Why They Can't Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities

by John Warner

Sound writing instruction emphasizes the rhetorical nature of writing. Sound writing instruction considers the needs of real audiences. Sound writing instruction recognizes writing as a social act. Sound writing instruction enables students to analyze and practice with a variety of genres. Sound writing instruction recognizes writing processes as iterative and complex. Sound writing instruction depends upon frequent, timely, and context-specific feedback to students from an experienced postsecondary instructor. Sound writing instruction emphasizes relationships between writing and technologies. Sound writing instruction supports learning, engagement, and critical thinking in courses across the curriculum. Sound writing instruction provides students with the support necessary to achieve their goals. Sound writing instruction extends from a knowledge of theories of writing (including, but not limited to, those theories developed in the field of composition and rhetoric). Sound writing instruction is provided by instructors with reasonable and equitable working conditions. Sound writing instruction is assessed through a collaborative effort that focuses on student learning within and beyond a writing course.1