AF: Format for the Notebook Writing

Hey, Young People!  I had a good day -- productive, public and well-received.  Your work on this blog was very briefly reviewed at Cal State today in a workshop that I team-taught with a colleague -- her students (CSULB, LBCC) also write and post online.  She and I were demonstrating ways to increase writing and technology in an English Language Arts classroom -- you know, 21st Century Literacy practices: deep reading, lots of writing, lots of social interaction, lots of testing ideas in a community of intellectual teammates.  The work you are doing is cutting edge!  You are the wave of the future!

When I came home, I had an email that I have decided to share.

Hello Ms. Fletcher. I have a small question. It's about formatting the paper in answering the critical response questions. Are we supposed to write our responses in essay format? As in, an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion, or can we just answer the question but separate them out in paragraphs? 

I tried looking at the summer homework blog to see if it could answer my question, but I couldn't find it. I also tried asking fellow classmates if they had any ideas, but then I got mixed responses. I was wondering if you would answer my question!

Thank you for your time and effort.

This is my answer to that question.

First of all, thank you for exhausting all of your resources before emailing me.  I appreciate your effort in doing that, and you've alerted me to a topic that I should definitely blog about.  If neither you nor your classmates can figure this out, then I'm sure others are confused as well.  I am going to make your email anonymous, and post your question and my answer on the blog.  

The summer work is notebook work; it is to be handwritten.  However, having said that, I certainly expect the text you produce to be cohesive.  in other words, it must have a discernible structure and the parts need to logically connect.

What does that mean, though?  Is that an essay?  When you say "introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion," you suggest that this is the only form that an essay may take.   

In my business, we call this "the five-paragraph essay," and it is typically taught in the 4th or 5th grade.  It usually features a three-stemmed thesis statement, transitional signal words such as "First," "Secondly," "Finally," and "In conclusion," three body paragraphs to chronologically address the topics introduced in the 3-stem thesis, and a conclusion that closely mirrors the introduction.  

Generally speaking, this is a form that we use to teach writing very early on in a young writer's education, but by the time a student reaches high school, her understanding of what an essay is, and the form it takes, must evolve.  Read something written by a professional writer — anything — and see whether you discern this 5-paragraph structure.  What if the subject is a comparison of two Italian restaurants?  An analysis of the building of a proposed professional football stadium?   My point is, the five-paragraph form is better than no form at all, but it is certainly not the ONLY form expository writing must take.

The answer:  write an essay. Don't try to cram your ideas into a pre-determined shape; rather, let your ideas suggest the form.  Your essay may have seven paragraphs!  It may have 4!  Who knows?  Answer the question, and see what happens.  

Funny thing.  My friend and I today discovered that we have a shared experience, writing with our students online: once we post, all conversation just ceases.  If I comment on one of your posts, that conversation DIES.  And it is a rare person who actually comments on anything I post.  *Sigh* It's pretty lonely out here.  I never know for sure if you're reading me or not, and from time to time, I think I make a good point.  I smack my tennis ball over the net, and the ball just rolls right out of the court, down the street, and stops in a muddy gutter, and sits there until the street sweeper takes it away.