Five Paragraph Essay

Wesley's view of the five paragraph essay is becoming more and more common. I agree that to some extant the FPE does inhibit an element of learning by placing too much emphasis on structure. FPE's, as Wesley puts it, do "stunt students' critical thinking abilities" to some degree. Confinement of any sort in writing does obviously decrease other freer modes of writing. That said, however, the FPE does serve a purpose when used effectively.
Wesley points out that we must maintain coherence and unity in an essay. Although creating the FPE originally perhaps served the purpose of being easily graded, the FPE also is clear and concise when responding to a topic. The FPE is a useful tool that can be used in numerous academic writings. The FPE teaches students to look at how one organizes paragraphs and thoughts, how to expand ideas, and how to concisely convey a point. Of course the FPE is not suited to 7-9 page papers; it was never meant to be used as such. Wesley sets up that argument even though it is unnecessary. No one, at least I hope no one, believes that FPE's serve all types of writing and topics.
I also disagree with Wesley's premise that the FPE denies students the ability to think for themselves. Borrowing a well-defined, histortically effective form is a great way to remove one obstacle from writing. For example, borrowing a poetical form, such as a sonet, can remove the necessary structure, rhythm, and rhyme search from the equation and allow a student to simply convey his or her thoughts, free of that obstacle. The FPE is similar. Use a form that is time-tested to convey one's thoughts and opinions with clarity and conciseness. Though perhaps not romantic or effective in every setting, it does not necessarily inhibit thinking.

Here is a link discussing the merits of FPE's.

http://www.msu.edu/~phl/phlskills/writing.htm