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Free Editable Essay Graphic Organizer Examples

Essays are complex and large write-ups that are not easy to intercept. That’s why it is better to use an essay graphic organizer to visualize your complex structured outline in a simple manner. In fact, there is nothing better than some free graphic organizer examples that save both your time and effort. So, let’s have an overview of this essay organizers and free example templates.

1. What is Essay Graphic Organizer

An essay graphic organizer enhances your research with visual elements. It helps the writer to correlate facts, observations, and notions. On top of that, it outlines the essay and provides an organized strategy for the writer.

A graphic organizer for writing helps the writers to tackle hard and long essay formats. A writer can use its visual aid to complete the write-up step by step. A graphic organizer for essays has different types based on primary functions.

• An Outline Based Essay Organizer

These types of essay organizers have at least 3 thesis. The whole story revolves around these. Moreover, the organizer includes specific supporting details and subtopic names that make the way crystal clear for writers. However, these organizers do not need much essay explanation. Most indications are worldly phrases that direct the attention toward thoughts and observations.

• A Contrasting Essay Organizer :

As the name indicates, it helps the writer to organize varying thoughts about topics and compare them. Moreover, it helps the writer to collect, conceive and portray the information ahead of time. The writer can use it for two collective primary topics or a single point from both topics. In both cases, the essay organizer will help them take visual notes and use them to their advantage while writing.

• Organizer For A Persuasive Essay :

The persuasive essay organizer helps the writer to persuade an audience toward a single topic. It includes three or more supporting details for the topic. Furthermore, the organizer includes written evidence for those details that help prove the point.

2. The Essay Graphic Organizer Examples

Using an essay graphic organizer for writing brings credibility and flexibility to your essays with extensive research. Essay writing is a tough job, especially if it has more than one subtopic.

Essays require tons of details. All that quality is up to no good if it is not organized and well structured. An essay organizer for writing helps you understand how the minor details contribute to overall concepts. With thorough research and long formats, essay writing may become dull. However, an organizer helps you to perfectly structure your thoughts with appealing visuals that make them engaging and far less challenging.

Basic 5-Paragraph Essay Graphic Organzier

5-Paragraph Essay

Expository Essay Graphic Organizer

Persuasive Essay Graphic Organizer

Essay Graphic Organzier

Narrative Essay Graphic Organizer

Example 1: 5 Paragraph Essay Graphic Organzier

The most common type of essay writing format is a 5-paragraph essay. Essay graphic organizer for writing helps organize all those 5 paragraphs and insert valuable information inside them. It includes the first paragraph section in which the writer inserts the topic sentence and at least three thesis statements. The upcoming three paragraphs briefly summarize those statements and provide at least three pieces of evidence for each thesis. Finally, the last paragraph repeats the main statement and includes an overall concluding statement. Moreover, every thesis detail includes a conclusion statement that conceives the entire concept.

Example 2: Printable 5 Paragraph Essay Graphic Organizer

It is also the type of essay organizer writers use to organize the outline of a 5-paragraph essay format. Its first paragraph is of introduction which includes with a thesis statement instead of a topic sentence. The statement inside the paragraph includes three supporting examples with itself. Moreover, the second paragraph has a topic sentence that the previous thesis supports. Plus, it has individual evidence details that prove the topic sentence true. The third paragraph includes a thesis statement that correlates with the previous and upcoming topic sentence. Finally, the last paragraph has the essay's main idea and a concluding statement that proves the point.

Example 3: Argumentative Essay Graphic Organizer

This template solemnly deals with the expository template of the essay. It focuses on the essay's three most basic parts: the introduction, body, and conclusion. Moreover, the writer evaluates the selected topic in it with examples and evidence and closes the argument clearly and concisely. The exemplary diagram includes 2 separate boxes in the introduction sections. One of them is for the hook that engages the audience, whereas the other depicts the essay's main idea. Inside the body section, the writer briefly lists three examples, each with individual supporting details. Finally, the conclusion includes two sections; one for reviewing and rewriting the central concept and the other to input the closing details of the essay.

Example 4: Persuasive Essay Graphic Organizer

This example diagram of the essay graphic organizer for writing helps to persuade a general or specific audience toward your point of view. The primary purpose is to enlist your opinion and evaluate it with the help of numerous supporting details. As for the organizer, it is for a 5 paragraph format. The first one has an engaging beginning, a summary of the issue, and your opinion. Furthermore, the next 3 provide different reasons that support your opinion. Moreover, the section also includes evidence in the form of examples and textual details that support every reason individually. The last paragraph is a conclusive one that restates the opinion, summarizes all three reasons again, and gives a CTA (call to action) at the end. However, you can ditch the CTA and add a simple closing statement that supports your opinion.

Example 5: Informational Essay Graphic Organizer

This type of organizer is for essays having more than one main idea. The organizer's interface has several colors that make it engaging and appealing. Due to the color, it is referred to as a Rainbow essay organizer. A big individual box includes the whole organized outline of the essay. The writer has to briefly write all three ideas in it and support their point of view. Moreover, the organizer includes an introduction and conclusion description. At last, there is a final draft section that concludes the whole essay and supports either all three or one suitable main idea.

Example 6: Narrative Essay Graphic Organizer

The expository essay is a genre that requires the student to investigate an idea, evaluate evidence, expound on the idea, and set forth an argument concerning that idea clearly and concisely. The below expository essay web diagram is created using EdrawMax Online and shows blank spaces for Thesis Statement, Example 1, Example 2, Example 3, Details about all the examples, and argumentative points. Expository writing gives facts and information about a topic, and as the web diagram suggests, a good expository essay introduces the main idea and develops it with facts and supporting details.

3. How to Make an Essay Graphic Organizer

Graphic organizers are the modern way of learning. With passing time, people are using them in every type of write-up. Therefore, it is better to understand its production process so that you can make one specifically for your essay. The online production software uses four simple steps to generate a graphic organizer for essays.

Step 1 - Head on to EdrawMax Online or download EdrawMax . Make an account and log in to it.

Step 2 - Once inside, you can start creating the graphic organizer on a blank edit sheet or readymade essay organizers, such as mindmaps and spider maps. However, this process is time-consuming. If you want an easy solution, head to the main menu on the left, look for Templates Community , and click on it.

Step 3 - Clicking on the Template Community option will take you to a social network of designers and a general audience like you that post templates daily for public use. You can search for your very own template and duplicate it onto your sheet using the button Duplicate.

Step 4 - Finally, start customizing it as you like. You can change the font, color, and components. Moreover, you can add new ones if you like. Once you are done and satisfied, export and share your template with others using the Button Publish present on the top right corner.

4. Online Graphic Organizer Maker

Traditional ways are gone when you had to work extensively for a simple diagram in lining software. Online graphic organizers like EdrawMax made graphic organizer designing much easier and less time-consuming. All thanks to its easy-to-use interface and basic yet helpful tool kits, designing a diagram is possible for every individual with basic knowledge.

Moreover, EdrawMax saves a lot of effort and time with the help of readymade templates. This online graphic organizer maker is suitable for any type of consumer to generate any variation of the graphic organizer. Its biggest pro is the Templates Community , with thousands of readymade templates for users. In this social biome, you can not only pick the one that suits you well but share your ideas with the community as well.

5. Key Takeaways

The visual aid of essay graphic organizers helps the writers to organize their researched facts and general thoughts according to references. Moreover, it gives a direction to the audience and the writer for the essay. As for its usage, the writers are helping themselves with it in their professional careers. Moreover, it proves exponentially efficient in the academic field for students. When it comes to essay writing, it helps in both of these by establishing a relevant and valid connection. Plus, communicating our thoughts with visual sketches and doodles is less boring and more engaging.

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10 Free Graphic Organizer Templates for Any Subject

Different lessons require different types of content to help students learn. Here are 10 free graphic organizer templates to use for any subject.

Most students are returning to the classroom in Fall 2021, but everyone’s learning methods have had to change over the past two years. It’s important to adapt as an educator with new techniques , digital materials, and fresh content to keep students engaged .

For any subject, graphic organizers provide effective ways to introduce, teach, develop, and test new material. But different lessons require different types of content to help students learn best. I’m going to give you 10 free graphic organizer templates to use for any subject – just use the Make It button to customize, label, and download your graphic organizer.

• Venn Diagram
• Plot Pyramid
• Brainstorm Chart
• Concept Map
• 5-Paragraph Essay Outline
• 4 Square Writing Chart

1. Flowchart

The Flowchart is one of the most versatile and recognizable forms of graphic organizer out there, ideal for project planning and science experiments. A goes to B goes to C goes to D . With this version, you can copy and paste sections of the chart to make it as long or as short as you need, label each section with specific details, and add a title and other information for your assignment.

