Preview

High School Failure

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
697 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
High School Failure
In Seven Ways High School Prepares You for Failure, Kelsey Diaz explains why high school English is a “lie.” She had to learn a different way of writing, because the structure taught, 5- paragraph essay, was not very helpful when writing in college. Diaz blames the “standardized test” system for the way teachers teach and what materials need to be covered. There are a lot of “rules” college students will break when writing in college. It all goes back to writers being unique and having different perspectives of writing out their own thoughts. In the university professors expect the student to prove their point independently and not to rely entirely on the sources. Diaz states that high school teachers want each source to prove the students …show more content…
Learning to figure out the texts meaning of the source is important if one does not know how. These are questions Kelsey Diaz has listed to ask oneself when analyzing a text: Who wrote it? Why? What are they trying to accomplish? What are their intentions for the reader? Is the writer biased? Do two different sources disagree? Why? (pg. 709) Diaz strongly believes that the student needs to take control when writing their paper, because they have the most to lose, not their sources. Interviewing sources rarely happen in high school or not at all, but in college it is possible to happen at least one time. She explains that the student does not have to write down every word the interviewee says and only focus on important questions that relate to the research. Lastly, most teachers in high school like to scare students into thinking their all alone in college, but Diaz explains that it is very untrue. University classes are much bigger in capacity than high school classes, but there will most likely be someone as confused as another; that is where teamwork comes in or just simply ask the professor for help or

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    An adept writer usually depends on an existing way of writing which they learnt from others. The basic procedures of academic writing can be found in the templates which would help students to be familiar with conventional writing patterns and to make more sounded arguments. The most essential template in the book is the “they say, I say” template that teaches students to react to the arguments made by other people. The authors believed that a well-argued academic writing should include the opinion of others so that readers will know why there is a need to make an argument. The arguments that writers respond to do not have to be an eminent writer or the audience. From the template, we can learn that we do not need to be restricted to agreement and disagreement. We can agree and disagree at the same time. In addition, templates can help students to make more complicated moves…

    • 388 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Throughout this article “Freshman Composition Is Not Teaching Key Skills in Analysis, Researchers Argue” from the article “The Chronicle of Higher Education” (Berrett, 2012). Dan informs us readers by showing the studies of college students not being able to understand their work cited sources in their writing.…

    • 294 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    After reading the article “Reading and Writing in College” by Kim Flachmann, I completely agree with Flachmann’s argument on the importance of reading and writing skills for college students along with those who are in the work force. In the article, Flachmann expresses the value of reading and writing skills by writing that they are “necessary for surviving both in college and on the job” (Flachmann, 2014). My agreement with Flachmann’s argument is based on the activities that a college student and a worker face on a daily basis since they revolve around those skills. For a college student, these skills are essential in order to get through college. When it comes to the reading and writing skills, a college student is expected to not only…

    • 238 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Because of low pay, writing pedagogy receives short shrift in graduate programs and in professional development. Professors tend to see writing as one that some people are born to do and others are not. When we see assume that some students can't write, we overlook inequities in resources and preparation. While overlooking the fact people that can write tend to be privileged graduates of elite public and private schools, clustered in colleges and universities that value the liberal arts. Professors suggest that some students aren’t served by the essay, signing off on a tiered class system where some students get the good stuff while others are spared the task of having to think hard. The third issue that affects students writing and learning is affinity, often students who can't write, can write quite well if they’re taught in way that make sense to them. That means understanding essay writing as an analytical act that involves starting with something in a text that they don't already understand or know. For example, Try to figure out what's going on in the text, coming to conclusion, and finally sharing their discoveries with…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    1). Sullivan discusses the topic of preparing for college and aims his discussion towards high school freshman and college students. The students he has found prepared enough for college had no difficulty reading materials of multiple ranges and subjects since they “loved to read” (pp. 1). Furthermore, students that are prepared know that exemplary writing takes exemplary effort, and they come willing to comprehend, study, converse, and evaluate their written works. Additionally, listening and thinking influences the different ideas that we can develop; this can affect our self-development and mental capabilities, which can increase opportunities for further engagement.…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rose and Graff

    • 1183 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Mike Rose met many struggling students at UCLA’s Tutorial Center, the Writing Research Project, and the school’s Summer program. He first describes the loneliness students feel upon arriving at college, and that as they try to find themselves, they all to often lose themselves because they are bombarded with ideas that are so foreign to them. He introduces his audiences to Andrea, a bright young girl out of high school who, despite hours of memorizing in her textbook, could not obtain a passing grade on her Chemistry mid-term. How is this possible if she spent so much time studding? Rose explains that she failed because in college, and in this course in particular, it is not enough for a student to know the material, but rather, to be able to apply it in a various amount of problems. Yet the problem Andrea faces is that she was never taught this in high school.…

