Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Thinking about Monday

I thought the class discussion on Monday (looking at assignments and determining what theory they fit) was pretty interesting. The rhetoric major in me likes to analyze a lot of different things, but I can honestly say I never thought to pick apart an assignment sheet before. Though after doing so,  it occurred to me that I don't think teachers themselves always know which theory they like/use the most. For example, I've had high school teachers and professors that assign a paper similar to an expressivist/ social constructionist essay, only to grade the essay according to current tradition rules. It seems to me that students and teachers alike can confuse what the most important aspects of what "good" writing are. I always thought good writing was writing that made an impact (whether it was personal or on another person), but since the strength of that impact depends on the standards the writing is held to, how do you choose the standards that will effectively impact the most people?

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