Spring Break
Student writing skills subpar for college classes
Molly Phillips, Contributing Writer, mphillip@smu
Issue date: 5/4/07 Section: News
Channing Cass transferred to SMU in the fall of 2006 from the University of Oklahoma.
A senior English major, Cass always considered herself a strong writer and reader until enrolling in Professor Beth Newman's poetry class.
Cass said that Newman returned the class' first writing assignment with a note attached to her paper calling her a poor writer who should never have made it so far as an English major.
"She said my writing was under-par for an English major and she didn't see how I could be successful in the major," Cass said.
If Cass is a senior and majoring in English, then her situation raises a more serious issue: Are freshmen prepared for college-level writing?
SMU's Rhetoric Director Jo Goyne believes incoming freshmen are more prepared for college-level writing than they have been in the past.
"In the 10 years that I have been the director here, I believe the SAT scores of incoming freshmen have gone up, which would lead us in some ways to believe freshman are more prepared," she said.
But Goyne said rhetoric is still necessary because incoming students are not analytically prepared to write papers. Rhetoric is a first-year, two-semester, writing program that all incoming students must take.
"In our rhetoric classes we're asking students to think on their own rather than simply agreeing with sources as they would in high school," she said.
Department of Anthropology Professor Carolyn Smith-Morris said many freshmen are good writers but few students come to SMU willing or able to learn critical writing skills.
Many students tend to accept their texts as factual and unbiased and ignore the assumptions of the authors, she said.
"Through their college courses, most students are exposed to multiple and sometimes conflicting perspectives, and so they learn to be more critical about everything they learn, read and hear," Smith-Morris said.
Two years ago the Division of Journalism at SMU added the course Writing and Editing for Journalists because faculty members believed that students coming in after two semesters of rhetoric were still unprepared for the rigorous reporting classes they would have to take. The course emphasizes grammar, punctuation and learning Associated Press style.
A senior English major, Cass always considered herself a strong writer and reader until enrolling in Professor Beth Newman's poetry class.
Cass said that Newman returned the class' first writing assignment with a note attached to her paper calling her a poor writer who should never have made it so far as an English major.
"She said my writing was under-par for an English major and she didn't see how I could be successful in the major," Cass said.
If Cass is a senior and majoring in English, then her situation raises a more serious issue: Are freshmen prepared for college-level writing?
SMU's Rhetoric Director Jo Goyne believes incoming freshmen are more prepared for college-level writing than they have been in the past.
"In the 10 years that I have been the director here, I believe the SAT scores of incoming freshmen have gone up, which would lead us in some ways to believe freshman are more prepared," she said.
But Goyne said rhetoric is still necessary because incoming students are not analytically prepared to write papers. Rhetoric is a first-year, two-semester, writing program that all incoming students must take.
"In our rhetoric classes we're asking students to think on their own rather than simply agreeing with sources as they would in high school," she said.
Department of Anthropology Professor Carolyn Smith-Morris said many freshmen are good writers but few students come to SMU willing or able to learn critical writing skills.
Many students tend to accept their texts as factual and unbiased and ignore the assumptions of the authors, she said.
"Through their college courses, most students are exposed to multiple and sometimes conflicting perspectives, and so they learn to be more critical about everything they learn, read and hear," Smith-Morris said.
Two years ago the Division of Journalism at SMU added the course Writing and Editing for Journalists because faculty members believed that students coming in after two semesters of rhetoric were still unprepared for the rigorous reporting classes they would have to take. The course emphasizes grammar, punctuation and learning Associated Press style.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Beth Newman
posted 5/05/07 @ 10:56 AM EST
I should have been contacted to respond to the words attributed to me by Channing Cass. I was indeed critical of her writing--but constructively, not dismissively, as her words suggest. (Continued…)
Liz
posted 5/25/07 @ 11:25 PM EST
The Daily Campus should have contacted Professor Newman before publishing this article. Professor Newman deserves the right to respond to these allegations in the same forum that gave Channing a voice. (Continued…)
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