{"id":131,"date":"2018-06-01T13:18:24","date_gmt":"2018-06-01T13:18:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/sunycorning1020elec201819\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=131"},"modified":"2018-06-19T10:42:09","modified_gmt":"2018-06-19T10:42:09","slug":"college-writing","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/sunycorning1020elec201819\/chapter\/college-writing\/","title":{"raw":"College Writing","rendered":"College Writing"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"page-header\">\r\n<h1>College Writing<\/h1>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2>What this handout is about<\/h2>\r\nThis handout will help you figure out what your college instructors expect when they give you a writing assignment. It will tell you how and why to move beyond the five-paragraph themes you learned to write in high school and start writing essays that are more analytical and more flexible.\r\n<h2>What is a five-paragraph theme?<\/h2>\r\nNorth Carolina public school teachers sometimes give a writing assignment called a \u201cfive-paragraph theme\u201d; in other places, this kind of assignment is called a \u201ckeyhole essay.\u201d Either way, it\u2019s hourglass-shaped: it begins with something general, narrows down in the middle to discuss specifics, and then branches out to more general comments at the end. In a classic five-paragraph theme, the first paragraph starts with a general statement and ends with a thesis statement containing three \u201cpoints\u201d; each body paragraph discusses one of those \u201cpoints\u201d in turn; and the final paragraph sums up what the student has written.\r\n<h2>Why do high schools teach the five-paragraph theme?<\/h2>\r\nThe five-paragraph theme is a good way to learn how to write an academic essay. It\u2019s a simplified version of academic writing that requires you to state an idea and support it with evidence. Setting a limit of five paragraphs narrows your options and forces you to master the basics of organization. Furthermore\u2014and for many high school teachers, this is the crucial issue\u2014many mandatory end-of-grade writing tests and college admissions exams like the SAT II writing test reward writers who follow the five-paragraph theme format.\r\n\r\nWriting a five-paragraph theme is like riding a bicycle with training wheels; it\u2019s a device that helps you learn. That doesn\u2019t mean you should use it forever. Once you can write well without it, you can cast it off and never look back.\r\n<h2>Why don\u2019t five-paragraph themes work well for college writing?<\/h2>\r\nThe way college instructors teach is probably different from what you experienced in high school, and so is what they expect from you.<img class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-260\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3282\/2018\/06\/19104023\/3825346938_4f841c5f22_z.jpg\" alt=\"A contrast between an old building and a new building.\" width=\"500\" height=\"404\" \/>\r\n\r\nWhile high school courses tend to focus on the who, what, when, and where of the things you study\u2014\u201djust the facts\u201d\u2014college courses ask you to think about the how and the why. You can do very well in high school by studying hard and memorizing a lot of facts. Although college instructors still expect you to know the facts, they really care about how you analyze and interpret those facts and why you think those facts matter.\u00a0<strong>Once you know what college instructors are looking for, you can see some of the reasons why five-paragraph themes don\u2019t work so well for college writing:<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>Five-paragraph themes often do a poor job of setting up a framework, or context, that helps the reader understand what the author is trying to say.<\/strong>\u00a0Students learn in high school that their introduction should begin with something general. College instructors call these \u201cdawn of time\u201d introductions. For example, a student asked to discuss the causes of the Hundred Years War might begin, \u201cSince the dawn of time, humankind has been plagued by war.\u201d In a college course, the student would fare better with a more concrete sentence directly related to what he or she is going to say in the rest of the paper\u2014for example, a sentence such as \u201cIn the early 14th century, a civil war broke out in Flanders that would soon threaten Western Europe\u2019s balance of power.\u201d If you are accustomed to writing vague opening lines and need them to get started, go ahead and write them, but delete them before you turn in the final draft. For more on this subject, see our handout on<a title=\"Introductions\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcenter.unc.edu\/tips-and-tools\/introductions\/\">\u00a0introductions<\/a>.