#collegekillscreativity

 

 

So being a tutor to high school students I read my fair share of 5 paragraph essays, and their monotonous structures. It is almost as if a students wrote an outline and simply filled in the blanks.

Writing I see outside the spectrum of high school and early college is very mathematical. I see tons of research papers. With intros that say what others have said in the field, then proposed new ideas. To then go on to explain what they have learned through their own research, prove or disprove others, and a conclusion. The claim usually being at the end of the paper. My favorite type of writing would definitely have to be textbook writing that is clear and consis. It makes learning the information easy and clear and my notes come out perfectly.

I see the same with magazines they have a headline. The paragraphs have a claim they talk about it. Then have a couple quote. What is majorly different than academic writing is it is heavily saturated with personal opinion and suggestions on the situation.

I have never ever seen any evidence of a 5 paragraph essay outside the K-12 system minus a selected few first year freshmen. I think it is intangible to do the 5 paragraph structure in college, we write way too much. How are you supposed to fit the 5 paragraphs in a 5-10 page essay it would make no sense. However I would argue that in reading my peers writing I do see a structure that is usually unbroken. That structure looks like the following:

1)intro

-claim

2) arguement

-evidence

-comment on evidence

-my opinion on the evidence

-how that relates to my claim

3)conclusion

-restate my argument.

For students I think that professors push and push and push us to into a structure so their lives are easy when grading comes. So no it may not be the 5 paragraph essay but it is definitely a reformation of it. Can we change that? Can I write however I please? Why does it need a structure? #collegekillscreativity