Post History
I think you need to remember that the five paragraph essay is not a normal literary form, it is an artificial training exercise (of dubious merit, if you ask me, but that is beside the point). Trai...
Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/30069 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/30069 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
I think you need to remember that the five paragraph essay is not a normal literary form, it is an artificial training exercise (of dubious merit, if you ask me, but that is beside the point). Training exercises are designed to isolate certain aspects of an activity in order to focus on them in practice. (Like learning to drive standard by practicing in an empty parking lot rather than stalling your car on the public roads.) As such, you set the rules to force students to practice the particular skill you are trying to train them for. If you are trying to train them to address counter arguments than that should be a required part of the drill. If you are trying to train them to marshal arguments in favor of a position, then it should not. There is no right or wrong here except in regard to the specific skill you are trying to isolate and practice.