Goodness, yes. My academic background is a mix of humanities and third-rate engineering (history and economics, hah). I find that even at high levels in under

Goodness, yes. My academic background is a mix of humanities and third-rate engineering (history and economics, hah). I find that even at high levels in undergrad history, there's little sense that arguments don't have to-- and usually don't!-- adhere to the 5-7 paragraph template/bullshit one's often taught in secondary school. I used to tutor a fair bit, and weaning people off that stilted and artificial convention became one of my preoccupations. Now that I'm done bloviating, an interesting historical analogue: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-legged_essay http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-legged_essay