Blog

Post 4

To me, expecting students to know how to write academically and be able to
switch between that and a conversational tone is absolute insanity. Throughout my
earlier years in middle school and high school, if I were to write a paper including a
first person pronoun, it would be considered a failure in the eyes of my teachers. My
sixth grade teacher reinforced an example of this foolish grading when I handed in a
paper including the word I. She looked at the first paragraph, noticed the word,
and tossed the paper into the trash. Now transition to college, where we are
expected to know how to write full papers in a conversational tone. Jenkins does a
social justice for all college students by writing this piece, because it is almost
absurd to expect a student to know how to do something without any formal
training. It is like handing a surgical instrument to someone who wants to become a
surgeon, but had no med school, and saying, do your best, but do not kill him.

I am actually glad this piece was chosen for this weeks blog post because it is
a topic that needed light to be shed upon it. When Jenkinss son received a B on his
paper, and he asked the teacher why, she acknowledged it was clear of any
punctuation or organizational errors. Then what was it? She retorted with this
phrase, It was not academic enough. Lets backtrack for a second here. High school
teaches students to bide by the golden rule of the five-paragraph style with little
emotional appeal. In essence, make it as dry and informational as possible. But as
we see know, as kids are coming to the college setting, they are so brainwashed by
this method, and their papers are as exciting as watching C-Span. So to sum up this
topic, expecting students to be able to switch between the two essential writing
styles necessary for college success is just wrong. I think the educational system
below the college level needs a revamp, because this lack of knowledge in the
writing field is hindering students ability to succeed in writing.