2. Timeline

The Timeline is similar to the flowchart , with events spaced out along a single path . In a Timeline, however, the intervals between the events is important to the graphic organizer as a whole. Using this template, you can drag events from one point of the Timeline to another, and add text labels for years and events.

3. Venn Diagram

One of the most widely-used graphic organizers, the Venn Diagram provides a simple way for students to compare and contrast 2 or more distinct ideas. With this template, you can copy and recolor the Venn Diagram circles to compare any number of items with each other.

4. Plot Pyramid

This graphic organizer is most commonly used in elementary and middle school English, language arts, and literature classes. It’s used to identify and map the various stages of a plot arc , from exposition to conclusion. Use this template to title the Plot Pyramid and add any other relevant information you need.

5. Brainstorm Chart

The Brainstorm Chart is a far more freeform type of graphic organizer than most others on this list, and can be arranged almost any way you like. All it requires is a central idea or “problem” to solve, along with an array of other ideas and concepts that are connected to it, and supporting details for these connected points. The freeform nature of the Brainstorm Chart allows students to think creatively and originally on any subject.

6. Concept Map

The Concept Map is similar in form to the Brainstorm Chart, but with slightly more limitations on how it’s used. It’s used to illustrate the relationships that exist between various related concepts , filling in different sections of the organizer to show how the different parts are connected. The Concept Map is perfect for introducing students to a new set of related vocabulary terms in any subject.

7. 5-Paragraph Essay Outline

While some of your students may not remember the 5-paragraph essay too fondly years later, it’s an important step in developing their persuasive writing . This classic 5-paragraph planner is perfect for helping students construct their arguments, counter-arguments, supporting data, and conclusions before they put pen to paper.

8. 4 Square Writing Chart

The 4 Square Writing Chart is similar to the 5-paragraph essay outline, it gives space for looser organizational styles and more creative types of writing structure . The central area contains the main idea or argument, and the surrounding squares are filled with supporting arguments, sections of a narrative essay, personal experiences, or several sides to the same story.

9. Story Map

The Story Map is used for a similar purpose to the Plot Pyramid, but with a broader approach to narrative plot arcs. In the Story Map, students not only recount the plot progression of a story, but detail the setting , characters , and central problems and outcomes . There are dozens of ways to organize your own Story Map, so I recommend you use this template to include whatever areas are most important for your students to identify and analyze.

10. KWL Chart

KWL Charts ask students to write on three different things before and after completing a lesson, activity, or reading: what they Know already about the topic, what they Want to learn from the lesson, and, afterward, what they Learned from the experience. It creates more of a big-picture exercise than most of the graphic organizers on this list, allowing students to identify what they gain from their lessons.

I hope these graphic organizer templates help you engage students effectively in every subject you teach. For more tips and tutorials on creating great digital content in 2021, check out the Kapwing YouTube channel or read through some related articles on education materials:

• 10 Back to School Frames for Fall 2021 • The 4 Best Ways to Learn Video Editing Online • How to Add Subtitles to a Lecture Video • How to Make a Frayer Model Online

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Using Graphic Organizers for Writing Essays, Summaries and Research

Ask any student – essay writing is one of the most despised tasks of their educational career. Perhaps there is so much displeasure associated with the task because it’s perceived as too linear – there isn’t enough visual and creative appeal. But if you use graphic organizer for writing essays then you can make writing enjoyable – or at least less terrible.

Not only enjoyable but graphic organizers (or diagrams) can make the writing process a snap. They’ll help you think outside the box, draw conclusions you wouldn’t normally observe, and make the entire process faster and more efficient.

Why Use Graphic Organizers for Writing

The phrase “graphic organizer” is just a fancy way of saying “diagram” or “visual aid.” Basically, they are a visual representation of the information you’ve acquired in the research process. There are quite a few reasons why you should use them when writing essays or summaries.

• Helps you visualize your research and how elements connect with each other
• Enhance your essays, summaries and research papers with visual elements
• Track correlations between your thoughts, observations, facts or general ideas

When it comes to essay writing, the most common graphic organizers are webs, mind maps, and concept maps .

Using Webs for Brainstorming

Webbing is a great way to see how various topics are interrelated. This graphic organizer is particularly useful during the brainstorming step of the writing process.

A web can sometimes get a bit messy. Usually, there are lots of arrows to connect overlapping ideas. However, even with lines crisscrossing every which way, it is still a great way to visualize your thoughts. If you’re using an online diagramming software like Creately you can overcome some of this because we automatically arrange the object for you.

Once you’ve created a map to document all your ideas and establish connections, you can easily transition to other forms of diagramming to better organize the information.

For example if you’re writing a research paper about the food web of the Australian bushes you can start creating a food web diagram similar to the one below. This way you can easily visualize the web while writing the paper. This is a simple example but graphic organizers become even more important when the subject gets complex.

Although simple this example shows the importance of using graphic organizers for writing summaries. A comprehensive diagram pretty much does the summation for you.

Using Mind Maps as Graphic Organizers

Mind maps are a great way to depict a hierarchy. What is hierarchical organization ? The concept is simple: a singular topic dominates with each subsequent idea decreasing in importance.

Usually, the mind map starts with the thesis (or main idea) at the center.  From there, you can branch out with your supporting evidence.

Use this process to replace your traditional note taking technique – note cards, outlines, whatever. You’ll quickly realize a mind map is a great way to formulate the structure of your essay. The thing to note here is that the nature of the mind maps force you think about sub topics and how to organize your ideas. And once the ideas are organized writing the essay become very easy.

Above is a mind map of a research proposal. Click on it to see the full image or you can see the fully editable template via this link . As you can see in this mind map the difference areas of the research proposal is highlighted. Similarly when your writing the research paper you can use a mind map to break it down to sub topics. We have more mind map templates for you to get started.

Concept Maps

A concept map will help you visualize the connection between ideas. You can easily see cause and effect – how one concept leads to another. Often times, concept mapping includes the use of short words or phrases to depict the budding relationship between these concepts.

If you look closely you can see that its very similar to a mind map. But a concept maps gives more of a free reign compares to the rigid topic structure of a mind map. I’d say it’s the perfect graphic organizer for writing research papers where you have the license to explore.

By creating a concept map , you can also see how a broad subject can be narrowed down into specific ideas.  This is a great way to counter writers block.  Often, we look at the big picture and fail to see the specifics that lead to it.  Identifying contributing factors and supporting evidence is difficult. But with a concept map, you can easily see how the smaller parts add up to the whole.

Why Bother With Graphic Organizers?

If you already detest the writing process, adding another step might seem insane. However, there really are several advantages of using them.  If you haven’t already accepted the benefits of each individual diagram style, here are some more perks of graphic organizers in general:

• Quality essays are based on detail. No one is going to accept your opinions and reasoning just because you say so. You’ll need proof. And organizing that proof will require attention to detail. Graphic organizers can help you see that detail and how it contributes to the overall concept.
• Graphic organizers are flexible. You don’t need one of those giant pink erasers. You don’t need to restructure your outline. All you have to do is draw a few arrows and bam – the relationship has totally changed.
• No matter what you are writing about, a graphic organizer can help. They can be used to structure an essay on the Great Wall, theoretical physics, or Spanish speaking countries.
• If you write an outline, can you easily see how point A influences point X? Probably not. But if little thought bubble A is sitting out there all by itself, you can visualize the way it ties into point R, T and X.
• Some of us find it difficult to put our opinions, thoughts, and ideas into writing. However, communicating our feelings with little doodles and sketches is far less threatening.
• As a writer, our brain often feels like a 2-year-old’s toy box – a big jumbled mess. Taking that mess and putting it onto paper with some semblance of organization is challenging. Rather than trying to take your thoughts from total chaos to a perfectly structured list, just try to get them out of your brain and onto paper in the form of a diagram.
• A graphic organizer helps you establish validity and relevance. You can easily nix the ideas that don’t support or enhance your thesis.

The next time you are faced with a writing project, take a few minutes to explore the efficiency of graphic organizers. You can find a wealth of templates here.

Have you ever used a graphic organizer to structure an essay? How did it go? Do you have a diagram suggestion for the writing process that wasn’t mentioned here? Let us know!

Join over thousands of organizations that use Creately to brainstorm, plan, analyze, and execute their projects successfully.

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How to Use Graphic Organizers to Write Better Essays

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Reading time: about 6 min

If you’re a student, there’s no way around the inevitable: You’re going to have to write essays. Lots of essays. In fact, the five-paragraph essay is so fundamental to the high school curriculum that it’s still used on the ACTs, and knowing how to recognize the organizational structure of essays will help you score higher on the SATs.

Even though it seems like a chore, knowing how to organize and write an essay can have a lasting effect on your life, from getting into a better college to scoring a better job to performing better in that job long after your high school days are over.

