Five Paragraph Essay: Fantastic or Formulaic?

By Maria Mahaffey

I distinctly remember my 9th grade semester long composition course with Mrs. Russell. I remember my frustration and disdain at having to spend the better part of four months learning how to write. After all, had I not been writing since about the second grade? If I had been taught properly all the preceding years, why would I suddenly need an entire semester long class to teach me what I was sure I already knew? To make matters worse, as the child of two European educated parents, I was introduced to the Cartesian method of writing with a thesis, antithesis, and synthesis method with no specific, predetermined number of paragraphs.

This did not synthesize well with American composition methods. To this self-professed sophisticated writer, Cartesian logic seemed far superior to a stuffy and confining five paragraphs. My burgeoning philosophical reasoning could not resolve itself—initially-- to the formulaic methodology of the five paragraph essay. It took almost the entire semester of Mrs. Russell’s patience and perseverance, along with my numerous revisions and edits, for me to finally see the value of the five paragraph essay. Even though I promptly dropped the five paragraph method upon entry into university, I did retain the skills that I gained from learning and practicing this method, such as, structure, development of arguments, and consistency of writing style.

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Five Paragraph Essay - Fantastic or Formulaic

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“It took almost the entire semester…for me to finally see the value of the five paragraph essay.” –Maria Mahaffey

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A Student's Voice

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