Jamie raises an interesting point . . .
> Though I, as noted, have never seen (as student, teacher or
> citizen-reader) the famous 5-para essay,
I have, but _only_ in the context of writing courses. I've
never seen one in the wild (but on the other hand, I can't
remember ever seeing any of the other academic essay formats we
teach (or use for teaching) in the wild, either.
> If I had to guess, I'd guess that the form was created out of
> thin air (i.e., with few real-world antecedents) by teachers
> for teaching purposes (for better or worse).
Yep. But I think I'd argue that the 5pe is just a special case
of a much larger problem with "academic" (= class-based) writing
formats.
-- Russ
St. Thomas University
http://www.StThomasU.ca/~hunt/
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to
[log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,
write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask]
For the list archives and information about the organization,
its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
