Rhetorical Analysis Of John Warner 's ' Kill The 5 Paragraph '

Throughout White’s essay, it was apparent that the use of many strategies was used to persuade the reader. Among these strategies, I was able to conclude that his essay was intended to the mass majority of the population. White’s method, in his belief, is highly successful towards many teachers. He says, “ A lot of teachers actually like the five-paragraph theme as much as I do.” This statement shows us that White may have intended to stand with the bandwagon on this topic. Even though he believes that many teachers are fond of the five-paragraph theme, he also states, “I don’t know why some teachers seem to dislike it so much.” This shows us that he can present both sides of the argument, which can open many solutions to the reader.

Unteaching The Five- Paragraph essay by Marie Foley is a light hearted but argumentive piece focusing on the way most school aged children are taught to write. Foley's main point comes down to the very first words in the essay; “The five-paragraph formula confuses and alienates students and undermines our most basic goals as writing instructors." Foley believes that by teaching children to write in a formulated manner we are not letting them explore and learn through their own writing. We are instead giving them the freedom to discontinue the thought process once they feel that the essay they have produced meets the formula standards they have been kept to, and refuse to part with.

Teaching the process of a five-paragraph essay seems to be a popular strategy when it comes to teaching new writers; however, not everyone agrees that five-paragraph essays are the best way to go about introducing the writing process. John Warner, author of “Kill the 5-Paragraph Essay” believes the process gives writers little freedom and is a “tool for the worst of teachers to hide amongst the good.” On the other hand, Kerri Smith, author of “In the Defense of the Five-Paragraph Essay” claims “students who know the five-paragraph essay intimately are more prepared to take on the challenge of college-level writing.” Both first-year composition professors make great arguments; however, Warner’s article seems to argue his point effectively.

The art of writing is a complex and difficult process. Proper writing requires careful planning, revision, and proofreading. Throughout the past semester, the quality of my writing has evolved significantly. At first, I struggled with the separation of different types of paragraphs, and I found writing them laborious. Constant practice, however, has eliminated many of my original difficulties, and helped to inspire confidence in my skills. As a collegiate writer, my strength lies in my clear understanding of the fundamentals of writing, while my primary weakness is proofreading my own work.

In an excerpt of Unteaching the Five-Paragraph Essay," Marie Foley reveals how the Five-Paragraph Essay formula contradicts writing instructor's most basic goals. Foley shows that the formula deters from generating individual thinking. In today's society, essays are used by millions of people in order to express their different ideas. The Five-Paragraph Essay formula was originally developed to help retain the efficiency and clarity of the essay. Foley, however, believes that this process eventually separates the student from his or her written expression and should be used only as a first step tool for beginning student writers. Foley insists that the formula blocks discovery, squelches authenticity and undermines the reader's need for

It is a common occurrence for high school students in their senior year to experience declines in motivation and performance; most call it ‘senioritis.’ When students contract seniorits they become lax, neglecting their homework, turning in late papers, and generally losing effort. The majority of seniors continue on to graduate, only to receive a rude awakening once they enter college. While students may be able to graduate from high school without putting in too much hard work, college is indisputably a different story. In the documentary,”The Expos 5,” five college students provided a first hand look into how they learned to navigate the difficulties of expository writing. I related best to Arpan and Yasmeen, but I learned great lessons from all of the students.

In the article “Unteaching the Five Paragraph Essay”, Marie Foley intere that the five paragraph essay format is blameworthy of high school graduate unpreparedness for college coursework and the need of remedial classes. Foley stated that “Many college freshman enter composition course alienated from writing”(P.2) Foley also claim that “teaching the five paragraph formula this harms student in some fundamental ways….i'll-preparing them for academic and real world writing”(P.3) This paper is going to analyse Marie foley article by brake down the reason and problem behind the Five paragraph essay.

