A Rant on Wiley

Having gone to a private Catholic high school I am no stranger to the conservative mindset. Yet what I didn’t realize was the influence that this institution had on my writing structure and thoughts on literacy. Upon beginning Wiley’s article I was confronted with ideas about formulaic writing that we have begun to debate heavily during class time and that were previously drilled into my head throughout my years in school. These ideas seemed to look like a good starting point to scholarly writing as teacher’s expectations usually coincide with the structure of a topic sentence that then introduces a quote, which will then be backed up and related back to the thesis with analysis of said quote. This is the way that I learned to structure essays and it has helped me to make my way through school with relatively good grades.

What was odd for me was that, as a writer of some skill I have both moved past the strict 5 paragraph essay that I was taught in high school relatively quickly and have begun to find my own authority in writing even with strict prompts. But what about those students that were never comfortable with writing to begin with? Are we all born with an enjoyment for writing that is either fostered by great teachers or squelched by institutions?  Whether their disdain for writing comes from previous bad experiences/grades in school, lack of interest in essay topics, or just an inability to express their thoughts onto paper, it is obvious that some students just do not like writing. Obviously the correct course of action would be to get to children when they are young and first learning to write, encouraging the use and authority of their personal voice and giving a wide variety of subjects that will peak the interests of most all students instead of one essay topic choice on a book they didn’t have anything to say about in the first place. But what happens when we are dealing with an 18-year-old kid that has had countless years of negative reinforcement who is now in college and already despises writing?

When the school system is looking for specific requirements of their students it seems like we as tutors should cater to what will get them through the system and out of the realm of academic writing as effectively as possible. I am all for having students explore writing outside of the sphere of formulaic writing, yet some of the students in these English 30 workshops can barely keep a single coherent theme throughout their two page paper. This is where I would argue Wiley’s 5 paragraph essay could be used as a rough template to show students that writing is not an impossible task. While I would not argue for the strict and regimented system that Wiley sets up in terms of amounts of sentences, words, paragraphs, and quotes, the 5 paragraph method may help struggling writers find a formula that brings their ideas together in a cohesive manner that will be recognized by their professors.

Though the argument I pose seems to say that “It is too late for these students. Simply push them through the system with this formula that stifles creativity,” I would emphasize that the 5 paragraph essay would be used as a way to organize thoughts after an initial writing process has already taken place.