Here’s a secret: Using graphic organizers for writing essays can help you write better essays faster. (And don’t count yourself out if you’re an educator—you can offer these tools to help your students succeed.) We’ll show you exactly how to do it.

Why use graphic organizers

When ACT graders or teachers are looking your essay, they’re looking for very specific criteria; essentially, they’re looking at how well you’ve organized your thoughts. Many students don’t take the time to outline their essay structure before writing, and that always means a lower score on a test and a lower grade on the essay in class.

Using a writing template can feel like an unnecessary step in an already complicated process. If you need extra motivation to implement these organizers into your writing routine, consider all of their benefits. Graphic organizers can help you:

• Save time by showing you where each piece of the essay “lives.”
• Have more productive brainstorming sessions, either by yourself or with a group.
• Make connections between ideas and create a more cohesive argument.
• Pinpoint holes in your arguments and either adjust the thesis or find supporting statements.
• Keep track of your research.
• Organize your thoughts and come to interesting, more compelling conclusions.
• Stay in the right direction when you feel lost in a sea of words.
• Manage anxiety by converting the fear of a blank assignment into an action plan with a clear map.

With all those benefits, it’s hard to ignore how useful and vital graphic organizers are to writing. And once you’ve become adept at organizing your thoughts for something like a school essay, you’ll find that skill carries with you throughout your life, whether you’re trying to become a more intelligent debater to negotiate prices. It goes beyond just the essay to becoming a better thinker. And it starts with a simple template.

We’ll walk you through several use cases for graphic organizers and provide templates for you to download and fill in when you’re ready to write.

Brainstorming graphic organizers

Brainstorming is important, not only to come up with ideas for topics but to determine what information you need to include in the essay once you’ve determined your topic. Though many think of brainstorming as just freeflow thinking, brainstorming is most productive when you work within specific parameters.

That’s why essay brainstorming graphic organizers are useful, whether you’re using one to brainstorm on your own or you’re working with a group.

In Lucidchart, our mind map shapes and templates double as brainstorming graphic organizers. Start with an essay prompt as your central shape and then fill in the shapes that branch off your prompt with topic ideas. Alternatively, you can add your selected topic to the center and start brainstorming the different ideas you need to cover in your paper.

When the template is filled in, you’ll have a clear starting point for your essay or research paper.

Research paper graphic organizers

Nothing paralyzes students with fear quite like a research paper. These long-form papers require—as the name implies—quite a bit of research, and their purpose is to teach students how to look for valid sources to support their arguments.

But keeping track of all those sources and tying them into your argument can be tricky. That’s where a research paper graphic organizer can be a student’s greatest ally.

This template lays out the writing process itself. After you come up with a general topic, like “the disappearance of honey bees,” fill in the “Research Paper Topic” box.

Then, start looking for reputable sources (Wikipedia doesn’t count) and use the five sources boxes to hold the most relevant quotes and statistics you find. Using those quotes and statistics, you can then fill out a thesis statement that is supported by the research.

Then, you’ll be able to focus your paragraphs on a single topic each that supports the thesis statement and your overarching argument. After you’ve filled out the template, the backbone of the research paper is complete: All that’s left to do is fill in the spaces between sources and arguments.

5-paragraph essay graphic organizer

When it comes to writing the five-paragraph essay, writing diagrams are key. By using graphic organizers for writing, you’re no longer staring at a giant blank piece of paper with no idea how or where to begin. Your graphic organizer is your map.

Although using writing diagrams may seem time-consuming, the fact is that taking the time to fill a graphic organizer in before writing actually saves time. If there’s a problem with the argument, it will show up on the diagram, or if there’s not enough evidence to support your argument, you’ll know before you’ve wasted time writing the paper. And, as we said before, even if your writing is terrible, if your argument is sound, you’ll still score a decent grade.

Try this 5-paragraph essay template to get you started.

Don’t feel pressured to come up with a compelling title right away. Instead, it’s more important that you come up with a thesis statement that can be supported by three solid arguments. Fill in that thesis statement and your arguments. Then, for each argument, figure out three supporting details to support your case.

That’s it! You’ve got the most essential parts of your 5-paragraph essay completed.

Now, come up with an introduction that sets the stage for your argument and a conclusion that wraps up and restates your thesis and supporting arguments in a compelling way. Now you have a solid plan for your paper and can approach it with confidence.

If you’d like a more linear graphic that exactly follows the structure of the 5-paragraph, use the writing template below and follow the same process.

Visuals, such as graphic organizers for writing, can help you better understand concepts, think creatively, and collaborate with your classmates—and there are plenty of other templates where these came from.

Lucidchart offers hundreds of templates to help you through your studies, including timelines, Venn diagrams, word maps, and more. Sign up for Lucidchart and upgrade to an Educational account for free.

Resources for teachers

Providing graphic resources to students is essential; after all, many of your students will be visual learners, so while you may beautifully explain how the process works, there will be some who won’t understand until they see a template of the essay itself.

Lucidchart has many resources for teachers, from lesson plans to writing templates. While you’re teaching your students how to write essays or research papers, it’s useful to print out the templates and fill them out together (even using a completed template as a separate assignment with a separate grade) so that your students can get a feel for properly filling out graphic organizers before attempting it on their own.

About Lucidchart

Lucidchart, a cloud-based intelligent diagramming application, is a core component of Lucid Software's Visual Collaboration Suite. This intuitive, cloud-based solution empowers teams to collaborate in real-time to build flowcharts, mockups, UML diagrams, customer journey maps, and more. Lucidchart propels teams forward to build the future faster. Lucid is proud to serve top businesses around the world, including customers such as Google, GE, and NBC Universal, and 99% of the Fortune 500. Lucid partners with industry leaders, including Google, Atlassian, and Microsoft. Since its founding, Lucid has received numerous awards for its products, business, and workplace culture. For more information, visit lucidchart.com.

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Compare & Contrast Map

About this Interactive

Related resources.

This interactive graphic organizer helps students develop an outline for one of three types of comparison essays: whole-to-whole, similarities-to-differences, or point-to-point. A link in the introduction to the Comparison and Contrast Guide give students the chance to get definitions and look at examples before they begin working. The tool offers multiple ways to navigate information including a graphic on the right that allows students to move around the map without having to work in a linear fashion. The finished map can be saved, e-mailed, or printed.

• Student Interactives
• Lesson Plans

The Persuasion Map is an interactive graphic organizer that enables students to map out their arguments for a persuasive essay or debate.

The Essay Map is an interactive graphic organizer that enables students to organize and outline their ideas for an informational, definitional, or descriptive essay.

This interactive tool allows students to create Venn diagrams that contain two or three overlapping circles, enabling them to organize their information logically.

Students explore picture books to identify the characteristics of four types of conflict. They then write about a conflict they have experienced and compare it to a conflict from literature.

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5 Paragraph Essay Graphic Organizers

I will never forget the teacher that taught me how to successfully write a 5-paragraph essay. Her name was Mrs. Wingfield. That one skill has served me well through high school and college. It is a skill that many underestimate. For that reason, I am very mindful to teach it to my students and my children. Our 5 Paragraph Essay Graphic Organizers make teaching how to write a 5-paragraph paper that much easier! 

Before teaching a 5 paragraph essay we always start with more  elementary writing including using the  Hamburger Paragraph Graphic Organizer . Be sure to check it out!

*You might be interested in purchasing our entire  Writing Paragraphs Bundle  which is perfect for those looking to teach students how to write paragraphs and then 5-paragraph essays! Take a look!

As a Christian Book and Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support. As always, we only recommend items that we truly feel will benefit your homeschooling experience. We appreciate it.

What is a 5 Paragraph Essay?

A 5-paragraph essay contains within it an opening paragraph, 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph. Within the paragraphs themselves, there is a topic sentence, 3 supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence. 5-paragraph essays are typically used when writing middle school and high school papers. Whether it be a book report, biography project, or an essay on the Civil War, being able to write a comprehensive and organized paper is paramount to becoming a successful student. 

Why 5 Paragraph Essay Graphic Organizers?

Graphic Organizers are students’ best friend. They make organizing facts, examples, and details manageable. For students who struggle with processing information, graphic organizers give them a visual sorting sheet. We have found the 5 paragraph essay graphic organizers helpful while completing our  Country Research Projects  or Biography Research Project. My students have used similar organizers when writing their planet papers. Whenever your student is required to write an essay or paper, these graphic organizers can help direct their writing. 

How do I use them?

There are three different versions to choose from. All three focus on a student organizing 5 paragraphs with each paragraph containing a topic sentence, 3 body sentences, and a concluding sentence. Visually, one may be more appealing to you. My students are encouraged to use one of these before writing their rough draft. For my more advanced writers, they have used one of these to organize their paper and then typed their final papers out on the computer with minimal corrections. These graphic organizers are particularly helpful to those students who struggle processing information. You may offer it to all your students but require it of some. 

