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You Mean I Actually Have to Say Something!?!?!

A section of Chapter 2 that really had a lot of meaning to me was the section on page 44 titled “But Why Must the Organizing Idea Be Arguable?”. This is something that I struggled with greatly as I got into high school and had to start writing research papers. As Neman states, “Our students may be relectant to accept the rhetorical – persuasive – function of an organizing idea.” She may as well have been writing about my ninth grade self. Generally all writing done at earlier grades is focused on being informative, not persuasive. It was difficult for me, and I’m certain I wasn’t alone, to go from talking about something to actually saying something about it, if that makes sense. I know I resisted this, and it wasn’t until my junior year of high school that I really felt any comfort with the persuasive paper. I guess my question is then, how do I make students like me more comfortable with this transition earlier in their career as writers?

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