In this Book
- Why They Can't Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities
- Book
- 2018
- Published by: Johns Hopkins University Press
summary
An important challenge to what currently masquerades as conventional wisdom regarding the teaching of writing.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.
Table of Contents
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- Title Page, Copyright Page
- pp. i-vi
- Our Writing “Crisis"
- pp. 1-8
- Johnny Could Never Write
- pp. 11-17
- The Writer’s Practice
- pp. 18-27
- The Five-Paragraph Essay
- pp. 28-32
- Part Two. The Other Necessities
- pp. 33-34
- The Problem of Surveillance
- pp. 43-56
- The Problem of Education Fads
- pp. 73-86
- The Problem of Folklore
- pp. 104-112
- The Problem of Precarity
- pp. 113-124
- Part Three. A New Framework
- pp. 125-126
- Why School?
- pp. 127-141
- Increasing Rigor
- pp. 142-145
- Writing Experiences
- pp. 154-175
- Increasing Challenges
- pp. 176-184
- Part Four. Unanswered Questions
- pp. 185-186
- What about Academics?
- pp. 187-206
- What about Grammar?
- pp. 207-212
- What about Grades?
- pp. 213-218
- What about the Children?
- pp. 219-226
- What about the Teachers?
- pp. 227-236
- In Conclusion
- pp. 237-242
- Acknowledgments
- pp. 243-246
Additional Information
ISBN
9781421427119
Related ISBN(s)
9781421427102, 9781421437989
MARC Record
OCLC
1056952312
Pages
288
Launched on MUSE
2018-12-03
Language
English
Open Access
No