Throughout High School, going to English, there were always four questions that crossed my mind. Are we reading a book? Watching the movie of this book? Writing one essay on the motifs of the book? And lastly, I thought this was English so why aren’t I being taught English? My High School experience is a prime example of what Stanley Fish and Maxine Hairston mean when they say that teachers are spending too much time on things that will not benefit students writing skills. Stanley Fish wrote in the New York Times, “What Should Colleges Teach?” and Maxine Hairston wrote in College Composition and Communication, “Diversity, Ideology, and Teaching Writing.” Within both of these articles, Hairston and Fish agree with each other and my High School experience that Composition classes are not focusing on the right things.
Classrooms have shifted focus within the past couple of years, and Stanley Fish decided to see what exactly composition courses have been teaching. Subsequently, he asked to see the lesson plans of the 104 sections, after reading these lesson plans he realized only four classes focused on, “…training in the craft of writing. (Fish 2)” Fish argues that “...unless writing courses focus exclusively on writing they are a sham, and I advised administrators to insist that all courses listed as courses in composition teach grammar and rhetoric and nothing else. (Fish 2)” By saying this he believes that classes don't focus entirely on what English classes are supposed to teach. He came to this conclusion one day while he was grading papers for a graduate English class, in the midst of doing so, he found a common error. The inability to write a clean English sentence. The definition of an English class is, “A course or ...
... middle of paper ...
...even though they disagree with what's being said, situation like this cause a silence within the students writing, as if they’re being held back. This has a huge impact on how English classes are being threatened and are heading in a new direction, in this case a direction they shouldn't be headed toward.
In 2014 one would think that half-way through the year, you would know your schedule, but walking into English I still tend to say, what class is this again? Students continue onto college without being able to write a clean English sentence, granted not everyone goes to college, but people read or write every day. This will affect everyone, not only the students who aren't learning to their maximum capacity. I agree with Fish and Hairston not only because without significant changes soon, the next generation will not only suffer but so will the future past them.
In Patricia Limerick’s article “Dancing with Professors”, she argues the problems that college students must face in the present regarding writing. Essays are daunting to most college students, and given the typical lengths of college papers, students are not motivated to write the assigned essays. One of the major arguments in Limerick’s article is how “It is, in truth, difficult to persuade students to write well when they find so few good examples in their assigned reading.” To college students, this argument is true with most of their ...
Many people can relate to receiving an essay paper back in which they believe that the grading is unfair. Grammatical errors, style, and subject are areas that receive the most attention. However, it may not be the writers’ work that is ineffective, maybe it 's the English language itself that is lacking in quality. Similarly, George Orwell in " Politics and the English Language" convinces the audience that the causes of the decline in the English language are the vagueness and meaningless of prose that is receiving impact from political jargon. Orwell effectively persuades the readers by addressing opposing views, providing examples that offer support to sub-claims, and creating reader connections while simultaneously
In Milo B. Beckman’s article “Why I Write Bad” he talks about how college students are not taking their college writing serious enough. They are merely going through the motions of writing out a “formula” of what they think the professor wants to read and then adding that extra fluff to make it look pretty on the outside but not have a lot of substance on the inside when you actually go into it and analysis what the essay is really saying. For Beckman to get his main message across to his readers he uses his experience as a student and his vast knowledge of his audience to convey to them of the importance of actual good writing through his diction and appealing to their need for success.
There is too much stress placed on students as it is. Imagine being a little kid going to school for 5 hours. Working on academics
Most of us write in some form every day, so you would expect that most of us would be well practiced and pretty good at writing. I read and write all the time; I have been taken several college courses and nearly all of them require write of some form. However, before taking this class not only was I not a good writer, I knew I wasn’t a good writer. Now I am not saying that I am ready to write my first novel, but I certainly more confident in turning in my college papers. The content of this course and the style of teaching was incredibly beneficial to me. Throughout this course we had multiple assignments that were aimed to improve us as writers. I am sure that everyone took something different from this course, and I am sure that each student took more from some areas than others; however for me there were three major things that I saw that I benefited from most. Our weekly craft lessons, grammar plan, but most of all, observational learning.
