kill the 5 paragraph essay

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Why They Can't Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities Reprint Edition

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An important challenge to what currently masquerades as conventional wisdom regarding the teaching of writing.

There seems to be widespread agreement that―when it comes to the writing skills of college students―we are in the midst of a crisis. In Why They Can't Write , John Warner, who taught writing at the college level for two decades, argues that the problem isn't caused by a lack of rigor, or smartphones, or some generational character defect. Instead, he asserts, we're teaching writing wrong.

Warner blames this on decades of educational reform rooted in standardization, assessments, and accountability. We have done no more, Warner argues, than conditioned students to perform "writing-related simulations," which pass temporary muster but do little to help students develop their writing abilities. This style of teaching has made students passive and disengaged. Worse yet, it hasn't prepared them for writing in the college classroom. Rather than making choices and thinking critically, as writers must, undergraduates simply follow the rules―such as the five-paragraph essay―designed to help them pass these high-stakes assessments.

In Why They Can't Write , Warner has crafted both a diagnosis for what ails us and a blueprint for fixing a broken system. Combining current knowledge of what works in teaching and learning with the most enduring philosophies of classical education, this book challenges readers to develop the skills, attitudes, knowledge, and habits of mind of strong writers.

• ISBN-10 1421437988
• ISBN-13 978-1421437989
• Edition Reprint
• Publisher Johns Hopkins University Press
• Publication date March 17, 2020
• Language English
• Dimensions 5 x 0.68 x 8 inches
• Print length 288 pages
• See all details

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Editorial Reviews

John Warner invites you to rethink everything you have learned about education, and writing in particular. Accept that invitation. Anyone who teaches writing will finish this book―written in the author's characteristically personable prose―with the foundations for a new approach to education, along with plenty of concrete ideas for engaging new writing assignments for their students.

Book Description

From the back cover.

"That title sounds as if it will be a grumpy polemic, but it's actually an inspiring exploration of what learning to write could be, framed by an analysis of why it so often is soul-destroying for both students and their teachers."―Barbara Fister, Inside Higher Ed

"Articulates a set of humanist values that could generate rich new classroom practices and, one hopes, encourage teachers, parents, and policymakers to rethink the whole idea of School and why it matters to a society. Warner is pragmatic, not programmatic, and hopeful without being naïve . . . I hope teachers, parents, and administrators across the United States read his trenchant book. We are the reformers we have been waiting for."―Ryan Boyd, LA Review of Books

" Why They Can't Write dissects the underlying causes of why so much writing instruction fails in the American system and it provides tested, practical solutions for doing better. The book is more than a how-to-teach guide, however. It diagnoses several important structural problems in American education, including standardized testing, the allure of educational fads, the abuses of technology-driven solutions, and cruel working conditions for teachers."―Danny Anderson, Sectarian Review

About the Author

Product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Johns Hopkins University Press; Reprint edition (March 17, 2020)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1421437988
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1421437989
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.68 x 8 inches
• #110 in Study & Teaching Reference (Books)
• #154 in Linguistics Reference
• #272 in Language Arts Teaching Materials

About the author

John warner.

John Warner is the author of seven books, including most recently "Why They Can't Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities" (Johns Hopkins UP) and "The Writer's Practice: Building Confidence in Your Nonfiction Writing" (Penguin), which draw upon his 20 years of experience as a writer and teaching of writing.

John's first book ("My First Presidentiary: A Scrapbook of George W. Bush" co-authored with Kevin Guilfoile) was written primarily in colored pencil and turned into a Washington Post #1 best seller. Since then he’s published a parody of writing advice ("Fondling Your Muse: Infallible Advice from a Published Author to a Writerly Aspirant"), more politically minded humor ("So You Want to Be President?"), a novel ("The Funny Man"), and a collection of short stories ("Tough Day for the Army"). From 2003 to 2008 he edited McSweeney’s Internet Tendency for which he now serves as an editor at large, and writes a weekly column for the Chicago Tribune on books and reading as his alter ego, The Biblioracle. He is a contributing writer to Inside Higher Ed, and can be found on Twitter @biblioracle.

John Warner is a frequent speaker to school and college groups about issues of writing pedagogy and academic labor. You can find more information at johnwarnerwriter.com

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The Death of the 5-Paragraph Essay? How to UDL Your Assignment

If I had a nickel for every time I heard the term “5 paragraph essay,” I’d be rich. First, to be clear, there is a 5 paragraph essay, but there is also a 4 paragraph, 17 paragraph, and a 22 paragraph essay. The number of paragraphs isn’t as important as whether the writing is organized appropriately for the task.

The Common Core requires us to move away from counting paragraphs and instead, teach students to focus on the task, the intended audience, and the purpose of writing. Sometimes it is appropriate to address a prompt using 5 paragraphs, but there is no rule that essays are bound to a scripted format or paragraph count.

Teaching writing is like cooking. It is valuable to start with a recipe, or writing instruction, that outlines predictable formulas, but then provide scaffolding to move students away from those templates. Great writers don’t follow formulas, just as great chefs don’t follow recipes. They keep the recipe in the back of their mind, but then they use their own style to make magic. Wherever you start with students, be sure to provide scaffolding so they know that a 5 paragraph essay is just a starting point and not a rule.

I learned this lesson the hard way as a teacher. During a particular assignment, I asked my middle school students to create an essay with more than 5 paragraphs. One student - a well performing one - fell apart. She was so used to the recipe for writing an essay that she didn't know where to begin when having to think outside those 5 boxes. When she passed in her work, there were only three letters on her essay: "IDK." That is text speak for "I don't know." Oh no...

This was the point when I realized I had failed my students. I had provided them with scaffolding, but I hadn't encouraged them to go beyond formulas and think critically and flexibly, so they had become dependent on recipes. They were in need of some expert learning. 

Universal Design for Learning encourages flexible thinking by providing students with options and scaffolds and allowing them to self-differentiate and problem solve to come up with a solution. So, next time you are assigning an essay, think about how you can proactively remove barriers for your students - whether they are academic barriers, behavior barriers, or social emotional barriers. Are there options you can embed to help students challenge themselves when they are ready? Are there ways you can provide exemplars to show how students can be more flexible with their writing. 

Need some help? Check out one of these tools:

• Not sure where to get started? Check out the UDL Teacher's Guide . 
• Use the UDL Flowchart when designing your lesson to ensure you are aligning to standards and removing barriers instead of focusing on teaching a formula. 
• The Literacy Design Collaborative gives tips on writing prompts and organizing each type of essay. 

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Why They Can’t Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities

There seems to be widespread agreement that?when it comes to the writing skills of college students?we are in the midst of a crisis. In Why They Can’t Write, John Warner, who taught writing at the college level for two decades, argues that the problem isn’t caused by a lack of rigor, or smartphones, or some generational character defect. Instead, he asserts, we’re teaching writing wrong. Warner blames this on decades of educational reform rooted in standardization, assessments, and accountability. We have done no more, Warner argues, than conditioned students to perform "writing-related simulations," which pass temporary muster but do little to help students develop their writing abilities. This style of teaching has made students passive and disengaged. Worse yet, it hasn’t prepared them for writing in the college classroom. Rather than making choices and thinking critically, as writers must, undergraduates simply follow the rules?such as the five-paragraph essay?designed to help them pass these high-stakes assessments. In Why They Can’t Write, Warner has crafted both a diagnosis for what ails us and a blueprint for fixing a broken system. Combining current knowledge of what works in teaching and learning with the most enduring philosophies of classical education, this book challenges readers to develop the skills, attitudes, knowledge, and habits of mind of strong writers.

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The Five-Paragraph Essay: A Tool—Not a Rule

My background is in teaching college-level writing. I have a focus on teaching remedial classes, so I often had students in my classroom who had negative past experiences with writing. Much of my job was helping them to unlearn “rules” about writing that they had picked up over the years and create a more solid foundation that was focused on writing as a way to communicate first and foremost.

Unlearning the Five-Paragraph Essay

One of the most prickly rules to undo was dogmatic adherence to the five-paragraph essay. Many of my college students mistakenly believed that all “school writing” came in five-paragraph form. There was an introduction that laid out three points, those three points were explored in a paragraph each, and a conclusion summarized what the three points covered. Easy. Simple. Predictable.

It led to students trying to shoehorn three or four topics into a single paragraph because five paragraphs simply was not enough to cover everything. It led to students skipping huge portions of their ideas because they thought they had “too much” for an essay. It led to students stretching simple reflections that could have been covered in a paragraph or two into five paragraphs with a stilted framework. It led, in short, to bad writing.

Experts Agree the Five-Paragraph Essay is Flawed

I’m not the only one who feels this way about the five-paragraph essay. In fact, many people feel much stronger animosity toward the device than I do.

Writer John Warner has an essay that appeared in Inside Higher Ed titled quite simply “ Kill the 5-Paragraph Essay. ” Lest you think that’s just a click-bait title and the contents are actually more nuanced, here’s the opening line: “Let’s just go ahead and kill the 5-paragraph essay at all levels, everywhere.”

Susan Knoppow has similarly harsh words and points out that experts in writing pedagogy have been calling for an end to the practice for decades. She also points out something that I think is key to the whole conversation:

Yes, the five-paragraph format makes explaining expository writing straightforward. And in this age of rubrics and standardization, it makes correcting papers easy.

The five-paragraph essay as it is currently used is often more about making grading easier on teachers bound to specific rubrics (or, perhaps more often, standardized test graders who never even instruct the humans who produced the writing they evaluate) than it is about providing solid writing foundations for a life of inquiry and exploration.

Perhaps it is this reality that leads Ray Salazar to say the “five-paragraph essay is rudimentary, unengaging, and useless.”

Is it Really So Bad?

I’m inclined to agree with these writers. The five-paragraph essay isn’t a real thing. It’s a construct designed to provide instruction of a particular writing quality, and it should not dictate the final product of any writing—at any level.

I’d go so far as to say that teachers should never assign a “five-paragraph essay” as part of their writing instruction. In fact, while there is some merit to holding students to strict length limits as a practice in discipline and meeting audience expectations, there is very little reason to ever tell a writer how many paragraphs their finished paper needs to be.

However, I do not go so far as to say that the five-paragraph essay needs to be eliminated entirely. I think it serves a specific purpose at a particular point in writing development.

It’s like training wheels on a bicycle. You don’t want them on there forever, but if you have a writer who is struggling to keep their balance, it can provide them with the confidence they need to get up and running more smoothly.

