Five Paragraph Essay:  Fantastic or Formulaic?

By Maria Mahaffey

I distinctly remember my 9th grade semester long composition course with Mrs. Russell.  I remember my frustration and disdain at having to spend the better part of four months learning how to write.  After all, had I not been writing since about the second grade?  If I had been taught properly all the preceding years, why would I suddenly need an entire semester long class to teach me what I was sure I already knew?  To make matters worse, as the child of two European educated parents, I was introduced to the Cartesian method of writing with a thesis, antithesis, and synthesis method with no specific, predetermined number of paragraphs.  

Student Voices

Lying

By Jessica Lari, Student

Lying is like an addiction
But lying is as pointless as it gets
Lying is like a dance
You can keep dancing if you can keep up with the steps
Lying is as complicated as a game
Sometimes you just don’t know how to play
Lying is like a way to manipulate someone
Lying is as addicting as a drug
And sometimes I have to lie
But I hate being lied to.