Elbow/5 Paragraph Essay

The Five-Paragraph Essay is the form of writing that I was taught probably since the 7th/8th grade. I remember it became very important for us to k now how to organize it in the 9th/10th grade. It began with the usual brainstorming and writing down what our main ideas were. Then as it has been described in the readings we were to choose the top 3 most important ideas in order to have a topic sentence per paragraph. When those 3 were ready then we had to organize the introduction and were taught to not forget to include the thesis statement as the last sentence of the introduction. It was very important to state the 3 main topics in that thesis and organize the paragraphs in the order that was previously mentioned. I did not have much of a problem doing this type of essay and thought that I was a good essay writer. There were many times when I had an essay to write and as soon as I had my 5 paragraphs I was done. I think this was definitely negative for my development of ideas because I had my 3 topics explained them in about 5-6 sentences and that was it. Then I do remember one teacher telling us to state everything as a fact and because of that I never really explained what I thought or incorporated how those facts affected my thinking.

My last year of high school I was in the AP English class and of course had endless amounts of practice essays to write. My teacher always gave me the average grade and always said I had to develop my ideas and include more detail. Although, we were still instructed to write in the 5 paragraph form and to state things as facts. I definitely think that students should be exposed to different types of essay forms and not forced to construct their ideas around only the 5 paragraphs. It does limit what they can say and it seems that because its so focused on the structure that they are not free to express or develop a style that is unique to them.

Elbow/5 Paragraph Essay

The Five-Paragraph Essay is the form of writing that I was taught probably since the 7th/8th grade. I remember it became very important for us to k now how to organize it in the 9th/10th grade. It began with the usual brainstorming and writing down what our main ideas were. Then as it has been described in the readings we were to choose the top 3 most important ideas in order to have a topic sentence per paragraph. When those 3 were ready then we had to organize the introduction and were taught to not forget to include the thesis statement as the last sentence of the introduction. It was very important to state the 3 main topics in that thesis and organize the paragraphs in the order that was previously mentioned. I did not have much of a problem doing this type of essay and thought that I was a good essay writer. There were many times when I had an essay to write and as soon as I had my 5 paragraphs I was done. I think this was definitely negative for my development of ideas because I had my 3 topics explained them in about 5-6 sentences and that was it. Then I do remember one teacher telling us to state everything as a fact and because of that I never really explained what I thought or incorporated how those facts affected my thinking.

My last year of high school I was in the AP English class and of course had endless amounts of practice essays to write. My teacher always gave me the average grade and always said I had to develop my ideas and include more detail. Although, we were still instructed to write in the 5 paragraph form and to state things as facts. I definitely think that students should be exposed to different types of essay forms and not forced to construct their ideas around only the 5 paragraphs. It does limit what they can say and it seems that because its so focused on the structure that they are not free to express or develop a style that is unique to them.

Presentations

I thought that all the presentations were very informative and it was great how many of them related to each other because then we had varying points. Specifically I liked the presentations related to the choices of literature students have in the classrooms. I do think that it is important to introduce classic literature to young students and agree that it should be combined with young adult books. It's true that often students are not so enthusiastic about reading the classics because they think its just a boring book that they are forced to read, but then when also given the choice of reading something they want encourages them to have interest in other books.
I do remember reading some of the books that were at one point banned and when I was in high school those were the ones I was most interested in. For example, books like Catcher in the Rye and Fahrenheit 451 captured the attention of most students and caused there to be actual discussions about the ideas presented in these books. If students are engaged into reading with books such as these or with any idea that was not presented before, it gives them the sense that literature might actually be interesting because they can discover other genres of it and find one particular to their interests. I think its great when this occurs because even if the classics are not their favorites they are still reading and exploring books which then may lead them to other levels of literature.

English and what makes a text literature

When I was younger I always thought of English as reading books and writing essays about them. I guess I just felt that I had to get through the book and write a summary of what I understood it was about. It was not until I was in high school that I understood it consisted of many other things. That is when I began to actually read the books and think critically about them. I always enjoyed books where the characters so distinctively described their emotions. It is probably for that reason why I believe that literature should be full of emotion in order to ignite something within us. It is different for each person because we do look for or see certain images according to the manner we are used to reading. Perhaps certain words or characters stand out to us more because they may be like us or someone we closely know. When something like this occurs one may feel even more emerged into the book and relate other instances with our own. Even if it is a book that takes place in another continent, 400 years ago or from now, I think that what is essential to it, at least for me, is the reality given to each character's individualism and life that it almost seems as if you do know the person. Although, I do love to read and it is for that reason that I enjoy exploring different areas of literature, whether it be science fiction, autobiographies and multicultural.

Politt and Eagleton Readings

In the Politt reading the question is once again discussed of what authors are in the canon and which should be added. Is it only according to the "qualities of greatness" found within it that makes them important or matter more than others? Does it depend on who is reading the book and what interpretation they are giving it? I do think that not all the books within the canon can relate to everyone, but it does not mean they are meaningless to a specific person. If I read a book that takes place in Africa, it does not mean that I will not understand it simply because I cannot relate to the setting or characters struggles. I actually enjoy reading books which are different to what I am used to because they demonstrate a different point of life. It is an important way to have better understanding of societies we are not part of. I do not think that only those books on the list are important enough to read and if they are not on the list then they are not read. Often times it is those books on the list that are not read because it seems that the majority of people would rather read popular books that get much attention at the moment.

The Eagleton reading explains what it is that literature teaches us and what the purpose is of many of those classic books. He describes it as a moral technology and it is what produces things like sensitivity and imagination. I think this is true because often times novels teach us about a feeling that we may not have given much thought to before. It may be sympathy for a character even if that character is not the protagonist because of their situation or circumstances. Living that experience, using it or grasping it within our lives would be the final outcome or goal of the book. Perhaps it was the author's intention to do this in order to form people who will be more inclined towards that specific experience they explained in their book.