Using the Five-Paragraph Essay as a Tool

First, it’s important that teachers realize they never need to teach the five-paragraph essay. Just as some bike riders can go from gliding to pedaling without ever using an intermediary step (and there are even tiny little glider bikes without pedals designed specifically for this purpose), many writers can grasp the concepts of organization and paragraph separation without a five-paragraph essay to lay it out for them.

There’s nothing wrong with using the five-paragraph essay as a tool to make that illustration clearer, however. Students are not going to be forever scarred if they get five-paragraph essay examples as part of the many types of writing they see. They aren’t going to be doomed to write formulaic prose the rest of their lives if they write a five-paragraph essay to help them practice organization in late elementary school.

As long as teachers make it clear that the five-paragraph essay is a tool and not a rule, it can be a useful way to illustrate an important concept. Organization matters and paragraphs should be divided based on the topics they present rather than their length.

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The Ultimate Guide to the 5-Paragraph Essay

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• M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
• B.A., History, Armstrong State University

A five-paragraph essay is a prose composition that follows a prescribed format of an introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph, and is typically taught during primary English education and applied on standardized testing throughout schooling.

Learning to write a high-quality five-paragraph essay is an essential skill for students in early English classes as it allows them to express certain ideas, claims, or concepts in an organized manner, complete with evidence that supports each of these notions. Later, though, students may decide to stray from the standard five-paragraph format and venture into writing an  exploratory essay  instead.

Still, teaching students to organize essays into the five-paragraph format is an easy way to introduce them to writing literary criticism, which will be tested time and again throughout their primary, secondary, and further education.

Writing a Good Introduction

The introduction is the first paragraph in your essay, and it should accomplish a few specific goals: capture the reader's interest, introduce the topic, and make a claim or express an opinion in a thesis statement.

It's a good idea to start your essay with a hook (fascinating statement) to pique the reader's interest, though this can also be accomplished by using descriptive words, an anecdote, an intriguing question, or an interesting fact. Students can practice with creative writing prompts to get some ideas for interesting ways to start an essay.

The next few sentences should explain your first statement, and prepare the reader for your thesis statement, which is typically the last sentence in the introduction. Your  thesis sentence  should provide your specific assertion and convey a clear point of view, which is typically divided into three distinct arguments that support this assertation, which will each serve as central themes for the body paragraphs.

Writing Body Paragraphs

The body of the essay will include three body paragraphs in a five-paragraph essay format, each limited to one main idea that supports your thesis.

To correctly write each of these three body paragraphs, you should state your supporting idea, your topic sentence, then back it up with two or three sentences of evidence. Use examples that validate the claim before concluding the paragraph and using transition words to lead to the paragraph that follows — meaning that all of your body paragraphs should follow the pattern of "statement, supporting ideas, transition statement."

Words to use as you transition from one paragraph to another include: moreover, in fact, on the whole, furthermore, as a result, simply put, for this reason, similarly, likewise, it follows that, naturally, by comparison, surely, and yet.

Writing a Conclusion

The final paragraph will summarize your main points and re-assert your main claim (from your thesis sentence). It should point out your main points, but should not repeat specific examples, and should, as always, leave a lasting impression on the reader.

The first sentence of the conclusion, therefore, should be used to restate the supporting claims argued in the body paragraphs as they relate to the thesis statement, then the next few sentences should be used to explain how the essay's main points can lead outward, perhaps to further thought on the topic. Ending the conclusion with a question, anecdote, or final pondering is a great way to leave a lasting impact.

Once you complete the first draft of your essay, it's a good idea to re-visit the thesis statement in your first paragraph. Read your essay to see if it flows well, and you might find that the supporting paragraphs are strong, but they don't address the exact focus of your thesis. Simply re-write your thesis sentence to fit your body and summary more exactly, and adjust the conclusion to wrap it all up nicely.

Practice Writing a Five-Paragraph Essay

Students can use the following steps to write a standard essay on any given topic. First, choose a topic, or ask your students to choose their topic, then allow them to form a basic five-paragraph by following these steps:

• Decide on your  basic thesis , your idea of a topic to discuss.
• Decide on three pieces of supporting evidence you will use to prove your thesis.
• Write an introductory paragraph, including your thesis and evidence (in order of strength).
• Write your first body paragraph, starting with restating your thesis and focusing on your first piece of supporting evidence.
• End your first paragraph with a transitional sentence that leads to the next body paragraph.
• Write paragraph two of the body focussing on your second piece of evidence. Once again make the connection between your thesis and this piece of evidence.
• End your second paragraph with a transitional sentence that leads to paragraph number three.
• Repeat step 6 using your third piece of evidence.
• Begin your concluding paragraph by restating your thesis. Include the three points you've used to prove your thesis.
• End with a punch, a question, an anecdote, or an entertaining thought that will stay with the reader.

Once a student can master these 10 simple steps, writing a basic five-paragraph essay will be a piece of cake, so long as the student does so correctly and includes enough supporting information in each paragraph that all relate to the same centralized main idea, the thesis of the essay.

Limitations of the Five-Paragraph Essay

The five-paragraph essay is merely a starting point for students hoping to express their ideas in academic writing; there are some other forms and styles of writing that students should use to express their vocabulary in the written form.

According to Tory Young's "Studying English Literature: A Practical Guide":

"Although school students in the U.S. are examined on their ability to write a  five-paragraph essay , its  raison d'être  is purportedly to give practice in basic writing skills that will lead to future success in more varied forms. Detractors feel, however, that writing to rule in this way is more likely to discourage imaginative writing and thinking than enable it. . . . The five-paragraph essay is less aware of its  audience  and sets out only to present information, an account or a kind of story rather than explicitly to persuade the reader."

Students should instead be asked to write other forms, such as journal entries, blog posts, reviews of goods or services, multi-paragraph research papers, and freeform expository writing around a central theme. Although five-paragraph essays are the golden rule when writing for standardized tests, experimentation with expression should be encouraged throughout primary schooling to bolster students' abilities to utilize the English language fully.

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Chapter 2: The Purpose of School

Killing the five-paragraph essay interview.

• Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay Interview. Authored by : Joshua Dickinson. Provided by : Jefferson Community College. Located at : http://www.sunyjefferson.edu . Project : Practical Foundations and Principles for Teaching. License : CC0: No Rights Reserved

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The Death of the Five Paragraph Essay: Reading and Writing the Modern Essay in Middle School

Introduction and rationale.

Mark Twain Elementary School is a Chicago Public School located on the southwest side of the city. The student population served by the school is roughly 83% low income and ranges from grades pre-K to 8th grade. The population is also roughly 84% Latino and 12% White. Students that are diverse learners account for roughly 10% of the student population, and roughly 16% of the students in the school receive additional supports as part of Twain’s bilingual program. 1 This three-week unit is designed for about 130 sixth grade general education students to be taught towards the end of the school year after several cycles of essay writing and wide reading across a variety of genres appropriate for sixth grade students . Many of these students are not proficient writers as they enter sixth grade and struggle to compose writing that reflects the language of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

This unit will complement the work that is expected of students in other units throughout the school year. This unit will come after a unit I wrote titled Playing with Poetry which has students write a variety of original poems, deeply exploring writer’s craft. My students and I will consider how prose writers make similar craft decisions after introducing students to the genre characteristics of profile and personal experience essays. Students will read two of each type of essay, discussing the craft choices that authors make along the way. Finally, mirroring seminar as closely as possible, students will have the choice to write a profile or personal experience essay.

For each unit I write, my school requires a series of essential questions and enduring understandings to frame each unit of study for my students. This creates a sense of shared inquiry and a focused approach when starting new instructional units. The essential questions and enduring understandings for this unit are provided. Both the essential questions and enduring understandings would be posted in my classroom and be continually revisited as the unit is taught.

Essential Questions

• What are the genre characteristics of a profile and personal experience essay?
• What should we look for in the writing of professional authors of profiles and personal experience essays to influence our own writing?

Enduring Understandings

• Both profiles and personal experience essays are types of creative nonfiction writing. A profile is shortened form of a biography that uses interview, anecdote, observation, description and analysis to make a public point about an individual. A personal experience essay is autobiographical in nature; the reader should have a good idea about the inner thoughts and feelings of the person based on the personal/conversational tone that the writer takes.
• In the writing of others, we should be alert to the author’s craft. This means that writers think of the choices they can make to get their writing to look or sound a certain way. Some craft choices that writers can make in literary nonfiction relate to word choice, imagery, description, essay structure, use of anecdotes, and constructing a public point in a seamless manner.

Content Objectives

The five paragraph essay.

The title of this unit is The Death of the Five Paragraph Essay: Reading and Writing the Modern Essay in Middle School. The five-paragraph essay is a common structure that is taught to students to help them organize their ideas and to make arguments. In this type of essay, the introduction serves as a funnel of thinking that ends with the thesis statement. The thesis statement acts as an umbrella statement that controls the content of the essay; many times, the thesis outlines three topics to be argued or explored in each of the body paragraphs. Each of three body paragraphs explores one point that is directly tied to the thesis of the introduction. In each body paragraph, relevant facts or figures are explored in the order they were presented in the thesis statement in the introduction. The last paragraph of the essay, the conclusion, seeks to go in the reverse direction of the introduction. It starts narrow by revisiting the thesis and leaving the reader with something to think about related to the topic addressed. 2 Many argue that this structure can be useful as a mode of writing, but others make compelling claims that have caused me to reconsider the practice in my classroom. In seminar, Professor Brantley recalled being taught the five-paragraph format in the form of a keyhole as a freshman in high school. She described learning the practice as being useful in a limited way and suggested to proceed with instructional caution when teaching it as a form. 3 This structure can be useful as a temporary scaffold to help writers.

In the book Why They Can’t Write , John Warner, makes a compelling argument that has caused me to reconsider my reliance on this practice. Warner is a college professor, and his argument is that the students that he has had have gaps in their writing because they were taught incorrectly. He contends that there are several reasons why students write in a manner that is deficient, but the heart of his argument is that students are “conditioned” to perform “writing-related simulations,” which pass temporary muster but do little to help students develop their writing abilities.” 4 Warner contends that the five paragraph structure disengages students from the writing process because of its lack of authenticity. He argues that it creates passive learners that are looking to follow rules instead of thinking critically and making the types of choices that writers struggle with while crafting writing. This is problematic, as the form does not allow for students to engage in productive struggle; all the roadblocks have been removed and the process of writing becomes an exercise in slot-filling the proper information. Warner’s argument boils down to this: students deciding on the form and organization an essay should take is a form of deep learning. Zinsser (2006) says it a couple of different ways when he notes, “every writer must follow the path that feels comfortable” and “good writing is good writing, whatever form it takes.” 5 Teachers shouldn’t rob students of the chance to compose for authentic audiences, to figure out what path is comfortable and to deliberate over what form their writing should take. Teachers need to build student toolboxes with knowledge of craft choices for them to write like authors.