BONUS 5 Paragraph PRINTABLES

We offer essay writing sheets with an illustration page too. These extras make it easy for a teacher to assign a project on a variety of different topics using only these printables. 

DOWNLOAD 5 PARAGRAPH ESSAY GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS

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• New Visions Social Studies Curriculum
• Curriculum Development Team
• Content Contributors
• Getting Started: Baseline Assessments
• Getting Started: Resources to Enhance Instruction
• Getting Started: Instructional Routines
• Unit 9.1: Global 1 Introduction
• Unit 9.2: The First Civilizations
• Unit 9.3: Classical Civilizations
• Unit 9.4: Political Powers and Achievements
• Unit 9.5: Social and Cultural Growth and Conflict
• Unit 9.6: Ottoman and Ming Pre-1600
• Unit 9.7: Transformation of Western Europe and Russia
• Unit 9.8: Africa and the Americas Pre-1600
• Unit 9.9: Interactions and Disruptions
• Unit 10.0: Global 2 Introduction
• Unit 10.1: The World in 1750 C.E.
• Unit 10.2: Enlightenment, Revolution, and Nationalism
• Unit 10.3: Industrial Revolution
• Unit 10.4: Imperialism
• Unit 10.5: World Wars
• Unit 10.6: Cold War Era
• Unit 10.7: Decolonization and Nationalism
• Unit 10.8: Cultural Traditions and Modernization
• Unit 10.9: Globalization and the Changing Environment
• Unit 10.10: Human Rights Violations
• Unit 11.0: US History Introduction
• Unit 11.1: Colonial Foundations
• Unit 11.2: American Revolution
• Unit 11.3A: Building a Nation
• Unit 11.03B: Sectionalism & the Civil War
• Unit 11.4: Reconstruction
• Unit 11.5: Gilded Age and Progressive Era
• Unit 11.6: Rise of American Power
• Unit 11.7: Prosperity and Depression
• Unit 11.8: World War II
• Unit 11.9: Cold War
• Unit 11.10: Domestic Change
• Resources: Regents Prep: Global 2 Exam

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Regents Prep: US Exam

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The Battle Over College Speech Will Outlive the Encampments

For the first time since the Vietnam War, university demonstrations have led to a rethinking of who sets the terms for language in academia.

A pro-Palestinian protest on Columbia University’s campus this spring. Credit... Mark Peterson/Redux

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By Emily Bazelon and Charles Homans

Emily Bazelon is a staff writer for the magazine who also teaches at Yale Law School. Charles Homans covers politics for The Times. He visited the Columbia campus repeatedly during the demonstrations, counter-demonstrations and police actions in April.

• May 29, 2024

Early on the afternoon of Nov. 10, Jameel Jaffer, the director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, was on his way into a meeting in Low Library, the domed neoclassical building at the center of campus, when an administrator pulled him aside. The school, the administrator said, was about to announce the suspensions of the campus chapters of the organizations Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, an allied anti-Zionist organization — a move that alarmed Jaffer given the fraught politics of the moment.

Listen to this article, read by Gabra Zackman

The day after Hamas’s brazen Oct. 7 attack on military and civilian targets in Israel, the S.J.P. and J.V.P. chapters co-signed an open letter declaring “full solidarity with Palestinian resistance.” The letter described the attacks as “an unprecedented historic moment for the Palestinians of Gaza” and a “counteroffensive against their settler-colonial oppressor.” It would be tantamount to “asking for quiet submission to systemic violence” for anyone to call for peace now, after years of Israeli violence and military campaigns against Palestinians. The groups issued a list of demands to the university — divestment from companies doing business with the Israeli government, the end of Columbia’s affiliation with Tel Aviv University and a recognition of Palestinian “existence and humanity” — and announced a demonstration on Oct. 12 on the steps of Low Library. They signed off: “See you Thursday.”

The Oct. 12 demonstration appeared to be in violation of campus rules, which required student groups to give 10 days’ notice for gatherings in public spaces, but Columbia had not been enforcing such requirements amid the emotional responses to the Hamas attacks and Israel’s retaliatory bombing in the Gaza Strip. “We got some pushback from the university,” recalled Cameron Jones, an organizer of the J.V.P. chapter, “but not insane pushback.”

As the sit-ins, teach-ins and die-ins continued, however, that began to change. Pro-Israel groups held counterdemonstrations, and tensions built on Columbia’s small, enclosed central campus. “In the past, demonstrations were basically students protesting against the establishment, and that was, you know, unidirectional and fairly straightforward,” the president of Columbia, Minouche Shafik, said in late May, in her first interview since December. “In this crisis,” she went on, “students are opposed to other students, faculty opposed to other faculty. And those internal dynamics and tensions have made this much more difficult than past episodes.” Outside Columbia’s library, several Israeli students were physically attacked after they confronted another student tearing down posters of Israelis held hostage by Hamas. Students wearing hijabs and kaffiyehs reported being called “Jew killers” and terrorists.

By Oct. 25, when S.J.P. and J.V.P. staged a walkout of college classes, “our relationship with the administration was really crumbling,” Jones recalled. Two days later, Israel’s invasion of Gaza began. On the night of Nov. 8, with another demonstration planned for the next day on the steps outside Low, a faculty adviser told the organizers that they were out of compliance with school rules and asked them to postpone the event. They did not , and the university suspended them.

When Jaffer heard the news, “I said, ‘Suspending the groups seems like a very draconian penalty for that offense,’” he recalled. When the administration in a public statement also cited the groups’ “threatening rhetoric and intimidation,” Jaffer grew more concerned: What speech crossed that line? In an open letter, he asked Columbia for an explanation.

The university didn’t publicly provide one, and the organizations received mixed messages from the administration. In a meeting with the student groups at the end of November, one administrator said that while the groups had not violated speech rules, Israeli students could hear accusations that Israel was committing genocide or was an apartheid state as an incitement to violence. “I left that meeting extremely confused,” said Maryam Alwan, an organizer of the S.J.P. chapter.

Shafik said this month that the suspensions of S.J.P. and J.V.P. were “content neutral” — they were about breaking the rules regarding demonstrations, not political views. Regardless, the university’s decision lit a fuse. In the months that followed, as the invasion of Gaza continued and civilian casualties mounted, dozens of student groups rallied in solidarity with S.J.P. and J.V.P. On April 18, Shafik asked the New York City Police to clear a pro-Palestinian student encampment on the Columbia lawn. That move, which included dozens of arrests, in turn sparked a wave of demonstrations at universities across the country. Columbia protesters rebuilt their encampment and, on the night of April 29, some of them stormed the school’s Hamilton Hall, occupying the building and locking and barricading the doors. At Shafik’s request, a large deployment of police returned to campus the following night, raiding the building and arresting its occupiers .

When private universities set rules for what speech they allow, including when, where and how students can protest, they can impose more restrictions than the First Amendment allows in public spaces. But for decades, they have claimed free speech as a central value, and that promise has a particular history at Columbia. In 1968, the administration called in the police to evict student demonstrators from Hamilton Hall, which they had occupied in protest of the university’s involvement in military research and a new neighborhood-dividing gymnasium project in Morningside Park.

The occupation and its violent end, the images of bloodied students dragged away in handcuffs, was a seminal moment for the Vietnam-era left; the following year, several Columbia demonstrators helped found the Weather Underground, the radical organization that bombed government buildings in the 1970s. The clash also occasioned an on-campus reckoning with long-lasting institutional consequences. The university senate, which includes faculty and students, was given a hand in disciplinary matters to check administrative power — a system the administration bypassed in suspending the pro-Palestinian groups.

For more than half a century now, campus activism and universities’ responses to it have mostly occurred within the paradigm shaped by 1968. Activists have used fights over investments, curriculums and development projects as platforms for radical politics and for a kind of revolutionary experimentation in the form of building occupations and other direct actions. Administrations have more often than not responded tolerantly or at least cautiously, out of a mix of principle and pragmatism. The building occupiers and tent-camp residents may be breaking laws or at least campus policies, but they’re also the university’s consumers.

But the upheavals on campuses across the country this spring were different. The campus war over the real war in Gaza did something no issue since Vietnam had done. It seemed to have prompted an abrupt rethinking of free-speech principles that many in academia assumed to be foundational.

In reality, though, this shift was not so abrupt. It reflected broader changes in the institutional structures and power balances within American universities and disagreements over free speech that have gradually redrawn the battle lines inside and outside academia. That the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would prove the catalyst, too, was not surprising. Few conflicts had so directly centered on the power of language and who sets its terms.

