[Jeff K.]

I was taught the 5 Paragraph Essay in middleschool, and used it freshmen year. Then began to stray away from it sophomore year. Teachers don't really require it anymore, heck SAT doesn't really require it either. A well written 4 paragraph essay should get you a pretty decent score. The only thing that's good about the 5 Paragraph Essay is that it teaches you to organize your thoughts. 1 Introduction, 3 body for support, and Conclusion. My last term paper, the requirement was to have 6 body paragraphs. My essays nowadays have some sort of an introduction, just something to open up, and then anywhere from 2 to 10 body paragraphs with examples and whatnot, and then just a conclusion or some sort.