Literary Nonfiction Writing

In the Reading for Writing: Modeling the Modern Essay Seminar, the Fellows and Seminar Leader discussed the qualities of good writing. During our discussion, we developed a short list of attributes that we felt were traits of good writing: does it make me change my mind? Does it challenge my thinking? Is it crafted to make me feel a certain way? Does the writing use a form that is clear and easy to follow? Has the language the author used been worked to sound nice? Is it engaging? 6 Zinsser (2006) makes several observations about good writing that confirm the short list that Fellows devised in seminar. He observes that good writing is intentional in bearing information and presents it with “vigor, clarity and humanity.” 7 Zinsser firmly believes that nonfiction is the vehicle for most people learning how to write because it allows students and young people to write about their own lives and interests. He also observes the importance of motivation, saying that it is “at the heart of writing.” 8 By writing about their own life and interests, students may be easily motivated to embark in sustained writing.

While literary nonfiction can be traced as far back as Montaigne, there was a surge of interest in literary genre as the 20 th century progressed. 9 Zinsser (2006) traces this evolution from a focus on fiction towards literary nonfiction. He notes that historically, at the start of the 20th century that Americans had access to fiction by means of the “Book-of-the-Month Club” that would send out fiction to individuals. World War II slowed this demand for fiction, as the war effort and the advent of the television introduced people to “new places, and issues and events.” The Book-of-the-Month crowd then wanted nonfiction, and other mediums like magazines needed to follow suit; Zinsser argues that nonfiction became the new “American literature.” 10

The Writer’s Toolkit for Literary Nonfiction Writing

A study of literary nonfiction requires careful attention to heighten student awareness of the craft choices that authors make. This type of writing may have students focusing on topics, people and events that they are intimately familiar with and can write about with great volume and little research. As I was drafting my own literary nonfiction piece for seminar to workshop, I found character sketches to be easy to write given the individuals that I was writing about were so vivid in my memory. This may not be a skill that students know they have and may require practice before expecting them to be able to incorporate them into a piece. Norquist (2018) notes that character sketches should not be dry or just descriptive, they can also entertain or praise the subject; character sketches can capture “facts, traits, idiosyncrasies and accomplishments of a subject... [as well as capture] the subject's personality, appearance, character or accomplishments.” 11 A link to a template is provided in the teacher resource section that can be modified to support all the different aspects that students might want to consider as they grapple with crafting descriptions of individuals in their writing.  

Another craft element that is relied on heavily in drafting literary nonfiction is the use of description. Ferriss (2007) recalls a quote from John McPhee [a writer known for his literary nonfiction and a teacher that Ferriss had] who observed, “A thousand details add up to one impression.” 12 This line speaks to the power of building detail to capture the essence of an individual. Literary nonfiction relies on anecdote, description and reflections to build an impression of topic. In this respect, writing literary nonfiction may be markedly different from the type of writing that is usually expected from students. Rather than follow a traditional narrative progression, literary nonfiction relies on a variety of organic structures that often deviate from or interrupt a continuous sequence of events. These details, when carefully crafted by means of word choice, description, and positioning, have the effect of a reader assembling a puzzle that ultimately reveals a cohesive picture of a person, place or memory.

An additional genre convention that we focused on in seminar was that literary nonfiction should have a public point. Ferris (2007) quoted a similar observation from McPhee while in his class, “A piece of writing needs to start somewhere, go somewhere, and sit down when it gets there.” 13 In seminar, we discussed several professional essays as well as essays that were produced by Fellows and workshopped. In our discussions, we noticed that there were times that it was difficult to identify a public point. Sometimes the group noted there were multiple public points. 14 At any rate, it is important to address this concept with students before they begin to write. Without a public point, the reader is left with a piece that essentially just a narrative. Getting back to the advice that McPhee dispenses and what we also touched on in seminar, the public point should not feel tacked on to a piece. Professor Brantley observed that one goal to avoid in drafting would be to tell a narrative and then attach a moral or lesson to the end. This predictable structure doesn’t allow for the extended focus and connection that McPhee is calling for in his observation. As noted in seminar, the public point should help students to recognize that they are no longer writing for just the teacher, that the writing they are engaging in should be able to exist beyond the classroom. 15 By envisioning a larger audience, students engage in critical reflection to weave a public point into a piece.

One element of craft that literary nonfiction has in common with the craft choices that poets make is the use of highly worked and reworked language that could be considered writing for the ear. In seminar, many of the professional pieces as well as the pieces that Fellows developed worked with language to create a sense of rhythm and poetic cadence at the paragraph and sentence levels. Many students that I have taught over the years associate looking for this in poetry, but do not actively look for it as much in prose. Zinsser (2006) advises the following when considering the craft of capturing voice in writing: avoid “breeziness and condescension and clichés.” 16   Zinsser goes on to give an example from E.B. White that uses economy and careful diction choices to serve as an example of how to avoid pitfalls in voice:

I spent several days and nights in mid-September with an ailing pig and I feel driven to account for this stretch of time, more particularly since the pig died at last, and I lived, and things might easily have gone the other way around and none left to do the accounting. 17

Then Zinsser reimagines that same opening if someone is “breezy” and attempting to achieve a casual tone but instead “littered the path with obstacles, cheap slang, shoddy sentences and windy philosophizing:”

Ever stay up late babysitting for a sick porker? Believe you me, a guy can lose a heckuva lot of shut-eye. I did that gig for three nights back in September and my better half thought I’d lost my marbles. (Just kidding, Pam!) Frankly, the whole deal kind of bummed me out. Because, you see, the pig up and dies on me. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t feeling in the pink myself, so I suppose it could have been yours truly and not old Porky who kicked the bucket. And you can bet your bottom dollar Mr. Pig wasn’t going to write a book about it! 18

The difference between both paragraphs would be evident even to my students. One is windy, folksy, and filled with clichés while the other gets the reader to think about the relationship between the individual and the pig with plain and economical language and formal grammar. Zinsser suggests reading a piece aloud to see whether writing sounds more like the first paragraph than the second; if it sounds like the second paragraph, revise to simplify it. 19

Personal Experience Essays

Personal experience essays are an interesting genre to explore with students, as it is a form that can be explored with increasing sophistication as a student progresses in school. In primary grades for instance, it is not uncommon for teachers to focus on teaching a beginning, middle and end to tell a personal story. It may include a picture to further illustrate characterization and setting. In the intermediate/middle school grades, students learn about the parts of plot, how to craft characters and settings that create imagery for the reader. By high school, the chronological nature of story-telling can be inverted, use of anecdote is encouraged, and the writing may take on more of a reflective tone. By the time a student is in high school, mastering this genre of writing is critical as many colleges and universities pose prompts that require students to engage in this type of writing to either be admitted or gain financial aid awards. It is extremely beneficial to explore the different craft choices that are available to a writer in this genre in discussions of professional pieces to select texts that might serve as appropriate models.

In his book On Writing Well , Zinsser (2006) makes several key observations about the personal experience essay, which he refers to as memoir.  He notes the importance of not writing to please others. Given the personal nature of the writing, Zinsser argues that writing about oneself should not require ‘permission,’ that the details associated with the “people, places, events, anecdotes, ideas, [and] emotions” should be written about with confidence and pleasure. He later observes that that memoir writing takes us back to intense periods of our lives; these intense periods provide the reader a “window into a life” rather than a complete summary of a life. He continues to argue that this type of writing is pieced together; which speaks to many of the craft choices that authors must make when writing in this genre. Zinsser makes a special point to highlight the importance of details like sounds, smells, songs, as well as men, women and children that have been part of an individual’s life as sources of detail to weave into a memoir. The act of writing a memoir requires the writer to make many editorial choices of what details to include, to elaborate, or to distill. In addition to detail, the tone of this type of writing balances a tension of narrating a story from the past while maintaining an older, potentially wiser voice looking back in time. Zinsser sums up this tone best by asking the following question: “what did that man or woman learn from the hills and valleys of life?” 20 Addressing this question while writing a memoir requires a writer to weave detail and reflection in careful ways.

Examples of Craft in Personal Experience Essays

In seminar, we have read several essays that would qualify as personal experience essays. We explored some of the decisions that authors made in their writing that speak to the effort that must be invested to negotiate narrating the past event and reflecting on it within the same piece. For example, one text that we read for seminar was Frederick Douglass’s “Learning to Read.” In this literacy narrative, we learn about how Douglass navigates a system that actively attempted to prevent him from learning how to read. In reading about his experiences, we learn about Douglass’s life as a slave as well as the impact of slavery as an institution on several types of individuals. This includes learning about his mistress, who starts off as a kindly individual that supports his desire to learn to read only to become one of his largest obstacles. 21 Through Douglass’s use of anecdote describing this individual, the reader can learn how slavery impelled individuals who had the capacity to do good towards others to instead attempt to actively harm someone, just because he was a slave:

My mistress was, as I have said, a kind and tender-hearted woman; and in the simplicity of her soul she commenced, when I first went to live with her, to treat me as she supposed one human being ought to treat another…. Slavery proved as injurious to her as it did to me. When I went there, she was a pious, warm, and tender-hearted woman…. Slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly qualities. Under its influence, the tender heart became stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of tigerlike fierceness. 22

This character sketch uses metaphor to get the reader to think about slavery’s impact on both the enslaver and enslaved in a nuanced way. Saying her tender heart became stone and comparing her change from lamblike to being tigerlike shows that institution of slavery harmed more than the slaves. When thinking of slavery, most people tend to focus on the physical or emotional harm done to slaves. In this instance, Douglass demonstrates the insidious nature of slavery. By sustaining this system, slavery corrupted someone who would otherwise do good towards others.

