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WRITING WELL: Objectives and Readings
Objectives
If you can't write clear and correct English, many powerful people will
think less of you. These powerful people
include university admissions committees, professors, and prospective employers.
You often get only one chance to impress these people, and
they do not have the time or inclination to wade through inept, half-baked prose.
Maybe it's unfair of them to judge you harshly on the basis of your writing,
but that's beside the point: life is often unfair. If you want to change the world
in a civilized way,
you're going to have to convince people with clear, rational arguments.
Most community college students do not write well. Bright students who
can't write are the rule, not the exception. Many students have told me they
did no serious work on writing in high school. They say they have never had a
teacher who insisted on correct
grammar and spelling. They say they have never been
punished for plagiarism. The best students usually begin my
class writing excessively
wordy prose; they have never been taught to write
simply and clearly. I have heard about high school
English classes in which students simply "shared their feelings" or
watched Hollywood movies or did "role-playing".
In short, most of my students have never been challenged to write
as well as they can.
I intend to challenge you.
Some people think Standard Written English (SWE) is merely Standard White English —
elitist and politically incorrect — and if a student's first language is not SWE, the student
should not be forced to use SWE. I do not
agree.
I am persuaded (and entertained) by David Foster Wallace's arguments in the article
"Tense Present: Democracy, English, and the Wars over Usage."
Read it yourself and see what you think!
You should plan to work throughout the semester on these sections. You will probably need to review
spelling, grammar, and usage matters more than once. For better or worse,
I will read your papers with respect: I will treat your words as if what you wrote is exactly
what you intended to write.
Most people (including your instructor) do not write anything well the
first time around. As your English teachers have no doubt
told you, "Good writing is rewriting." In this portion of the class, I would like
you to get in the habit of editing your writing. In addition to the items
in Part 4 here on Angel,
you are also required to read the
entire O'Conner text. If the O'Conner text is too advanced for you (if you do not
know what "passive voice" or "parallel construction" mean, or if you do not know the
difference between an adjective and an adverb, for
example),
then you have some serious catching up to do.
Midterm 1 will ask about this writing material, but writing
counts on all work for this class. See the Syllabus for how
writing
affects your grade.
Every semester, students lose significant credit
because of easily-corrected English errors.
Be sure to take all the self-tests
on this material before the exam. Go to English Self Tests from the Home page or the Course Menu.
If you do not pass these self-tests, it's YOUR job to
figure out what you did wrong. Every self-test includes links to explanations of
the relevant principles of grammar or usage. I strongly suggest you retake the self-tests
until you show improvement.
I will be happy to help you by answering specific questions.
Readings
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