Learning the Wrong Way

A university student sits in class looking over a copy of their recently graded essay. Rather cruelly, the professor has left a stinging comment which reads, "You need to learn how to write an essay!" Is it an act of cruelty on the professor's part or is there some truth to the statement? Unfortunately, it may very well be the latter.

Surprisingly many people go through elementary and high school never learning the basics of writing an essay.

The foundation for writing an essay is simple: you have an introduction where your topic is revealed, you have the body where you discuss your topic, and a conclusion where you wrap it all up. Of course, we already all know this.

What isn't taught to everyone, surprisingly, is the most elementary construction of each part. Simply put, each element should be constructed as so:

Introduction:
1. Introductory statement to the topic.
2. First point of the essay regarding the topic.
3. Second point.
4. Third point.
5. Thesis (The main idea or argument that your whole essay will revolve around)

Body:
Three paragraphs concerning each point individually but all following this form:
1. Topic sentence of paragraph (The point your paragraph will revolve around)
2. A concrete detail (a fact, quote, statistic) followed by two commentary sentences (Your own analysis of the detail) repeated twice, meaning 6 sentences total.
3. A concluding thought on the point.

Conclusion:
1. Repetition of points made in the Introduction.
2. A final concluding statement on your whole argument.

This is the basic construction of an essay in its most simple form, and is as easy to follow as filling in the blanks. In fact, it is so simple, that most junior high students could probably follow this construction with no problems.

So why is it that so many are not taught this basic lesson when they are young? Most of the blame could be put on the education system itself.

In a time when so much stress is put on the studying of standardized tests, critical lessons are being neglected by our education systems. Schools use quotas on standardized test results to evaluate a teacher's performance in the classroom instead of actual grades. Consequently, teachers are more worried about meeting these quotas and keeping their jobs than they are in actually teaching children critical lessons that will shape their future.

As a result, colleges and universities are being filled with students who have not developed college level writing, and other skills. This is a problem that may only eventually worsen as more students who have been raised in these systems enter our colleges and universities.

More information regarding this problem can be found at www.fairtest.org.