Another aspect of personal experience essay that is a significant craft decision in the Douglass essay is his description of the white boys that he encounters and befriends to learn how to read. Besides demonstrating his ability to navigate an oppressive system, Douglass’s use of anecdote paints a picture of the class structure between slaves like Douglass and poor whites while also playing with language when he makes the following observation:

As many of these [white children] as I could, l converted into teachers. With their kindly aid… I finally succeeded in learning to read…. I used also to carry bread with me, enough of which was always in the house, and to which I was always welcome; for I was much better off in this regard than many of the poor white children in our neighborhood. This bread I used to bestow upon the hungry little urchins, who, in return, would give me that more valuable bread of knowledge. 23

The language and description that description that Douglass uses here is specific and carries deep meaning. In this section of the text, Douglass almost feels pity for the white children who have less to eat than him as a slave. He selects the word “urchins” to describe them, meaning that they appeared poor and dressed poorly. Douglass’s narration of how he took advantage of their hunger to satisfy his own literary hunger demonstrates the layers of power that slaves had to navigate to survive. His diction choice of the word “bread” carries multiple meanings in this passage. For the white children, the bread is very literal. It is much-needed food to satisfy hunger. Douglass has a similar hunger, but his was a hunger for knowledge. His actions in the passage dictate that the hunger he felt to learn was as urgent as the poor white boys to eat. Douglass’s deep desire to learn despite his circumstances are evident because of use of language. This passage provides a lot of nuance beyond the general conceptions that many individuals have about slavery.

Another personal experience essay that we explored in seminar is “On Dumpster Diving.” In this essay, the author of the text builds the reader’s technical knowledge of going into dumpsters to look for food and valuable materials. There are elements in this essay that demonstrate powerful craft choices the author made that help the reader to visualize the narrator’s life experiences. This essay, while technical and extremely informative, also uses the first person. 24 By making that choice at the start of the essay, Eigher invites the reader along on his journey into his dumpster world and that reader is encouraged to think about his lifestyle from the author’s perspective.

I am a scavenger. I think it a sound and honorable niche, although if I could I would naturally prefer to live the comfortable consumer life, perhaps- and only perhaps- as a slightly less wasteful consumer, owing to what I have learned as a scavenger…. I have learned much as a scavenger. I mean to put some of what I learned down here, beginning with the practical art of Dumpster diving and proceeding to the abstract. 25

Looking at this text, Eigher anticipates that the reader probably has stereotypes of individuals who go into dumpsters. In the opening of the text, he works to paint himself in a noble light. The idea is that if there is something to learn from an individual that goes into dumpsters, then there is something to learn and value from everyone. He also values living simply. In this respect, Eigher’s ideas harken back to individuals like Whitman who celebrates the common man and Thoreau who values living simply. He is elevating an activity that the reader doesn’t anticipate ever seeing elevated; it forces the reader to reassess the action of diving in dumpsters. He equates it in the next paragraph as “something of an urban art.” 26 This elevation of his action is very engaging before he goes into what a dumpster diver needs to know.

Eigher also uses humor effectively. In paragraph 8, he focuses on what separates the “bohemian type” from the “professionals,” who are defined by eating from the dumpsters. 27 Implicit in this comparison, he posits himself as a professional which helps to establish himself as a credible figure to speak about dumpster diving as an art. Eigher comes back to the professionals at the end of the essay who do not dumpster dive like him and makes a public point.

Now I hardly pick up a thing without envisioning the time I will cast it aside. This is a healthy state of mind…. Between us [the wealthy and Eigher] are the rat-race millions who nightly scavenge the cable channels looking for they know not what. I am sorry for them. 28

Eigher’s tone is important here. He is getting at the idea that if the reader was going to feel pity towards him for dumpster diving, that the pity was misdirected. That there are multiple parties to feel pity for in the essay, the government workers, the middle class, the parents of college students, but not the dumpster divers. This leads someone to think about the value of material goods and consumerism. If Eigher is comfortable with his lot in life, who is the reader to judge? His experience lets us into his world to understand, but the message he is hoping to communicate is carefully controlled at the end. He doesn’t want pity; he is okay. The public point is powerful because it is surprising; it goes against society’s conventions about what and individual should have to lead a comfortable life.  

The profile as a genre is interesting because of its intense focus on one subject. Nordquist (2018) defines profile as “a short exercise in biography --a tight form in which interview, anecdote, observation, description, and analysis are brought to bear on the public and private self.” 29 Students are introduced to biography in fifth grade at our school. One of their research projects in fifth grade is to write a short biography of someone that they admire, so they possess some of the requisite skill needed to write a profile. But further unpacking Nordquist’s definition, students do not enter sixth grade with the knowledge to be able to weave interview, anecdote, observation, and description in ways that differentiate biography and profile. In discussing the readings before students write, it will be important to focus discussion on how profile is like biography, but that it requires a weaving of elements and progression that was not expected in earlier grades. Yagoda (2000) observes that the writer of a profile should approach the task as if he were “continually circling around the subject, taking snapshots all the way, until finally emerging with a three-dimensional hologram.” The area that students need to demonstrate growth is how to take those “snapshots.” 30 Rather than write a paragraph that follows the structure of topic sentence, evidence, explanation, evidence, explanation and concluding sentence, the area in which students will grow will be directly related to discussing how authors use interview, anecdote, observation and description to string together snapshots to profile an individual. Conducting interviews with the subject of a profile can be particularly useful in gathering material to use in a piece.

Another interesting metaphor for the process of writing a profile is comparing it to the work that an artist would engage in when creating a profile from a silhouette. Jessee (2009) writes that silhouette artists select the prominent features of a subject in profile by cutting around the curves and using contrasting paper to highlight the portrait outline; she notes, “writers take a similar approach, though they fill out their character sketches with quotations, events, and opinions, in addition to a physical description of their subject. 31 The introduction section of the Norton Reader makes several key observations of profiles as a writing genre: the writer must seek to “discover special characteristics or qualities” of the subject, including “vivid details, humorous stories…[and] recalling idiosyncratic stories and sayings.” 32 When reading profile, teachers need to unpack how the author is highlighting the prominent features of the person and for what purpose. As we have explored in seminar discussion with both personal experience essays and profiles, teachers must get students to think about the public point of the piece.

Examples of Craft in Profiles

We read several profiles to prepare for seminar that shared anecdotes, observations/descriptions that circled around the subject well enough to create strong images in the reader’s mind. One powerful example of a writer circling around his subject in a profile is the essay titled “Under the Influence” by Scott Russell Sanders. In this essay, Sanders is profiling his father who struggles with alcohol addiction. He creates a complex image of his father in the piece by describing how he would slip away into the barn to drink and deny that he had consumed any alcohol. 33 Consider the image that Sanders creates from a carefully developed description in the second paragraph of the piece:

In the perennial present of memory, I [the author/son] slip into the garage or barn to see my father tipping back the flat green bottles of wine, the brown cylinders of whiskey, the cans of beer disguised in paper bags. His Adam’s apple bobs, the liquid gurgles, he wipes the sandy-haired back of a hand over his lips, and then, his bloodshot gaze bumping into me, he stashes the bottle or can inside his jacket, under the workbench, between two bales of hay, and we both pretend the moment has not occurred. 34

In this passage, the reader is instantly put into a moment that the narrator of the text has experienced with his father that highlights his father’s problems and how they impacted their relationship. A significant portion of the essay explores all the ways that the father’s overconsumption of alcohol impacted their relationship. 

A few paragraphs further in the text, Sanders steps out of narrating episodes of his father directly to share a critical observation of the language we use regarding alcohol.

Consider a few of our synonyms for drunk : tipsy, tight, pickled, soused, and plowed; stoned and stewed, lubricated and inebriated, juiced and sluiced; three sheets to the wind, in your cups, out of your mind, under the table; lit up, tanked up, wiped out; besotted, blotto, bombed, and buzzed; plastered, polluted, putrefied; loaded or looped, boozy or woozy, fuddled, or smashed; crocked and shit-faced, corked and pissed, snockered and sloshed. 35

The connotation of these words tends to make light of being drunk. They suggest that it is not that big of a deal, that individuals may be too carefree when it comes to consuming alcohol to the point of being drunk. Besides creating rhythm in this paragraph by including several words that use either internal rhyme or consonance to create rhythm, his use of punctuation forces the reader to read this section in a very deliberate manner. The connected yet halted manner that the reader is forced to read this passage induces the reader to engage in careful reflection. Sanders wants the reader to consider the usage of these words and crafts one elaborate sentence to force the reader to evaluate each word. The variety of language registers that he juxtaposes, ranging from “inebriated” to “shit-faced,” create strong images in the reader’s mind. The reader begins to picture individuals that would speak in each of those registers, suggesting the pervasive nature of alcoholism. To make sure the reader comes to a specific conclusion, Sander’s makes his point crystal clear for the reader when he writes, “no dictionary of synonyms for drunk would soften the anguish of watching our prince [his dad] turn into a frog.” 36 The pain the narrator feels in this line is palpable.

To create another image of his father for the reader, Sanders compares his father to the subject of the poem, “My Papa’s Waltz.” In that poem, the speaker is scooped up by his father who had been drinking; they engage in a drunken waltz. 37 In discussing the poem, individuals speculate about whether the scene is loving, violent, or a mixture of both. The uncertainty and tension in the poem amplifies the anecdote that Sanders shares immediately before the poem when he writes, “in his good night kiss we smelled the cloying sweetness of Clorets, the mints he chewed to camouflage his dragon’s breath.” 38 The images in the poem and anecdotes are powerful and speak to the weaving that is at the heart of the craft choices that the author makes in this piece.

This was not the only profile that was read in seminar that demonstrated craft decisions that painted nuanced images of a subject. We also read an excerpt from An American Childhood by Annie Dillard. Dillard reflects on multiple facets and anecdotes about her mother, making interesting craft choices such as capturing some of her mother’s favorite quotes. Consider the opening of the excerpt, as Dillard drops the reader right into anecdote that captures her mother’s idiosyncratic nature as her husband listens to a baseball game.

Just as Mother passed through, the radio announcer cried-with undue drama- “Terwilliger bunts one!” “Terwilliger bunts one?” Mother cried back, stopped short. She turned. “Is that English?” “The player’s name is Terwilliger,” Father said. “He bunted.” “That’s marvelous,” Mother said. “‘Terwilliger bunts one.’ No wonder you listen to baseball. ‘Terwilliger bunts one.’” 39

She then proceeds to use that statement at times that are random, testing microphones, pens, typewriters, whispering it in people’s ears, and speaking it in response to others speaking foreign languages. This dialogue and her subsequent actions reveal the mother’s quick wit and off beat nature. This dialogue also shows that the mother seems to relish catching people off guard by doing or saying the unexpected. The mother clearly appreciates unique language and craft; so much so that she elevates the jargon of baseball because she likes the way the language sounds. The craft of the dialogue is revealing.

In another instance, Dillard uses an observation to deftly reveal more about her mother.

