Questing the Five Paragraph Essay

I've been thinking a lot about the five paragraph essay, especially as I've been thinking about essay writing as part of our testing environment. The five paragraph essay is taught to our students so young, and every year it is compounded on...does anyone remember the hamburger as the outline of the essay? I think most would agree that the five paragraph essay doesn't work forever, as a matter of fact it only works when you explicitly ask for the student to create a five paragraph essay. (Does this mean that the five paragraph essay is its own genre?!) Even though most high school teachers would agree that we don't want the five-paragraph essay, it doesn't serve purpose for writing literary analysis or research essays, etc. Despite this consensus, the five paragraph essay persists. I found an article written as a collaboration piece by members of the UNC Charlotte Writing Project. In this article the cite a proponent of the 5 paragraph essay:

“Smith even ‘effort so congratulates force high school teachers back to teaching the basics of essay writing’ (16; italics added), when there is nothing "basic"about the five-paragraph essay. Its enforcement, however is certainly felt by many students and their teachers.” (16) 

I’m thinking about how there is a push of the 5 paragraph essay and why that may be the case. I think the idea is that there is structure and it is clear to explain to students and I can understand that. Students sometimes need a formula to get them started. We did this in physics. There were multiple formulas, you just have to figure out when and where to use them...sometimes you inadvertently created your own formula! However, the more I think about this, the more I see the flaw in formulaic writing. Students who are taught the formula of the five paragraph essay rely on the structure and they can't expand beyond it.

Those who are for the five paragraph essay are pushing for a mastery of the "basic" and then students somehow (magically) moving to more "advanced" structures of writing. 

This is a typical discussion in my high school social studies class.

Me: Alright guys, you have an essay for your test on Hitler. Choose 1 of the essay questions and respond. You have 45 minutes.

Student A: Ms. Summers, I just need to write 5 paragraphs right?

Me: No, you probably will need more--because you have a lot of things to address to answer the question fully.

Student A: How many paragraphs do I need then?

Me: There's no set number. Write as much as you need to answer the question.

Student A: *Stares back at me in utter confusion*

Me: *Inside: doing the Charlie Brown UGHHH!*

Students can not understand what I could possibly mean by write as much as you need. They think there is a magic number that every teacher is looking for when they ask for an essay question. This is explain is a much more academic way by Robert J. Connors: “"They represent an unrealistic view of the writing process, a view that assumes writing is done by formula and in a social vacuum.They turn the attention of both teacher and student toward an academic exercise instead of toward a meaningful act of communication in a social context"(119).  

So alas, the problem with the five paragraph essay is that our students get stuck into this mindset of what writing looks like. They see novels, short stories, poems, etc--but when it comes to writing a response themselves they don't play with other genres, they stick to the five paragraph essay.

I decided to look up what the twitter-verse is saying about five paragraph essays and what I found was quite entertaining. When people want talk about arguments or points to be made, they mandate a 5 paragraph essay (it is making of joke of the assignment). See below.

The request for a five paragraph essay isn't to get information, instead its to dissuade dissent. That isn't what we want to convey to our students! I'm really interested in finding ways to "teach" writing without letting it become formula, which is something I have struggled with. I see the problems with the methodology, but I'm not sure what to replace it with.

Studying and Reading for what?

So Sally's socratic seminar was really helpful. I have done socratic seminars before, but this is the kind of seminar I really like--it was on a text that I had no idea what it meant. I like this because I feel like grappling with difficult texts makes for the best seminars. People are throwing out ideas, revising opinions, agreeing and disagreeing and adding clarifying questions. Francis Bacon's "Of  Studies" really prompted a lot of grappling from our SI group.

I was particularly interested in what Wendy and Kim had to say about Common Core and Readicide (by Kelly Gallagher). If we are to approach Bacon's essay as a call for balance in our quest for knowledge, there is something to be said about how we teach our students and how we value aspects of our discipline. I am wondering what the purpose of study has become. Bacon said that study was based on "delight, ornament and ability," but is that still true today? In our culture, this is what our studies have become:

This cartoon comes from Readicide, and I was really drawn by the text. Kim has already done a great summary of the book, which you can find on her blog, here. I really like the introduction to the text, because Gallagher is real about what testing means for how we design instruction. He notes that teaching to the test isn't bad, so long as the test is good. His words can be found below. 