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Five-paragraph themes often lack an argument.<\/strong>\u00a0Because college courses focus on analyzing and interpreting rather than on memorizing, college instructors expect writers not only to know the facts but also to make an argument about the facts. The best five-paragraph themes may do this. However, the typical five-paragraph theme has a \u201clisting\u201d thesis, for example, \u201cI will show how the Romans lost their empire in Britain and Gaul by examining military technology, religion, and politics,\u201d rather than an argumentative one, for example, \u201cThe Romans lost their empire in Britain and Gaul because their opponents\u2019 military technology caught up with their own at the same time as religious upheaval and political conflict were weakening the sense of common purpose on the home front.\u201d For more on this subject, see our handout on\u00a0<a title=\"Argument\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcenter.unc.edu\/tips-and-tools\/argument\/\">argument<\/a>.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Five-paragraph themes are often repetitive.<\/strong>\u00a0Writers who follow the five-paragraph model tend to repeat sentences or phrases from the introduction in topic sentences for paragraphs, rather than writing topic sentences that tie their three \u201cpoints\u201d together into a coherent argument. Repetitive writing doesn\u2019t help to move an argument along, and it\u2019s no fun to read.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Five-paragraph themes often lack \u201cflow;\u201d that is, they don\u2019t make smooth transitions from one thought to the next. The \u201clisting\u201d thesis statement encourages writers to treat each paragraph and its main idea as a separate entity, rather than to draw connections between paragraphs and ideas in order to develop an argument.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Five-paragraph themes often have weak conclusions that merely summarize what\u2019s gone before and don\u2019t say anything new or interesting.<\/strong>\u00a0In our handout on\u00a0<a title=\"Conclusions\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcenter.unc.edu\/tips-and-tools\/conclusions\/\">conclusions<\/a>, we call these \u201cthat\u2019s my story and I\u2019m sticking to it\u201d conclusions: they do nothing to engage readers and make them glad they read the essay. Most of us can remember an introduction and three body paragraphs without a repetitive summary at the end to help us out.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Five-paragraph themes don\u2019t have any counterpart in the real world.<\/strong>\u00a0Read your favorite newspaper or magazine; look through the readings your professors assign you; listen to political speeches or sermons. Can you find anything that looks or sounds like a five-paragraph theme? One of the important skills that college can teach you, above and beyond the subject matter of any particular course, is how to communicate persuasively in any situation that comes your way. The five-paragraph theme is too rigid and simplified to fit most real-world situations.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Perhaps most important of all: in a five-paragraph theme, form controls content, when it should be the other way around.<\/strong>\u00a0Students begin with a plan for organization, and they force their ideas to fit it. Along the way, their perfectly good ideas get mangled or lost.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2>How do I break out of writing five-paragraph themes?<\/h2>\r\nLet\u2019s take an example based on our handout on\u00a0<a title=\"Thesis Statements\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcenter.unc.edu\/tips-and-tools\/thesis-statements\/\">thesis statements<\/a>. Suppose you\u2019re taking a United States History class, and Professor College asks you to write a paper on this topic:\r\n\r\nCompare and contrast the reasons why the North and South fought the Civil War.\r\n\r\nAlex, preparing to write her first college history paper, decides to write a five-paragraph theme, just like she learned from Mr. Highschool. She begins by thinking, \u201cWhat are three points I can talk about to compare the reasons the North and South fought the Civil War?\u201d She does a little brainstorming, and she says, \u201cWell, in class, Professor College talked about the economy, politics, and slavery. I guess I can do a paper about that.