<p>That question is coming from a person who has not taken a decent writing class until senior year; and it only lasts a semester. For years, I have been victimized by the partial inability to properly write. I attribute much of this problem to my school lacking a decent high-level English course and putting far too much attention on text reading and interpreting the ramblings and writings of authors (popularly known as literature). Despite all that forced reading, I can't say that I'm better off than the typical disadvantaged student at "interpreting" the writings of others. Of course, I'm not the only person in this situation. For example, the SAT and ACT expect that most high school students know how to write. However, the highest scores on the essay sections of those "standardized" exams are given to those who tend to have a higher quality of education in writing. The sad fact is, not everyone learns how to properly write; and this seems to be in issue in many schools around the country. While a student is reading thousands of books, he or she may not even be able to write a decent essay. Is there really such a poor quality of writing education in the middle-of-the-road high schools?</p>
<p>You need a tough teacher to teach you how to write. I go to a middle of the road high school, and without my freshman English teacher, who(m) a lot of students hate because she was so tough, I would not have done nearly as well on the SAT and ACT writing.</p>
<p>No there is not enough emphasis. I thought I was a good writer until I got to composition this year. I got a 75 on my first essay… (which others argued was good after they saw my grade)
I did well on a SAT writing, though. That’s the easiest section. =O</p>
<p>To be honest, based on the way you wrote your post you seem pretty adept at writing quality prose(not regarding some minor organizational flaws and fluidity lapses) But besides that, I don’t really see what you are complaining about? Clearly you must have had a strong foundation in writing otherwise your writing would have been able to write that well. </p>
<p>Still on a broader level I don’t believe it’s that great of an issue. Although I don’t know about other high schools, I can say most of my writing education was not from school or teachers, but rather from reading a great deal. And then perhaps adopting the style of the author. I don’t believe there is any set way to “teach” you how to write. Sure they can teach you the formulaic 5-paragraph essay structure but that should have been really learned in elementary/middle school. If that itself is not occurring, then it becomes a problem. Otherwise, the great creativity required to create good writing simply can’t be “learned”.</p>
<p>I think that if one reads, as you said, “thousands of books,” and studies grammar and style on one’s own, one would become a good writer. The English teachers at my school, or at the very least the ones whom I’ve had, with the exception of my 8th grade teacher, aren’t ones whom I would call the greatest and certainly aren’t ones whom I think anyone would term tough. Nonetheless, I’ve developed a style they all seem to like and which I would call good.
I don’t like the idea that a person needs a tough teacher to teach good writing. One of my favorite authors delayed going to college because he “wanted to be a writer, and no teacher or professor was going to make [him] one if [he] wasn’t.” Of course he’s talking about really being a writer, not about developing the skills needed to write a good SAT or ACT essay. (In general, I’d say the skills needed for a high-scoring SAT or ACT essay are quite different from the skills needed for good writing.)</p>
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<p>My writing is at this level because of experience. My freshman year “English” class was a bit of an unorganized joke, so it took me a while (about two high school years) to start writing decent literary (that evil adjective) essays and improve my historical essays, which were always graded high. The aspects of writing I speak of are not so much the simplistic ones, such as essay format and thesis, but the more intricate ones, such as proof methodology, style, and rhetoric. Those, I believe, aren’t necessarily taught very much unless one goes to some high level school located wherever.</p>
<p>There isn’t enough emphasis in most schools. Luckily I went to one that put a major emphasis on writing in English classes. I usually got B-s on them, but now in college I’m getting B+s or even A-s. I’ve looked at some other people’s writing and, at the risk of sounding boastful, I’m amazed at how poor some people’s writing can be.</p>
<p>I think what classes also need to emphasize (my school included) is finding your own voice in writing. Academic writing often ends up incredibly bland, because people feel constrained that they have to write in a very formal tone. That’s what I did all of high school and I think that’s why I always got B-s. Ever since I started reviewing restaurants in my spare time though (I did that a lot during the summer) I think my writing has improved as a result. My English teacher here loves my writing and the fact that I’m trying to develop my own style and voice.</p>