I think as teachers we still push our students to study for ability and delight (perhaps ornament, too?). We worry about curriculum changes because we cling to what we learned and studied. We believe how we learned was best and that changes that take away what we learned are somehow depriving our students of something. I'm thinking a lot about what is important to study in a world of so much literature and so much language. Perhaps it is better to abandon whole novel studies (I remember reading 16 in my junior year alone) for excerpts that are targeted. Doing this may mean students engage in a more meaningful way? Are they getting more from studies? Common Core is all about building connections between disciplines--which I think is something Bacon essay would promote, but if we are to build these connections we have to forgo some details of our own disciplines. 

I often think about the fact that people talk about the lack of Renaissance figures, like Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. These were men who totally submersed themselves in multiple fields. People remark that there are few like that, but it is important to note a couple of things before suggesting that this points to a decline in intellectuals. 1) There weren't many Renaissance figures back then either and 2 (and more to the point) We know so much more than was know back then...there's so much more to learn now! Our studies now must be more targeted, but as we discussed with the "Schoolmen," not too targeted. 

I'm also thinking about what this means for standardized writing and what Lacy has presented to us about grammar and conventions...I'm thinking a lot about what "authentic" means when we discuss writing, but more to come with that as I continue to tease out my thinking.  

Re-seeing the Past through Reflection and Writing

Revision is always something that I have both loved and loathed. As Cindy alluded to in her discussion of revision strategy, I was one of her junior students sitting in class looking at the list of possible revision activities. Because of those activities I came to appreciate the process. I enjoyed the time I could spend just thinking about my own writing and then rewriting. Though the further I got from high school, the further I got away from these techniques. It wasn't until I got into my own classroom that they started to come back as I tried to get students to see what revision (not editing) was. Today I started with a page of writing about my transition from the Social Studies classroom to the English classroom. I ended our revision session with 2 pages of writing.

I realized, through my revision, that my audience was seeing something more negative than intended. You see, my piece is personal and it is why I chose to leave my school. At the end of last year, I felt a lot of negativity and that needs to be seen to understand why I am where I am--but I don't want that negativity to define who I am now to the reader. I want my audience to see that I'm actually very excited about teaching at a new place and with a new subject and I feel like this transition is essential for me to stay in the education field. I was writing my paper in a linear fashion starting with where I was, which led me to feel like I was dwelling in negativity, so I decided to start with the conclusion--some backwards planning if you will. I need to see the positive ending before going back to talk about the journey to that ending.

The screen shot below shows where my thinking is going. I am writing a multi-genre piece, so the final ending will be the letter to students on the first day of class.

The reason I want to play with multi-genre is because I really think it is pushing me to think about things with different audiences and purposes in mind. It is helping me think about reconstructing the past and capturing the emotion that I felt in the last semester. I'm also thinking about the future that I want to construct and how my writing can help me do that.

On a slight side note (but not really), today I learned that my high school English teacher--Ms. Pillsbury, passed away yesterday. She was a really awesome lady who always viewed life with upmost optimism. She battled cancer for a long time but that battle never took her from teaching. During my senior year I had a lot of issues with anxiety and she always let me stay in her classroom during my lunch periods and just hang out. She spent a lot of time pushing me to be a better academic writer and to pay attention to detail. I appreciate her attitude and looking back I hope she knew how much I appreciated having her my senior year. As I think about the transition to the English classroom I want to think about what it means to connect with the written word, both as a writer and a reader. As I continue to draft my paper I want to think about her classroom. 

On Keeping a Notebook

One of the summer readings I assigned is Joan Didion's "On Keeping a Notebook." I am grappling with this particular essay. I wrote an assessment for the essay per instructions from the AP teacher I am working with. The problem is, the assessment is hard. I don't think the students will do well. I want to use it to show them what an AP multiple choice question will look like, as well as what a potential essay question may look like. I was planning on letting them use their text (after all they will have text on the exam), but even still I'm afraid they'll shut down after looking at it. My thinking is that I need to review the text in depth on day 1 to give them a sense of what I'm looking for in close reading.