\u201d So she writes her introduction:\r\n<ul>A civil war occurs when two sides in a single country become so angry at each other that they turn to violence. The Civil War between North and South was a major conflict that nearly tore apart the young United States. The North and South fought the Civil War for many reasons. In some cases, these reasons were the same, but in other cases they were very different. In this paper, I will compare and contrast these reasons by examining the economy, politics, and slavery.<\/ul>\r\nThis is a classic five-paragraph theme introduction: it goes from the general to the specific, and it introduces the three points that will be the subjects of each of the three body paragraphs.\r\n\r\nBut Professor College doesn\u2019t like it, not one little bit. She underlines the first two sentences, and she writes, \u201cThis is too general. Get to the point.\u201d She underlines the third and fourth sentences, and she writes, \u201cYou\u2019re just restating the question I asked. What\u2019s your point?\u201d She underlines the final sentence, and then writes in the margin, \u201cWhat\u2019s your thesis?\u201d because the last sentence in the paragraph only lists topics. It doesn\u2019t make an argument.\r\n\r\nIs Professor College just a big old grouch? Well, no\u2014she is trying to teach this student that college writing isn\u2019t about following a formula (the five-paragraph theme), it\u2019s about making an argument. Her first sentence is general, the way she learned a five-paragraph should start. But from Professor College\u2019s perspective, it\u2019s far too general\u2014so general, in fact, that it\u2019s completely outside of the assignment: she didn\u2019t ask students to define civil war. The third and fourth sentences say, in so many words, \u201cI am comparing and contrasting the reasons why the North and the South fought the Civil War\u201d\u2014as Professor College says, they just restate the prompt, without giving a single hint about where this student\u2019s paper is going. The final sentence, which should make an argument, only lists topics; it doesn\u2019t begin to explore how or why something happened.\r\n\r\nIf you\u2019ve seen a lot of five-paragraph themes, you can guess what Alex will write next. Her first body paragraph will begin, \u201cWe can see some of the different reasons why the North and South fought the Civil War by looking at the economy.\u201d What will Professor College say about that? She might ask, \u201cWhat differences can we see? What part of the economy are you talking about? Why do the differences exist? Why are they important?\u201d After three such body paragraphs, the student might write a conclusion that says much the same thing as her introduction, in slightly different words. Professor College might respond, \u201cYou\u2019ve already said this!\u201d\r\n\r\nWhat could Alex do differently? Let\u2019s start over. This time, Alex doesn\u2019t begin with a preconceived notion of how to organize her essay. Instead of three \u201cpoints,\u201d she decides that she will brainstorm until she comes up with a main argument, or thesis, that answers the question \u201cWhy did the North and South fight the Civil War?\u201d Then she will decide how to organize her draft by thinking about the argument\u2019s parts and how they fit together.\r\n\r\nAfter doing some\u00a0<a title=\"Brainstorming\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcenter.unc.edu\/tips-and-tools\/brainstorming\/\">brainstorming<\/a>\u00a0and reading the Writing Center\u2019s handout on\u00a0<a title=\"Thesis Statements\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcenter.unc.edu\/tips-and-tools\/thesis-statements\/\">thesis statements<\/a>, Alex thinks of a main argument, or thesis statement:\r\n<ul>Both Northerners and Southerners believed they fought against tyranny and oppression, but Northerners focused on the oppression of slaves while Southerners defended their rights to property and self-government.<\/ul>\r\nThen Alex writes her introduction. But instead of beginning with a general statement about civil wars, she gives us the ideas we need to know in order to understand all the parts of her argument:\r\n<ul>The United States broke away from England in response to British tyranny and oppression, so opposition to tyranny and a belief in individual freedom and liberty were important values in the young republic. But in the nineteenth century, slavery made Northerners and Southerners see these values in very different ways. By 1860, the conflict over these values broke out into a civil war that nearly tore the country apart. In that war, both Northerners and Southerners believed they fought against tyranny and oppression, but Northerners focused on the oppression of slaves while Southerners defended their rights to property and self-government.<\/ul>\r\nEvery sentence in Alex\u2019s new introduction leads the reader down the path to her thesis statement in an unbroken chain of ideas.