Paper #4 Nick DeFrancisco Mr.

Whicker 3/5/12 Restrictions of the five-paragraph rule in standardized testing (although it is good to have your title describe your paper, something catchy could be better to grab the readers attention) Some writing scholars continue to defend the usefulness of teaching students to write five paragraph essays despite the strident criticism brought by others. (I thought that this was a great way to begin your paper. It was a clear and concrete thesis) Whether more writing instructors agree with one side or the other, the five paragraph (maybe when you say the five paragraph essay, use quotations around it. Just a suggestion, not sure if that is grammatically correct though) essay continues to be widely taught, and the reason is standardized timed writing tests. (This is an interesting reason behind the five paragraph essay) The use of timed writing exams for high stakes testing is also a contentious issue with both defenders and detractors. One of the main criticisms of timed writing tests is that they encourage formulaic writing like the five paragraph theme; one of the arguments for teaching the five paragraph theme is that they can help students succeed on timed writing tests. This creates a self-reinforcing circular relationship, and a questionable one at that. Addressing the issue of the five paragraph theme by means of the criticisms of timed writing tests, however, may deprive supporters of the five paragraph essay of many of their arguments. (you may want to leave your intro without this information and use it for your arguments that you make later in the paper. This will give you more things to discuss and add length to your paper.) In todays society, from an early stage of our academic careers, most of us, if not all of us, are taught the ways to write papers using the infamous five-paragraph rule. This is

the standard, introduction paragraph, followed by a few (three?) body paragraphs with main topics, and then ended off with the conclusion paragraph, relating back to the main thesis stated within the introduction. A lot of students (no apostrophe) nowadays may struggle with this rule when it comes to writing papers, such as this very one, or in terms of writing in standardized testing, which is a huge part of what Im about to talk about. (discuss could be a good alternative) In such standardized tests such as the ACT or SAT, high school students, who decide to take the writing sections of the test, are asked to write responses to questions given within certain limits or word requirement. This may be the same case, for a paper or application that may need to be turned in. For example, some of my college applications required an essay with a certain word count restriction. Its these very restrictions that hold us, as students back from truly expressing ourselves to the fullest. That is why something needs to be done, to change the ways this rule is portrayed, and allow writers to go about doing things the way they should. Throughout my years at the Olentangy School District in Columbus, Ohio, I was always taught throughout my English courses, whenever I wrote a paper, it had to be five paragraphs. A lot of times though, I would struggle to fit all of my ideas into that limited amount of space given to us. How was I supposed to only have three main points on a subject that I felt passionate enough to write about. Even for papers that I may not have enjoyed writing as much, at least I knew that limiting my ideas was a bad idea. That is why I personally disagree with this policy. We, as writers (comma) should not be limited to the amount of words we have to say. We should be allowed as many paragraphs as it takes to get our points across. No matter how long or short our papers are, they are true

representations of our background knowledge of a particular subject, which is why I believe that by limiting it is in a sense limiting our ideas. In their article, The Five Paragraph Essay and the Deficit Model of Education, Lil Brannon and others write about how using this standard rule of writing affects a writers ability to succeed. They explain the uses of this rule, and show how common it truly is by stating, They persist because they have been enshrined in textbooks, and tested by the testing establishment, even after scholars in composition have documented the irrationality of their use for 30 years. (Brannon). This quote really begs (nice word choice) the question that even after all this time, why have test-makers truly not understood that the limitations given in terms of the length of the paper? Because of this, one may truly question why they have still havent decided that they shouldnt be left the way it is, but instead be changed so that the writer can write as much (as) him/her truly needs to. In todays society, one of the key factors that even allow high school students to even be considered to enter college is their test scores. Another factor in deciding if students are accepted or not, would be the letter that some school will have you write to them, describing yourself in a certain amount of words. Both of these limit the writer of what can and cannot be said, because they only have so much that they are able to say, before they reach that limit, that is restricting them of truly expressing themselves to the fullest. Now, if the standardized testing is the only key factor that a particular school looks at, then it can either help or hurt ones chances of getting into that particular school, especially if its based off of one particular section of the test, such as the writing portion. When colleges are looking to see how a students academic success (is?), the term washback, sometimes comes to play when looking at test scores, and how the student

applied himself on a particular standardized test. According to oxfordjournal.org, the British term washback refers to when tests are powerful determiners of what happens in the classroom. (oxfordjournal.org). Now if this is the case, in a standardized test that follows the rule of using five-paragraphs, then the student may struggle to be picked for that particular school, because thats how they are in a sense viewed because of the washback in their writing. With writing in standardized tests being as important as it is, it is to the students benefits to not be limited to what they are saying in the, so that they may incorporate a lot more into their writing. In his article, Closed Systems and Standardized Writing Tests, Chris M. Anson talks about not only the effects that a standardized test can have on a student, but the strategies that some students take when going about writing a particular piece of writing for the writing section of a standardized test, such as the SAT, or ACT. By showing ways that some students may prepare themselves for these exams, and in particular the writing sections of them, he helps the reader to see just how challenging these sections can be sometimes. Why make it even harder by putting a restriction as to the amount of words allowed to be used in a students writing, or by restricting it to only five-paragraphs. By doing this, the test-makers are limiting ideas that could further expand ones ideas within their writing. (Go on and talk about Poes article, in which he mentions student achievement, and relate it back to the use of these five-paragraphs essays, and explain whether or not they can potentially alter ones overall development in their writing. Relate this overall development to the use of this rule through standardized testing, and further explain its overall significance.)

(Use Smiths article to show the perspective of one who is in defense of this rule, and question whether or not it is truly beneficial to a students success when it comes to their overall development in writing. Explain this overall development through aspects such as timed writing for standardized testing.) (Go on to show Wesleys article, and explain some of the negative aspects of the rule, and how they contradict of those that are in defense of it. Question whether they may be considered right or wrong, and provide examples of ill or negative aspects that Wesley addresses within his article, to help show the main point of how it can alter ones success within their writing.)

Works Cited Allen, Sarah. The Inspired Writer vs. the Real Writer. Writing Spaces: Reading on Writing, Vol. 1. Parlor Press (2010). 29 February 2012. Anson, Chris M. Closed Systems and Standardized Writing Tests. (September 2008). 29 February 2012. Brannon, Lil, et al. The Five-Paragraph Essay and the Deficit Model of Education. English Journal 98.2 (2008): 16-21. Print. 29 February 2012. Nunnally, Thomas E. Breaking the Five-Paragraph-Theme Barrier. National Council of Teachers of English. The English Journal, Vol. 80, No. 1 (Jan., 1991). 29 February 2012. Perelman, Les. Information Illiteracy and Mass Market Writing Assessments. (September 2008). 29 February 2012. Poe, Mya. Genre, Testing, and the Constructed Realities of Student Achievement. (September 2008). 29 February 29 2012. Smith, Kerri. In Defense of the Five-Paragraph Essay. National Council of Teachers of English. The English Journal, Vol. 95, No. 4. (Mar., 2006) 29 February 2012. Sommers, Nancy. The Call of Research: A Longitudinal View of Writing Development. (September 2008). 29 February 2012. Speer, Tom. Re-Conceiving the Five-Paragraph Essay in an Era of Uncertainty. Teaching English in the Two Year College 22.1 (1995): 21-29. Print Wesley, Kimberly. The Ill Effects of the Five Paragraph Theme. English Journal 90.1 (2000): 57-60. Print.