    • 1183 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    At first read of this article, I realize how important this essay is for understanding the complexities of how many students must negotiate when writing for the first time. Not only in an academic community in general – but also in the different departments of the academic community such as; English, Philosophy, Biology, Psychology, etc.. After my second read of this article, I realize that Bartholomae’s audience is for teachers, in that, Bartholomae raises awareness for a need among composition and writing scholars to be very specific in the demands they make on students. However, even though many students are very much aware of the demands of the academic community, many are still lacking the power to live up to the expectation and engage,…

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Every teacher likes to believe that they’re reaching out to their students, and handing down life lessons at a critical point in their students’ development. These essays lack the point of a view of the high school student that is receiving a lesson,. Most high school students simply don’t care. This is not to insult the teacher, nor is it intended to diminish the work of Mark Twain. Rather, it’s a result of the school system in general. You’re average high school student is tired husk, restlessly trudging from one class to the next. As an English teacher, it’s easy to forget that English class isn’t the only class the students have, or that all students, despite what they’re truly interested in, are forced to take all mandated classes.. Your students just came from science and are about to move on to math. After reading a few excerpts with their English teacher, they’ll move on to their next class, where they memorizes bleak formulas and forget about what they had just read, and the cycle continues. The only internalizing they do is what their tests demand be internalized, and they’ll forget the information as soon as possible. Most high schools students have no interest in learning, they only care about what…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Therefore, the argument in Strauss’s piece that, “Colleges should teach the important writing behaviors first, one at a time, in sequence. They should offer new writing courses that assume students know nothing about sentences and train new sentence behaviors from the ground up. Be repetitive and tricky — fool the kids into doing the right thing. Create muscle memory.” Seems to discredit the importance of the secondary English education system in what they should be teaching.…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ap English

    • 1135 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the passage Death to high school English, written by Kim Brooks, explains the thoughts of a college professor who teaches composition, and is dealing with students who do not know how to write at all. Brooks story is told in first person, simply because she experienced it firsthand. The tone of this passage seemed to be mostly frightening because Brooks was in shock at how terrible the writing was and had to put a stop to it and make a change. Another tone that was noticeably present in the text was disbelieving. Disbelieving was definitely present because Brooks was in complete disbelief, disbelief in how students at this age and experience still do not know how to properly write. “I’ve begun to wonder if this typical high school English class, dividing its curriculum between standardized tests preparation and the reading of canonical texts, might occupy a central place in the creation of a generation of college students who, simply put, cannot write” (Brooks). Brooks writes with an annoyed tone, and a very powerful vocabulary which helps her back up her point very specifically. Also, the text left me with a very pungent question, that is of course if I am a bad writer, and if so, I should definitely start now to correct myself in every way to help my future self, and my future English teacher.…

    • 1135 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In order to be successful it is necessary to fail a few times. For example, when learning how to swim, you are not going to start swimming once you get into the water. Although you failed, you continued to try to swim until you were successful.…

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I have failed at something I failed the 7th grade. Everything happen for a reason and it was a major lesson to me. Goofing off not caring and trying to impress my peers was not important and now that I’m older I realized that. I just wish I had somebody to sit me down and tell me that at the time but It was too late it and had already been another year school year. I can honestly say I won’t go down that road again.…

    • 171 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Over the course of the past three months, I have had the distinct pleasure of testing my writing capabilities through the Introduction to College Writing course. I have always had a passion for writing in all forms, but in previous years, the course work in grade-level English classes have been unchallenging of my writing ability. I have been heavily involved in Bonneville High School’s newspaper through journalism since my freshman year. This allowed me to strengthen my writing capability as I was drafting throughout the entire school year. I have never truly had to apply myself until I enrolled in English 101. Since the beginning of the class, I have faced various hardships while writing essays in unfamiliar styles, such as drafting a response to a scholarly article and synthesizing opposing perspectives. I have learned that I am more than capable in writing in different styles and that all of my work will be quality content regardless of the topic. I overcame the obstacles that have challenged me, and my essays exhibit that I am fully prepared to continue my work in English 102.…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To start off with, the overall environment of being part of an AP/IB English class all throughout high school has made a positive affect on me. This has not only affected my familiarization with college level essays but I know what is expected from a higher level english course. As I have mentioned in my previous essay, I have written papers that were up to seventeen pages long. When I was in high school I often thought, why do I have to write so much, it would annoy me that every month was a new essay, now the idea of writing a lengthy paper has…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    High School Hours

    • 1609 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Cited: Varley, Jeff. “High – School Starting Time.” “Reading Critically, Writing Well.” Ed. Rise B. Axelrod, Charles R. Cooper, and Alison M. Warriner. Boston: Bedford, 2008. 496 – 499. Print.…

    • 1609 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays