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2. I've got all kinds of AP credits in English. Can I still enroll in English
110? (Do I want to?)
3. I already write really really well. In fact, I've published two chapbooks of
my own poetry. What do you think of that?
4. I want to major in English but this course doesn't count toward an
English
major. So why should I take it?
5. Why doesn't everybody teach writing the same way? Why isn't there just
one standard course with just one standard syllabus for all sections of
English 110? Why do all you English professors teach English 110
differently???
6. Why don't you use a textbook in your writing class?
7. Isn't Freshman Core supposed to teach me how to write? If so, why do I
need to take another course in writing from you?
8. I am a sophomore (or a junior or senior) who couldn't get in English as a
froshperson. Can I still sign up for English 110?
[That's a tough call. I've met many students who do very well on
their SAT's--and some of them can write and some of them can't. (SAT's
are aptitude tests, not achievement tests.) If you come from a school with a
strong program in writing; if you have a strong background in writing
academic papers longer than two pages; if you've had teachers who have
looked carefully at your style and helped you to recognize wordiness and
strangeness; if you look at my assignments and understand the constraints of
those assignments--then you may not need English 110. If you have doubts,
stop by and show me some of your work.]
[If you've got AP credits in English composition, then you may not
want to take English 110. That's not an endorsement of the AP program or
the AP test. (I know the test and have even been a reader for ETS.)
Passing a standardized test and taking an in-class writing sample may not say
anything about your ability to write a sustained academic paper. But
remember: If you take English 110 and have AP credit in composition, you
will lose those AP credits. (If you have doubts about your writing; if your
writing truly sucks; if you are willing to give up AP credits--then do so.
Over the years, I've had many of the best students at Whitman as students
in English 110--and many
of them still remain my friends.)]
[I don't know how to respond to this. Some of the best writers at
Whitman are also poets; but sometimes people who say they are poets are
not the best writers at Whitman. If you are a person who likes to write
"from the heart" and bogs down when people want you to write about other
people's ideas; if you think of yourself as a "free spirit"; if you rebel when
your teachers want you to work on your "structure"; if your favorite poet is
e.e. cummings; if you catch yourself saying things like "I know what I want to
say, I just can't say it" or "I can do it but it's so . . . boring!"--then you may
still profit by taking English 110. (You could be unteachable, too--but that's
a different kind of problem that I don't want to get into
here.)]
[Some English majors can write; some can't. (Certainly, some English
majors think they know more about writing than they do.)
]
[There's no one way to teach writing. (I am not, for
instance, a touchy-feely writing teacher and have my doubts about touchy-
feely approaches; but certainly I know fine touchy-feely teachers out there
who are admired by everybody. I don't believe in teaching writing by making
students read great books and write about them; but again, I know excellent
teachers who do.) I might add that there's no such thing as a "standard"
course in any department. Even when teachers work from the same
syllabus, their courses are always different. Ask around; find out who the
best students are and find out what they say about the best professors.
Never choose a class simply because it has the right title; choose your
classes by professor. (That's what I'd say if you were my
advisee.)]
[Writing textbooks even by famous writing teachers suck. (I once
wrote a textbook and it sucked, too.) Textbooks are not written to help
students write; they're written to make money for authors and publishers.
They are never innovative and often demeaning and expensive. (So are
almost all
handbooks.)]
[Freshman Core is supposed to be a writing intensive course--and
students do write several papers in it. But if you look at the course, it's
mostly a course in big ideas and big, difficult texts. In fact, there's so much
content in the course that students spend more time learning to read and
discuss great ideas than they do learning to write. I say that knowing that
there are many excellent, conscientious teachers in Core who spend as much
time as they can teaching their students how to write--but there's just too
much to do in Core to turn it into a writing course--especially for students
who need or want a lot of practice and a lot of
feedback.]
[English 110 is designated as a freshman course--though I don't
exactly know why. I tend to let a few non-freshmen into class each
semester--but you'll need to get my written consent. (Most of us teaching
110 will let upper-classmen in if they have good enough reasons.) I often
tell juniors and seniors to take English 210 instead--especially if they've done
a lot of writing at Whitman and have special needs. Certainly, juniors and
seniors have had a lot more experience writing papers than freshmen and
come to writing classes with a much stronger sense of what they want out of
their writing teachers as well as a stronger sense of their own academic
interests.]