The Great Debate Over the Five-Paragraph Essay

College-bound students in high schools English classes across the country -- and in mine in North Carolina -- often learn a simple formula meant to guide them through the difficult process of responding to standardized essay questions. Given essay prompts that ask them to define abstract concepts like individuality or negotiate the effects of school policies, many students can think of nothing more to write than a question mark. I have received papers from capable students who can conceive of no other explanation for a word like "integrity" (a word they were recently asked to illustrate on a state prompt) than "It is dumb."

My job is to help these beleaguered students at least explain why they think concepts like integrity are dumb in 250 words with a sound thesis and concrete examples to support their ideas. One of the dilemmas I face, however, is how to simplify the process in a way that will help them respond to whatever prompt they face -- especially on high-stakes state tests -- without hindering their own creativity. They must learn to focus their ideas, organize their thoughts in a logical manner, develop concrete details, use fluid sentences, and prove to an anonymous grader that they can spell, capitalize and use commas correctly. All the while, I am hoping that they are not forgetting how to think out of the box so that when they are challenged by university assignments, they will know how to express themselves articulately and in more than five paragraphs, if asked.

When I took my first college English class, I was surprised at how many of my fellow students did not know the five- paragraph formula. Explained in respected books like Writers Inc and state texts, this template involves:

1. An introduction where writer identifies what Ruth Culham calls "R.A.F.T.S." : his or her role in writing the assignment, the audience for the assignment, the format of the assignment (speech, article, etc.), the topic (given in a prompt), and the strong verbs the piece will contain. The introduction also includes the most important nugget of the essay: the thesis statement. Writers Inc provides a formula for this all-important one or two sentences, meant to focus and anchor the whole paper: a specific subject + a specific feeling or feature = an effective focus or thesis statement. For a five-paragraph essay, the thesis should identify three points that the writer plans to discuss further. To define integrity, for example, a writer might say: "Having integrity means telling the truth, holding strongly to moral values, and being reliable."

2. Paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 are the body paragraphs. Each body paragraph must start with a strong topic sentence, which Writers Inc defines as "a limited expression + a specific topic. For our integrity essay, a student might write: "Integrity can be demonstrated by telling the truth, even when the truth is not popular." Topic statements should also include transition words to let the reader know that the writer is changing gears. Words like "also," "in addition," and "too" can help the paper flow from subtopic to subtopic. These statements must be supported by concrete examples, which students can pull from their own lives, readings, movies, television shows, books, or often from information provided by the prompt. For the integrity example, students might write about someone they know who was honest when others weren't to illustrate their point.

3. Paragraph 5 is the conclusion, which includes a summary of ideas and a restatement of the thesis. The conclusion should not include new information or questions that would leave the reader unsatisfied.

The journey doesn't stop when students master this format: in fact, this is where it really begins. At a recent National Council of Teachers conference, I attended a seminar about how the same formula I've been striving to teach my students so that they can pass state tests actually holds them back when they reach college. Professors from various schools in the Midwest bemoaned their incoming freshmen inability to respond to art, literature, science, and other academic subjects in thoughtful -- and lengthy -- ways. They said they felt trapped by the five-paragraph format and wished that students would be more organic in their responses. Their freshmen needed to learn to argue, to analyze and to evaluate, not just spit out a canned answer to a complicated question.

I couldn't help but agree that the five-paragraph format can sound repetitive and elementary, but I also couldn't deny that I wouldn't have learned to be an effective writer without it. The five-paragraph tradition taught me that writing needs to have a beginning, a middle and an end and that readers need to see what a writer is explaining with clear details. For that reason, I wouldn't abandon it, but I do recognize the need to build upon it in high schools so that students will be more prepared when they enter college.

For those looking for life beyond the five-paragraph essay prior to reaching college, writing about anything and everything is the best preparation. Students should write movie reviews, science articles, debates, speeches, songs, poems, directions, sports articles, letters, journals, diaries. The more exposure they have to these formats, the more they will know about writing when they graduate from high school. Life's problems cannot be summarized in five paragraphs, but at least they are a start.

Works Cited:

Culham, Ruth. 6+1 Traits of Writing. New York: Scholastic, 2003

Sebranek, Patrick, Verne Meyer, and Dave Kemper. Writers Inc: A Student Handbook for Writing and Learning. Lexington: D.C. Heath and Company, 1996.

Recommended Reading:

Atwell, Nancie. In the Middle: New Understanding about Writing, Reading and Learning. New York: Boynton/Cook, 1998.

Olson, Carol Booth. The Reading/Writing Connection: Strategies for Teaching and Learning in the Secondary Classroom. New York: Allyn and Bacon, 2002.

Ray, Katie Wood. Wondrous Words. Urbana: National Council of Teachers of English, 1999.

Romano, Tom. Blending Genre, Altering Style: Writing Multigenre Papers. New York:
Boynton/Cook, 2000.

Zinsser, William. On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction. New York: Harper Collins, 1976.