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This is the VOA Special English Education Report, from http://voaspecialenglish.com | http://facebook.com/voalearningenglish Millions of students have been taught a formula that has nothing to do with chemistry. The formula is for how to write a five-paragraph essay. First, write an introductory paragraph to state the argument. Then, add three paragraphs of evidence. Finally, write a conclusion. Linda Bergmann is director of the Writing Lab at Purdue University in Indiana. Her job is to help students, including international students, improve their writing. Professor Bergmann has worked with many students who learned this traditional five-paragraph formula. She says international students sometimes have difficulty with this formula if they learned a different writing structure. But just knowing how to write a five-paragraph essay is not going to be enough for a college student who has to write a longer academic paper. As Professor Bergmann points out, the formula is too simple to deal with subjects that require deeper thought and investigation. In her words, "Essentially, it is way too simplistic to handle more intellectually sophisticated topics which involve actual inquiry." Karen Gocsik is executive director of courses in the Institute for Writing and Rhetoric at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. The institute has an extensive library of online writing materials on its website. So what are the qualities that make up good writing? Ms. Gocsik says there are no simple answ

Published 2012-07-10 · Watch on YouTube ↗
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