In the essay “Writing on the Bias” by Linda Brodkey describes her growth as a child, and as a writer. Her point of view regulated around the idea that students are taught to write like readers, rather than true writers. This was the first article I had to disagree with. Although, she had great
Many times, high school students are assigned to write essays based on inspirational figures or literature read in class, often requiring the same rhetoric following fastidious rules of English and sprinkling decorative wording across pages. Obeying the formats demanded by teachers is easy enough, but it is not creatively challenging. Author of "What Should Colleges Teach?", Stanley Fish, claims it is to learn the proper ways of composition alone that allows students to flourish; however, I question if it is possible to follow these principles too closely. Can it be so that the curriculum being taught in high schools fail to allow students to realize the potential creativity that can be involved when writing? Instead students are possibly turned
English 101 is one of the most common college courses in the world. When I enrolled in the class, I was bothered that I would have spend forty hours in a freshman writing class; along with at least another forty hours throughout the semester writing for the class. What surprised me, was that when I began writing my essays I was not annoyed or bothered; I actually enjoyed the assignments. Most importantly, throughout the course of the semester, I have become a better writer and have ultimately met the course goals of English 101.
Hooks says that “those of us from diverse ethnic/racial backgrounds learned that no aspect of our vernacular culture could be voiced in elite setting” (Hooks 182). But, vernacular is what will make students comfortable to share their thoughts in the classroom. It is something taken away from them by the oppressor who wants them to remain silent and never disagree. Hence, why students never want to challenge the ideas of a teacher. Blooms presents a similar argument in which she states “when teachers do address an offensive paper, we maintain our middle class decorum and phrase potentially confrontative comments in language that is tentative, qualified (Bloom 660).
English Composition II has unexpectedly improved my writing into an academic level. As I studied various English reading and writing courses, this class “English Composition II” did not immediately caught my eye. However as I researched about the concepts of this class, the decision to make was not so difficult since I was lacking in critical thinking and the interpretation of works. Also as a Business Major, it made sense that the subject of English would be of interest to me and as a career requirement. During the first weeks, I thought that I would be fully prepared for this course after taking an accelerated course in English during the spring semester. However, after attending class for about a month, I certainly did not expect to learn an entirely new process of writing
As I try to fight my amateur urge to be simplistic, it is impossible for me to avoid my main concern about composition pedagogy. The issue that most pervades and perplexes me is the intricate, tender yet all encompassing role and influence of The Teacher. Simply stated, I find the influence of the teacher to be the problem, and sometimes the solution in the realm of teaching writing. I read through our student essays and found the constant notion that what has influenced, and sometimes determined the fate of a student writer is-yes, The Teacher.
The study resulted in over one third of the students did not know how to hard boil an egg, four out of ten did not know how to make an omelet, and around half could not make a simple stir fry. If this does not exemplify how the American “ faster is better” slogan is changing the American lifestyle for the worse, nothing else can convince a person that there needs to be more time with parents and children learning essential life skills. As it is now, parents are doing nearly everything for their child, and instead of teaching kids the applicable skills, parents are teaching study skills and things that are going to get them in college. One fourth of people coming out of college are unemployed; many of them are forced to move back in with their parents. This cycle will keep recurring unless the future group of parents grant free time to let their kids rationalize and figure things out by
Students today are stressed, tired, and overworked. There are only so many hours in a day to fit everything a student must do. They’re getting up at 5 in the morning to get ready for the rest of their day. Going to school by 7 am and in class by 7:30 am. On the weekends sleeping until 12 am just to catch up on sleep.
Writing is an important part of everyone’s life, whether we use it in school, in the workplace, as a hobby or in personal communication. It is important to have this skill because it helps us as writers to express feelings and thoughts to other people in a reasonably permanent form. Formal writing forms like essays, research papers, and articles stimulates critically thinking. This helps the writer to learn how to interpret the world around him/her in a meaningful way. In college, professors motivate students to write in a formal, coherent manner, without losing their own voice in the process. Improving your writing skills is important, in every English class that’s the main teaching point; to help students improve their writing skills. Throughout my college experience I have acknowledge that
“…As for all the seniors, I want you to challenge yourselves this year and don’t think you’re going to cruise through to graduation.”-Mrs. Smith, County High School. Although some seniors in high school refuse to take a hard schedule, I decided to take a challenging composition course my last year of high school and learned more than ever before from it. My teacher, Mr. Bacz, focused mostly on vocabulary, grammar, and how to right an essay. Each one of these subjects combined to give me a year of hard work, which eventually paid off.