“The Novice as Expert: Writing the Freshman Year” reflected my writing experience while I transitioned from elementary writer to a critical writer. Sommers and Saltz write, “freshmen need to see themselves as novice in a world that demands ‘something more and deeper’ from their writing than high school” (Sommers and Saltz 134). This line highlights the hardship that most students face when trying to write successfully. My earlier written works were much weaker than my current pieces because I often wrote for the sake of passing the class. While developing my writing, I focused on the new ideas that were introduced rather than limiting my argument to familiar techniques and ideas. Because of my new attitude towards writing, I began to demand

Maria P. Rey's, Letter to West Port High School's English Department, was written for an assignment in her English Composition course at the University of Florida in late October of 2009. In Rey’s letter, she tries to entice her former teachers to re-evaluate how and what they are teaching to their students. Rey explains that her former instructors are not teaching their students a standard format, but that she actually received conflicting guidelines from different teachers. Rey continues with describing to professors the four rules that obstructed her ability to be a good writer. The first of these are the five paragraph essay model that is taught in most schools. Rey believes this method can inadvertently cause issues for a writer. One being

The blinds on the windows are shut, it feels like a prison cell as I sit under the spotlight. The darkness outside makes me feel somber and alone. I stare at the glowing screen and think to myself, “It’s just me and this paper.” In December of my junior year in high school, I was assigned a persuasive essay on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter; it was my first academic essay of the year. My previous experiences with academic writing were both stressful and unfulfilling; when the essay topic was announced, I felt only resentment and anger, I remembered my past tribulations. With my mother’s help, this essay was different; after I submitted it to the teacher, I possessed a new perspective on academic writing. From my experience, I learned that strong writing skills are vital to communication, critical thinking, and life outside of the classroom.

As your paper finally slides into that dreadful homework basket, you realize you are finally done. That stressful weekend, with the anticipation, the typing, reading, re-reading and retyping. Is finally over, you have now handed in your essay. Does this sound familiar? Of course, it does! We have all worked on that English or history paper and felt relief after handing it in. But, why is this common event always so stressful for students? Perhaps it is in the way we write our essays, but is there any other way to do it? As it turns out… YES! There are many different strategies to writing, and in this editorial, we will outline some of the most commonly voiced methods.

In Marie Foley’s “Unteaching the Five Paragraph, Mary Kay Mulvaney’s “Difference Between College and High School Writing,” and “Understanding Writing Assignments: Tips and Techniques” by Dan Melzer, the authors all have a different opinion on various topics of writing. The topics includes the five paragraph structure, how to understand a writing assignment and the difference between the writing of college student and high school students. In my opinion everyone have their own opinions. My opinions on the three articles differ in various ways; there are some things that I agree with and few minor things that I disagree with.

As the semester approaches a conclusion, I have discovered for myself that I happen to exhibit not simply on how I have endured this semester, but then again also what I have gained in knowledge of. In the past four months, I would consider that I obtain an accomplishment of achievement in improving my writing techniques. The most important principle that I have discovered so far ensues on how to become an improved writer. With each writing assignment, I learned additional methods and skills, which tweaked my capabilities to develop my thoughts in detail on paper, to write clearly, and to organize my essays efficiently. In previous years, I would frequently catch myself irritated believing I had terrible writer’s block standing in my path of writing an organized essay. This created a feeling as if I could not distinguish how to write properly and the reasoning behind my hatred for writing. During high school, I learned the Modern Language Association (MLA) formats for bibliographies and parenthetical citations, consequently at the beginning of the fall semester, I knew only this format. I was able to learned the correct format for the American Psychological Association (APA) style when doing each assignment at hand.

Throughout my time writing at the City College of New York, I experienced a slow and dramatic transition to my first semester of this college course. During that time, I've learned from several feedback and lessons from certain peers and my professor. Because of the strict comments written in my drafts by my professor, a few helpful suggestions to include in my writing, and a few miserably failures, I was able to see how my writing and habits have changed during the duration of this course. Back in high school, I was always comfortable writing only five paragraph essays (Introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion), but I've never expected to write something more complex. Here, I was encouraged to include as much detail as I can instead of writing something vague

Since the beginning of the semester, my writing has changed and evolved to accommodate and sustain longer essays. With longer essays, there is more room for in-depth analysis. Further analyzing a topic has led me to findings that I did not know existed. As I continue to write, I uncover addition and superior methods to approach my writing to the benefit of me and therefore, my audience. Throughout the semester, I have incorporated techniques to further my narrative throughout my writing.