In 2019, Lee C. Bollinger, Columbia’s president before Shafik, wrote an essay for The Atlantic called “Free Speech on Campus Is Doing Just Fine, Thank You.” The occasion was an executive order President Trump issued that March, proclaiming that colleges and universities that received federal funding were required to “promote free inquiry” — a mostly symbolic measure that reflected several years of alarm on the right over what Fox News and others had declared a “free-speech crisis” on American campuses.

Throughout Trump’s presidency, college activists tried to block various appearances by speakers whose views they found repellent. At Middlebury College, they derailed a talk by the conservative social scientist Charles Murray and at William & Mary shouted down a speaker from the state A.C.L.U. chapter. Schools like the University of California, Berkeley , and Grand Canyon University , a Christian institution in Arizona, disinvited right-wing media figures for fear of demonstrations.

If Columbia managed to steer through this period with a minimum of turbulence, it was in large part thanks to Bollinger, a First Amendment scholar who defended the right of people like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Milo Yiannopoulos to speak on campus. “I am of the view that one such disinvitation is one too many,” he wrote in The Atlantic essay, while noting that, in fact, disinvitations had been far rarer than the pundits and politicians suggested. But Bollinger cast the debate over the limits of campus speech as itself a part of the tradition of campus speech, and he concluded that “universities are, today, more hospitable venues for open debate than the nation as a whole.”

Five years later, this picture lay in tatters. Bollinger’s own university — he left office last June — was once again synonymous with building occupations and police crackdowns, and Columbia was facing legal action from both Jewish and Muslim students alleging harassing speech, among other complaints. In an interview in late April, Bollinger, who has not otherwise spoken publicly about the Columbia clashes, said that his own optimism was dimming. “There was a fair consensus that private universities,” he said, like public ones, “should embrace free-speech principles and set an example for the country in how free speech applies to a public forum. And now I think that’s breaking down.”

Other schools were also stumbling. In December, testifying before a House committee hearing on antisemitism on college campuses , three elite-university presidents equivocated when Elise Stefanik, a Republican congresswoman from New York, asked them whether calling for the genocide of Jews would violate the rules on their campuses. One of them, the University of Pennsylvania’s Liz Magill, was out of her job within days ; a second, Claudine Gay of Harvard, resigned amid accusations of plagiarism that surfaced amid post-testimony scrutiny .

Shafik, testifying before a similar panel in April, fared better in the hearing room but worse back on campus. Under repeated questioning, she said that she found pro-Palestinian chants like “From the river to the sea” and “Long live intifada” antisemitic but added that “some people don’t.” Columbia also turned over documents to the committee about faculty members accused of antisemitic speech whom Shafik named in her testimony — disclosures the administration says that it was obligated to make but that infuriated professors, hundreds of whom signed open letters declaring it a breach of academic freedom. “She threw some of us under the bus,” said Katherine Franke, a Columbia Law School professor, who was among those criticized in the hearing. “But to me, that’s less important than her inability to make a defense of the university.”

To free-speech advocates, it was ominous that these presidents weren’t arguing for the university as a forum for fostering free speech, however controversial. “That commitment is really at the center of universities’ missions,” Jaffer said. “It is disappointing that so many university leaders failed to make that case.”

In the post-Oct. 7 demonstrations, however, universities confronted a dilemma far more complex than any Bollinger faced during his tenure. The invasion of Gaza has drawn students with a range of views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the protests, but S.J.P. and other groups at the vanguard have been clear on their own lines : They reject the idea of a two-state solution and consider the existence of a Zionist state in Israel to be illegitimate and immoral. This is a change from the early 1990s when Edward Said, the Jerusalem-born literary theorist and pro-Palestinian activist who made Columbia a leading bastion of Palestinian scholarship, championed a two-state outcome (though he rejected the idea in the last years of his life). The movement’s politics have hardened, and so have the facts on the ground. Hopes for a two-state solution have receded amid the increasingly extreme politics of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, including the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and attacks on Israel by Hamas and Hezbollah .

Historically, when “Zionist” becomes a pejorative, persecution of Jews has followed, and many American Jews see the rise in reported incidents of antisemitism as evidence of this once again. Some protesters crossed the line from rejecting Israel to using antisemitic imagery on posters and making threats. For example, Khymani James , a student leader of the protests at Columbia, said “Zionists don’t deserve to live” in a video of a school disciplinary hearing that he posted on social media. (James later apologized.) Chants like “We don’t want no Zionists here,” which continued at Columbia and elsewhere, made many Jewish students, including critics of Israel’s occupation, feel there was no longer a space for supporting a Jewish homeland in any sense.

But pro-Palestinian activists now often view the rejection of Zionism as an irreducible part of the cause — and are aware of how accusations of antisemitism have been wielded in the past to the detriment of that cause. When Columbia deans called for acknowledging the “genuine hurt” of both sides of the conflict in December, noting some of the language of the protests, Rashid Khalidi, a historian of Palestine at Columbia, accused them of having decided that “the oppressed should take permission from the oppressor as to the means to relieve their oppression.”

The clash over politics and language has created a rare point of real political vulnerability for universities. Several face the threat of House Republican investigations of their federal funding, which at Columbia amounts to $1.2 billion in annual grants and contracts, accounting for 20 percent of its budget. And Republicans, who have long criticized universities as fortresses of liberalism and leftism, now have allies among the many congressional Democrats who remain supportive of Israel, as well as many of the universities’ own donors, administrators and trustees. (Columbia’s board includes only one academic and no Muslims or Arabs other than Shafik.) In May, a bipartisan majority in the House passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which would require schools to potentially risk their federal funding if they don’t restrict speech that, for example, denies “the Jewish people their right to self-determination” — a suppression of views that would run headlong into the First Amendment.

Back on campus, the conflict about antisemitism versus anti-Zionism has landed in the middle of a decades-long, unresolved argument over speech itself. Today’s students have grown up with the idea that speech can be restricted if it causes harm — but also believe that restricting their speech can be its own kind of harm. “I can’t think of another case,” says David Pozen, a Columbia law professor, “where a group not only refuses to stop using language it’s told is harassing and intimidating and demeaning but also flips it around to say, ‘Your very demand is a tool of oppression.’”

Debates over free speech on college campuses have invariably been debates about power. This became clear in 1964, when students at the University of California, Berkeley, handed out leaflets organizing demonstrations against the Republican National Convention, held in San Francisco that year. The dean of students barred them from using a campus-owned plaza. Months of protests and hundreds of arrests followed, until the university finally capitulated.

The Berkeley movement proved a useful foil for conservative politicians fighting the early skirmishes of the culture wars — Ronald Reagan successfully ran against it in his 1966 campaign for governor. But the Supreme Court upheld campus speech protections in 1967 and onward. And when a more enduring critique of campus speech emerged years later, it came not from the right, but from the left.

In an influential 1989 law-review article, Mari Matsuda, a law professor at the University of Hawaii and an early critical-race theorist, argued that the significance of speech and its acceptability on a university campus turned on who was speaking and who was being spoken to. Racist speech, in particular, could be more than offensive. When it reflected historic imbalances of power — when a white student hurled a racial slur at a Black student, for instance — it reinforced and perpetuated those imbalances in ways that shut down discussion, debilitating students’ academic lives. That meant that schools should treat it not as a matter of expression but as a real-world harm and sanction it. “Racist speech is particularly harmful because it is a mechanism of subordination,” she wrote.

By the early 1990s, more than 350 colleges and universities had adopted hate-speech codes imposing sanctions on students who demeaned someone’s race, sex or religion. But the codes collided with the First Amendment. Every court that considered a university speech code between 1989 and 1995 reached the same conclusion: The rules were vague, overbroad or discriminated against speakers because of their points of view and were thus unconstitutional.

Many First Amendment scholars agreed. They recognized that hate speech causes real harm but thought that banning it caused its own problems. Geoffrey Stone, a law professor and frequent collaborator of Bollinger’s, led a committee at the University of Chicago that issued a landmark 2015 report on free speech. It proposed “the broadest possible latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge and learn” while allowing for limits on the time, place and manner of protests and on genuine threats and harassment.

The Chicago principles, as they are called, have since been adopted by more than 100 other schools. But this view of free speech never achieved a consensus. Within many humanities departments, Matsuda’s theories have retained currency. Ideas about identity and power have suffused progressive politics more broadly in recent decades. And in the Trump era, incursions of white nationalists and right-wing extremists into the political mainstream caused many liberals to rethink tolerating hate speech. Such speech no longer seemed confined to the far edge of American politics, and the death of a counterdemonstrator at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 reinforced the argument that hate speech was inherently violent and should be stopped at all costs.

But as progressive students extended this justification to even conventional conservatives and some civil liberties advocates, a more generalized intolerance took hold. In a 2022 survey of college students, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a civil liberties organization, found that liberal students were far more likely to say that preventing speech through protest was acceptable. Fifty-three percent of students who identified as “very liberal” said it was always or sometimes acceptable to shout down a speaker to block their appearance on campus. Only 13 percent of “very conservative” students did.

