My Personal Point Of View

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.

This article is focused on FYC (First Year Course) students, and their development in the area. It points towards the two stages of writing people get confused with, they exemplify that “we have not yet imagined moving first-year composition from teaching “how to write in college” to teaching about writing – from acting as if writing is a basic, universal skill to acting as if writing studies is a discipline with content knowledge to which students should be introduced” (Downs & Wardle 553). This differs writing from a natural skill from a forged one, there are still teachers that believe that writings

Point of view is typically the first person or third person for the entire novel, unlike Ungifted by, Gordon Korman, where the first person changes throughout the book. While the novel keeps first person from start to finish, Gordon Korman toys with who is in control of the first person. Whilst this is very odd, and not like any other book, this point of view helps the book give depth to the characters.

Early on McCarthy states the the point of this study and article is to, “Contribute to our understanding of how students learn to write in school.” (234). McCarthy literally wants to make the point that learning to write should be viewed as a growth process from both a social and individual aspect depending on the situation. (234). McCarthy observed a college student as he took three different courses composition I, poetry, and biology. McCarthy explains that through her examination of the the

The article “The Writing Revolution” by Peg Tyre is a piece which aims to address the problems in school systems often associated with the way in which writing is taught to students. Tyre’s article conveys the different arguments presented in the course of teaching writing to students, which have been shown to be on opposite sides of the creative and analytical spectrum. These different perspectives of how to build the foundation of writing for the children of America as well as other countries are backed similarly on both sides, though the debate still continues. “The Writing Revolution” instead of focusing on all aspects of writing, highlights the effectiveness of analytical fundamentals over that of creative writing in helping to

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.

Composition 1, also known as English 101 or FYC (First Year Composition) is an entry-level course taken by a majority of college students to introduce them to college-level reading and writing. FYC is a prerequisite course at many colleges and universities and therefore must be taken before students can enter into courses specific to their major. Though FYC serves as a bridge to college-level reading and writing many students and even some compositionists (those who teach writing in a college or university) do not see the relevancy of the course and instead view FYC as a course with very little applicability within the majors and future careers of college students. Others, including Nathalie Singh-Corcoran, believe FYC is a crucial prerequisite course that does teach skills crucial to the futures and lives of college students. In her essay, Composition as a Write of Passage, Nathalie Singh-Corcoran first, speaks to the purpose and overall goals of an FYC course before explaining how the skills learned in FYC can actually be applied to the majors and future careers of college students.  From the very beginning of her article, Singh-Corcoran establishes a strong foundation from which she can reach her main audience, but, she fails to support her main points in the best possible way by a very sparse use of non-anecdotal or personal experience based evidence.

In “What Is It We Do When We Write Articles Like This One- and How Can We Get Students to Join Us?”, English professor Michael Kleine conducts a research of his own the similarities and the contrasts of students and professors when it comes to writing academic papers- what makes professors differentiate in methods of writing an academic writing piece versus a student and how to have students be more open in writing about their own interests? Mr.Kleine concluded this essential question by observing high school and college students on one Sunday night, writing research papers. He noticed a pattern in all of the students in which they were actually doing, copying. “I know they were writing research papers because they were not writing at all-

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

Thonney states, “a study of scholarly research articles from six disciplines provides insight about academic writing that composition instructors can use to prepare students to write across the curriculum” (2011 pg. ). Moving forward, Joseph Williams and Lawrence McEnerney’s essay, “Writing in College” targets students currently enrolled in college which is clear from the title itself and its first opening sentence at the beginning of the first paragraph. The author states, “Some students make very smooth transitions from writing in high school to writing in college, and we heartily wish all of you an easy passage” (Williams and McEnerney page 1). Throughout the essay, the author provides a set of structure and tips that first year college students should know when writing an academic paper. Among this paper, we are able to see that there are students whose instructors are dissatisfied with their paper because it is “lacking something” ( Williams and McEnenery’s pg1 ), it isn’t “quite there” or “You haven’t change”. Both passages consist of informative research that first year college students can identify themselves.

In “How Do I Write a Text for College” (The World is a Text, 2006), Patty Strong said that writing in in college is much more different than writing in high school and so as the purpose of it. In high school student were told to write texts depending on their prior knowledge while on an institution of higher education students have the flexibility to write not only about what they already learnt but what they are trying to learn. In addition, writing in college requires a higher level of critical thinking and understanding, but it will unequivocally expand their knowledge.

Additionally, this chapter identifies some fears that college students may face when taking writing classes, especially at the time of working on an essay. Most of the time, these terrors are the product of non-factual or misleading beliefs from students that have not taken a writing class yet, however, it plays an important decision making when enrolling to take writing classes.

English professor, Verlyn Klinkenborg, published an essay, “The Decline and Fall of the English Major” on June 22, 2013, about the reduction of the English major in colleges. The author declares, “Writing well isn’t merely a utilitarian skill. It is about developing a rational grace and energy in your conversation with the world around you.” Klinkenborg has taught nonfiction writing to various students at Harvard, Yale, Bard, Pomona, Sarah Lawrence and Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism. The author has found that her students are able to assemble jargon, use proper syntax, and utilize thematic and ideological notions.

In the beginning of this class I looked at writing as a chore. The word “writing” drummed up a vision of a thin man sitting at a cafe with wire rimmed glasses and a goatee. He was wearing dress pants that are too short and crisply creased with a matching vest. He sipped his coffee with his pinky finger curled and was completely lost to the world around him as he typed quickly then paused to read his work. He was born to write and highly organized; a perfectionist. He was all the things I thought I was unable to be, until now.

Writing is way that we can express ourselves, it is a way to interface ideas and thoughts and to prove a point. Throughout my writing experience or process I have struggled with writing especially using details or really expressing myself my work. In this course Facts & Fiction: Portraits in World Art I expect to gain more knowledge on how to write a perfect essay, story, letter, and assignment. I expect to learn new genres and rhetorical situations. I also think my writing will improve academically and I will develop my skills in writing. Also taking my writing to a different point of view, level, and writing something different rather than the usual. I look forward to getting feedback from my peers and learning their thoughts on my writing and how they can help me improve.