tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6011483.post6813793327493414395..comments2023-08-15T09:45:32.998-04:00Comments on The New Progressive: Teaching writingPeter Gowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13602866242146968481noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6011483.post-48729348710973396552010-05-12T21:01:58.506-04:002010-05-12T21:01:58.506-04:00My name is Tom Johnson I was browsing internet and...My name is Tom Johnson I was browsing internet and found your blog. The author did a great job. I will subscribe to your RSS feeds. Thank you for your contribution. I am a web designer myself. And here some examples of the websites that I designed for <a href="http://www.unclepaydayloan.com" rel="nofollow">payday loan canada</a> <a href="http://www.unclepaydayloan.com/online-payday-loan.shtml" rel="nofollow">online payday loan</a> company.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6011483.post-34678620436928990382008-11-06T18:47:00.000-05:002008-11-06T18:47:00.000-05:00To Jed--I absolutely agree in the largest sense. R...To Jed--I absolutely agree in the largest sense. Rhetoric and Aristotelian structures are the way to go in teaching any kind of communication; remember amusing colleagues a few years back when I had them look at logos-ethos-pathos when we were doing a workshop on teaching students effective presentation skills. I was probably overfocused on my friend's near-despair on the matter of expository writing in history--the old, "it's my opinion, and in a student-centered school, isn't that enough?" dilemma. Thanks for broadening the discussion here.<BR/><BR/>To Guerita--No doubt true, and the DBQ format is exquisite in its way, but I assume that you weren't limiting this kind of instruction just to teaching to a test, were you? (Okay, that was mean, because I know you weren't.) Even the AP has to have a few shining aspects, and you have pointed out one of them. Thanks!Peter Gowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13602866242146968481noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6011483.post-11219141573367566872008-11-06T15:18:00.000-05:002008-11-06T15:18:00.000-05:00I would like to argue that the essay portion of th...I would like to argue that the essay portion of the AP US History exam -- particularly the DBQ -- demands the best teaching of critical thinking, historical analysis, and writing that a formal History course can offer. The multiple choice section lends itself to traditional "drill and kill" methods, but the free response section of this exam requires evidential defense of an arguable thesis statement in an organized structure. It's not a bad guideline, and structuring a US History course around essential questions that are potential AP free response questions -- teaching the components of good writing with examples, analysis of primary source documents, extensive knowledge of 8-10 major eras/themes in American history, and critical thinking around compelling questions -- well, I like to think I had some examples of great historical thinking and writing from some of my students. Then again, maybe I am being smug.<BR/><BR/>~Rebecca Yacono~reyaconohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15143197042692386083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6011483.post-66928180509786560512008-11-06T13:14:00.000-05:002008-11-06T13:14:00.000-05:00I agree that it is important to teach students to ...I agree that it is important to teach students to use facts to support their arguments. Personally, though, I believe that the best way to teach good writing is not to necessary focus on the classical structures of good expository writing on its own, but instead, to look at the broader classic topic of rhetoric. Rhetoric, the strategic use of communication, written or oral, to achieve specificable goals, includes expository writing, as well as communication at large. Whether writing (or speech) is intendeed to be persuasive or informative, studying rhetoric instructs students to look at their audience, to use evidence (logos), to consider the types of sources they are looking at (Encylopedia Britanica versus Wikipedia versus First-hand source? Ethos!), and how to appeal to the emotions of their audience using metaphors, similes, powerful claims, etc. (Pathos).<BR/><BR/>Teaching the Aristotelian proofs, couped with further instruction in the art of rhetoric, will achieve the same aims as teaching the more limited subject of expository writing. It will also be far more useful-rhetoric is a way of writing, a way of speaking, and a way of thinking.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6011483.post-63281203353547890852008-10-24T16:04:00.000-04:002008-10-24T16:04:00.000-04:00I agree completely. The challenge, of course, is ...I agree completely. The challenge, of course, is putting this into practice. Your essay brings to mind a favorite carpenter friend of mine: He builds low cost and environmentally sound homes. His building plan and intentions are progressive in the extreme. But in the service of those ends, he frequently swings a hammer that is nicked with age, using a fluid motion he learned from his grandfather. ... To what new uses will we encourage students to apply the ancient tool of expository writing?<BR/><BR/>Mike AlbrittonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com