\r\n\r\nNow Alex turns to organization. You\u2019ll find more about the thinking process she goes through in our handout on\u00a0<a title=\"Reorganizing Drafts\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcenter.unc.edu\/tips-and-tools\/reorganizing-drafts\/\">organization<\/a>, but here are the basics: first, she decides, she\u2019ll write a paragraph that gives background; she\u2019ll explain how opposition to tyranny and a belief in individual liberty came to be such important values in the United States. Then she\u2019ll write another background paragraph in which she shows how the conflict over slavery developed over time. Then she\u2019ll have separate paragraphs about Northerners and Southerners, explaining in detail\u2014and giving evidence for\u2014her claims about each group\u2019s reasons for going to war.\r\n\r\nNote that Alex now has four body paragraphs. She might have had three or two or seven; what\u2019s important is that she allowed her argument to tell her how many paragraphs she should have and how to fit them together. Furthermore, her body paragraphs don\u2019t all discuss \u201cpoints,\u201d like \u201cthe economy\u201d and \u201cpolitics\u201d\u2014two of them give background, and the other two explain Northerners\u2019 and Southerners\u2019 views in detail.\r\n\r\nFinally, having followed her sketch outline and written her paper, Alex turns to writing a conclusion. From our handout on\u00a0<a title=\"Conclusions\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcenter.unc.edu\/tips-and-tools\/conclusions\/\">conclusions<\/a>, she knows that a \u201cthat\u2019s my story and I\u2019m sticking to it\u201d conclusion doesn\u2019t move her ideas forward. Applying the strategies she finds in the handout, she decides that she can use her conclusion to explain why the paper she\u2019s just written really matters\u2014perhaps by pointing out that the fissures in our society that the Civil War opened are, in many cases, still causing trouble today.\r\n<h2>Is it ever OK to write a five-paragraph theme?<\/h2>\r\nYes. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where somebody expects you to make sense of a large body of information on the spot and write a well-organized, persuasive essay\u2014in fifty minutes or less? Sounds like an essay exam situation, right? When time is short and the pressure is on, falling back on the good old five-paragraph theme can save you time and give you confidence. A five-paragraph theme might also work as the framework for a short speech. Try not to fall into the trap, however, of creating a \u201clisting\u201d thesis statement when your instructor expects an argument; when planning your body paragraphs, think about three components of an argument, rather than three \u201cpoints\u201d to discuss. On the other hand, most professors recognize the constraints of writing blue-book essays, and a \u201clisting\u201d thesis is probably better than no thesis at all.\r\n<h2>Works consulted<\/h2>\r\nWe consulted these works while writing the original version of this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout\u2019s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find the latest publications on this topic. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lib.unc.edu\/instruct\/citations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">UNC Libraries citation tutorial<\/a>.\r\n\r\nBlue, Tina. \u201cAP English Blather,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.essayisay.homestead.com\/blather.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.essayisay.homestead.com\/blather.html<\/a>, accessed Feb. 3, 2004.\r\n\r\nBlue, Tina. \u201cA Partial Defense of the Five-Paragraph Theme as a Model for Student Writing,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.essayisay.homestead.com\/fiveparagraphs.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.essayisay.homestead.com\/fiveparagraphs.html<\/a>, accessed March 25, 2004.\r\n\r\n\u201cGains in Houston Schools: How Real Are They?\u201d The New York Times, Dec. 3, 2003, A1.\r\n\r\nHillocks, George Jr. The Testing Trap: How State Assessments Control Learning. New York and London: Teacher\u2019s College Press, 2002.\r\n\r\nKatzman, John, Lutz, Andy, and Olson, Erik. \u201cWould Shakespeare Get Into Swarthmore?\u201d The Atlantic Monthly, March, 2004, 97-99.\r\n\r\nShen, Andrea, \u201cStudy looks at role of writing in learning,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2000\/10\/study-looks-at-role-of-writing-in-learning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/2000\/10.26\/06-writing.html<\/a>, accessed Feb. 3, 2004.","rendered":"<div class=\"page-header\">\n<h1>College Writing<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<h2>What this handout is about<\/h2>\n<p>This handout will help you figure out what your college instructors expect when they give you a writing assignment. It will tell you how and why to move beyond the five-paragraph themes you learned to write in high school and start writing essays that are more analytical and more flexible.