Three and a half decades ago, when Matsuda first laid out her case for sanctioning hate speech, based on the identity of the speaker, one of the most challenging tests of her framework was Zionism. Were Zionists persecutors, as pro-Palestinian activists contended? Or, given the history of Jewish persecution and the Holocaust, were they victims? Matsuda’s answer, in effect, was: It depends. She rejected the charge that Zionism was, by definition, racism. Zionists would receive a “victim’s privilege,” she said, if they spoke in “reaction to historical persecution” but not if they allied themselves with a dominant group.

Her response captured the duality of modern Jewish identity — vulnerable on a global scale, as only 0.2 percent of the world population and the subject of centuries of prejudice but wielding significant power in some contexts, most obviously the Israeli state. It also showed the difficulty of putting Matsuda’s analytical framework into practice. Doing so depended on a shared understanding of where power lay and who possessed it.

The lack of such a shared understanding is on display in dueling legal complaints Columbia now faces over the campus clashes , from Jewish and Israeli students and their supporters in one case and Palestinian, Muslim and Arab students and their allies in another. Each document incidents of face-to-face harassment, and each claim to be on the wrong side of power or social clout. The Palestinian, Muslim and Arab students say in their legal filing that they were “treated differently by high-ranking administrators,” citing the S.J.P. suspension. Jewish and Israeli students, by contrast, report being excluded from student organizations (an L.G.B.T.Q. group, a dance club, a group representing public-school students at suspension hearings) that either condemned Israel or said Zionists were unwelcome, forcing them to forfeit a core part of their identity to stay in the group.

Both complaints claim Columbia is violating Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which requires universities to respond when discriminatory harassment is “so severe or pervasive” that it limits or prevents students from participating in their education. The federal Department of Education has in recent years interpreted the law to apply to religious minorities like Jews and Muslims with “shared ancestry,” and to say that speech is a form of conduct that can violate the law.

The tension with free-speech principles is evident. In mid-December, the dean of U.C. Berkeley School of Law, Erwin Chemerinsky, and the chancellor of U.C. Irvine, Howard Gillman, expressed concern about briefings for universities in which the Department of Education suggested that slogans like “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” likely created a hostile environment for Jewish students. “We know that some Muslim, Arab and Palestinian students similarly feel threatened by protesters who chant, ‘We stand with Israel,’” Chemerinksy and Gillman wrote in an essay in The Sacramento Bee. “Do they also require investigations and mitigation efforts?”

The day before Shafik called the police to Columbia for a second time, she issued a public statement suggesting that Title VI was forcing her hand. Calling the encampment a “noisy distraction,” she said it “has created an unwelcoming environment for many of our Jewish students and faculty.”

David Schizer, a former dean of Columbia’s law school and a chairman of the antisemitism task force the university convened in the wake of Oct. 7, said in an email that “after the occupation of Hamilton Hall, the police were preventing trespassing and vandalism, protecting the ability of all students to do their work, sleep and prepare for finals, and were also preventing discriminatory harassment against Jewish and Israeli students.” But Jaffer, the Knight Institute director, took issue with invoking Title VI as a rationale for the police action.

“Of course we want universities to protect students from discrimination,” he said. “But whatever federal anti-discrimination law means, it doesn’t mean universities are obligated to call in hundreds of riot-clad police to suppress mostly peaceful protests.”

In 2021, Shafik wrote a book called “What We Owe Each Other: A New Social Contract for a Better Society.” Before Oct. 7, she said, she hoped that her presidency might be dedicated to a similar theme, of strengthening the frayed social contract between universities and the country and within their own on-campus communities. That was still the challenge ahead, she believed. “I think we’re all thinking very hard,” she said, “about, you know, what we’ve learned.”

While the school’s board remains behind Shafik, on May 16 members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which among the school’s professors had been the most vocal in their criticism of her, passed a resolution of no confidence in the president by a margin of 65 percent to 29 percent. In an email to her colleagues, Virginia Page Fortna, a political-science professor, pointedly noted the title of Shafik’s book. “If we are to heal,” she wrote, “then Shafik owes Columbia: an apology, a strong and credible commitment to completely change course in how decisions are made, and an independent investigation of what has gone wrong.”

At the same time, few schools could credibly claim to have gotten things right in April. Institutions across the country, from large state schools to small liberal-arts colleges, struggled as the protests escalated, crossing into the terrain of encampments and building occupations, which aren’t protected by the First Amendment. Some schools that permitted encampments for a time also wound up in crisis. At the University of California, Los Angeles, on April 30, pro-Israel counterprotesters violently attacked a pro-Palestinian encampment while the campus police force mostly stood by. Even at the University of Chicago, the administration’s decision to tolerate an encampment ended when negotiations with the demonstrators broke down and the president called in police in riot gear . The several schools that did persuade students to end their encampments mostly did so by promising to consider divestment in Israel at a later date, punting on rather than resolving the underlying issue.

In the logic of protest politics, police crackdowns and the attention they generate are their own kind of victory. The campus clashes forced the war in Gaza into the center of American public life in a way that seven months of headlines about Israeli bombing campaigns, aid-shipment blockades and thousands of Palestinian civilian deaths did not. They drew attention to American dissent over the war and the United States government’s role in supporting it. Khalidi, the Columbia historian, speaks of the campus clashes as a turning point for younger Americans. “The protests have highlighted the fact that majorities of Americans oppose Israel’s war on Gaza and the Biden administration’s support of it, a fact that elites, politicians and the mainstream media systematically ignore,” he wrote in an email.

Universities now face the challenge of rebuilding their communities even as the debate over speech limits that divided them, to say nothing of the war in Gaza itself, remains unsettled — and the incentives of some interested parties, like congressional Republicans and pro-Palestinian organizers, seem to run in the opposite direction. The most realistic aspiration, perhaps, is that many students will tire of division and police deployments and make a path toward recovering a sense of empathy for one another — taking a step back and seeing their own political positions, however irreconcilable, as others might see them.

Matsuda, who did as much as anyone to shape the interpretation of language through the prism of power, had been thinking, too. “I don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable on campus,” she said. “But stopping a protest movement, I don’t think it’s the way to make Zionist students feel comfortable.” At the same time, “it’s also really important for universities to help students move beyond slogans and see what might be hurtful or impactful about them,” she said.

At the height of the spring conflict, there were signs this was possible. At some schools, pro-Palestinian protesters modulated their own speech in deference to the requests of other students, even avoiding the common chant, “From the river to the sea,” which others have defended as peaceful. The protesters who made these choices didn’t do so because of a law or rule. They were sensitive to the nudge of peer relationships and social norms.

Bringing students together to hash out community standards about language is “the only way I can think of for there to be a set of norms about what speech goes too far that students on all sides would accept as legitimate,” David Pozen, the Columbia law professor, said. He felt the tumult of this spring, which at Columbia resulted in early student departures and scrambled graduation plans, aggravated and exhausted many students who did not themselves participate in the demonstrations and counterdemonstrations. “Students are feeling anguished and alienated, and maybe that’s an opening,” Pozen said.

Clémence Boulouque, a religion professor who serves on the university’s antisemitism task force, hoped Columbia could recover a sense of itself as a “place where people can coexist” and where mediation and discussion might forestall endless grievance and grief. If the divisions opened up by the protests were litigated in an endless back-and-forth of Title VI complaints, fought in the zero-sum realm of the law, then the school would fail at one of the oldest concepts in education: the moral development of its students. “Denying the pain of others, it’s not a great way of conflict resolution,” she said. “It’s also self-inflicted moral injury.”

On one level, this focus on de-escalation avoided the deep unresolved disagreements over where the political ended and the personal began. On another, it was its own kind of blunt realism. “We have to heal together and live together,” Boulouque said. “It’s just like Israel-Palestine. Nobody’s going anywhere.”

Read by Gabra Zackman

Narration produced by Anna Diamond

Engineered by Quinton Kamara

An earlier version of this article misstated the date that Minouche Shafik, the president of Columbia University, asked the New York City Police Department to clear a pro-Palestinian student encampment on the university’s lawn. It was April 18, not April 17. The article also misstated the position of the literary theorist and activist Edward Said on a two-state solution. He supported the proposal in the early 1990s but changed his public stance to support a one-state solution later in that decade.

How we handle corrections

Emily Bazelon is a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine. More about Emily Bazelon

Charles Homans is a reporter for The Times and The Times Magazine, covering national politics. More about Charles Homans

The Campus Protests Over the Gaza War

News and Analysis

​University demonstrations over the war in Gaza have reignited the debate over campus speech, and has led to a rethinking of who sets the terms for language in academia.

​Weeks after counterprotesters attacked a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, the university police have made the first arrest related to the attack .