<p>And yeah, the skills for writing a good SAT essay are different from writing something actually interesting. The SAT essay has good intentions, but it’s hard to really see how well someone writes when they only have 20 minutes and they feel constrained to very specific standards.</p>
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<p>Okay, I understand what you are saying. Still, in my opinion it becomes difficult in learn those sorts of aspects of writing from a teacher, for everyone has a different “voice”. Honestly, I used to suck at writing before high school. The reason for the change was not because of some magnificent teacher that revolutionized my style or rhetoric. It was simply a stronger base in the basics that I seemed to be lacking. After that it was really up to me to make my own writing unique and develop my voice. Honestly, the best way was through reading what “good” writing sounds like. And I don’t necessarily mean pretentious writing from 100s of years ago, there are also lots of modern writing that one could deem well-written.</p>
<p>But recently, I started taking AP Language and Composition, which really changed by outlook on how to write. Now rather than simply picking up techniques used by various authors, you are able to put a name on the techniques and then hopefully utilize them in your own personal writing. Perhaps, your complaint is then there is too much focus, on the Literature aspect which is a separate AP course. Then I agree, because I realized I honestly didn’t learn that much on how to write until now. But I think the reason there isn’t enough emphasis on how to write as such because there really isn’t a need to. You can honestly get by in life by simply being able to write a basic essay with good structure and organization. And even for the purposes of tests like the SAT, that is enough.</p>
<p>So I guess in reality, they are taught at higher levels, but at the basic high-school they aren’t really taught because they are only necessary for the highly-motivated student who wishes to excel in writing, in which case they can simply teach them self.</p>
<p>I know how you feel. I agree that there isn’t enough emphasize on writing, and I came to that realization this year in my Literature class. I wish this hit me sooner, but unfortunately I got stuck with terrible English teachers for the last 3 years. I always thought I was a decent writer, but my English teacher, who is an extraordinary writer himself, proved me wrong with the first test of this year. My problem is that the more explicit I try to be with my writing, the more implicit it ends up sounding. On top of that, I can never really organize my thoughts on paper and make it sound cohesive and actually make sense. I’m such a scatterbrain to be honest and it ends up costing you big time, grade-wise. </p>
<p>Every single test in my Lit. class is an essay because my teacher doesn’t believe in multiple choice tests. I’m really hoping I come out as a much stronger writer when I’m done with that class.</p>
<p>Anyways, tomorrow is my big redemption day. It’s the final test of the quarter and my average is a flat 80 in that class :/.</p>
<p>^ You have school on Veteran’s Day?</p>
<p>I never had great teachers for writing either; I wouldn’t say I’m great at it, but I consider myself decent enough to understand the processes and little methodologies of writing and destroy in class essays for AP english and other things like that.</p>
<p>I think it’s somewhat of an intuitive thing that you grasp as you read different texts over time; my writing was terrible before 10th grade (last year), probably because I never cared to read or write - as I increased my writing and reading time, not a lot, but nevertheless an increase (inevitably as a result of the increasing caliber of English and history classes), I simply improved. Never had any formal training on grammar, subtle rules or anything of that fashion.</p>
<p>I think there’s enough emphasis on writing, but not on the right type of writing. Today, there’s a lot of focus on writing with a “correct” structure and writing with speed. I’m lucky to have a teacher this year who doesn’t care so much about structure and teaches fluidity and graceful diction and syntax. But I mean, really, we reward people for being able to write something decently in 25 minutes, when all they do is plug in some examples into a formula that’s already set. In the SAT, as long as you have decent grammar, use some strong words, and just plug in 3 examples, an intro, and a conclusion, you got yourself a good essay grade. In my opinion, we should all be learning about smooth, convincing writing. We shouldn’t have structures and formulas, I think we should be taught to be creative (while not sacrificing the effectiveness of your writing)</p>