Could the five-paragraph essay be the reason we’ve forgotten how to think?

Could the five-paragraph essay be the reason we’ve forgotten how to think?

David Labaree published a devastating takedown of the five-paragraph essay, that pernicious container that’s corrupting the teaching of writing everywhere. He’s made me wonder about my own rules and advice for writers. In my mind, writing and thinking are two sides of the same process. Separate the two, and thinking ceases to be important, which…