​​A union for academic workers in the University of California system announced that an ongoing strike challenging the system’s handling of pro-Palestinian demonstrations would extend to two more campuses , U.C.L.A. and U.C. Davis.

Making Sense of the Protests:  In the weeks leading up to graduation, our reporter spoke with more than a dozen students at Columbia University and Barnard College about how the campus protests had shaped them .

A Complex Summer:  Many university leaders and officials may be confronting federal investigations, disputes over student discipline  — and the prospect that the protests start all over again in the fall.

Graduation’s Pomp Goes On:  Commencement is the rare American ritual that still has rules. T hat’s why it’s ripe for disruption .

A New Litmus Test:  Some Jewish students say their views on Zionism — which are sometimes assumed — have affected their social life on campus .

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Karlovy vary fest unveils lineup with oleh sentsov ukraine war doc; geoffrey rush among jurors.

Christine Vachon leads the jury, and 15 out of 32 films featured in the official selection are debuts as the cinema celebration in the Czech spa town returns for its 58th edition.

By Georg Szalai

Georg Szalai

Global Business Editor

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The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) has unveiled its competition and other lineups for its 58th edition, set to run in the Czech spa town from June 28 to July 6. It also set its competition jury, led by indie film producer Christine Vachon who will be joined by Australian actor Geoffrey Rush , Hungarian director Gábor Reisz, Icelandic poet, novelist and screenwriter Sjón and Czech actress Eliška Křenková.

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In its special screenings lineup, KVIFF will present the world premiere of Ukrainian filmmaker and former Kremlin prisoner Oleh Sentsov’s new documentary Real . Sentsov “is currently defending his homeland as a lieutenant in the Ukrainian army, which he joined in the first days of the Russian invasion in February 2022,” the film description provided by the fest reads. “During one assault, his infantry fighting vehicle was destroyed by enemy artillery. His attempts to organize the evacuation of part of his unit were complicated by the lack of ammunition and incessant Russian fire. The name of the operation was Real, and Sentsov’s eponymous film is a unique immersive experience that offers a hyper-documentary insight into the reality of the war through the eyes of one direct participant.”

Among this year’s KVIFF competition lineup are Iveta Grófová’s The Hungarian Dressmaker , which depicts the rise of nationalism in Slovakia in the 1940s, and Bruno Anković’s Celebration , a film adaptation of a novel about a Croatian village between the years 1926 and 1945 where right-wing ideology rises. Rude to Love from Japanese director Yukihiro Morigakia, about a marriage “steadily losing its spark,” will also compete for the festival’s Crystal Globe honor for best competition film.

The competition also features such established names as Mark Cousins , who brings A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things , about British modern painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, to Karlovy Vary, as well as Noaz Deshe who will debut Xoftex , about a Greek refugee camp where Syrian and Palestinian asylum seekers await news of their refugee status.

The Karlovy Vary team noticed several themes cutting across various movies in the lineup. “Freshly revisionist takes on the esthetical canons of a period film. A balanced, caring but also provocative look [at] the fate of a woman in … contemporary society … The immediate influence of political events on the life of an individual human being anywhere in the world. My colleagues and I discovered these themes running through our selection of films,” highlighted KVIFF artistic director Karel Och .

He also touted a global cinematic lineup with new works. “15 out of 32 films featured in the official selection are debuts, and we could not be more excited they are accompanied by the brand new works of renowned filmmakers of the likes of Mark Cousins, Oleh Sentsov, Noaz Deshe, Antonin Peretjatko, Beata Parkanova and Burak Cevik,” he said.

Check out the full KVIFF official selection with descriptions of the films below.

Crystal Globe Competition

Ai ni ranbou / Rude to Love Director: Yukihiro Morigaki Japan, 2023, 105 min, World premiere

Banzo Director: Margarida Cardoso Portugal, France, Netherlands, 2024, 127 min, International premiere

In 1907, Alonso arrives on Prince’s Island, where he has been tasked with treating a group of workers plagued by a mysterious affliction called banzo , also known as slave nostalgia. Those affected feel an intense homesickness, fall into apathy, lose the strength to live, and eventually die. Alonso slowly discovers that it is not enough to treat the physical symptoms; he must understand the soul of those who have been uprooted. The oppressive atmosphere of the isolated tropical island forms the backdrop for a story from the dark colonial past in which humanity is put to the ultimate test. Banzo is also a reminder that there is more than one way to interpret the past, and that behind every story is a person telling the story.

Cì xīn qiè gŭ / Pierce Director: Nelicia Low Singapore, Taiwan, Poland, 2024, 109 min, World premiere

Drie dagen vis / Three Days of Fish Director: Peter Hoogendoorn Netherlands, Belgium, 2024, 85 min, World premiere

Just as he does every year, dad flies from sunny Portugal for a three-day visit to the Netherlands, the drab country of his birth. He has his usual errands to run and he visits his doctor for his annual check-up, accompanied by his eccentric grown-up son… This intimate film offers a glimpse into the relationship between two men who have grown apart yet, as they engage in seemingly mundane activities, little by little they try to find their way back to one another. Three Days of Fish , the second outing by Dutch filmmaker Peter Hoogendoorn, is a gentle drama, interlaced with the dry humour typical for the region. The director’s feature debut Between 10 and 12 premiered at the Venice IFF.

Elskling / Loveable Director: Lilja Ingolfsdottir Norway, 2024, 101 min, World premiere

Ema a smrtihlav / The Hungarian Dressmaker Director: Iveta Grófová Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, 2024, 129 min, World premiere

It’s the 1940s. The Slovak state witnesses the rise of nationalism and it’s not an auspicious time for minorities. The turbulent social mood also impacts the widow Marika, who loses her job in an Aryanised dressmaker’s shop. Given the increasing anti-Hungarian sentiment she shuts herself away, particularly since she is harbouring a little Jewish boy. Despite this she still finds herself singled out by two men: a German Nazi officer and a captain of Slovakia’s Hlinka Guard. This drama by Slovak director Iveta Grófová is an adaptation of the novella of the same name by Peter Krištúfek, which conjures up the dramatic atmosphere of wartime Slovakia. The story of a fragmented era, which forces the protagonists to confront complex dilemmas, is told not only through words, but also by way of a powerful visual language.

Mord / Our Lovely Pig Slaughter Director: Adam Martinec Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2024, 84 min, World premiere

Panoptikoni / Panopticon Director: George Sikharulidze Georgia, France, Italy, Romania, 2024, 95 min, World premiere

When Sandro’s father decides to devote his life to God and leaves for a monastery, the teenage introvert finds himself deprived of the fundamental certainties of life. Abandoned by his father and his mother, who is working abroad, the young man embarks on a journey of self-discovery, opening up both to a new friendship with the radical Lasha, who has ties with an ultra-right organisation, and also to the chance to explore his own sexuality. George Sikharulidze’s perceptive feature debut considers how fine the line is between the observer and the observed, and asks where contemporary post-Soviet Georgian society is heading as it hovers on the border between religious conservatism and nationalisation on the one hand, and the desire for independence and modernisation on the other.

Proslava / Celebration Director: Bruno Anković Croatia, Qatar, 2024, 86 min, World premiere

A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things Director: Mark Cousins United Kingdom, 2024, 88 min, World premiere

One of the most important women in British modern art, the painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham was a highly inspirational figure, whose work was deeply impacted by a pivotal event in her life. In May 1949, this leading representative of the modernist St Ives group of artists climbed to the top of the Grindelwald glacier in Switzerland, an experience which was to transform the way she saw the world. She spent the rest of her life capturing its shapes and colours, indeed its very essence. In his essayistic portrait narrated by Tilda Swinton, documentarist Mark Cousins delves into complex themes of gender, climate change and creativity, while laying bare the artist’s character and vast imagination so pervasively that he creates the impression we are seeing the world through her eyes.

Světýlka / Tiny Lights Director: Beata Parkanová Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2024, 74 min, World premiere

Xoftex Director: Noaz Deshe Germany, France, 2024, 95 min, World premiere

Xoftex is a Greek refugee camp, where Syrian and Palestinian asylum seekers anxiously wait for news of their refugee status. To pass the time between interviews with the immigration office, Nasser and his friends film satirical sketches and make preparations for a zombie horror flick. Except that the reality of the camp could be taken for a horror scenario itself. The tension between its inhabitants gains momentum and every conflict removes one more brick from the wall which divides reality from dream – or, indeed, nightmare. Fragments of real life, humour, and the unimaginable suffering of people risking their lives to escape their own country, merge into an explosive, at times, surreal spectacle which invites the viewers to immerse themselves in the story and the lives of immigrants in a way they will never have experienced before.

