Mick Marchan

1/12/2014
Expository Writing
Period 3
The Writing is on the Wall Commentary

- How different is the utopia that the author references to from today?
- Why didnt spell-checks and word processing improve students scores?

The author of this article has a dynamic tone that flows from cynicism to optimism. In
the beginning, statements such as, Just 24 percent of students in the eighth and 12
th

grades were proficient in writing, nail in the cynical attitude of the author. This quote
provides a factual basis behind the comparison of a post-apocalyptic idiot-driven
America to the actual future of America. Not only does this persuade the reader through
logical reasoning, or logos, it effectively exhibits the authors message about Americas
currently dim future. However, in the end of the article, the authors optimism can be
show through statements such as, In this utopia, theyll somehow inspire future
generations to work hard and to write well, too. In this statement, they refers to the
current 3 percent who are advanced in writing by the NAEPs standards. This exhibits
the final tone of the author as it relies on principles that are the opposite of what he
previously held. Instead of viewing the future as doomed because of the vast lack of
writing proficiency among students, he views it as bright due to a minority of students
being advanced and believes that they will be the heralds of utopia.

The general argument made by Esther Cepeda in her work, The Writing is on the
Wall, is that a vast majority of American students show a lack of proficiency in writing
due to a variety of reasons that should be changed. More specifically, Cepeda argues
that our modern education system is broken due to our current understanding of
learning. She states, We teach them the language of inability by assuring them that if
they are being challenged by a difficult reading passage, it must be because they are
visual learners. In this passage, Cepeda is suggesting that educators are essentially
handing out passing grades because they broadly label anyone who is challenged by
the material presented to them as a special learner. This point is used to support her
argument as the broad use of these labels reinforces a lack of perseverance among
students, leading to poor writing skills. Furthermore, Cepeda also claims that, These
subjects are hard and no one likes hard work anymore. Though we pay lip service to
working hard, most students are subtly taught to avoid it. This statement further
supports her argument as it reinforces the idea of our education system not incentivizing
eminence enough. When these incentives are not in place, students have no reason to
strive for proficiency in writing if it challenges them. To summarize, Cepedas belief is
that our education system needs to push the limits of our students abilities.
From my point of view, Cepedas argument has some merit and I agree with her
to a certain extent. However, I believe that a majority of her argument is inaccurate
purely because she is completely unable to support her ideas with facts. More
specifically, there is no foundation behind people not liking hard work or teachers
labeling students as special learners if they arent willing to try. Personally, I believe that
these events happen, but not nearly as often as Cepeda suggests. I think the real
problem behind a lack of proficient writing among American students is because of the
standards held by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). For
instance, it is likely that these standards are above what the average state curriculum
teaches their students. In order to properly assess achievement and success in areas
such as writing, reading, or math, tests have to reflect what is taught in the classroom
and what is expected of the students. Although Cepeda might object that this is just
another instance of schools teaching their students to avoid excellence, I maintain that
knowledge based testing is entirely irrelevant if the tests consists of content that is not a
part of state standards. Therefore, I conclude that the current lack of proficiency in
writing among American students is not due to our education system reinforcing
escapism, but because the standards of the NAEP are different than the curriculum of
each state.











Bibliography
Cepeda, Esther. "The Writing Is on the Wall." The Washington Post Writers
Group. Sept. 20, 2012.