The Sense Of Structure : Writing

Writing, and literacy in general, is one of the founding cornerstones of modern society. It is difficult to find any sort of occupation that doesn’t require at least some basic writing skills. From business managers to lawyers to doctors, despite their notoriously bad handwriting, all require intimate knowledge of writing skills. Yet, teaching critical writing skills is not the cure-all to solving the problems that the public education system faces in producing students better prepared to tackle the challenges of the world as Peg Tyre portrays it as in The Writing Revolution. Critical writing skills, despite its current underemphasis in the classroom, should not be the only focus of the public school system’s curriculum as Peg Tyre suggests in The Writing Revolution, because critical writing skills do not prepare students adequately enough for the standards of the real world which require more technical skills, critical writing skills only teaches a small subset of underlying critical thinking skills, and critical writing skills education, as presented by Peg Tyre, is formulaically based which can result in long-term inability to further student’s critical writing skills despite initial success.

In Dan Berrett’s article, “Students Come to College Thinking They’ve Mastered Writing,” the idea of freshman thinking they are or must be a refined writer is discussed. Students may think this way coming into college, but their teachers do not. While students might feel satisfied and think that they are prepared with their writing skills, professors found that these students did not necessarily meet the expected level (Berrett 1). Many students reported that they would normally write around 25 hours every week. They said that most of those hours of writing was for more formal purposes like passages to make changes in society (Berrett 1). It was found that one reason the new students might feel this way is that their assumptions about writing differed greatly from those of faculty members and their expectations. One big thing that students will not get for a while, is that good writing is not just listed as a bunch of steps one is to follow that automatically make one’s writing good. Good writing requires one to be in different mental states; it requires the understanding of how to write for different audiences and different reasons (Berrett 2). Berrett includes in the article that writing is not just universal and that in order to do very well, writers must use different forms of writing specifically for their purpose (2). It seems as though students think that, before they even take a class, they are supposed to know everything about writing; in reality, they are supposed to learn new skills and enhance others (Berrett 2). Berrett says that many believe the schools these students previously attended with their test focus might cause these feelings about writing (2). Berrett ends his article by saying that students these days do not think that informal writing actually counts as writing, and that students should practice writing for informal purposes because it can help them (2). Even if they feel like it, students are not fully prepared to write in all contexts when they arrive at college.

In the 2011 article “Helping Students Meet the Challenges of Academic Writing”, educators Linda Fernsten and Mary Reda offer innovative self-reflective writing exercises that post-secondary instructors can employ to help students improve writer self-image and academic writing. The authors’ rationale for reflective and practical writing strategies were developed from direct classroom experience, and are based on four (4) assumptions. Their claim that self-reflective writing can aid student writers in overcoming conflict (due to dominant culture, upbringing, former writing experiences, gender, and other marginalizing factors) to improve writer self-identity is plausible. However, their argument that cross-curriculum academic writing can be improved through self-directed, self-reflective writing requires further investigation.

In literary education, from childhood to maturity, individuals are taught how to write not to improve themselves as critical thinkers, but to fulfill the requirements given to them in a prompt. Whether to analyze or argue, this form of writing has led to a cease of literary improvement in students today, making many question the effectiveness of writing classes. Mike Bunns, in his article “To Read like a Writer”, explores this topic and stresses the necessity for young readers to critically examine the author’s choices in order to improve their own pieces of work. Bunns effectively argues to his audience of college students that improved comprehension comes from focusing on the rhetorical choices authors decide to make in their compositions by tying personal narratives with repetitive questioning throughout his article.

When it comes to critical thinking, reading and writing are two factors that deal with the critical thinking process. A few key aspects of critical reading and writing are identifying the tone in ones writing, how to throughly read and annotate a text, and the revision process. In the essay, “The Maker’s Eye”, Donald Murray explains how the attitude of a writer, listening to what readers have to say and how to edit your own writing makes your work better when critically thinking in college. These aspects of critical thinking, reading and writing make will keep the reader interested and make the writing easier to translate when read.

