Mrs. Skolnick's Essay 'All Alone In The Universe'

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.

On February 22, 2016 author John Warner published an article on Just Visiting entitled “Kill the 5-Paragraph Essay.” Warner creatively talks about how rudimentary of a structure this type of essay holds. Writers are locked inside a cage of regulations and guidelines making them unable to write the essay as they please, but rather having to piece together regulated sentences and paragraphs because that’s what they have been told would score high on certain test questions. The article targets people of all kinds, but is more directed towards early college aged students. The purpose behind this article is to get them to expand their horizon, disregard all the regulations they have been previously taught and start to write in a much more open-minded sense.

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

At the beginning of her essay, the author begins her argument by using a personal

Miss Caroline caught me writing and told me to tell my father to stop teaching me. " Besides," she said. "We don't write in the first grade, we print. You won't learn to write until you're in the third grade. " These examples show how the school system is failing in educating the children because they are not teaching them in the correct way.

Compare and Contrast Essay I am comparing the short stories “Ashes” by Susan Beth Pfeffer and “The One Who Watches” by Judith Ortiz Cofer. The main characters are both in situations that involve stealing and both are forced to make an important decision that could impact their lives forever. Even though Ashes and Doris, the main characters, have very different circumstances they both are forced to make similarly hard decisions. Doris faces the challenge of being alone or being in trouble.

I will be comparing and contrasting The bass, The river, & Sheila Mant and Lessons of love and their settings. Their similarities are they're both in high school in the stories. Also One person likes the other and the feeling is not mutual. They both realize they could of done better and should treat themselves better. Some differences are during the second story the girl goes after the boy and in the first story the boy goes after the girl. Also in the first story the girl is a senior and the boy is the freshman but in the second story the boy is the senior and the girl is a freshman. In the first story the boy makes himself look creepy and dumb and embarrasses himself. But in the second story the girl is the freshman

in a well written essay, compare/contrast the way the author of our class novel and the author of the article, poem, OR short story use imagery and tone to reveal their attitudes toward their life experience. You may only choose ONE piece of literature to compare/contrast your novel.

As I looked over my old writing, one noticeable difference popped out. Something you always emphasize is the importance of being specific. I realize now that this was something I struggled with at the beginning of English class. I examined my essays about True Diary and Mango Street, and came to understand, how much had changed. In “Junior’s Battle For Hope” I discussed huge themes of the book rather than choosing a focus. I had a paragraph about the alcoholism on the reservation and how it affected Junior, as well as a paragraph on Junior’s identity. Each of these could have a whole essay written about them, and I wasn’t able to do the subjects justice in such a short analysis. The next essay I wrote was “Sally, Control, and Female Perspective”

Laura Bobnak’s essay started out to be a lot shorter than what you would actually consider to be an essay. In here first essay she completed she lacked having a thesis, when you read her essay you didn’t have a clear understanding of what was going on. Lastly, her conclusion in the first essay did not wrap things up as well as they should have. Going on to the second draft the coherence of the essay grew greatly. Adding more detail, writing about how it really made her feel, and if she could go back and change her mind would she talk to the teacher about Jeff; the man who was cheating off of her, really allowed for more detail to the essay. Final draft of her essay she presents coherence, has a thesis statement, flows smoothly, and also includes

The sun was beating down on me as I apprehensively stepped up to the big box that held the folder with my fourth grade teacher’s name pasted onto the front. Helpers were asking my name, but my mind was on the awful rumors about Mrs. Glassic. A hand was reaching down into the box, shuffling through the folders when abruptly, it came to a halt. It felt like years, but eventually, the manila envelope arrived in my hands, labeled “Mrs. Glassic”. As my stomach dropped I thought back to a week before, when I heard awful rumors about the meanest, strictest teacher at Green Valley, Mrs. Glassic. On the first day of school I was apathetic and not looking forward to the school year. Quickly, I found myself growing closer and closer to Mrs. Glassic, the patient and encouraging teacher that is determined to find what’s best for her students. For those characteristics, I admire her.

Throughout the essay, each of her sentence that begins on a new line,

By the time I made it to Mr. Howard’s sixth grade, if he would call on me, I would refuse to read, which would cause me to be sent to the office or placed in the desk facing the corner of the classroom. I learned quickly that not reading allowed me to not to be in class. The only consequences of not reading were receiving a paddle and then being sent back to class, where I would sit in the corner staring at the wall, or if I were lucky, they would send me home from school for the day. Both of these consequences, to me, were worth

Her statement is a prime example of philosophy. The content of her testimonial consisted of many supported ideas and thoughts. Yet, at the same time, the statement

Since the beginning of the semester, my writing has changed and evolved to accommodate and sustain longer essays. With longer essays, there is more room for in-depth analysis. Further analyzing a topic has led me to findings that I did not know existed. As I continue to write, I uncover addition and superior methods to approach my writing to the benefit of me and therefore, my audience. Throughout the semester, I have incorporated techniques to further my narrative throughout my writing.