On chapter 9 of “On Writing Well,” by William Zinsser, he said something that I found extremely shocking and I tend to disagree. He says, “Most of us are still prisoners of the lesson pounded into us by the composition teachers of our youth: that every story must have a beginning, a middle and end… That’s all right for elementary and high school students uncertain of their ground.”
Traditional colleges teaching writing in 300 levels still teach a traditional system of beginning, middle and end. So it’s not just elementary and high schools. My brother is in college right now, and his essays must follow that structure. My first semester at Quinnipiac pursuing my Master’s, I took a class and my professor also followed this system. I can’t imagine myself going to my professor and saying I was not planning to follow the structure just because William Zinsser said is not necessary. I work for a college in New York and I know all professors follow this format.
Also, scripts in film follow this structure as well: SET UP, plot point, CONFRONTATION, plot point, and RESOLUTION. It’s a standard in the industry and I don’t think it will change.
I love Zinsser’s book and learning a lot from it. It’s one of the best non-fiction books I’ve read in a very long time. However, based on the same quote mentioned before it seems that the book is not intended for younger audiences, “prisoners of composition teachers of our youth.” If a college or high school student reads this book in a traditional institution he/she certainly will have problems to succeed in English Composition class.
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