<\/p>\n<h2>What is a five-paragraph theme?<\/h2>\n<p>North Carolina public school teachers sometimes give a writing assignment called a \u201cfive-paragraph theme\u201d; in other places, this kind of assignment is called a \u201ckeyhole essay.\u201d Either way, it\u2019s hourglass-shaped: it begins with something general, narrows down in the middle to discuss specifics, and then branches out to more general comments at the end. In a classic five-paragraph theme, the first paragraph starts with a general statement and ends with a thesis statement containing three \u201cpoints\u201d; each body paragraph discusses one of those \u201cpoints\u201d in turn; and the final paragraph sums up what the student has written.<\/p>\n<h2>Why do high schools teach the five-paragraph theme?<\/h2>\n<p>The five-paragraph theme is a good way to learn how to write an academic essay. It\u2019s a simplified version of academic writing that requires you to state an idea and support it with evidence. Setting a limit of five paragraphs narrows your options and forces you to master the basics of organization. Furthermore\u2014and for many high school teachers, this is the crucial issue\u2014many mandatory end-of-grade writing tests and college admissions exams like the SAT II writing test reward writers who follow the five-paragraph theme format.<\/p>\n<p>Writing a five-paragraph theme is like riding a bicycle with training wheels; it\u2019s a device that helps you learn. That doesn\u2019t mean you should use it forever. Once you can write well without it, you can cast it off and never look back.<\/p>\n<h2>Why don\u2019t five-paragraph themes work well for college writing?<\/h2>\n<p>The way college instructors teach is probably different from what you experienced in high school, and so is what they expect from you.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-260\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3282\/2018\/06\/19104023\/3825346938_4f841c5f22_z.jpg\" alt=\"A contrast between an old building and a new building.\" width=\"500\" height=\"404\" \/><\/p>\n<p>While high school courses tend to focus on the who, what, when, and where of the things you study\u2014\u201djust the facts\u201d\u2014college courses ask you to think about the how and the why. You can do very well in high school by studying hard and memorizing a lot of facts. Although college instructors still expect you to know the facts, they really care about how you analyze and interpret those facts and why you think those facts matter.\u00a0<strong>Once you know what college instructors are looking for, you can see some of the reasons why five-paragraph themes don\u2019t work so well for college writing:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Five-paragraph themes often do a poor job of setting up a framework, or context, that helps the reader understand what the author is trying to say.<\/strong>\u00a0Students learn in high school that their introduction should begin with something general. College instructors call these \u201cdawn of time\u201d introductions. For example, a student asked to discuss the causes of the Hundred Years War might begin, \u201cSince the dawn of time, humankind has been plagued by war.\u201d In a college course, the student would fare better with a more concrete sentence directly related to what he or she is going to say in the rest of the paper\u2014for example, a sentence such as \u201cIn the early 14th century, a civil war broke out in Flanders that would soon threaten Western Europe\u2019s balance of power.\u201d If you are accustomed to writing vague opening lines and need them to get started, go ahead and write them, but delete them before you turn in the final draft. For more on this subject, see our handout on<a title=\"Introductions\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcenter.unc.edu\/tips-and-tools\/introductions\/\">\u00a0introductions<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Five-paragraph themes often lack an argument.<\/strong>\u00a0Because college courses focus on analyzing and interpreting rather than on memorizing, college instructors expect writers not only to know the facts but also to make an argument about the facts. The best five-paragraph themes may do this. However, the typical five-paragraph theme has a \u201clisting\u201d thesis, for example, \u201cI will show how the Romans lost their empire in Britain and Gaul by examining military technology, religion, and politics,\u201d rather than an argumentative one, for example, \u201cThe Romans lost their empire in Britain and Gaul because their opponents\u2019 military technology caught up with their own at the same time as religious upheaval and political conflict were weakening the sense of common purpose on the home front.