University:
Georgia Southern University
Course:
ENGL 1101 | Composition I
Academic year:

2024
Views:

384

Pages:

2
Author:

Jaylen

Breaking Out of the Five-Paragraph Structure by Christopher Smith Wait. Why are we having to break out from what you just told us to do? Isn’t that rather counter-productive? It may seem counter-productive, but like all things, writing needs a basic foundation, a starting point, and once you’ve established where and how to begin, you can start to play and move beyond the basics. Think of it like this: The primary colors are pretty cool, you can do quite a bit with just red, yellow, and blue. However, we soon start to feel the limits of what those colors can do for us. So what do we do? We combine them, mix them, try something new to create something fresh and different, and suddenly we have all the colors of the spectrum at our disposal, allowing us to create even more subtle and intricate works of art. While the five-paragraph structure is a great starting point, we need to move beyond it in order to fully create the masterpieces we have within us. So, what can we do? For one, play with your paragraph structure and the emphasis you want to provide for a certain idea. Do you have a key point that you really want readers to walk away with? Make it its own paragraph. For another, you can start delving deeper into your supporting ideas. Create a mini-thesis for them. For example, you have a thesis of “East of West1 is the best, currently-running monthly comic because of the artwork, the characters, and the alternate history it establishes.” Now, take each of those points and consider what other aspects you could explore. You consider the artwork to be the best because you love the facial expressions in particular. However, you also like the backgrounds. Heck, for that matter, you love the way the action sequences are handled and the movement that’s created. Don’t cram all three of those ideas into one paragraph. Make it its own paragraph. Same for the characters and alternate history. What are the favorite characters? Surely there is more than one worth discussing. Make it its own paragraph. History-wise, maybe you only have one reason as to why you like it so much. And that’s cool, 1 It really is a fantastic series by Jonathan Hickman and published by Image comics. but just remember. If you have more than one reason or piece of evidence or point to make within your main idea, make it its own paragraph. If I don’t do this, does that mean it’s wrong then? I mean, it makes sense to put all of the characters into one paragraph about the characters. Right? It does. And, no, there’s nothing wrong with keeping your ideas lumped together--in the right context. However, our goal as writers is to make our writing as easy to read and understand as possible. Especially in this day and age, where no one really wants to read as is, we want to keep things appealing. Breaking your ideas into easy to follow--and often shorter--paragraphs can be a way to do that. No, it’s not a MUST, but it’s a damn good idea2. 2 Like sliced bread.