Essay instructions

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High School English Teachers Chatboard

Essay instructions

by Teri

Jul 30, 2012

How do you word essay instructions for your students? I want to word the instructions in such a way so that the students understand that they do not have to write a traditional 5-paragraph essay, but neither can they just turn in a single paragraph. Should I give them a word requirement (but then I have students wasting time actually counting words) or page requirement (but then the "bubble writers" are writing much less than their peers)? Any suggestions?????

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Jenna I usually say something along the lines of, "If your paper isn't at least two pages, you probably need more details or supporting evidence." I don't like to set an absolute page limit, because then they just mess with the font and spacing until it's the length I required.

Aug 2, 2012

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I However, 5 well constructed paragraphs is better than 1 giant paragraph, in my opinion.

I mean, don't get me wrong, a person can write 5 disorganized paragraphs.

Don't you think an essay should have a beginning and an ending? Ample supporting arguments for the main idea?

So what's the big deal if someone puts it into f...See More

Aug 26, 2012

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done in five paragraphs? On 8/26/12, I wrote: > However, 5 well constructed paragraphs is better than 1 giant > paragraph, in my opinion.

I'd agree with that and I agree that a well-written essay has a beginning and an end and supporting points as well.

If some student puts that into five paragraphs fine but having the five paragraph taught as if i...See MoreOn 8/26/12, I wrote: > However, 5 well constructed paragraphs is better than 1 giant > paragraph, in my opinion.

I'd agree with that and I agree that a well-written essay has a beginning and an end and supporting points as well.

If some student puts that into five paragraphs fine but having the five paragraph taught as if it's any kind of a real format for writing is both inaccurate and silly. It's not. If anyone can name me any piece of writing considered great that was just five paragraphs, I'll be happy to eat my words as well as the five paragraphs.

Certainly no novel or poem or play considered great has been done in five paragraphs. There goes three genres of writing. What piece of expository writing considered great has been done in five paragraphs?

Not Dr. King's I Have a Dream Speech Not Reagon's speech following the Challenger disaster Not "Mary White" the long considered very classic essay used to teach essay writing to writing students

If it helps students to start somewhere, the five paragraph essay would then be a useful tool but in my experience there's something accorded to the five paragraph essay stucture that isn't helpful to beginning writers. The five paragraph essay is a contrivance. We don't write e-mails in five paragraphs or novels or plays or even essays or research papers.

That's what they means when people say it isn't real.

> > I mean, don't get me wrong, a person can write 5 disorganized > paragraphs. > > Don't you think an essay should have a beginning and an ending? > Ample supporting arguments for the main idea? > > So what's the big deal if someone puts it into five separate > paragraphs? > > I always hear the "5 paragraphs isn't real life" argument. What > does that even mean? Some people write in simple organized > paragraphs. Some don't. Some write fiction. Some write poetry. > Some write chapters which have a sort of intro, many paragraphs, > and a succinct ending (sometimes in a paragraph.) > > If it helps your students start somewhere, there is nothing wrong > with 5 simple paragraphs..

Sep 14, 2012

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True but... I think when people teach "5" as the magic number, they are telling their students that they want more than two supporting ideas.

Most teachers I know would allow their students to write extra paragraphs if the student wanted.

And most of the famous speeches and such...they really do follow the structure that is embedded in the ...See More

Sep 25, 2012

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Real Life Writing Teacher On 9/25/12, True but... wrote: > I think when people teach "5" as the magic number, they are telling > their students that they want more than two supporting ideas. > > Most teachers I know would allow their students to write extra > paragraphs if the student wanted. > > > And most of the famous speeches and such...they real...See MoreOn 9/25/12, True but... wrote: > I think when people teach "5" as the magic number, they are telling > their students that they want more than two supporting ideas. > > Most teachers I know would allow their students to write extra > paragraphs if the student wanted. > > > And most of the famous speeches and such...they really do follow the > structure that is embedded in the idea of a five paragraph essay. It's > just usually their writing is quite a bit longer and may include > transitional, almost lyrical, paragraphs amongst the main supporting > details. > > So I stand by my thought that it IS real life

Essentially what you're saying is that putting our ideas into writing is real life - ok I'd agree with that. Writing is real and it's a part of real life. Teaching kids to write is a good thing - I don't debate that. But you go to say - " most teachers don't confine students to the 5 of the 5 paragraph essay anyway" rather implying " well, it can't do too much harm if no one's assigning it."

That wasn't the question - the question was is it real life?

And then also say it's not '5' that's the magic number, it's '2' as in two supporting ideas. Then why isn't called the "Two Supporting Ideas Essay"?

If what you mean to say is that good writing has a point and that point is explained/defended/ elaborated upon with supporting points, then yes, that's real life and it's real writing too.

But your two supporting ideas given here for why the 5 paragraph essay is real life don't work to support the premise that the 5 paragraph essay is real life.

And that would be because it's really not real life. Let's name even one essay - other than a student essay - that's been written in 5 paragraphs.

Maybe this work - much longer than 5 paragraphs would be helpful.

Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay

Kimberly Hill Campbell and Kristi Latimer Love it or hate it, the five-paragraph essay is perhaps the most frequently taught form of writing in classrooms of yesterday and today. But have you ever actually seen five-paragraph essays outside of school walls? Have you ever found it in business writing, journalism, nonfiction, or any other genres that exist in the real world? Kimberly Hill Campbell and Kristi Latimer reviewed the research on the effectiveness of the form as a teaching tool and discovered that the research does not support the five-paragraph formula.

Sep 26, 2012

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