There is no question that the field of English language and literature is continuing to evolve and adapt to the changing world of technology and multi-literacies. In today's English classrooms it is becoming more and more common to see students demonstrating their learning in more dynamic ways than through the traditional essay. Videos, blogs, audio recordings, and animations have largely become acceptable means of demonstrating learned knowledge. However, if the discipline of English is expected to produce students that are capable of achieving academic success in literature studies at the University level, it is imperative that students learn how to write in the traditional essay mode.
In my experience at my first practicum I was disappointed to see that students were being taught such strict formats for essays. I think it is important for students to learn structure, especially in the early grades of high school; however, I also think students should have some freedom in how they construct their essays. Therefore, I would communicate to my students that the most fundamentally important pieces of the essay are the introduction, the thesis and the conclusion. The body of the essay should expand on the points raised in these areas. How students go about expanding on their ideas should not be restricted by some of the seemingly counter-productive essay outlines/structure guides that exist in a lot of schools (as I have seen in my own experience as a student and in my first practicum). As a teacher of the literary essay I would emphasize that it is a space to voice your own opinions/interpretations about the text being examined.
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