She dearly loved to fluster people by throwing out a game’s rules at whim- when she was getting bored, losing in a dull sort of way, and when everybody else was taking it too seriously. If you turned your back, she moved the checkers around on the board. When you got them all straightened out, she denied she touched them…. 40

This observation again serves to reveal how the author’s mother enjoyed ignoring social convention and enjoyed acting mischievously. When teaching adolescent writers, it is important to point out passages like the one above. If a student was writing about her mother as Dillard is writing, she would most likely say that her mother “messed with people.” In this instance, Dillard’s writing can act as a model for how developing an observation of a person can show us more about a character rather than just telling us directly. It creates a strong image in the reader’s mind about the mother’s character.

Dillard’s profile of her mother could also be used to consider the idea of a public point. In the essay, Dillard’s reverence for her mother’s independence shines, “she [Dillard’s mother] respected the rare few who broke through to new ways...she questioned everything… hers was a restless mental vigor...torpid conformity was a sin.” 41 In using this language to describe her mother, the author shows that while her mother’s antics may have caused frustration in the moment, she admires her mother’s independence and even admits by the end of the essay that her mother’s actions were in part to teach her children how to take a stand. By loading up the end of the profile with favorable quirks, the reader’s final perception of the author’s mother is generally favorable. She seems like a woman who was ahead of her time.

By thinking about craft elements carefully, teachers can pull out passages like the ones above and heighten student awareness of the tools that authors use to create the snapshots that ultimately paint a picture of an individual in the reader’s mind. By focusing on specific sections and thinking about the choices that the author made, student writers can begin to make similar choices in their own writing.

Teaching Strategies

Writers workshop.

Writers Workshop is an instructional approach that is intended to create the conditions necessary for students to read as a writer and explore the craft choices that authors make so that students can make similar choices when writing independently. It is important to briefly note that teaching writing is not easy; there are many components that need to be taught to foster effective writing. Research also indicates that there is a high prevalence of writing disabilities in many students that we teach; researchers found writing disabilities to affect between 6.9% and 14.7% of students and to exist with and without reading problems. 42 The range of student abilities that often exist within a classroom should push teachers away from whole group instruction to consider ways to give more targeted and specific feedback to each writer to meet instructional needs. Writers Workshop is an instructional approach that seeks to give targeted feedback that is appropriate to each learner. There is also some language that might be helpful when working with students in a Writers Workshop. Kissel and Miller (2015) suggest that teachers think about their questioning carefully before they confer with student writers, advocating for student choice in writing topics, locations and partners to write with in class. 43 These are all important conditions to think about as one organizes the structure of the workshop in a classroom.

The general way that I set up my Writers Workshop is that I highlight one writing habit or practice I want students to learn, they practice the habit or element of craft, they share what they learn, and then I look for that habit to appear in their writing products as I confer or assess student writing. My thought is to teach the writer, not just teach new modes of writing. There is a link in the resource section to an article that explores the types of questions that can be used to confer with students. The author argues that there are four questions that work in almost all scenarios: 1. How is it going? 2. Can you say more about that? 3. Would you consider trying ________ technique? 4. Are you ready to try this? 44 Given the nature of open-ended questions, students must explain their thinking about craft. This is putting the student in a position to make authentic writing decisions.

Character Sketch

Both profiles and personal experience essays make use of the character sketch. Many students do not think about characters in ways beyond describing their appearance. Students need to be taught different ways the elements of a character could be described to create images in the reader’s mind while reading. In the resource section below, there is a link to a graphic organizer that is extremely helpful for teachers to get students thinking about the aspects of the characters that they are writing about. The graphic organizer has students think about several areas such as: physical description, background information, character trait information, significant events that shaped a character, potential stereotypes about the character, relationships that character has, the essence of the character, and the motivations and ambitions of the character. 45 As we read profiles in class, students will use this template to think about how the character is crafted in the text. My goal is to get students to see that authors rely on a lot of different means of description to paint a full picture of a character.

Close Reading and Assessment

To help students decide whether they want to write either a profile or a personal experience essay, students need to read a couple of profiles and personal experience essays to think about the choices that authors make. There are a few sections that I have flagged in the research above that I will stop and discuss with my students from the content research above. In the Yale course, English S120E: Reading and Writing the Modern Essay, there are several different types of writing that students explore in readings and conversation: Personal Experience, Profile, Cultural Criticism, Review, Op-ed, Expert Knowledge, Description of a Place, Writing for the Ear, and others.  From these readings, students are expected to write four different types of essays to workshop with peers: a personal experience essay, a profile, a cultural criticism/political argument, and a review to have workshopped by peers. This structure is valuable and can be modified in a few ways to suit different instructional contexts. For the purposes of this unit, the genre conventions of personal experience essays and profiles will be discussed and explored with students. To encourage autonomy and motivation, I am going to allow students the opportunity to choose the genre that they want to write in to demonstrate mastery.

Teacher Resources for Literary Nonfiction

• https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/john-mcphee John McPhee was recommended in seminar as an author that writes employing a variety of literary nonfiction styles. His methods for organizing essays include drawing them. He likes to think of his essays as having a shape and being able to clearly identify that shape before writing. He also expects his students at Princeton to be able to identify the shape that their pieces take as a form of reflection before conferring with them. He released a book called Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process in 2017 that offers many helpful suggestions for writers from his experience as a teacher and writer.
• https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/16/arts/writers-writing-easy-adverbs-exclamation-points-especially-hooptedoodle.html Elmore Leonard was considered by Stephen King to be the great American author. This list contains ten pieces of advice to would-be writers, including his famous advice that, “if it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.”
• http://fictionfoundry.alumni.columbia.edu/character_sketch_template This leads to a template that could easily be modified by a teacher to support students in developing a character sketch of an important person to describe in a piece of literary nonfiction. It has many characteristics that go beyond a character’s appearance.
• https://jerryjenkins.com/how-to-write-an-anecdote/ This leads to helpful writing advice on how to craft an anecdote. It also includes a couple of examples.
• http://www2.sandhills.edu/academic-departments/english/essaybasics/keyhole.html This website is helpful for understanding the structure of a basic five paragraph essay with a link to samples. The process is compared to the shape of an old-fashioned keyhole.
• https://movingwriters.org/2016/11/07/the-only-four-questions-youll-ever-need-to-ask-your-writers/ This article provides helpful advice to think about what to ask students as you confer with them about their writing. The author argues convincingly that there are four key questions that work in almost all conferences that a teacher will have with students.

Personal Experience

• https://owlcation.com/academia/How-to-Write-a-Personal-Essay This resource is helpful in outlining different organizational approaches for students as well as ways to narrow to a good topic)
• https://www.thoughtco.com/personal-essay-or-statement-1691498 This resource gives an overview of genre characteristics, links to several personal experience essays, and a sense of what a personal experience essay can reveal about the writer.
• https://www.thebalancecareers.com/writing-a-compelling-profile-of-a-person-2316038 This resource gives several pieces of advice to consider when drafting a profile of a person.
• https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a638/frank-sinatra-has-a-cold-gay-talese/ This is a link to a famous profile titled “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold.” This profile demonstrates many elements of craft and can be helpful to read as a professional model. This is not appropriate for student readers.

Appendix: Implementing District Standards

The language of the CCSS pays careful attention to author’s craft with an eye towards building craft in student writing. The Reading for Writing: Modeling the Modern Essay Seminar emphasized several connections between reading and writing. In seminar, Fellows explored the craft that many writers employ across a variety of nonfiction genres. When thinking about the compositional choices that authors made in texts we read, we identified and discussed them in seminar with an eye toward thinking about our own writing. Consider the language of one of the English Language Arts CCSS for sixth grade: CCSS.RI.6.3 Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text [e.g., through examples or anecdotes]. 46 The work of seminar in this case closely mirrored the work that I am entrusted to engage in with my students. In seminar, this had Fellows reading creative nonfiction, discussing passages with peers, and thinking of the craft choices that the author has made.

Another CCSS that is relevant to this unit is RI.6.5: Analyze how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the ideas. 47 This standard aligns perfectly with the type of reading of both profiles and personal experience essays that needs to occur to heighten student awareness of author’s craft, so that they in turn can make similar craft decisions in their own writing. This standard encourages the practice of pulling out key sections from the text to discuss author’s craft.

The final CCSS that I think is extremely important to my instructional approach in this unit is CCSS W.6.9b:  Apply grade 6 Reading standards to writing literary nonfiction [e.g., "Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not"]. 48 This writing standard is written as a substandard, but it is important because it dictates a couple of key instructional elements that should be happening. The first observation looking at the standard is that there is a connection between the Reading and Writing standards; the standards are calling for the application of the Reading standards in writing. This means that students should be reading with an eye towards writer’s craft. The second implication of the standard is that literary nonfiction should not only be read, but it should also be produced by students. Literary nonfiction is not the typical five paragraph essay that many English Language Arts teachers still teach to write nonfiction text. In my classroom, the language of the standards dictates my instructional approach.

Reference List

Brantley, Jessica. Reading for Writing: Modeling the Modern Essay seminar, Yale National

Initiative, New Haven, July 8-16 2019.

Coker, David L., Kristen D. Ritchey, Ximena Uribe-Zarain, and Austin S. Jennings. “An

Analysis of First-Grade Writing Profiles and Their Relationship to Compositional

Quality.” Journal of Learning Disabilities 51, no. 4 (July 2018): 336–50.

doi: 10.1177/0022219417708171 .

"Character Sketch Template." Columbia Fiction Foundry. (accessed July 16, 2019).

http://fictionfoundry.alumni.columbia.edu/character_sketch_template .

Dillard, Annie. "from An American Childhood." In The Norton Reader: An Anthology of

 Nonfiction , 98-103. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2016.

Douglass, Frederick. “Learning to Read.” In The Norton Reader: An Anthology of

Nonfiction , 404-408. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2016.

Eighner, Lars. "On Dumpster Diving." In The Norton Reader: An Anthology of Nonfiction , 55-

64. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2016.

"English Language Arts Standards » Reading: Informational Text » Grade 6." English Language

Arts Standards » Reading: Informational Text » Grade 6 | Common Core State Standards

Initiative. (accessed July 16, 2019). http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RI/6/.

"English Language Arts Standards » Writing » Grade 6." English Language Arts Standards »

Writing » Grade 6 | Common Core State Standards Initiative. (accessed July 16, 2019).

http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/6/.

Ferriss, Tim. "Writing with the Master – The Magic of John McPhee." The Blog of Author Tim

Ferriss. December 11, 2014. (accessed July 13, 2019). https://tim.blog/2014/12/11/john-mcphee/#comments.

Goldthwaite, Melissa A., Joseph Bizup, John C. Brereton, Anne E. Fernald, and Linda H. 

