Respect.

[asterlyte]

I just read an email on the WCenter listserv in which the author rails against the five-paragraph essay, describing it as a “demeaning tool of efficient institutions of education.”

ARGH, how it frustrates me when people position the five-paragraph essay as the TOTAL DESTRUCTION of good, creative writing! It’s always made out to be the Jaws of

Comments

[blue_shadows9]

I like the five-paragraph essay! It's how I learned to write too, and obviously it hasn't hurt my ability to express myself in other ways. It's definitely a good teaching tool. I also recall liking sentence diagramming, because it really made everything make sense.

American education seems to suffer from an overemphasis on creativity. Creativity comes after technical ability, not before. It's like with art. My sister is a creative person, and she used to paint when she was a kid. But her paintings are a helluva lot better now that she knows actual techniques with which to express her creative vision.

[dimethirwen]

I think it's a good learning tool as well, but I think the hatred of the five-paragraph essay stems from a larger (and perhaps more well-deserved) hatred of standardized testing.