending on the topic one may need to write more than five paragraphs to get their point across. Furthermore, some paragraphs many need more than three supporting points and the five paragraph essay model requires three for each point. Essay writing should not force children to a strict style of writing.

In addition to forcing a strict style of writing it also creates similar essays. Creative writing is about individuality not who follows the rules. For example, if a teacher had students write a five-paragraph essay on why there should not be uniforms at school, the students would write the intro, three supports and the conclusion to their argument; many of their essays would be very similar. It’s this similarity that does not foster any creativity in the work. Similar and not creative essays are just another reason to throw out the five-paragraph essay model.

Finally, the five-paragraph essay model encourages poor writing habits. With such a rigid structure the five-paragraph essay model, discourages revisions. Also this model is hardly ever used outside of the classroom therefore it has no real world use. Since the model forces three support paragraphs, it does not have the means or capacity for college-level writing. Poor writing habits just add to the list of reasons the five-paragraph essay model should not be used in to teach creative writing.

In conclusion, the process of writing is a delicate one. It does not need to be altered with a strict writing model such as the five-paragraph essay model. Since three support paragraphs often do not relate, it becomes difficult for students to create an essay that is cohesive and thought out. The five-paragraph essay model should be not be taught because, it forces a strict style of writing, creates similar essays, and encourages poor writing habits.

keira

I assume your choice of formatting your criticism of the five paragraph essay with that very format was meant as satire. However, (notice my lovely use of a transition word) I am curious what other structural options you suggest as alternatives. My experience as a writing tutor at a community college is that most students struggle to organize their ideas regardless of structure. While FPE does not foster creativity, it is a way to create a logical argument.

On the other hand, I wonder if the format is so artificial that it makes writing (already a daunting process) that much harder. But what are we to teach instead? When there are 25 adult students in a class, and they have to write and revise five essays in a semester, it makes sense to choose a structure that can easily be explained, and replicated.

I would love to throw out FPE, but how do we do it given the constraints of time in the average classroom?

One more point – there are many reasons adult students end up in remedial English classes including learning disabilities, being non-native English speakers, and having graduated from lousy high schools. This diversity further complicates the issue.

Tags

Related Posts

Share This

How the Five-Paragraph Essay is Ruining Creative Writing