Since this thread began, I have been querying my 3rd year engineering science
students. It arose in my course because many of them have produced 5 pe as
their "literature review" for a case study project. I hadn't encountered this in
such abundance before -- in many iterations of the course -- but have a few
interesting responses from the students on this one.
1. it is the default position -- if ever they don't have a clear grasp of genre,
that is where they turn.
2. it is, thus, deeply ingrained.
3. it is also comfortable because they feel they know its weaknesses -- one
student said he knew it didn't really work even as he used it, but he said he
was used to his writing not working in that way, and usually it was "fine".
I've also been watching my son in grade 8. He's learning the 5pe now. I only
hope that the school system will move him beyond it to that more flexible
"thesis-based argument"
Rob Irish
Quoting Rick Coe <[log in to unmask]>:
> I must stand corrected. And I have two questions.
>
> I was discussing the 5-paragraph essay (5-PE) with my youngest
> daughter (who oddly enough is majoring in Writing & Rhetoric at UBC). She,
>
> of course, has more recent and direct experience with how it is taught in
> high school hereabouts. When I said to her that the basic structure is
> defined by a thesis statement in the form of 'X is true because a, b, and
> c' or 'X is true as exemplified by a, b, and c,' Sasha informed me that, in
>
> practice, the structure is not nearly so precise. Having written a thesis
> that defines a topic, she says, the student need only discuss anything
> three things that fit into the topic; the three things need not necessarily
>
> prove or support the claim of the thesis statement in order to get a good
> grade.
>
> I am presently responding to some short course papers from 1st
> year students in a large lecture course (over 200 students, 4 TAs). A few
> students tried to use the 5-PE format. And what they did confirms Sasha's
> assertion. They are on topic, but off task: although they demonstrate
> that characters in the plays they have studied face specific ethical
> issues; they do not fulfill the assignment, which asked them to discuss how
>
> the dramatic action of the plays cause audiences to consider ethical
> issues. (This, I should add, is a distinction that has been emphasized in
> the course and even defined in the syllabus.) The paper I am reading just
> now demonstrates, for instance, that the characters in An Enemy of the
> People face the issue of whether or not to renovate the Baths, but not that
>
> the play causes audiences to consider whether one should do what is safe
> and expedient or what is right.
>
> If what Sasha says is correct, I am asking them to do something
> they have not previously been required to do, i.e., to write not just on a
> topic, but to fulfill a purpose. (N.B., Not even a rhetorical purpose.)
>
> Does my explanation make sense to anybody? Am I being too picky
> in what I want from 1st year students? (I realize, of course, that if I
> were teaching the way Russ advocates, this problem probably wouldn't
> arise.)
>
> Thanks,
> Rick
>
>
>
>
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For the list archives and information about the organization,
its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
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