Effective cover letters and news articles don’t follow the five-paragraph structure, he argues, so the organizational pattern will not lead to success outside of school.

The five-paragraph essay is a mainstay of high school writing instruction, designed to teach students how to compose a simple thesis and defend it in a methodical, easily graded package.

The five-paragraph essay is a mainstay of high school writing instruction, designed to teach students how to compose a simple thesis and defend it in a methodical, easily graded package.

Johnnie has presented "The Five finger Paragraph (c)" at numerous teacher workdays, home-school fairs, and has even been invited on several television shows to explain her methods. Teacher and ...

But for non-American students, this format is often alien. Although most products of America's school system consider the five-paragraph essay to be standard procedure, professors may overlook the ...