E-Book Overview
There seems to be widespread agreement that--when it comes to the writing skills of college students--we are in the midst of a crisis. In Why They Can't Write, John Warner, who taught writing at the college level for two decades, argues that the problem isn't caused by a lack of rigor, or smartphones, or some generational character defect. Instead, he asserts, we're teaching writing wrong. Warner blames this on decades of educational reform rooted in standardization, assessments, and accountability. We have done no more, Warner argues, than conditioned students to perform writing-related simulations, which pass temporary muster but do little to help students develop their writing abilities. This style of teaching has made students passive and disengaged. Worse yet, it hasn't prepared them for writing in the college classroom. Rather than making choices and thinking critically, as writers must, undergraduates simply follow the rules--such as the five-paragraph essay--designed to help them pass these high-stakes assessments. In Why They Can't Write, Warner has crafted both a diagnosis for what ails us and a blueprint for fixing a broken system. Combining current knowledge of what works in teaching and learning with the most enduring philosophies of classical education, this book challenges readers to develop the skills, attitudes, knowledge, and habits of mind of strong writers.
E-Book Content
Contents Our Writing “Crisis” 1 PART ONE KILLING T H E F IV E - P A R A G R A PH E SS AY
Johnny Could Never Write 11 The Writer’s Practice 18
The Five-Paragraph Essay 28 PART TWO THE OTHER N E CE SSITIE S
The Problem of Atmosphere 35
The Problem of Surveillance 43 The Problem of Assessment and Standardization 57
The Problem of Education Fads 73
The Problem of Technology Hype 87 The Problem of Folklore 104
The Problem of Precarity 113 PART THR E E A NE W F RA M E W O R K
Why School? 127
Increasing Rigor 142
Making Writing Meaningful by Making Meaningful Writing 146 Writing Experiences 154
Increasing Challenges 176
viii Contents PART F OUR UNANSWER E D Q U E ST IO N S
What about Academics? 187 What about Grammar? 207 What about Grades? 213
What about the C hildren? 219 What about the Teachers? 227 In Conclusion 237 Acknowledgments 243 Notes 247 Index 265
Why They Can’t Write
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Our Writing “Crisis”
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here seems to be widespread agreement that when it comes T to the writing skills of college students, and even recent college graduates, we are in the midst of a crisis. I have twenty years of experience teaching writing at the college level. Despite my best efforts, p eople sometimes discover this fact, and when they do, they ask: Why c an’t my new employees write? I ask my new friends what they mean when they say this. My new friends shake their heads like a fly is buzzing around their faces as they wave their hands in annoyance. What they write doesn’t make sense! I can’t even understand the sentences, let alone the message! I have to redo everything! And why do they keep saying “plethora”? We’re often talking about young people of significant promise, graduates of highly selective universities. Some of them even have postgraduate degrees in law or business. They are supposed to be better than whatever it is they are. “Why do you think they c an’t write?” I ask. They guess that the current generation is somehow defective—coddled snowflakes who have never been properly challenged. “So, lack of rigor,” I say. Exactly! “It’s not lack of rigor,” I say. At least it’s not lack of rigor in the ways t hey’re thinking about the term. They look doubtful, but for the moment they