Peterson. The Norton Reader: An Anthology of Nonfiction . New York: W.W. Norton & 

Company, 2016, Introduction, page liv

Jenkins, Jerry B. "How to Write an Anecdote That Makes Your Nonfiction Come Alive." Jerry

Jenkins | Proven Writing Tips. April 18, 2019. (accessed July 13, 2019).

https://jerryjenkins.com/how-to-write-an-anecdote/.

Jessee, Amy. "Strategic Stories: An Analysis of the Profile Genre" (2009). All Theses. 550.

(accessed July 13, 2019). https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/550

King, Stephen. "Stephen King on Why He Loves Ahnuld and Hates Celine." EW.com. February

1, 2007. (accessed July 13, 2019).

https://ew.com/article/2007/02/01/stephen-king-why-he-loves-ahnuld-and-hates-celine/.

Kissel, Brian T., and Erin T. Miller. 2015. “Reclaiming Power in the Writers’ Workshop.”

Reading Teacher 69 (1): 77–86. doi:10.1002/trtr.1379.

Leonard, Elmore. "Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points and Especially Hooptedoodle." The

New York Times. July 16, 2001. (accessed July 13, 2019). https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/16/arts/writers-writing-easy-adverbs-exclamation-points-espec ially-hooptedoodle.html.

Marchetti, Allison. "The Only Four Questions You'll Ever Need to Ask Your Writers." Moving

Writers. November 07, 2016. (accessed July 16, 2019).   https://movingwriters.org/2016/11/07/the-only-four-questions-youll-ever-need-to-ask-   your-writers/.

Nordquist, Richard. "A Profile in Composition." ThoughtCo. (accessed June 20, 2019).

https://www.thoughtco.com/profile-composition-1691681 .

Nordquist, Richard. "Character Sketch in Composition." ThoughtCo. (accessed July 13, 2019).

https://www.thoughtco.com/character-sketch-composition-1689746.

Sanders, Scott Russel. “Under the Influence,” In The Norton Reader: An Anthology of

Nonfiction , 87-97. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2016.

"The Keyhole Essay." (accessed July 16, 2019).

http://www2.sandhills.edu/academic-departments/english/essaybasics/keyhole.html.

“Twain,” Chicago Public Schools, (accessed June 18, 2019).

http://schoolinfo.cps.edu/schoolprofile/schooldetails.aspx?SchoolID=610206

Warner, John. Why They Can't Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities.

Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018. https://muse.jhu.edu/ (accessed July 15, 2019).

White, Ralph. "Character Sketch Template." Columbia Fiction Foundry. August 24, 2014.

(accessed July 13, 2019). http://fictionfoundry.alumni.columbia.edu/character_sketch_template.

Yagoda, Ben. About Town: The New Yorker and the World It Made . New York: Scribner, 2000.

Zinsser, William. On Writing Well . New York: HarperCollins, 2006.

• “Twain,” Chicago Public Schools School Report Card
• "The Keyhole Essay."
• Brantley, Jessica. Reading for Writing: Modeling the Modern Essay seminar
• Warner, John. Why They Can't Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities , 28-31.
• Zinsser, William. On Writing Well, 99
• Ibid, 96-98
• Nordquist, Richard. "A Profile in Composition.”
• Ferriss, Tim. "Writing with the Master – The Magic of John McPhee."
• Zinsser, William. On Writing Well, 232-233
• Zinsser, William. On Writing Well, 134-146
• Frederick Douglass, “Learning to Read,” 404-408.
• Lars Eighner, "On Dumpster Diving," 55-64.
• Nordquist, Richard. "A Profile in Composition."
• Yagoda, Ben. About Town: The New Yorker and the World It Made .
• Jessee, Amy. "Strategic Stories: An Analysis of the Profile Genre"
• Goldthwaite, Melissa A., Joseph Bizup, John C. Brereton, Anne E. Fernald, and Linda H. Peterson, Introduction, page liv.
• Scott Russel Sanders, “Under the Influence,” 87-97.
• Annie Dillard, "from An American Childhood," 98-103.
• Coker, David L., Kristen D. Ritchey, Ximena Uribe-Zarain, and Austin S. Jennings. “An Analysis of First-Grade Writing Profiles and Their Relationship to Compositional Quality.”
• Kissel, Brian T., and Erin T. Miller. “Reclaiming Power in the Writers’ Workshop.”
• Marchetti, Allison. "The Only Four Questions You'll Ever Need to Ask Your Writers."
• Nordquist, Richard. "Character Sketch in Composition."
• "English Language Arts Standards » Reading: Informational Text » Grade 6."
• "English Language Arts Standards » Writing » Grade 6."

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Guide on How to Write a 5 Paragraph Essay Effortlessly

Defining What Is a 5 Paragraph Essay

Have you ever been assigned a five-paragraph essay and wondered what exactly it means? Don't worry; we all have been there. A five-paragraph essay is a standard academic writing format consisting of an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

In the introduction, you present your thesis statement, which is the main idea or argument you will discuss in your essay. The three body paragraphs present a separate supporting argument, while the conclusion summarizes the main points and restates the thesis differently.

While the five-paragraph essay is a tried and true format for many academic assignments, it's important to note that it's not the only way to write an essay. In fact, some educators argue that strict adherence to this format can stifle creativity and limit the development of more complex ideas.

However, mastering the five-paragraph essay is a valuable skill for any student, as it teaches the importance of structure and organization in writing. Also, it enables you to communicate your thoughts clearly and eloquently, which is crucial for effective communication in any area. So the next time you're faced with a five-paragraph essay assignment, embrace the challenge and use it as an opportunity to hone your writing skills.

And if you find it difficult to put your ideas into 5 paragraphs, ask our professional service - 'please write my essay ,' or ' write my paragraph ' and consider it done.

How to Write a 5 Paragraph Essay: General Tips

If you are struggling with how to write a 5 paragraph essay, don't worry! It's a common format that many students learn in their academic careers. Here are some tips from our admission essay writing service to help you write a successful five paragraph essay example:

• Start with a strong thesis statement : Among the 5 parts of essay, the thesis statement can be the most important. It presents the major topic you will debate throughout your essay while being explicit and simple.
• Use topic sentences to introduce each paragraph : The major idea you will address in each of the three body paragraphs should be established in a concise subject sentence.
• Use evidence to support your arguments : The evidence you present in your body paragraphs should back up your thesis. This can include facts, statistics, or examples from your research or personal experience.
• Include transitions: Use transitional words and phrases to make the flow of your essay easier. Words like 'although,' 'in addition,' and 'on the other hand' are examples of these.
• Write a strong conclusion: In addition to restating your thesis statement in a new way, your conclusion should highlight the key ideas of your essay. You might also leave the reader with a closing idea or query to reflect on.
• Edit and proofread: When you've completed writing your essay, thoroughly revise and proofread it. Make sure your thoughts are brief and clear and proofread your writing for grammatical and spelling mistakes.

By following these tips, you can write strong and effective five paragraph essays examples that will impress your teacher or professor.

5 Paragraph Essay Format

Let's readdress the five-paragraph essay format and explain it in more detail. So, as already mentioned, it is a widely-used writing structure taught in many schools and universities. A five-paragraph essay comprises an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion, each playing a significant role in creating a well-structured and coherent essay.

The introduction serves as the opening paragraph of the essay and sets the tone for the entire piece. It should captivate the reader's attention, provide relevant background information, and include a clear and concise thesis statement that presents the primary argument of the essay. For example, if the essay topic is about the benefits of exercise, the introduction may look something like this:

'Regular exercise provides numerous health benefits, including increased energy levels, improved mental health, and reduced risk of chronic diseases.'

The body paragraphs are the meat of the essay and should provide evidence and examples to support the thesis statement. Each body paragraph should begin with a subject sentence that states the major idea of the paragraph. Then, the writer should provide evidence to support the topic sentence. This evidence can be in the form of statistics, facts, or examples. For instance, if the essay is discussing the health benefits of exercise, a body paragraph might look like this:

'One of the key benefits of exercise is improved mental health. Regular exercise has been demonstrated in studies to lessen depressive and anxious symptoms and enhance mood.'

The essay's final paragraph, the conclusion, should repeat the thesis statement and summarize the essay's important ideas. A concluding idea or query might be included to give the reader something to ponder. For example, a conclusion for an essay on the benefits of exercise might look like this:

'In conclusion, exercise provides numerous health benefits, from increased energy levels to reduced risk of chronic diseases. We may enhance both our physical and emotional health and enjoy happier, more satisfying lives by including exercise into our daily routines.'

Overall, the 5 paragraph essay format is useful for organizing thoughts and ideas clearly and concisely. By following this format, writers can present their arguments logically and effectively, which is easy for the reader to follow.

Types of 5 Paragraph Essay 

There are several types of five-paragraph essays, each with a slightly different focus or purpose. Here are some of the most common types of five-paragraph essays:

• Narrative essay : A narrative essay tells a story or recounts a personal experience. It typically includes a clear introductory paragraph, body sections that provide details about the story, and a conclusion that wraps up the narrative.
• Descriptive essay: A descriptive essay uses sensory language to describe a person, place, or thing. It often includes a clear thesis statement that identifies the subject of the description and body paragraphs that provide specific details to support the thesis.
• Expository essay: An expository essay offers details or clarifies a subject. It usually starts with a concise introduction that introduces the subject, is followed by body paragraphs that provide evidence and examples to back up the thesis, and ends with a summary of the key points.
• Persuasive essay: A persuasive essay argues for a particular viewpoint or position. It has a thesis statement that is clear, body paragraphs that give evidence and arguments in favor of it, and a conclusion that summarizes the important ideas and restates the thesis.
• Compare and contrast essay: An essay that compares and contrasts two or more subjects and looks at their similarities and differences. It usually starts out simply by introducing the topics being contrasted or compared, followed by body paragraphs that go into more depth on the similarities and differences, and a concluding paragraph that restates the important points.

Each type of five-paragraph essay has its own unique characteristics and requirements. When unsure how to write five paragraph essay, writers can choose the most appropriate structure for their topic by understanding the differences between these types.

5 Paragraph Essay Example Topics

Here are some potential topics for a 5 paragraph essay example. These essay topics are just a starting point and can be expanded upon to fit a wide range of writing essays and prompts.