I'm trying to think about what I want them to get out of this text. Yes, an introduction to AP English III is ideal, but more importantly I want them to start thinking about non-fiction and notebook writing as literary writing. As I was doing research I came across the article On Keeping a Notebook in the Digital Age. Obviously a play on Didion's essay from 1968, the essay focuses on what it means to use technology and how it can serve as the new notebook. I was particularly interested in the following quote:

My preferred method for idea capture is something akin to Steven Berlin Johnson's idea of keeping a "spark file" 

This is a notebook on the computer. When one gets an idea the jot it down as one would in a notebook. Obviously this meshes with Didion's idea that when one writes in a notebook they are capturing something, rather than recording that day's events. With this "Spark File" the digital article continues,

He notes, "...Most good ideas (whether they're ideas for narrative structure, a particular twist in the argument, or a broader topic) come into our minds as hunches: small fragments of a larger idea, hints and intimations. Many of these ideas sit around for months or years before they coalesce into something useful."

That's the point of the notebook (or spark file). We're capturing ideas that may not be of use now, but they will be in the future. I want students to get that message. I want to use the daybook, but I'm afraid that I won't implement it properly. I don't want students just to see it as a place where they do warm-ups or take notes when I tell them. I want it to be something they reach for when they get home to jot an idea down, or a place to go when they have no ideas. Thus, bringing me back to why I had them read this essay in the first place. Didion is a great writer, but she isn't necessarily what the kids are interested in. Her structure can be hard to follow, as she starts the essay in the middle of events. She breaks the mold. I want students to see that she is writing a reflection that becomes literature, and they can do that too. Perhaps I'm wrong to assess them on this piece of text, or maybe I need to reconsider how I approach this assessment.

Standardization of Writing through Rubric (Not Rules)

So Tuesday was all about student writing and how we assess those pieces of students' writing. It is obviously very difficult to assess something that we know is so personal to our students. I think about my own writing and how frustrating it can be for someone to tell me that I didn't "put in enough time" or "this isn't clear enough" when I spent hours upon hours working on the assignment and it is clear enough to me. Those comments may have had some elements of validity, but they didn't help me grow as a writer, rather it was those quotes that made me want to shut down. As I shared with the group, I seldom look at feedback from professors (I'm sure they would hate to see this!) just because I feel like it is always so critical. If I got an A on the paper why is there so much red ink?!

In our discussion after Kendra's awesome demo there was a lot of talk about giving students voice when it comes to rubric, recognizing the flexibly nature of what is considered "good" writing and again, the difficulty of assessment. I was reminded of a quote from my history teacher fiancé:

I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that. 

—Justice Potter Stewart

For those unaware, this is a quote based on a case determining what is considered pornography but I think it is also applicable to our discussion we were having on Wednesday. Determining what is good writing is hard, but I think we would all agree that we know it when we see it. We try to determine what it is by creating rubric because we want our students to understand the lens we are looking through. Throughout our discussion I felt like we were wobbling on whether or not that was a good thing for our students.

For my personal inquiry, I've been thinking a lot about this...I want to explore how the Common Core/MSL assessments promote a standardization of language which privileges a language that is not the same as the language of our students and their communities. Dialects and language variations all include rules and structure, so how can we label them as incorrect. If the purpose of language is to communicate messages, meanings and ideas can someone be incorrect if others understand them? This has been recently discussed on NPR when discussing the Trayvon Martin case. When his friend testified she used language that incorporated creole elements as well as African American English. The defense lawyers noted that they could not understand her...leading to an explosion of comments and fury on social media. Some claimed that her speech showed a lack of education and composure while others pointed to intellectual snobbery of the defense team because to them she was speaking clearly. Who is right?

This issues of standard language highlight class and race struggles that this nation has always grappled with. Standard language distinguishes who is the upper class from everyone else. To move up in our society you often (though not always) have to speak the language of the upper class. This leads to an alienation on two levels. There is the idea that even when you move up, your not really part of the upper class from some arbitrary reason and if you don't speak the language of the community you have "sold out." How can we get students to accept the standard when it isn't the language they're accustomed too? How can we tell them the standard is important without bowing down to its privilege?

