Chapters 1&2 of Cohesive Writing

I like the idea of students reading the A papers, or at least reading examples of what is good about another’s papers. It is at least more realistic than expecting the students to read professional essays and literary articles.

In the second chapter I learned that anthologies are making efforts to include non-fiction in their books. Jago writes that “many state standards demand that students read ‘informational materials and workplace documents’” (24). This statement baffles me, especially after discussing in other education classes the value of teaching students in efforts to make them into “model citizens” or “productive members of society.” This way of thinking seems dehumanizing to me. I don’t argue with the value of nonfiction, however; some of the best reads are articles or true stories. I think I’d just like to know what exactly a “workplace document” is supposed to be. Are we priming our students to be cubical paper-pushers, or are we more concerned with making sure they have a range of writing to chose from? I hope it’s the latter, and I believe I’ll think of it that way since some students may benefit from different sorts of readings such as “workplace documents” to keep them interested.

Jago’s writings seem to promote placing students into groups to do their discussing and question-answering. I like this idea and I also like what she has outlined on page 26. I also like how Jago points out the importance of defining the difference between the persuasive and informational writing. It can be confusing when writing a paper, because largely when one is writing something informational the writer also has an opinion on the subject. It’s important for the students to know whether they are expected to be telling and informing, or taking a stance and making an argument.