David Bartholomae's Article Summary

Basic literacy is the ability to read and write, my literacy skills began to develop while I was a small child. It all started with the bedtime stories my mother would read to be. It wasn’t until I got to school that it developed even more as teachers began to teach me how to read and write. I feel that in order to be successful you need to learn how to read and right, that’s why I took pride in learning it. I’m glad that I learned that at a very early age. I notice that to get a good grade on my writings I had to write how my teachers wanted me to write things. In the long run it did pay off because I got good grades on my papers. Obviously you can see that I had to

At the end of the article Keene also points out that the way teachers handle and teach during class is what’s forcing theses harder to reach claims. The teaching ways show that not giving a challenge to the students makes it harder for them to achieve their goal and try to succeed in college.

Pam Munoz Ryan attended Bakersfield Junior College and earned her degree to become a children’s teacher. She then went back to college at San Diego University to earn her Master’s degree. In college her professor gave her class a writing assignment. The professor

Ms. Wilensky believes that plagiarism occurs because “students leave high school unprepared for the intellectual rigors of college writing.” In college, the writing becomes more thorough, detailed, and the need for accuracy grows. Incoming freshmen are not taught crucial critical thinking skills needed for successful college writing while still in high school. I believe that this is true because high school teachers , especially upperclassmen teachers, are trying to prepare their students for the SAT/ACT and/ or state finals.

1. At the beginning of the essay Merrill seems to be a bit bashful about poor writing. But Merrill also uses “Poor” and “Principle” in his title “The Principle of Poor Writing.” This irony shows that it can be a negative or positive. Another example of Merrill using irony can be found on page 428 “Many scientists actually do write poorly, but they probably perform by ear without perceiving clearly how their results are achieved.” Merrill’s title, introduction or advice did not tip me off because many people in today’s society do struggle with writing.

In the paper “Inventing the University” by David Bartholomae, he shows the mistakes that basic writers make in college. It shows us what writers are lacking in writing effectively for an academic community. He compares and contrasts the differences between a mater writer and a basic writer. It shows how an expert writer keeps the audience in mind and a struggling writer does not. Bartholomae says that writers in college need to learn to “invent the university” which means they adapt their writing to writing and speak the ideas of an academic setting. Some students may find it hard to develop these new ways of writing and speaking in an academic setting. One way a master writer and a basis writer is different is

This is also proven by the studied student who initially points out that when it comes to writing a paper in college he writes only with the intention of getting the best grade possible and that the only way to get the best grade is to say and do things exactly the way your professor wants. From this perspective the notion is established that these “rules of the game” mean that for each class you take your really cant be yourself as a writer and that the only way to succeed is to be a mold of your professors biases and expectations these of which vary drastically from instructor to instructor. This established mentality is ultimately detrimental the the writing

The students in this track were often labeled as “unruly, and not motivated” and of course the parents and students are faced with embarrassment which can be tragic just from an error this school had made. If Professor Rose had not taken that single Biology course his sophomore year in “Our Lady of Mercy” his educational career as a professor would not have been a success. It is always very important teachers understand the importance and responsibility of their role that is in these student’s everyday lives, they shape the way these students think, and understand everyday education we use. During the essay Ken Harvey mentions that he just wants to be average and considers himself to be below average while Rose is thinking to himself what an absurd comment it was. When an individual is constantly told that he or she is not smart they can’t do this or that it lowers their confidence and they actually start working at that level and not striving for the highest standard. Teachers and or professors have many responsibilities including the most important one which is knowing and making sure the student or child understands every single lesson they teach.

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.

After reading The Shadow Scholar, an article from the Chronicle Review, I found myself beginning to question the state of the education system that has matured in the United States. As I continued to read the article, I began to wonder why students have resulted to hiring “academic ghost writers” to compose the students’ assignments for them. Is there such an emphasis on getting good grades that make students go the extra length to pay for their paper? After reviewing the article, I began to wonder society has shifted to allow lazy to be the new intelligence. I was most aggravated by the fact that the writers are being hired out to not only write undergraduate papers, but also graduate and doctoral theses.

“English 99 ” - an essay by Frank Gannon, illustrates the experiences of teaching a college class on introductory writing. Gannon, the english professor, displays the characteristics of an amoral man: lacking moral sensibility (distinguishing what is right and wrong) which may cause consequences to himself or others. With a person like Gannon, one cannot expect much from his teaching methods. Gannon represents an adult whose amorality created the lack of professional responsibility and dependability for his students, resulting in him being an ineffective mentor.

When presented with the question, “who are you as a writer?”, I was speechless at first. But after thinking about it, I realized who I am as a writer has been influenced by so many different sponsors throughout my life and there was not a short, concrete answer. Brandt mentions that “literacy is sponsored by people, institutions, and circumstances that both make it possible for a person to become literate and shape the way the person actually acquires literacy.” (Brandt 43) My attitude towards writing has been influenced by teachers, both negatively and positively, by my mother, and by academic assignments over the years. My answer to the question can only be answered by a narrative of my writing life. I have convinced myself that I am a terrible writer, and when presented with a writing assignment, I get anxious instantly. I see writing as a burden and a huge obstacle that gets placed in my life. Academic writing is not fun, but something I value due to the fact that we are a grade driven society. When writing, I write to the guidelines in order to receive points for the requested criteria. The reason being, I gave up on expressing my own ideas because I had been shut down by so many teachers throughout my education. I tried to write down what came to my mind and put my own twist on things, but that was not the “right” way to write papers. In order to make both my teachers and my grades happy, I wrote what they wanted to hear, and even then I was not to the level they

Wow, is all I could think as I read this statement in the article. To expect great work, educators must provide students with the necessary skills to produce great work. The example of a teacher assigning a complex paper on the first day of school without guidance, and expecting the students to submit quality work was an awesome example to drive this point home. This statement made me reflect on my instructional processes. I remember having a teacher in high school that was guilty of this offense. She had the reputation of being the tough teacher, but really her instructional methods didn’t support the high expectations that she had for the students in her class. Therefore, students never meet her expectation, but it was because of her lack of instruction. Moving forward, I will now assess my teaching more closely. I refuse to be the teacher that assigns challenging work, and not teaching challenging

As I look back into my high school years, I thought I wrote papers well. But then coming into a college environment, my papers were mediocre. By overlooking at my past papers, I found that they were unorganized, sloppy and had bad use of diction. From now on, I will use the tools I learned in English 1100-40 as a foundation for the future papers I intend on writing in college. Following the criteria of organizing ideas so that they flow, impacting the reader with diction and also by being creative, will help become an ideal writer. Following the criteria of staying motivated in short and long term goals, taking responsibility for actions and finally the ability to study well will help me develop into a supreme student.

For these writers, responding to student writing is more complex than a simple comment or two on a paper along with a grade. Both Elbow and Straub stress the complexity of what makes a good response to a paper; their most notable similarity is the call for attention to the writer and the context in which the paper was written. Straub includes taking into consideration the “set of circumstances that accompany the writing,” as well as “the writer’s particular interest and aims,... [the] class, and the stage of drafting” (138). In order to best serve the writer, the student or teacher responding to the paper must be able to distinguish the writer’s purpose and intentions in writing the paper, in particular [something]. As Elbow suggests that teacher