\u201d For more on this subject, see our handout on\u00a0<a title=\"Argument\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcenter.unc.edu\/tips-and-tools\/argument\/\">argument<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Five-paragraph themes are often repetitive.<\/strong>\u00a0Writers who follow the five-paragraph model tend to repeat sentences or phrases from the introduction in topic sentences for paragraphs, rather than writing topic sentences that tie their three \u201cpoints\u201d together into a coherent argument. Repetitive writing doesn\u2019t help to move an argument along, and it\u2019s no fun to read.<\/li>\n<li>Five-paragraph themes often lack \u201cflow;\u201d that is, they don\u2019t make smooth transitions from one thought to the next. The \u201clisting\u201d thesis statement encourages writers to treat each paragraph and its main idea as a separate entity, rather than to draw connections between paragraphs and ideas in order to develop an argument.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Five-paragraph themes often have weak conclusions that merely summarize what\u2019s gone before and don\u2019t say anything new or interesting.<\/strong>\u00a0In our handout on\u00a0<a title=\"Conclusions\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcenter.unc.edu\/tips-and-tools\/conclusions\/\">conclusions<\/a>, we call these \u201cthat\u2019s my story and I\u2019m sticking to it\u201d conclusions: they do nothing to engage readers and make them glad they read the essay. Most of us can remember an introduction and three body paragraphs without a repetitive summary at the end to help us out.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Five-paragraph themes don\u2019t have any counterpart in the real world.<\/strong>\u00a0Read your favorite newspaper or magazine; look through the readings your professors assign you; listen to political speeches or sermons. Can you find anything that looks or sounds like a five-paragraph theme? One of the important skills that college can teach you, above and beyond the subject matter of any particular course, is how to communicate persuasively in any situation that comes your way. The five-paragraph theme is too rigid and simplified to fit most real-world situations.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Perhaps most important of all: in a five-paragraph theme, form controls content, when it should be the other way around.<\/strong>\u00a0Students begin with a plan for organization, and they force their ideas to fit it. Along the way, their perfectly good ideas get mangled or lost.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How do I break out of writing five-paragraph themes?<\/h2>\n<p>Let\u2019s take an example based on our handout on\u00a0<a title=\"Thesis Statements\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcenter.unc.edu\/tips-and-tools\/thesis-statements\/\">thesis statements<\/a>. Suppose you\u2019re taking a United States History class, and Professor College asks you to write a paper on this topic:<\/p>\n<p>Compare and contrast the reasons why the North and South fought the Civil War.<\/p>\n<p>Alex, preparing to write her first college history paper, decides to write a five-paragraph theme, just like she learned from Mr. Highschool. She begins by thinking, \u201cWhat are three points I can talk about to compare the reasons the North and South fought the Civil War?\u201d She does a little brainstorming, and she says, \u201cWell, in class, Professor College talked about the economy, politics, and slavery. I guess I can do a paper about that.\u201d So she writes her introduction:<\/p>\n<ul>                                                                                    <\/ul>\n<p>This is a classic five-paragraph theme introduction: it goes from the general to the specific, and it introduces the three points that will be the subjects of each of the three body paragraphs.<\/p>\n<p>But Professor College doesn\u2019t like it, not one little bit. She underlines the first two sentences, and she writes, \u201cThis is too general. Get to the point.\u201d She underlines the third and fourth sentences, and she writes, \u201cYou\u2019re just restating the question I asked. What\u2019s your point?\u201d She underlines the final sentence, and then writes in the margin, \u201cWhat\u2019s your thesis?\u201d because the last sentence in the paragraph only lists topics. It doesn\u2019t make an argument.