Misconceptions In The English Classroom

In New York State, the finals are called Regents. For many Regents exams, students are required to write an essay. Most teachers teach the “five paragraph essay” method: an introduction paragraph, with last sentence in tbeing the thesis statement with three reasons, then three body paragraphs that discuss each of the reasons, and a conclusion paragraph which students will reiterate the thesis statement one last time. Teachers work hard with students so they can receive full credit on these essays. There is never enough time in the class to begin with and having to teach how not to write a five paragraph essay with creative ideas, is a new

Unteaching The Five- Paragraph essay by Marie Foley is a light hearted but argumentive piece focusing on the way most school aged children are taught to write. Foley's main point comes down to the very first words in the essay; “The five-paragraph formula confuses and alienates students and undermines our most basic goals as writing instructors." Foley believes that by teaching children to write in a formulated manner we are not letting them explore and learn through their own writing. We are instead giving them the freedom to discontinue the thought process once they feel that the essay they have produced meets the formula standards they have been kept to, and refuse to part with.

Simply spoken, the aging youth are facing a very large dilemma when it comes to making the transition from high school to college level courses. As many have been taught in the past, just as many will be taught in the future, the commonly known 5-paragraph essay is quickly becoming an eyesore in the writer’s community. John Warner published an article in which he deploys a full on assault to persuade others to do away with this type of essay format all together. In his article “Kill the 5-paragraph Essay” Warner establishes his credibility, paints an imaginary picture of the 5-paragraph essay and uses logical and emotional

The art of writing is a complex and difficult process. Proper writing requires careful planning, revision, and proofreading. Throughout the past semester, the quality of my writing has evolved significantly. At first, I struggled with the separation of different types of paragraphs, and I found writing them laborious. Constant practice, however, has eliminated many of my original difficulties, and helped to inspire confidence in my skills. As a collegiate writer, my strength lies in my clear understanding of the fundamentals of writing, while my primary weakness is proofreading my own work.

In an excerpt of Unteaching the Five-Paragraph Essay," Marie Foley reveals how the Five-Paragraph Essay formula contradicts writing instructor's most basic goals. Foley shows that the formula deters from generating individual thinking. In today's society, essays are used by millions of people in order to express their different ideas. The Five-Paragraph Essay formula was originally developed to help retain the efficiency and clarity of the essay. Foley, however, believes that this process eventually separates the student from his or her written expression and should be used only as a first step tool for beginning student writers. Foley insists that the formula blocks discovery, squelches authenticity and undermines the reader's need for

In “Breaking the Five-Paragraph-Theme Barrier” professor Thomas Nunnally describes his experience teaching the popular writing tool. The five-paragraph theme requires an introductory paragraph, three middle paragraphs that each have their own ideas, and a concluding paragraph. Nunnally believes that this writing model should only be used as a writing tool and not the backbone to all essays (Nunnally). I agree with Nunnally’s stance, but also think that by the age of sixteen, students should no longer be given the opportunity to rely on the model for writing opportunities. **

Maria P. Rey's, Letter to West Port High School's English Department, was written for an assignment in her English Composition course at the University of Florida in late October of 2009. In Rey’s letter, she tries to entice her former teachers to re-evaluate how and what they are teaching to their students. Rey explains that her former instructors are not teaching their students a standard format, but that she actually received conflicting guidelines from different teachers. Rey continues with describing to professors the four rules that obstructed her ability to be a good writer. The first of these are the five paragraph essay model that is taught in most schools. Rey believes this method can inadvertently cause issues for a writer. One being

This book is like a lighthouse that will guide and illuminate you on this turbulent journey of writing. In conjunction with, this book represents the rule of law in English writing, it will explain you the way and how you can approach writing essays without breaking any English writing rule.

students with the meaning about how the perfect way of writing is only if it is error free. Though

In Marie Foley’s “Unteaching the Five Paragraph, Mary Kay Mulvaney’s “Difference Between College and High School Writing,” and “Understanding Writing Assignments: Tips and Techniques” by Dan Melzer, the authors all have a different opinion on various topics of writing. The topics includes the five paragraph structure, how to understand a writing assignment and the difference between the writing of college student and high school students. In my opinion everyone have their own opinions. My opinions on the three articles differ in various ways; there are some things that I agree with and few minor things that I disagree with.

One would think that high school English teachers prepare you for college English courses. However, Maria P. Rey disagrees with this in many ways. Rey announces early on in her letter that she wants high school teachers, "... to re-evaluate not only the method of teaching but more importantly the substance of what is taught."(Rey 2009) I agree with Rey in that teachers should reconsider the content of what is taught to students because my college experience has confirmed it. In college writing, I soon learned that I was not prepared for what was expected of me. On the other hand, the method of the five paragraph essay gave me a formula to begin my writing, but Rey contends that this method could keep writers "at a very elementary level of writing."(Rey

The dreaded English 102. Could this be my final English course in my career as a student? I don’t know for sure. I still need to decide what my major will be in. There is something that I know for sure, that is, needing to take this class to move on. I am not certain how my time in this class will go, but I plan to work hard to get the best grade that I can. Hence, I have decided to get this out of the way now, I look to fine-tune my writing skills, and I expect this course to help me understand my writing style.

Throughout my time writing at the City College of New York, I experienced a slow and dramatic transition to my first semester of this college course. During that time, I've learned from several feedback and lessons from certain peers and my professor. Because of the strict comments written in my drafts by my professor, a few helpful suggestions to include in my writing, and a few miserably failures, I was able to see how my writing and habits have changed during the duration of this course. Back in high school, I was always comfortable writing only five paragraph essays (Introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion), but I've never expected to write something more complex. Here, I was encouraged to include as much detail as I can instead of writing something vague

My experience with English has changed drastically from middle school to college. Being in middle school I have really had to do much of a big paper, but as I progressed through college I’ve realized there much more that has to be added. I had always wondered why middle school was so easy but as years went on, I realized that advancing to college there’s a lot more requirements and importance to writing. In middle school, I was young and just starting to really realize what an essay was and after high school I really understood what an essay consists of. No matter how

Besides the above mentioned suggestions, a teacher can take the initiative to create a “mistake happy zone”. Teachers can avoid correcting students during certain sections of the day (e.g. for 30 minutes we will talk amongst ourselves). In this way, students do not need to fear working on perfect grammar, but rather they can just talk without feeling judged. This allows students to get a feel for fluency and letting go (Leigh, 2009).