This study explored rhetorical devices and their effect on forming coherent and cohesive wholes in the writing of 61 EFL students. When analyzing their writing using the five-paragraph essay format, 57% of students deviated from the format, with some resorting to their L1 rhetorical structures (the indirect group) and others employing rhetorical preferences presumed to be deterministically influenced by their L1 (the hybrid group). Only 43% adhered to the format (the direct group). Neither the indirect nor the hybrid groups were inferior to the direct group regarding the length and quality of the writing; the direct group was not necessarily better received than the other two. The indirect group had a discernible (even if not statistically significant) impact on the length and quality of the writing. The indirect and hybrid groups were found to have slightly stronger control over cohesion indices. The two groups challenged the English-only orientation of the five-paragraph essay by negotiating rhetorical structures, thereby doing translingual dispositions.