<\/p>\n<p>Is Professor College just a big old grouch? Well, no\u2014she is trying to teach this student that college writing isn\u2019t about following a formula (the five-paragraph theme), it\u2019s about making an argument. Her first sentence is general, the way she learned a five-paragraph should start. But from Professor College\u2019s perspective, it\u2019s far too general\u2014so general, in fact, that it\u2019s completely outside of the assignment: she didn\u2019t ask students to define civil war. The third and fourth sentences say, in so many words, \u201cI am comparing and contrasting the reasons why the North and the South fought the Civil War\u201d\u2014as Professor College says, they just restate the prompt, without giving a single hint about where this student\u2019s paper is going. The final sentence, which should make an argument, only lists topics; it doesn\u2019t begin to explore how or why something happened.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve seen a lot of five-paragraph themes, you can guess what Alex will write next. Her first body paragraph will begin, \u201cWe can see some of the different reasons why the North and South fought the Civil War by looking at the economy.\u201d What will Professor College say about that? She might ask, \u201cWhat differences can we see? What part of the economy are you talking about? Why do the differences exist? Why are they important?\u201d After three such body paragraphs, the student might write a conclusion that says much the same thing as her introduction, in slightly different words. Professor College might respond, \u201cYou\u2019ve already said this!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What could Alex do differently? Let\u2019s start over. This time, Alex doesn\u2019t begin with a preconceived notion of how to organize her essay. Instead of three \u201cpoints,\u201d she decides that she will brainstorm until she comes up with a main argument, or thesis, that answers the question \u201cWhy did the North and South fight the Civil War?\u201d Then she will decide how to organize her draft by thinking about the argument\u2019s parts and how they fit together.<\/p>\n<p>After doing some\u00a0<a title=\"Brainstorming\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcenter.unc.edu\/tips-and-tools\/brainstorming\/\">brainstorming<\/a>\u00a0and reading the Writing Center\u2019s handout on\u00a0<a title=\"Thesis Statements\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcenter.unc.edu\/tips-and-tools\/thesis-statements\/\">thesis statements<\/a>, Alex thinks of a main argument, or thesis statement:<\/p>\n<ul>                           <\/ul>\n<p>Then Alex writes her introduction. But instead of beginning with a general statement about civil wars, she gives us the ideas we need to know in order to understand all the parts of her argument:<\/p>\n<ul>                                                                                                   <\/ul>\n<p>Every sentence in Alex\u2019s new introduction leads the reader down the path to her thesis statement in an unbroken chain of ideas.<\/p>\n<p>Now Alex turns to organization. You\u2019ll find more about the thinking process she goes through in our handout on\u00a0<a title=\"Reorganizing Drafts\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcenter.unc.edu\/tips-and-tools\/reorganizing-drafts\/\">organization<\/a>, but here are the basics: first, she decides, she\u2019ll write a paragraph that gives background; she\u2019ll explain how opposition to tyranny and a belief in individual liberty came to be such important values in the United States. Then she\u2019ll write another background paragraph in which she shows how the conflict over slavery developed over time. Then she\u2019ll have separate paragraphs about Northerners and Southerners, explaining in detail\u2014and giving evidence for\u2014her claims about each group\u2019s reasons for going to war.<\/p>\n<p>Note that Alex now has four body paragraphs. She might have had three or two or seven; what\u2019s important is that she allowed her argument to tell her how many paragraphs she should have and how to fit them together. Furthermore, her body paragraphs don\u2019t all discuss \u201cpoints,\u201d like \u201cthe economy\u201d and \u201cpolitics\u201d\u2014two of them give background, and the other two explain Northerners\u2019 and Southerners\u2019 views in detail.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, having followed her sketch outline and written her paper, Alex turns to writing a conclusion. From our handout on\u00a0<a title=\"Conclusions\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcenter.unc.edu\/tips-and-tools\/conclusions\/\">conclusions<\/a>, she knows that a \u201cthat\u2019s my story and I\u2019m sticking to it\u201d conclusion doesn\u2019t move her ideas forward. Applying the strategies she finds in the handout, she decides that she can use her conclusion to explain why the paper she\u2019s just written really matters\u2014perhaps by pointing out that the fissures in our society that the Civil War opened are, in many cases, still causing trouble today.