A Course In Expository Writing

Author : Gertrude Buck
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 13 : 9781530029228
Total Pages : 302 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (292 download)

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Download or read book A Course in Expository Writing written by Gertrude Buck and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-02-12 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An excerpt from the PREFACE. The English teacher, more perhaps than any other, is consciously aiming, not to give his students information, but to make them acquire capacity, -capacity, in this case, for expressing their thought to others. But it is only by writing that the student can learn to write well, though much writing may not teach this, and one of the difficulties which an English teacher has to meet is a no less fundamental one than the difficulty of getting his students to write at all-to write, that is, not perfunctorily, but spontaneously, for this is the only kind of writing that counts. This difficulty has its source, at least very largely, in the student's sense of the artificial character of his work. What is the use, he thinks, of writing about the birthplace of Hawthorne, or the character of Lady Macbeth? His teacher knows all about them beforehand, and besides, he isn't writing to his teacher, he isn't writing to anybody, he is just " writing a composition" that is to be corrected for spelling, punctuation, paragraphing; or for its lack of certain qualities, such as "clearness," "precision," and " unity." No wonder he finds it hard to write. We ourselves, when alone, do not usually talk aloud about the things around us, describe the picture before us, or the desk, or the view. We should feel "silly" to be talking to nobody. Why should we expect a child to talk to nobody on paper? He feels " silly" too, or at least uncomfortable. But give him somebody to talk to, a real audience, and a subject that his audience is interested in, and his whole attitude will change. Tell him to " describe a game of basket-ball," and he will be lifeless enough; but find some classmates who like football better, and tell him to describe the game to them so as to convert them, or let each side try to convert the other, with the class as judge, -then he has something worth doing. Evidently it is the subject, as well as the audience, that has been wrong; give a boy or girl something that he-not we-calls "interesting," and give him somebody who is interested, or whom he must make interested, and he will write for you. Not that "the character of Lady Macbeth" is in itself an unfit subject. Take a class studying Macbeth for college preparatory work and set them talking about the characters. Some will pity Macbeth and despise his lady, others will feel differently; discussion will arise, sides will be taken. Before they have reached a decision, tell each student to defend his opinion in writing; the results will be spirited, and the effect of the writing, when read to the class, will be eagerly watched, while if a little argument creeps into the exposition, no harm is done. All sorts of such devices can be found to provide the students with an audience, and of course it will be best of all if they feel that the teacher himself is a real, not a sham, audience; that he is listening for what they have to say, as well as holding himself ready to correct the way they say it. And when the students have got a little out of the old rut of "writing compositions" addressed to nobody, and have had some experience in writing to real readers, they will be able to imagine audiences for themselves, and write with vigor to these hypothetical hearers. They will describe a football game " to a boy who was on the team last year," or " to a gentleman who doesn't want his son to play, but may be persuaded to let him," etc., etc. In the following pages the subjects suggested for writing have not always had their specific audience thus defined, because this can often be better done by the teacher himself so as to appeal most successfully to the particular students he is dealing with. Supposing, then, that by various means the teacher has got some spirited writing from his students; this writing must be criticized, and how shall it be done without dampening their ardor and losing everything that has been gained?