This brings me back to our discussion of good writing and what I think about now that I will be teaching language and comp....good language. I think rubrics exist to take out the subjective nature of grading writing, but it is important to communicate that rubric only exist in one context...grading a paper based on the academic restraints. I will be playing with rubrics as I continue to map out my class. I can't imagine grading without rubrics and I think they serve a great purpose, they show students what I'm looking for in terms of style without necessarily dictating the content. Still thinking on this...more to come in the future.

The Problem With Writing Assignments

When writing assignments, I tend to be very long-winded. It is my goal to hand out the assignment (if it is an assessment) and to have my directions so explicit that I  need not say anything. Obviously, I walk them through the assignment...but students always seem to have questions after the assessment starts. That being said, I was reading through Zemelman and Daniels' outline of how to design writing activities and assessments. This is the guide that the authors provided as a problematic writing assignment:

Looking at this assignment I feel both good and bad, I see elements of my assignments and things that I would red flag immediately. There's a lot happening here and what is being asked for I think is too limited to one piece of paper (as required by the assignment). This assignments doesn't give students a lot of room (literarily and metaphorically) for pre-writing or revising. The time limit itself is to constraining, lending itself to inadequate answers. 

There are other problems as well, including the tone of the assignment. This is where I know I'm guilty of developing poor assignments. The directions are threatening and intimidating. I realize I shouldn't confuse "explicit" with "negative." Writing assignments should be positive and I need to ensure that I am addressing students in a positive light, not as potential failures. I need to be explicit with the audience. In the case of the graduation paper their audience will be other teachers whereas an in class assignment may just be to a friend, obviously that would greatly impact how the work is written and how it should be written. By establishing the audience, I can establish the parameters of what is expected. 

Another thing I found particularly interesting was Zeleman and Daniel's proposal to include: "rich and continuous reading experience." This means that students are looking at writing as they are writing. This makes so much sense. Students need guides, just as all authors need guides. I'm certain that great writers look to other great writers! This would be perfect preparation for the AP English III assessment, which asks that students look at documents to compile their own opinion and response on a given topic. 

When building an assignments there are a lot of different elements to helping students develop their writing. This includes:

1. Choosing the topic: "What specifically is meant to be the subject matter? Is there a wide choice by students? Will there be specific questions, texts, or materials? Does the topic lend itself into others? Is this part of a larger sequence? How does this part contribute, if so?"

Obviously this is important, it is probably subconscious to most when writing an assignment. However, I think I should work to make it deliberately NOT subconscious. I need to ask these questions of myself as I design these first assignments. I think this will require me to have pre-writing on assignments...

And so it begins...going through the writing process

Today was the first day of institute. It felt really good to sit around and think about the writing process and what it means for our students and ourselves (as both writers and teachers). I thought about my own writing background which looked something like this...

I remember that I've always liked writing stories, though my follow-through has never been good. It came to me today, while creating this timeline, that this lack of follow through may be the product of a lack of purpose. As a writer, I've always been driven by the product and the timeline that I have to meet. I write with purpose and while I don't mind free writing, mine usually drifts into making to-do lists so that I can feel that I have been productive. This mentality totally seems to go against our writing into the day:

"You will write
if you write without thinking of the result
in terms of a result...." (Gertrude Stein)

I'm always thinking of the product and what I need to produce and I think I share that in common with my students. I understand their need to think (even obsess) with the final product, after all that's what shows our growth! I want students to understand the process they are going through as their writing and I want them to love writing for the love of learning and writing, but that isn't how many of them operate, I don't even think that is how I operate!

That's where the Murray Cards gave me some enlightenment. I decided that I wanted to go through the Murray Card process in a way that was meaningful to me...thinking about my classroom next year and the graduation paper. I decided to outline the process that it would take to write the graduation paper. As a result, I realized how many steps students will need to fulfill the requirements for the project. That was definitely helpful, but the most helpful thing was to force myself to put myself in my students' shoes.

I know that they don't want to write this paper and if I'm honest with myself, I don't want them to have to write this paper. In fact, I felt like I should spend some time responding to the hypothetical complaints and questions about the paper. That led to:

I want to continue thinking about this response because I think this will help the most. Why is it important to write this research paper other than the obvious? If I can figure that out, I can do the most important thing....invest students in this process.