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Unteaching The 5-Paragraph Essay By Marie Foley

582 Words3 Pages

The readings this week were informative for my understanding of essay writing and the learning process. The “Unteaching the 5-Paragraph Essay” by Marie Foley and “Understanding Writing: The Rhetorical Situation” by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab helped me understand more about the writing process and the importance of context when writing a good essay. The “Transforming Students’ Motivation to Learn” by Carol S. Dweck and the “Habits of Mind” infographic introduce new ways to think about learning. I was particularly moved by “Unteaching the 5-Paragraph Essay” by Marie Foley. I was taught the 5-paragraph essay format in elementary school. Essays were intimidating at the time, so having strict guidelines was helpful in making essay writing more approachable. Like Foley states in this essay, it helped me feel like I could do it. However, this format misguided me, because although it was helpful at the time, it left no room for growth as a writer through further inquisition and connections. As I have gotten older and read more academic articles – both by peers at university as well as other academics – I realized that this format has been disregarded. Within a good essay, you may not even notice when a new topic is introduced if it has been woven into the rest of the essay seamlessly, which contributes to a more satisfying and cohesive experience for the reader. As a writer, leaving room for questions and connections is vital to thinking more deeply about the topic, which is beneficial to myself and the reader. …show more content…

These formats are much less strict than the 5-paragraph essay format, which leaves room for further development of ideas. This type of flexibility appeals to me, as it allows for more creativity and inquisition while still lending some guidance as to where to

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