Proxima Competition

Bezvetrije / Windless Director: Pavel G. Vesnakov Bulgaria, Italy, 2024, 93 min, World premiere

Cabo Negro Director: Abdellah Taïa France, Morocco, 2024, 76 min, World premiere

Two young people, Soundouss and Jaâfar, arrive at a luxury villa in the resort of Cabo Negro rented by Jaâfar’s lover, who is supposed to join them later. But something is wrong – he still hasn’t turned up, and they can’t reach him on his phone. Left on their own, they decide, despite their uncertain financial and personal situation, to enjoy their holiday as much as their minds and bodies will allow. On vacation, with time seemingly non-existent, they take the opportunity to reflect on their relationships back home – and on the future, which feels so distant here on the sun-drenched beach. Writer-director Abdellah Taïa presents a queer ode to the seemingly carefree time of youth.

Clorofilla / Chlorophyll Director: Ivana Gloria Italy, 2023, 75 min, International premiere

Fără suflet / The Alienated Director: Anja Kreis Germany, Moldova, France, 2024, 95 min, World premiere

Varvara, a professor of philosophy, is discussing the concept of God’s death with her students. She is visited by her sister Angelina, an eminent gynecologist who has been recalled from Moscow and sent to another city, where she is to reduce the number of abortions. Not long afterwards a girl comes to see her at the hospital, asking her to perform an abortion, claiming that she is carrying the Antichrist in her womb. After a heated dispute with a student, Varvara ponders the presence of evil in human nature, while Angelina carries out an illegal abortion on the girl and takes the embryo home with her… This mystical film by Anja Kreis is beguiling for its ominous atmosphere and raises uncomfortable questions about human conscience, morality and faith, although it declines to provide definitive answers.

Hiçbir şey yerinde değil / Nothing in Its Place Director: Burak Çevik Turkey, Germany, South Korea, 2024, 76 min, International premiere

Ju wai ren / Stranger Director: Zhengfan Yang USA, China, Netherlands, Norway, France, 2024, 113 min, World premiere

The hotel room as a place where everybody is a stranger. A place that is yours for just a moment. A temporarily intimate space entered by a maid in order to clean it while, if possible, not leaving a single trace of her visit. Each part of the episodic Stranger is set in just such a place. One episode equals one shot. One shot equals one story. What they have in common is China, the home country of both guests and staff, although each of their lives differs from the others. The film’s absurd, darkly humorous, poignant, and mysterious stories are set in a seemingly confined space that nevertheless opens up new and surprising dimensions with each episode.

Lapilli Director: Paula Ďurinová Slovak Republic, Germany, 2024, 65 min, World premiere

Od marca do mája / March to May Director: Martin Pavol Repka Czech Republic, 2024, 85 min, World premiere

A family of five lives together in an old village house. While the parents are slowly aging, the children are growing up, and it is clear that they will soon go their own way. This unchanging rhythm of everyday life is disrupted by the unexpected news of the mother’s pregnancy, and the idea of a new sibling gradually affects all members of the household. March to May is an understated, intimate portrait of family togetherness, which is often expressed in the smallest of ways. An unassuming yet highly original story, filmed with the same tenderness and patience with which nature awakens every spring.

Second Chance Director: Subhadra Mahajan India, 2024, 104 min, World premiere

Desolate after experiencing a traumatic incident, Mia travels to the family’s summer retreat amid the snow-covered Himalayas in order to regain her strength. There she finds the company of the caretaker’s mother-in-law, Bimal, and her grandson, Sunny. Irrespective of their differing ages, social background and their ideas of happiness, a surprisingly strong bond develops between them, which cannot be broken, not even by the arrival of someone who drives Mia straight back into her trauma. This visually mesmerising film offers an authentic and vivid depiction of the process of coping with female pain and demonstrates that a second chance might emerge where we least expect it.

“ I collect. I document. I write down my memories. I’m afraid they’ll disappear .” This is how Victoria Verseau introduces her intimate documentary diary, in which she returns to Thailand and to the year 2012, when she underwent her transition. She had long awaited this moment, but then came feelings of uncertainty, amplified by the death of a close friend. The conceptual artist adopts an almost archaeological approach to the past and lays bare the process of writing a personal story that is intrinsically linked to the creation of her own identity. In this deeply felt debut she reveals the joyful aspects and also the dark recesses of transition and, bringing other testimonies into play as well, she critically examines what defines women as women.

Tropicana Director: Omer Tobi Israel, Canada, 2024, 82 min, World premiere

Vino la noche / Night Has Come Director: Paolo Tizón Peru, Spain, Mexico, 2024, 96 min, World premiere

A group of young adventurers sign up for one of the most challenging military training courses in Latin America, which will turn them into fearsome warriors entrusted with overseeing the dangerous VRAEM region, an area filled with coca plants, terrorists, and smugglers. In his absorbing look at the hermetically sealed world of the army, debut director Paolo Tizon paints a portrait of one institution while depicting individual human stories and reflecting on male identity, the potential for self-determination, and a fragile masculinity that stands in striking contrast to the brutal training. Sensitivity alongside violence, beauty alongside vulnerability.

Special Screenings

Architektura ČSSR 58–89 / Czechoslovak Architecture 58–89 Director: Jan Zajíček Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2024, 126 min, World premiere

In the Land of Brothers Director: Alireza Ghasemi, Raha Amirfazli Iran, France, Netherlands, 2024, 95 min, European premiere

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan led to a massive flight of Afghans to neighboring Iran, which – since they hoped to find a new home there – they called the “Land of Brothers.” But the dream of fraternal coexistence soon faded, Iranian law never accepted them as equal citizens, and so even the descendants of the first refugees still carry the burden of otherness. Alireza Ghasemi and Raha Amirfazli’s wistful, beautifully shot feature debut about a family who will never feel at home in the country where they live won over audiences immediately upon its premiere at Sundance.

Ještě nejsem, kým chci být / I’m Not Everything I Want to Be Director: Klára Tasovská Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Austria, 2024, 90 min

Das Lied der Anderen – Eine Suche nach Europa / The Song of Others – A Search for Europe Director: Vadim Jendreyko Switzerland, 2024, 136 min, International premiere

What is Europe? In his highly topical personal essay, Vadim Jendreyko travels across the old continent to discover its essence in places that might be called acupuncture points of European identity. His various stops include the bottom of the Rhine, Greek docks, the European Parliament, a primeval forest in Poland, and a Sarajevo library. All of these places invite ambivalent reflections: on the one hand, they celebrate Europe’s diversity and the breadth of its cultural heritage; on the other hand, they are symbols of turbulence, conflict, and bloody history. Is Europe condemned to be stuck in a vicious circle of violence, or is there hope in those who try to sing the songs of others?

Real Director: Oleh Sentsov Ukraine, Croatia, 2024, 90 min, World premiere

Ta druhá / The Other One Director: Marie-Magdalena Kochová Czech Republic, 2024, 85 min, World premiere

In her feature-length debut, Marie-​Mag­da­le­na Kochová uses the character of eighteen-year-old Johanna to explore the phenomenon of “glass children” – children who, because they have a special-needs sibling, are neglected by their family, however unintentionally. They often feel invisible, their problems are always considered less important, and they are often expected to help take care of their disabled brother or sister. Johana is about to graduate from high school, and so she must decide whether to leave home to study, or stay and help her parents. An immensely sensitive account of the nature of sibling love which, for once, puts “the other one” first.

Tatabojs.doc Director: Marek Najbrt Czech Republic, 2024, 94 min, World premiere

Vlny / Waves Director: Jiří Mádl Czech Republic, 2024, 131 min, World premiere

One might think that Czech and Slovak filmmakers have already said all there is to say about the period around 1968 in Czechoslovak history. As Jiří Mádl’s latest outing shows, however, this crucial era in our modern history still has forgotten stories to offer that are worthy of our attention. The film revolves around the international news office at Czechoslovak Radio, a place full of talented individuals possessing broad insight, linguistic skills, and above all a commitment to honest journalistic work with a focus on the truth. An epic, dynamically shot, rewarding film, which embraces uncommon heroism in the face of an oppressive regime, the strength of fraternal ties, and the eternal themes of love, betrayal, morality, and hope.

Voyage au bord de la guerre / Journey to the Brink of War Director: Antonin Peretjatko France, 2024, 62 min, International premiere

Zahradníkův rok / The Gardener’s Year Director: Jiří Havelka Czech Republic, 2023, 104 min, World premiere

A true story of injustice perpetrated on a peaceful gardener by a wealthy neighbor meets Karel Čapek’s eponymous literary work about a gardener’s hardships and successes over the course of a year. Director Jiří Havelka, one of the most complex artistic personalities of our time, has long proved that “alternative” and “audience-friendly” need not be mutually exclusive. His quietly moving tragicomic story about a remarkably stubborn struggle for the right to a dignified life is built on two great performances by the always outstanding Oldřich Kaiser and Dáša Vokata.

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