• The Impact of Social Media on Teenage Communication Skills.
• How Daily Exercise Benefits Mental and Physical Health.
• The Importance of Learning a Second Language.
• The Effects of Global Warming on Marine Life.
• The Role of Technology in Modern Education.
• The Influence of Music on Youth Culture.
• The Pros and Cons of Uniform Policies in Schools.
• The Significance of Historical Monuments in Cultural Identity.
• The Growing Importance of Cybersecurity.
• The Evolution of the American Dream.
• The Impact of Diet on Cognitive Functioning.
• The Role of Art in Society.
• The Future of Renewable Energy Sources.
• The Effects of Urbanization on Wildlife.
• The Importance of Financial Literacy for Young Adults.
• The Influence of Advertising on Consumer Choices.
• The Role of Books in the Digital Age.\
• The Benefits and Challenges of Space Exploration.
• The Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture.
• The Ethical Implications of Genetic Modification.

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General Grading Rubric for a 5 Paragraph Essay

The following is a general grading rubric that can be used to evaluate a five-paragraph essay:

Content (40%)

• A thesis statement is clear and specific
• The main points are well-developed and supported by evidence
• Ideas are organized logically and coherently
• Evidence and examples are relevant and support the main points
• The essay demonstrates a strong understanding of the topic

Organization (20%)

• The introduction effectively introduces the topic and thesis statement
• Body paragraphs are well-structured and have clear topic sentences
• Transitions between paragraphs are smooth and effective
• The concluding sentence effectively summarizes the main points and restates the thesis statement

Language and Style (20%)

• Writing is clear, concise, and easy to understand
• Language is appropriate for the audience and purpose
• Vocabulary is varied and appropriate
• Grammar, spelling, and punctuation are correct

Critical Thinking (20%)

• Student demonstrate an understanding of the topic beyond surface-level knowledge
• Student present a unique perspective or argument
• Student show evidence of critical thinking and analysis
• Students write well-supported conclusions

Considering the above, the paper should demonstrate a thorough understanding of the topic, clear organization, strong essay writing skills, and critical thinking. By using this grading rubric, the teacher can evaluate the essay holistically and provide detailed feedback to the student on areas of strength and areas for improvement.

Five Paragraph Essay Examples

Wrapping up: things to remember.

In conclusion, writing a five paragraph essay example can seem daunting at first, but it doesn't have to be a difficult task. Following these simple steps and tips, you can break down the process into manageable parts and create a clear, concise, and well-organized essay.

Remember to start with a strong thesis statement, use topic sentences to guide your paragraphs, and provide evidence and analysis to support your ideas. Don't forget to revise and proofread your work to make sure it is error-free and coherent. With time and practice, you'll be able to write a 5 paragraph essay with ease and assurance. Whether you're writing for school, work, or personal projects, these skills will serve you well and help you to communicate your ideas effectively.

Meanwhile, you can save time and reduce the stress associated with academic assignments by trusting our research paper writing services to handle the writing for you. So go ahead, buy an essay , and see how easy it can be to meet all of your professors' complex requirements!

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Ross Douthat

Opinion Columnist

Scotland’s Censorship Experiment Threatens Free Expression

In 2002, the English journalist Ed West penned an essay entitled “Britain Isn’t a Free Country.” His evidence was straightforward: Through the aggressive enforcement of laws against hate speech, Britain was harassing, investigating and sometimes imprisoning its own citizens, effectively consigning the right to free expression to the dustbin of history.

West’s list of examples, which included some cases involving deeply unsympathetic racists and others that looked more like the criminalization of cultural conservatism, is worth revisiting now that Scotland has passed an especially expansive hate speech statute.

The new Scottish law criminalizes public speech deemed “insulting” to a protected group (as opposed to the higher bar of “abusive”), and prosecutors need only prove that the speech was “likely” to encourage hatred rather than being explicitly intended to do so. One can offer a defense based on the speech in question being “reasonable,” and there is a nod to “the importance of the right to freedom of expression.” But a plain reading of the law seems like it could license prosecutions for a comedian’s monologue or for reading biblical passages on sexual morality in public.

The law has attracted special attention because J.K. Rowling responded to its passage with a series of social media posts about transgender individuals that seemed to fall afoul of the law’s dictates. If they do, she wrote, “I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment.”

My prediction is that neither Rowling nor any figure of her prominence will face prosecution. Rather, what you see in West’s examples is that the speech police prefer more obscure targets: the teenage girl prosecuted for posting rap lyrics that included the N-word or the local Tory official hauled in by the cops after posting to criticize the arrest of a Christian street preacher.

Which is, of course, a normal way for mild sorts of authoritarianism to work. Exceptions are made for prominent figures, lest the system look ridiculous, but ordinary people are taught not to cross the line.

Europe is often depicted as caught between an embattled liberal order and a post-liberal form of populism. But the reality is that there are two incipient European post-liberalisms, both responses to the challenges of managing aging, anxious societies being transformed by mass migration. One is the right-wing politics of national identity; the other is a more technocratic attempt to maintain social peace through a regime of censorship.

Scotland is experimenting with the second option. Both could usher out the liberal age as we have known it.

Lydia Polgreen

Ramy Youssef’s ‘S.N.L.’ Monologue Was a Love Letter to Muslim America

It is a rare thing in our rapidly secularizing country to be confronted with piety and devotion in popular culture. So it was a surprise, and a balm, to watch a man who prays daily and talks openly about his devout faith storm a bastion of earthly godlessness: “Saturday Night Live.”

I am referring, of course, to the comedian Ramy Youssef, who hosted the show on what he described in his opening monologue as “an incredibly spiritual weekend,” noting Ramadan, Easter and the arrival of a new Beyoncé album.

“I’m doing the Ramadan one,” he quipped, to peals of laughter, unspooling a very funny bit about how loving Muslims are. Youssef has mined his experience as a believer among the profane in gentle standup specials and a namesake sitcom. His entire monologue glowed with a welcoming warmth — Muslims, he seemed to say: We’re just like you.

In a country that is supposedly obsessed with diversity and inclusion, it is remarkable how rare it is to hear from a practicing Muslim in America.

Surveys by the Institute for Policy and Understanding, a nonpartisan research organization focused on Muslim Americans, have consistently found that Muslims are the most likely group to report religious discrimination in the United States. According to a Pew survey conducted in 2021, 78 percent of Americans said that there was either a lot or some discrimination against Muslims in our society. Muslims are no more likely to commit crimes than members of any other group, but crimes in which Muslims are suspects get outsized media coverage, research has shown .

It is no surprise, then, that Islamophobia is perhaps the most tolerated form of religious prejudice. Right now, Senate Republicans appear to have persuaded several Senate Democrats to vote against a Muslim judicial nominee after smearing him, with no evidence at all, as an antisemite.

Many of the skits that toyed with religion on “S.N.L.” on Saturday were funny — Ozempic for Ramadan! Genius. But part of me winced through them as well, because I saw in Youssef something that other members of minority groups have had to do to “earn” their place in the safety of the mainstream: the performance of normalcy, of being nonthreatening and sweet, the requirement to prove that your community belongs in America just like everyone else’s.

I loved Youssef’s monologue, in which he bravely pleaded, “Please, free the people of Palestine. And please, free the hostages. All of the hostages.”

“I am out of ideas,” Youssef declared toward the end of his monologue. “All I have is prayers.”

To which this nonbeliever can only say: Same, Ramy. Same.

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Nicholas Kristof

Israel’s Attack on Aid Workers Can Only Make Hunger in Gaza Worse

The Israeli strikes that killed seven aid workers overnight as they tried to avert famine in Gaza will be much debated, but three points seem clear to me.

First, the killings reinforce the widespread criticism that Israeli forces often appear to act recklessly in Gaza, with too little concern for civilian casualties. The latest deaths were unusual in that they included foreigners, even an American, but there is nothing new about Israeli strikes killing aid workers in Gaza: At least 196 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank since the war began in October, the United Nations says.

Second, the tragedy will compound the hunger crisis in Gaza that is already leading to deaths from starvation and risking both famine and epidemics. The result is that just as famine looms and children are dying, international efforts to ease it may be reduced, not amplified.

Third, Israeli credibility will take another hit, and America’s with it. Some elements of the Israeli narrative are entirely accurate: Hamas started the latest round of fighting and uses civilians as human shields. But Israel also argues that it is doing everything possible to reduce civilian casualties, and that is hard to argue in this case — and this is also an embarrassment for the Biden administration, which provides an endless flow of weaponry for airstrikes like these (although the origin of the particular weapons that killed these seven workers is unclear for now).

The seven people worked with World Central Kitchen, a charity founded by chef José Andrés, and were in clearly marked vehicles . The nonprofit group, which has now suspended its aid efforts in Gaza, said that it had cleared its movements with Israeli forces, and The Financial Times reported that the vehicles were hit over a two-kilometer stretch, implying targeting by multiple strikes rather than a single errant missile. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has promised an investigation.

The killing of humanitarians puts aid groups in an impossible situation. The organizations focus on easing suffering, yet they also must look after the safety of their own people. If Israel continues to kill aid workers at such a pace, it will be very difficult to distribute aid to the people who need it.

And increasingly, it may be essential to have trained aid workers to provide special emergency foods to children with severe acute malnutrition. All that is now uncertain.

The Biden administration is issuing tougher statements about the situation, but President Biden still seems unwilling to use his leverage to press Israel to ease up. Politico reported on Monday that the U.S. government is considering a major new weapons sale to Israel.

Michelle Cottle

Opinion Writer

An Abortion Rights Vote May Not Be Enough for Biden in Florida

Just when you thought it was safe to ignore Florida politics, up pops the state Supreme Court with an abortion-rights decision seemingly designed to provoke electoral turmoil this year.

The court allowed a six-week abortion ban to go into effect while ruling that Floridians can vote in November on a state constitutional amendment to protect abortion access before fetal viability (around 24 weeks). The combined rulings immediately shoved reproductive rights to the political front lines. But how will things shake out in this increasingly red state ? And not to make everything about the presidential race, but how much could it help President Biden?

The issue of reproductive rights has been a boon to Democrats pretty much everywhere it has appeared on the ballot, directly or otherwise, since the death of Roe v. Wade. And there’s reason to be optimistic that Florida’s amendment will succeed as well. Though passage requires at least 60 percent support, a November poll by the University of North Florida put support at 62 percent, including 53 percent of Republicans. And that was before things got real with the court ruling.

But can this new wrinkle save Biden there? I mean, this is Florida. The state didn’t show him the love in 2020, and more generally, its Democratic Party has been a hot mess for several years. Registered Republicans now outnumber Democrats by nearly one million . In 2022, Floridians re-elected Gov. Ron DeSantis with almost 60 percent of the vote. Ron. DeSantis .