<\/p>\n<h2>Is it ever OK to write a five-paragraph theme?<\/h2>\n<p>Yes. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where somebody expects you to make sense of a large body of information on the spot and write a well-organized, persuasive essay\u2014in fifty minutes or less? Sounds like an essay exam situation, right? When time is short and the pressure is on, falling back on the good old five-paragraph theme can save you time and give you confidence. A five-paragraph theme might also work as the framework for a short speech. Try not to fall into the trap, however, of creating a \u201clisting\u201d thesis statement when your instructor expects an argument; when planning your body paragraphs, think about three components of an argument, rather than three \u201cpoints\u201d to discuss. On the other hand, most professors recognize the constraints of writing blue-book essays, and a \u201clisting\u201d thesis is probably better than no thesis at all.<\/p>\n<h2>Works consulted<\/h2>\n<p>We consulted these works while writing the original version of this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout\u2019s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find the latest publications on this topic. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lib.unc.edu\/instruct\/citations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">UNC Libraries citation tutorial<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Blue, Tina. \u201cAP English Blather,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.essayisay.homestead.com\/blather.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.essayisay.homestead.com\/blather.html<\/a>, accessed Feb. 3, 2004.<\/p>\n<p>Blue, Tina. \u201cA Partial Defense of the Five-Paragraph Theme as a Model for Student Writing,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.essayisay.homestead.com\/fiveparagraphs.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.essayisay.homestead.com\/fiveparagraphs.html<\/a>, accessed March 25, 2004.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGains in Houston Schools: How Real Are They?\u201d The New York Times, Dec. 3, 2003, A1.<\/p>\n<p>Hillocks, George Jr. The Testing Trap: How State Assessments Control Learning. New York and London: Teacher\u2019s College Press, 2002.<\/p>\n<p>Katzman, John, Lutz, Andy, and Olson, Erik. \u201cWould Shakespeare Get Into Swarthmore?\u201d The Atlantic Monthly, March, 2004, 97-99.<\/p>\n<p>Shen, Andrea, \u201cStudy looks at role of writing in learning,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2000\/10\/study-looks-at-role-of-writing-in-learning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/2000\/10.26\/06-writing.html<\/a>, accessed Feb. 3, 2004.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-131\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li><strong>Provided by<\/strong>: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcenter.unc.edu\/tips-and-tools\/college-writing\/\">https:\/\/writingcenter.unc.edu\/tips-and-tools\/college-writing\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-ND: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives <\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Old and New Upward View. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Grant MacDonald. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/grantmac\/3825346938\/in\/photolist-6Q2Uny-244TLbn-6R65Xq-26gD9DR-9niBwc-qXrCLV-8DS9RZ-b2dAV2-gR8HRJ-px422F-6P1Tr6-9dEt9g-6tboRq-oRqBmF-kMqokg-5UeCvW-8RwdRP-5sRtQ5-KEpXG-5CWX3f-q7fTdW-pvWpRJ-kEYLrD-qUgE2o-26ZZaWC-95DrTN-dVy7PS-3PuZX-efymRX-nGy9oy-RNHBy8-J8t12P-bAFxdd-5eLmfs-mVYmuk-nZ8ez3-pE9ETV-FoaTdj-XaNwGA-iUCN3p-oDvPEH-6cUF5W-Sj5DYu-Ucdizs-auAC4x-d6x6ky-5TvWRz-8sYoby-dYBnem-p6pncC\">https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/grantmac\/3825346938\/in\/photolist-6Q2Uny-244TLbn-6R65Xq-26gD9DR-9niBwc-qXrCLV-8DS9RZ-b2dAV2-gR8HRJ-px422F-6P1Tr6-9dEt9g-6tboRq-oRqBmF-kMqokg-5UeCvW-8RwdRP-5sRtQ5-KEpXG-5CWX3f-q7fTdW-pvWpRJ-kEYLrD-qUgE2o-26ZZaWC-95DrTN-dVy7PS-3PuZX-efymRX-nGy9oy-RNHBy8-J8t12P-bAFxdd-5eLmfs-mVYmuk-nZ8ez3-pE9ETV-FoaTdj-XaNwGA-iUCN3p-oDvPEH-6cUF5W-Sj5DYu-Ucdizs-auAC4x-d6x6ky-5TvWRz-8sYoby-dYBnem-p6pncC<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC: Attribution-NonCommercial<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":150,"menu_order":1,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/writingcenter.unc.edu\/tips-and-tools\/college-writing\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-nc-nd\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Old and New Upward View\",\"author\":\"Grant 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