In chapter 9, Writing Across the Curriculum, the process of reading and writing was investigated and explained in comparison to one another. The reading-writing connection focuses on drawing from students’ prior knowledge and cognitive processes in order to build learning. The authors mentioned that the writing process is a strong tool for exploring and clarifying meaning and the two major instructional components used are writing to learn (WTL) and writing in disciplines (WID). The chapter also focused on the subareas of academic journals and writing disciplines.

I agree with how Valerle Struss the way she explains how students are supposed to be taught Writing in college. In this day in age, many student struggles with ability to know how to even write a simple sentence. The main reason students in college are not able to do this simple task is because as technology advances more and more people rely on it. This is sometimes a good thing, but not always. People have learned to rely on the technologies they have around them. Which at the end of the day won’t do them any good? So, let’s take the advice of Mrs.Struss and the way she thinks how college students should actually be taught.

The nature of writing has changed in the past century. While writing still remains a form of visual communication, much of this change has been a result of technological advancements such as, from pen to paper or from a typewriter to a networked computer. The changes and expansion in the ways we are able to write today have brought about changes in writing pedagogy as well. The teaching of writing has been part of formal schooling in the United States for over 200 years (Kean 7). One major pedagogic change in United States’ education has to do with the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. These standards have led to a change in the instruction of writing in schools. This paper, will focus on instructional changes of writing over time and current expectations for writing abilities as whole.

In Elizabeth Wardle’s journal, she discuses the differences between college writing and high school writing. Wardle often found that college students refer to their concepts that were taught in high school. As some students come to college well prepared in writing, other students fall short and don’t quite understand the concept of good writing. Wardle stated that many high school teachers focused on the technique and rules of writing, rather than using your knowledge and simply writing what you know. College students need to focus on their writing rather than the rules of it.

The role of an English teacher’s writing is important, not only for future English Majors in the classroom, but also for the advancement of science, technology, engineering and mathematics because it helps expand student’s interest in these subjects and strengthens their verbal and writing skills.

Employers and accredited business schools recognize that “good writing skills” are essential for an individual to have in order to thrive in a professional and academic environment. “If both employer and educators recognize the importance of good writing skills, why do they continue to bemoan the lack of such skills” (Simkin, Crew, & Groves, 2012, p. 3-8)? At this time we are going to address “Student Perceptions of Their Writing Skills: Myth and Reality” to further answer these questions. Hopefully, after engaging in this essay, an assessment of your own writing perceptions will ignite a desire for you to become a more effective writer.

According to Simon Ager, writing is the activity representing language in visual or palpable form (Ager). In today’s society becoming a good writer is challenging. There are many things you have to learn and several obstacles you have to over come in order to be considered a good writer. The question is,“what makes someone a good writer?” There are many traits that one must need to be a good writer, such as connecting the dots, expressing ideas clearly, writing in their heads, etc. Some professors today wonder whether anyone can really be taught to write and why some students do not know how to write before going into college. As I began my undergraduate studies at York College, I was not confident in my writing, until entering my Writing 303 class this semester. During my Writing 303 class, I have become a better writer by focusing on heuristic analysis, epistemology, research, and arguments.

“Although No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has focused attention on improving reading and math achievement, little attention has been given to other subjects including writing. If state or local policies do not support the teaching of writing, there is a possibility that teachers will neglect writing instruction” (McCarthey, 2008). Within the past few years, my district adopted the STORYtown curriculum for reading and writing as a plan to improve student literacy scores district wide. Many teachers in my district admitted that since they struggle with finding time and an effective way of teaching writing, it is often overlooked. Learning to write is developmentally important for nurturing literate children. To resolve this issue, teachers are now raising questions about which methods are the best for the learners of today and where to begin this process.

Dr. Ponders English class focused on improving students reading, writing, and arguing skills. All writers have problems when

Over the course of the semester, I have had the privilege to read and discuss my classmates’ writing. Having a mix of large and small group discussions have allowed me not only to help others improve their writing, but to learn about different writing styles and techniques. Throughout the course, I have worked closely with Cory Robinson, a senior at Sacred Heart University, studying English/Pre-Law with multiple minors, including Creative Writing. In an interview with Robinson, I have learned about how he gained an interest in writing, what he enjoys writing, and ultimately how he writes.