Defining Basic Writing

How would you define basic writing? In answering, keep in mind the readings and class discussion so far and also give examples, if applicable, from your teaching or other experiences.

As shown in the picture on the first page of the article “In the Basement of the Ivory Tower,” I could imagine what Professor has been doing to his students and asked myself the same question, “How could he do this to the students?” with many other questions on the margins of the article.

What made him think that reading literature would benefit all of the students in writing class? How come he could not think that reading literature can be of value only to students interested in it? Why didn’t he try other ways to teach writing even after seeing more than half of his students failing his class? Why has he ever thought about reasons of his high failure rate before he jumped to the conclusion that some students were uneducable? If it is the reality that colleges need marginal students who are expected to fail anyway for financial reasons, and if the single professor could not change this reality, why didn’t he just accept it and study his students and their needs to achieve the course objectives? Do computer skills matter to write a paper to give a student an F? What is the issue of the old students? Why the chronological age should be the issue in teaching writing?

My answer for all these questions is that Professor X is self-centered rather than student-centered; he teaches only what he loves, Literature, rather than what students need. What he is doing is to tailor his writing courses based on his interest and his enjoyment. His biases and few efforts to understand the students and courses are likely to make difficult for his worst, hopeless, unfit, unqualified, and aged students to get right opportunities to learn write.

Mike Rose’s article shows how a teacher can make a difference in remedial writing class. He did research to know what his students are required to know in their disciplines to help them be successful in college. The following lines are from his article.

“Writing filled with grammatical error does not preclude engagement with sophisticated intellectual material, and that error can be addressed effectively as one is engaging such material.”

“Successful remedial programs set high standards; are focused on inquiry and problem solving in a substantial curriculum; utilize a pedagogy that is supportive and interactive; draw on a variety of techniques and approaches; and are in-line with student goals and provide credit for coursework.”

The last question I made on my note is whether Professor X ever tried or read this to teach writing before grumbling about his agonies.

Nobody seems to be born to write although some historical writers look so. I was so amazed when I found out that Walter Whitman consistently edited Leaves of Grass until his death for more than 30 years. Of course, creative writing seems to require more delicate literacy skills, but what seems to be true is that writing does not come in naturally without any practice. (My the other post show that how prorific writers discipline themselves to be better and better)

I want to say that basic writers just need more practice with appropriate instruction. Some writers may not be as good as the other writers; however, it is not because they are less intelligent. I think it is because people are born to be different in some ways. Frankly, I think not everyone needs to know how to write perfectly, which is impossible anyway.

Students in basic writing are not deficient; rather, they just need practice. Even if some students sometimes look less competent than others, the point is not whether they can be taught or not. The question as a teacher to ask is how he/she makes a difference to provide better chances to the students.

Even standards change as with time. Like the discussion in class, there are no such writing to be labeled as "wrong" since it is not just a matter of being wrong and right. In fact, this will not help dispelling images of basic writing.

Once teachers lower their expectations, the effectiveness of teaching will be lowered as well as in the instance of Professor X. As Mina P. Shaughnessy claims, “Teachers are the answers to the learning problems of students” (6).

Basic writing, I still do not know how to define. It is not as simple as the word ‘basic’ implies. But I am sure that basic writing should be interpreted in a way that everyone with different goals can learn to write with an effort to communicating with other writers.