More troubling, Republican state lawmakers have shown themselves happy to thwart the will of the public to tilt the field in their team’s favor. (See: voting rights of felons who have completed their sentences.) And it is the adopted — and spiritual — home of perhaps the ultimate Florida Man, Donald Trump. (When thinking of the MAGA king kicked back in his so-called Southern White House, I like to picture him with a state-appropriate mullet.)

With the proper mix of sweat and strategy, abortion rights advocates and Dems should be able to save reproductive rights in the state — not to mention force Republicans to burn time and cash there. But pry it away from Trump? That feels like a reach.

Zeynep Tufekci

A Farm Worker With Avian Flu Means a Rapid Response Is Urgent

The discovery of the country’s second human case of H5N1 avian flu, found in a Texas dairy farm worker following an outbreak among cows, is worrying and requires prompt and vigorous action.

While officials have so far said the possibility of cow-to-cow transmission “cannot be ruled out,” I think we can go further than that.

The geography of the outbreak — sick cows in Texas, Idaho, Michigan, Ohio and New Mexico — strongly suggests cows are infecting each other as they move around various farms. The most likely scenario seems to be that a new strain of H5N1 is spreading among cows, rather than the cows being individually infected by sick birds.

Avian flu is not known to transmit well among mammals, including humans, and until now, almost all known cases of H5N1 in humans were people in extended close contact with sick birds. But a cow outbreak — something unexpected , as cows aren’t highly prone to get this — along with likely transmission between cows, means we need to quickly require testing of all dairy workers on affected farms as well as their close contacts, and sample cows in all the dairy farms around the country.

It is possible — and much easier — to contain an early outbreak when an emergent virus isn’t yet adapted to a new host and perhaps not as transmissible. If it gets out and establishes a foothold, then all bets are off. With fatality rates estimated up to 50 percent among humans, H5N1 is not something to gamble with.

Additionally, H5N1 was found in the unpasteurized milk of sick cows. Unpasteurized milk, already a bad idea, would be additionally dangerous to consume right now.

Public officials need to get on top of this quickly, and transparently, telling us the uncertainties as well as their actions.

The government needs to gear up to potentially mass-produce vaccines quickly ( which we have against H5N1 , though they take time to produce) and ensure early supplies for frontline and health care workers.

It’s possible that worst-case scenarios aren’t going to come true — yet. But evolution is exactly how viruses get to do things they couldn’t do before, and letting this deadly one have time to explore the landscape in a potential new host is a disastrously bad idea.

Mike Johnson Is Trying to Explain Simple Math to the Far Right

I come today not to bury Mike Johnson, but to praise him.

No. Seriously. I mean it.

Johnson, the House speaker, sat down with Trey Gowdy of Fox News over the weekend to discuss “realistic expectations” for Republicans in this era of narrowly divided government.

Quipping that he was there as an “ambassador of hope on Easter Sunday,” Johnson offered “three simple things” his party should be focusing on: No. 1, “Show the American people what we’re for. Not just what we’re against.” No. 2, “We have to unite. We have to stand together.” And No. 3, “We’ve got to drive our conservative agenda and get the incremental wins that are still possible right now.”

Nos. 1 and 2 are the sort of meaningless boilerplate politicians are forever blathering about. But No. 3 was clearly the core message of his mission, and he really leaned in, repeatedly noting that his team’s right-wingers — with whom he has long identified, mind you — need to come to terms with the political reality of holding “the smallest majority in U.S. history.”

“We got to realize I can’t throw a Hail Mary pass on every single play,” he said, with that mild manner and beatific smile that makes him seem thoughtful and genial even when he’s speaking harsh truths. “It’s three yards and a cloud of dust. Right? We’ve got to get the next first down. Keep moving.”

Southerners do love their football metaphors.

When asked about Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion to remove him, he acknowledged that she is “very frustrated” with how certain negotiations have gone of late, especially when it comes to spending. “Guess what? So am I,” he said. But with Republicans clinging to the majority by their fingernails, “we’re sometimes going to get legislation that we don’t like.”

This kind of squish talk isn’t very MAGA. And working with Dems is what got the previous speaker kicked to the curb. (Poor Kev.) But Johnson is in some ways in a better spot than was Kevin McCarthy. A smattering of Democrats have suggested they would save Johnson from a coup attempt, especially on a key issue such as funding Ukraine. Plus, ousting another speaker so soon would only lock in House Republicans’ rep as a bunch of hopeless chaos monkeys — not a shrewd move in an election year.

This is not to say that Johnson is shaping up to be an effective or competent speaker. But it takes a certain courage to talk reality — and math — to today’s House Republicans. Kudos to him for going there.

David French

There’s Valuable Speech on Social Media, Even for Kids

Last week I wrote a rather long column arguing that blanket bans on social media for children are a bad idea, even if you are persuaded (as I am) that smartphones and social media are a significant reason for increasing childhood mental health struggles. My basic point was simple: The First Amendment rights of children and adults are too precious to diminish, especially when there are less restrictive alternatives for combating the problem.

I received an enormous amount of helpful feedback, but I want to briefly highlight one response. The American Enterprise Institute’s Brad Wilcox posted a thread on X that began like this: “Could not disagree more w/ @DavidAFrench here, partly because he doesn’t fully ack how much the teen problem w/ social media is not just about the message(s) but the *medium* itself. Social media does not function like some debating society for teens.”

I respect Wilcox greatly, and he’s got many valuable things to say about kids and social media, but he’s wrong in one key respect: Social media is, in fact, a debating society for teens, just as it is for adults. It’s often a miserable and contentious debating society, but social media is where an immense amount of our nation’s substantive debates takes place. Kids debate one another, and they read adult debates.

Protecting political speech is a core purpose of the First Amendment. As the Supreme Court held in Garrison v. Louisiana , “Speech concerning public affairs is more than self-expression; it is the essence of self-government.” One reason children enjoy First Amendment rights is that they are essentially citizens in training. They have to learn how to engage in political debate.

There are certainly issues with the medium itself, and there are ways to combat the pernicious effects of the medium without obliterating access to the content. The First Amendment, for example, permits reasonable and content-neutral restrictions on the time, place and manner of freedom of expression, and it’s easy to see a valid ban on smartphones during school hours. It’s also worth considering whether certain features of social media — such as infinite scroll — could be limited.

But it’s important to note that time, place and manner restrictions can’t function as a form of disguised content discrimination. If you’re looking for reasons to ban social media because of what’s on the platform, then you’re playing a dangerous constitutional game.

Jessica Grose

The Christians Who Aren’t Buying Donald Trump’s Sales Pitch

Last week, former President Donald Trump hawked his “God Bless the USA Bible” in a video posted to social media , stating “we must make America pray again.” In a story published today, The Times’s Michael C. Bender notes that Trump — despite a background few would call pious — “is framing his 2024 bid as a fight for Christianity, telling a convention of Christian broadcasters that ‘just like in the battles of the past, we still need the hand of our Lord.’”

A new report on religious change in the United States from The Public Religion Research Institute suggests that Trump’s attempts to tie Christianity tightly to a particular set of Republican political values may be turning some Americans away from Christianity.

P.R.R.I. surveyed Americans who left their childhood religions to become “unaffiliated,” a group that includes people who call themselves atheists, agnostics and nothing in particular. The vast majority of people who become unaffiliated are Christians. While the largest percentage say they left religion because they no longer believe the religion’s teachings, 47 percent of those who became unaffiliated say they did so because of negative treatment or teaching about L.G.B.T.Q. Americans, and 20 percent say they became unaffiliated because their church or congregation became too focused on politics.

“Among white Christian groups, the largest decline in the past decade took place among white evangelical Protestants, whose numbers saw a 3 percentage point decrease, from 17 percent in 2013 to 14 percent in 2023. In 2023, the percentages of white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants (14 percent) and white Catholics (12 percent) remain largely similar to those of 2013,” according to P.R.R.I.’s survey. Trump has frequently and closely aligned himself with white evangelical Christians.

P.R.R.I.’s findings align with what I learned last year when reporting on those leaving religion. As one woman I spoke to put it, she became less religious “because evangelicals became apostates who worship Trump, nationalism and the Republican Party.” Trump promoting a Bible is just another example of his modus operandi: He may make a quick buck, but at what cost to the institution in the long run?

Whether it’s a political or religious institution, the outcome always appears to be the same.

Patrick Healy

Deputy Opinion Editor

Have Swing Voters Stopped Listening to Joe Biden?

Every Monday morning on The Point, we kick off the week with a tipsheet on the latest in the presidential campaign. Here’s what we’re looking at this week:

One of the worst things that can happen to a president seeking re-election is to have voters stop listening to you. As the campaign unfolds this week, I’m curious whether President Biden says or does things that really command attention from voters, and in particular might be persuasive to swing voters.

My curiosity stems from reading the latest polls and my colleague Nate Cohn’s article on Saturday. This is how Nate summed up Biden’s standing in the race since his strong State of the Union speech on March 7: “It has gotten harder to see signs of any Biden bump. Taken together, new polls from Fox , CNBC and Quinnipiac suggested that the presidential race was essentially unchanged, with Mr. Trump still holding a narrow lead nationwide. The president’s approval rating doesn’t seem discernibly higher, either.”

Now, State of the Union speeches themselves rarely produce a bump. But Biden was a new man in March, with a sharper message, lots of campaigning, strong ads and any number of Trump comments to whack. Yet we enter April with Trump in a narrow lead.

Something is not working for Joe Biden right now. Trump is behind him in campaign money , tied up in court, making crazy comments and posting videos showing Biden hogtied. For all that, Biden doesn’t seem to have changed large numbers of minds. Are voters still listening to the president?

Previous presidents who lost re-election, including Trump, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, struggled to persuade voters they were effective and sympathetic. In their own ways, the three men were seen as all talk, no action, and that’s what some progressive Democrats and young voters think about Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza. While his administration is talking tougher about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, the bombs keep falling on Gaza (and more American bombs are on the way) and the aid keeps being blocked from reaching starving people.

And it’s not just Gaza: It’s immigration, abortion rights and, especially, the economy. Nate Silver had a striking chart last week showing how “even as consumer and investor sentiment has improved, President Biden’s approval rating hasn’t , or at least it hasn’t by much .”

Right now, Biden doesn’t have the same galvanizing, persuasive political narrative for swing voters that he had in 2020 — I think Trump nostalgia is very real — nor does he have the results enough voters want. Some voters have already written him off because of his age. But I think the bigger threat to re-election is that more voters will stop listening to him if he doesn’t offer a stronger narrative and stronger results.