RE: Against Formulaic Writing -Reply

["Ron Adams" <RADAMS@gwgate.kvcc.edu>]

The debate about the five paragraph essay has been interesting.  I find that at the community college where I work, my developmental students frequently are aching for some sort of form upon which to hang their ideas.  Throughout their education they have been urged to "express" themselves, but being aliterate ( all too frequently) they do not have any idea how to proceed, do not have any comfort with reading, and do not have any confidence in their own voice.

For these students, I use the five paragraph essay on two assignments as a vehicle to move from paragraphs to "real" essays.  Of course, this is not a one-size-fits-all assignment; those who find comfort in a formula use it while those who are more willing to jump into the deep end are encouraged to do so.

The five paragraph essay also offers a point of departure for teaching timed writing strategies in both my College Writing I courses(essay exams) and my technical writing courses (end-of-the-day/week, do-before-you-can-leave memos and letters).

Is formulaic writing an artificial construct which developed in academe?  Hell yes, just as essay exams are.  But as a tool or stepping stone which is introduced as such, it seems to work well for most of my students.  I sometimes think that we, as a profession, all too often view something as an archaic bag of tricks rather than as a potentially useful trick to add to our bags.

Ron Adams
Kalamazoo Valley Community College

radams@kvcc.edu