Introduction
In the blog “Bad Ideas About Writing” Quentin Vieregge states that one of those bad ideas is believing that the five paragraph essay writing method is rhetorically sound. Authors Robert Connors and Lil Brannon express the same sentiments in their blogs. They all contend that the five paragraph method is grossly overrated by many educators and overused in primary and secondary schools. Vieregge, Connors and Brannon all believe that by using the method students spend more time trying to stick to rigid guidelines and producing models than creating in depth independently thought out papers. A better idea to this bad idea is for teachers to use other less formulated approaches to writing in the classroom that ar
e less restrictive and more widely used in colleges.
Explanation
The five paragraph method consists of an introduction that usually has an attention grabbing hook and a thesis that states the argument, three paragraphs that support the thesis and a conclusion that restates the thesis and closes the paper. Using this method, students are usually given a topic to discuss using the formula. Quentin Vieregge says that students aren’t taught to think and feel fully but “rather they’re taught to learn their place as future workers in an assembly line economy: topic sentence, support, transition, repeat.” (Vieregge, 211) He says he and other opponents believe that requiring this repetitive approach restricts writers from expressing themselves in other ways and “all but guarantees that writing will be a chore (for students.” (Vieregge, 211) A writer trying to replicate a model won’t use their skills to expand, explore and explain with enjoyment, he said.
College professors want their students to think more critically and creatively and actually enjoy the process of research and writing. “Most college writing instructors have eschewed the 5PM, contending that it limits what writing can be, constricts writers roles, and even arbitrarily shapes writers’ thoughts.” (Vieregge, 209) According to Vieregge, college professors aren’t looking for robotic writers but writers who can independently express themselves with creativity and clarity. They also want students to be able to express themselves using different writing techniques.
Most great philosophers and writers don’t write in using one particular format, so why is just one taught in high schools and four year colleges? What reasons would these teachers have in teaching an arbitrary format to young developing writers? Defenders of this method may say things like “Skilled writers use templates all the time; they actually enhance creativity; and they’re meant to guide and inspire rather than limit.” (Vieregge, pg 211) and “The 5PM gives the writer a starting point, it’s like the skeleton of the paper.” Vieregge says skilled writers may use some sort of templates but they don’t use the five paragraph method nor is it certain that they even approve using them.
Some five paragraph proponents have also argued that the model helps students who lack structure and for in their writing. Not according to Lil Brannon who says students who use this method aren’t really learning to build upon a structure but to simply learning to imitate one. “Students learn that writing means following a set of instructions, filling in the blanks.” (Brannon, 3). Instead of creative structure they are learning apply formulaic writing formats to their discourse. This can be seen in lower academia where students are given step by step instruction. They must master one skill to be declared ready for learning more complex material. The writing process becomes more robotic than fluid and grades are given on the basis of one following rigid directions rather than true comprehension and free expression. 
Children who learn to conform to these set of guidelines are seen as smart while those who don’t are often branded as slow or in need of special education. These so called “struggling writers” are put into these remedial classes where they are still programmed to learn the five paragraph format. Brannon states “The deficit model labels these same children as remedial or even having learning disabilities.” (Brannon,18). This way of evaluating writing skills is both damaging and discouraging, Brannon states. process discourages individuality and creativity of young and impressionable writers.
According to Robert J. Connors this process has been going on since the early 1900s. Connors gives a statement which shows the prior usage of templates similar to the five paragraph method. He says “The first—which was the rise of single mode textbooks, especially those dealing with exposition. The second was the appearance of the new sort of textbook which I like to call “thesis text.” (Connors, 18). The text explains the history of books that demonstrate how to use single discourse templates. Out of all of them, the five paragraph method was the most popular since it gave teachers the belief that it was the best way of helping students formulate coherent paragraphs.
Conclusion
Our school systems are being greatly hindered by this seemingly reliable writing format. Connors states “These teachers believe they are being “good teachers,” putting their faith in the institution of schooling and helping their students, they believe, secede in it.” (Connors,19) Teachers spend more time teaching a format than actually teaching students how to write. They are doing students a disservice. The testing industry pressures teachers heavily to give their students guidance and structure so the five paragraph method seems convenient. This method makes it easier for teachers to determine and generalize their students weaknesses when writing is complicated and vast, especially for beginners. Teachers just grade by finding topic sentences, counting the sentences in each paragraph and looking for a definite thesis. This grading process completely ignores the writer’s message and meaning. This leaves students thinking this writing method is appropriate and standard. Then these students bring the five paragraph method way of thinking and writing to college but they receive poor grades from their professors who are confused on why the students are writing in a format their rubric didn’t ask for.
Work Cited
Connors, Robert J. “The Rise and Fall of the Modes of Discourse.” College Composition and Communication 32.4(1981): 444-55.
(Wickenheiser, Natasha. “Lil Brannon Et Al., ‘The Five-Paragraph Essay and the Deficit Model of Education.’” Scrapbooked Inquiries, 18 Apr. 2016, scrapbookedinquiries.wordpress.com/2016/01/19/lil-brannon-et-al-the-five-paragraph-essay-and-the-deficit-model-of-education/.
Textbooks, Open Access. “Open Access Textbooks.” Bad Ideas About Writing | Open Access Textbooks | WVU Libraries, textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas/index.html.