May 28

For writing into the day, we responded to the weekend's reading.  Then, we talked about the structure of the five paragraph essay and wrote it on the board:

Introduction 

• Attention grabber
• Important details - main idea, what's to come
• Thesis

Supporting Paragraph 1 

• Topic sentence
• Details - support
• Wrap up

Supporting Paragraph 2 

• Topic sentence
• Details - support
• Wrap up

Supporting Paragraph 3 

• Topic sentence
• Details - support
• Wrap up

Conclusion (Restate introduction)

• Summary of paper
• Restate thesis

In small groups, we discussed the questions on slide 28 of the PowerPoint.  In whole group, we had the following discussion:

• I started having five paragraphs in high school.
• They didn’t call it the five paragraph essay.
• They said it was the way we had to write.  A lot of the teaching was just for tests.  For writing, teachers said you’ll need to write like this (5 paragraphs) forever.
• It’s amazing how they started with this concept in kindergarten.  You would start out with a paragraph with one or two sentences long.  Then, they add longer sentences to the paragraph.  Then, they added more paragraphs.  It’s something that has been taught since early elementary education.  Like, “This is the way writing is going to go.”  They base all of this on programming your mind on this senior exit kin do thing.  Structuring your mind to prepare you to get out of high school instead of innovative writing.
• So many people don’t work that way.  I wouldn’t have grown as a writer if I had this structure.
• It’s better for an introductory thing.  It’s a way to write, but not saying that you have to write this way.
• With all that they have out there, they still teach this concrete way.  They teach in boxes and say it’s the way you should write.
• The five-paragraph essay was something to fall back on.  It gives you a sense that you can have an okay paper if you don’t know what to write.
• In a speech or debate class, the five-paragraph can be effective.  It guides the speaker and lets you follow the speaker with your mind.
• That repetitive structure is a good foundation to help you stay focused.
• I think it’s good for teachers so they don’t have to figure out everyone’s different style of writing.
• Teachers don’t have to put as much thought into it.  They just have to look at it and mark it.  It’s faster for grading, but it’s not enriching.
• Usually, writing is in that format.  You always have an attention grabber.  It’s still set up on this style.  What’s being taught is things that are important to us.
• It’s been taught for so long, people use it.  Books grab your attention a specific way because we have all been taught that way. It’s cemented in everyone’s head.
• I wouldn’t want to be entertained in every essay.  Sometimes I want to be informed.
• Attention grabbing is getting the reader into the essay and making them want to keep reading.
• It’s a good starting point, but you don’t always have to stick to it.
• In the reading this weekend, I was more interested in reading than I have ever been with the five paragraph essay.  If everything in the world was written like a five paragraph essay, it would be boring.
• Students should question in order to grow.  In high school, I didn’t question the five paragraph essay.
• High school made it such that your natural talents didn’t show themselves.  If you have a student who doesn’t fit in the box, you might now see them bloom.
• There is no set way to write.  The five paragraph essay might be ineffective depending on what you are writing.  The structure changes within the topics you are writing about.
• If we are always writing to get to the point, then you might not be able to write as many sentences as they say you need to.  Then, you’ll just need to repeat yourself.
• If you’re not a good writing or you aren’t naturally skilled at writing, you may think that you have to write like this.
• How can you write and stay on topic if you don’t have a structure?
• You need a strong basis – the general concepts.
• In ten years, it might be completely different and they may say that five paragraph structure doesn’t work.
• Just like MLA – they say that it’s the best style and that’s the way it is.  So it goes across the board and it’s what people teach.  But it will change.
• It comes down to what is easiest to teach.
• You won’t always get a bad grade if you don’t write a five paragraph.
• You need the basics and then you can use what works for you.
• The structure helps.  Once you have the basics, you can deviate.  Sometimes you need the all rules, sometimes you only need one or two.
• In your subconscious, you’re still asking yourself those questions. You are asking if you are grabbing their attention, if you are transitioning, if you are writing topic sentences.

We completed independent writing about the questions on slide 29 of the PowerPoint.  We concluded with the following discussion:

• For a long time, I used the 5 Ws to organize my paper.
• I use an outline.
• It’s important to think about who the audience is when you organize.
• I organize by topic.  If I write about global warming, I will write what causes it and then move to the next thing.
• It depends it there are dates included.  You could go chronologically or least to greatest.
• It depends on what you decide is right for you and what you feel is comfortable.
• There’s more than one way to eat a Reese’s.
• The organization will depend on what you are writing, what you’re writing about, who you are writing for and how you intend to get the message across.
• If you reach 8 sentences, you are done.  If it looks too long, you need to break it up.  It’s how I was trained.
• You move to a new paragraph when you move to a new idea.
• In some things, you’ll have more details on what you’re going to say so it’ll be longer.
• When you make a new point, you have to back it up.  When you’re done, you move to a new paragraph.  You want to get the main idea that you will give you 5-8 sentences.
• When I feel like I’ve already summed it up, I subtlety move to the next paragraph.
• You can use brainstorming strategies like the bubbles.  So you know to move to the next paragraph when you go to the next paragraph.
• Are good things accomplished within the box?  Why not stay inside the box?

To think about what information should go in a paragraph, we came up with a hypothetical paper.  We said that we need to write a paper about two students taking two subjects.  For each student, we needed to explain what his/her strengths and struggles were in each subject.  We talked through what information should go in the first body paragraph and why.

Homework:

The following readings can be found in Models for Writers:

• Read "Simplicity" on pages 176-179.
• Read "Map Your Organization" on pages 17-18.
• Read "Thesis" on pages 81-83.

*Note: The homework is different than what is listed in the daily syllabus.  I changed the homework based on what we accomplished in class.