Walking inside the typical composition class, one can expect to see the students crafting the five-paragraph essay or working on a persuasive piece as they try to argue they side of an in-class debate. Composition classes do not only work on a studentís writing, they also get the students to think through their writing (at least the good ones do). There is a certain well-accepted style to teaching writing in the traditional composition class, and it works very well for many students and teachers. However, should the line of comfort be crossed, and if so, how? Should composition instructors grab a hold of a different writing style, making it the focal point of their pedagogies in their writing classes? More importantly, if they do, what …show more content…
Of course, they are well-suited to teaching writing of any kind to their students, but could they not be more effective in doing so if they had the freedom to teach the typical ìfive-paragraphî or ìpersuasiveî as a piece of creative writing/literature?
While Bishopís work on the topic of using creative writing in the composition classroom is crucial to any understanding of the argument, Deborah Dean, in ìMuddying Boundaries: Mixing Genres with Five Paragraphs,î also extensively explores the question I just raised, and does so by bringing in the concept of ìgenre theory.î In an explanation of ìgenre theory,î Dean states that, ìone way to make writing interesting is to create the experiences of the genre in the mind of the reader and then tweak one or twoî (Dean 53). Using the example of a childrenís fairy tale to illustrate her point, Dean goes on to say that genre theory is a bit controversial, saying that ìif applied without thought, it could mean a return to a focus on forms and product over processî (Dean 53). Proponents of genre theory, however, feel just the opposite. To them, genre theory is ìa more logical way to empower our students, to give them the ability to write in ways that will help them be successful in the social situations in which theyíll find themselvesî (Dean 53).
Application of genre theory in the classroom ìis a process because it asks students to analyze the social context
I ran, my feet bloodied and aching, my ankle unsteady and shrieking in pain. I ignored it, gasping
Heilker touches on this idea as well. He includes a lengthy quote from “Statement of Multiple Uses of Writing”, which lists several ways of writing he believes students should be taught, such as songwriting, poetry or dialogues. Sure, one could say there is not any real academic reason for students to learn how to do these in a typical English course when there are specific courses designed for them. But, what if a student is never exposed to one of these things? What if they miss the opportunity to find something they enjoy because they were busy analyzing A Tale of Two Cities, which they may have not even read.
Murray is insightful not only to instructors but also to learners. Murray argues that the challenge facing writing is the fact that teachers have treated it as a product rather than a process and the same concept passed on to students. The author holds that the main problem with this view is that students get to receive irrelevant criticisms that are not related to their learning goals. While I tend to agree with the author based on the arguments presented, it is notable that Murray has paid little attention to the idea of education in the contemporary world. In most learning institutions, the outcome of the writing is considered more than the process. As a teacher paying attention to the process of writing but not be consistent with the students, who are mostly driven by
Turning off the TV, Andrew grabbed his keys and rushed to the garage, angry for not being more cautious. Driving down the street as fast as he could to get to the cleaners, he said, “I wonder if Margaret has her phone. I will call it,” he said, pushing the buttons, he waited, and said, “Oh, no; it went directly to voice mail. She must have turned it off, but why would she do that?”
Movies are not the only types of entertainment that incorporates genre; stories, music, flyers, tweets on twitter, and much more also do too. When applying a genre to ones form of expression, we can look at all aspects of the piece and analyze, analyzing is crucial in today’s society
Maybe you don’t have a specific set of claims or beliefs you want your audience to adopt. Even if you do, provide brief responses to the following:
Teaching the process of a five-paragraph essay seems to be a popular strategy when it comes to teaching new writers; however, not everyone agrees that five-paragraph essays are the best way to go about introducing the writing process. John Warner, author of “Kill the 5-Paragraph Essay” believes the process gives writers little freedom and is a “tool for the worst of teachers to hide amongst the good.” On the other hand, Kerri Smith, author of “In the Defense of the Five-Paragraph Essay” claims “students who know the five-paragraph essay intimately are more prepared to take on the challenge of college-level writing.” Both first-year composition professors make great arguments; however, Warner’s article seems to argue his point effectively.
In the article “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read,” the importance of literature is very stressed. During the article “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read,” the author, Francine Prose, a reporter, essayist, critic, and editor is concerned about literature in education. She discussed how the San Francisco Board of Education's requires that literature be taught in a way to reflect the diversity in society. The San Francisco Board of Education in March 1998 mandates that “works of literature really in class in grades nine to eleven by each high school student must include works by
There was a sense of impeding doom that turned my stomach. Although I couldn't bear to look at the mask I held outreach to you, my eyes were tempted to look to you. I side-swiped a glance at you before you took the mask. My eyebrow arched as you looked at me, visibly distraught. My eyes did a double take, and my gaze fell curiously back on you. I sensed a feeling of unease from you, and became immediately confused. “Your master never teach you Torture 101, Mr. Ren?” Although I was mocking you, there was a sense of concern in my voice, as I looked over to the Dug and then back at you. “You look like you've seen a ghos-” Holding out the mask in front of you, I watched you intently as your eyes fixated on the item. My eyes narrowed at that reaction, and suddenly, it made sense to me. Perhaps you had seen a ghost. Fully educated in the many various connections within the Force, I wondered if in this moment you had seen anything. If in this moment, his darkness had fallen on you. I pondered the horrors you had witnessed... and if any one of those horrors was my own. I wondered if it was pain you experienced, and even... if that pain was my own.
Society today places so much emphasis on attending a liberal arts college in order to get a degree and succeed in life. The only problem is that liberal arts colleges do not gurantee a job after graduation. Students are going into school expecting to graduate and be able to find a job, but then they find out it is not that easy. The value on liberal arts education is too high compared to the benefits. Results of interviews showed that after getting a job, the employee then had to learn on the job how to use the proper writing style required. Future research should look towards toning down the specialization of writing programs in higher education in order to cover a broader background and better prepare students.
Downs & Wardle’s “Teaching about writing, Righting Misconceptions: (Re) Envisioning “First Year Composition” as “Introduction to Writing Studies” talks about several ways to refer to writing and our response to it. As well as the misconceptions students have towards the proper way of writing and how they have managed to break the “college writing” stereotype and discover their own way of writing.
A typical high-school student struggles in learning new concepts, in AP Language & Composition many students learn new challenging concepts which make the class difficult.
1. David’s primary purpose in sending a message is to inform the reader that the car company will not honour the customer’s claim. The writer’s priority is to inform the reader that the company would like to honour the claim, but point out that it could not happen because the warranty is expired.
Writing a paper on the writing process is pretty hard. The writing process is different from one person to another. You come across questions like, 'What exactly is the writing process?'; and 'Must you follow one persons writing process if yours is different?'; This is where I came across the answer to my questions, write however you wish to write. If one person likes free write first and another person likes to write a draft first, let them do how they please.
I believe that achieving success in teaching very different aspects of life may still combine similar processes. My life in high school was very similar to the lives of many other students in that it revolved around two things: sports and school. My sport of choice was tennis and my favorite academic area was English. Unexpectedly, I found many similarities led to a successful performance in both areas. My understanding of the need for a good program to follow and a lot of practice with it led to success in both tennis and my academic performance (especially English). Upon becoming a recognized player in my area, I decided to take the skill that I knew better than any other and utilize it as a