Rhetorical Analysis of “Teaching Taco Bell Canon”
“New studies show that children read for leisure less as they get older, with 45% of 17-year-olds saying that they read by choice only once or twice a year” (Time). The lack of interest for reading is unfortunately true. Moreover, it is causing students to spell and pronounce words incorrectly. In this highly descriptive article, “Teaching Taco Bell Canon”, James E. Courter recounts the hilarious misspellings that students wrote in their essays. Courter’s tone, evidence, and rhetorical mode of narration supports his argument that a lack of reading may hinder a person’s ability to communicate effectively.
The author evokes a comically light hearted tone throughout the article. He emphasizes this tone by adding, “they have erroneous, and sometimes hilarious, notions of how the written language represents what they hear” (Courter). This article was not intended to mock or ridicule his students, but
…show more content…
He references “Many students have difficulty adjusting to life in dormitories” (Courter) to exhibit some of the issues this caused. Also, he adds, “two young men who missed class” to describe how this has taken place in his own life. By describing situations where this happens in real life extends this problem for more than just an essay. Lack of reading not only causes a person to be more likely to misspell a word in an essay, but it broadens to real life scenarios as well.
The tone, evidence, and rhetorical mode of narration presented in the article support the author’s main argument that students who read less are more likely to interpret the words they hear incorrectly. Reading is linked with writing, and people that read often tend to be more proficient writers. Courter’s use of real life scenarios showcase how this issue extends to more than an essay and how it widens to real life.
As I was reading Melissa Duffy’s “Inspiration, and Craig Vetter’s “Bonehead Writing,” I found myself connecting with Vetter’s paper more than Duffy’s. I found that the presentation in “Bonehead Writing” to capture my attention, and that Vetter’s feelings about writing was similar to my opinion on writing. Through his wording and humor, I think Craig Vetter wrote the best essay. I find that the wording and presentation of an article or essay influences my opinion of the writer, and it affects how I receive the idea they are trying to present to me. Craig Vetter uses a blunt approach to convey his idea that writing is nearly impossible to teach, and describes writing as “A blood sport, a walk in the garden of agony every time out.”
Graff thinks that a lot of kids would much rather read a magazine or book about their favorite sports player, car, or fashion designer rather than read Shakespeare or other writer you read about in school (270). Students like to learn about what they like to do, and even if they don’t like to write about what they read Graff explains “ Even if they don’t , the magazine reading will make them more literate and reflective than they would otherwise” (270). Writing is writing as long as the student likes to write, they will get better at it no matter what they write about. Graff would much rather have, “the student anytime who writes a sharply argued, sociologically acute analysis of an issue of Source over the student who writes a lifeless explication of Hamlet or Socrates’s Apology” (270). A student who writes well doesn’t have to be writing about great works throughout history, they just need to know how to write well even if it comes from a
In her essay "Does Texting Affect Writing?", Michaela Cullington presents her argument that texting does not impact formal writing written by students. She discusses the concerns presented by many people about how texting language can transfer into writing, but through the use of personal experiences and credible sources she discusses how this is not true. Her use of multiple different studies and situations help boost her argument and allow the reader to truly see how students actually do formal writing. She presents a strong argument as to why those who believe students don't have the control and knowledge to write formally, instead of with text speak, are wrong.
The influence of textspeak on teenagers' writing is a polarising concept with both fans and critics of texting weighing their opinions. In her essay, "Does Texting Affect Writing?", Michaela Cullington, a previous student of Marywood University in Pennsylvania, outlines her investigation into whether or not texting affects writing. Cullington analyzes the critiques of texting and why critics believe that texting has a detrimental affect on teenager writing. Along with the critics,
He couldn't write straight so he also started to write down every single word down on a sheet of paper to improve his writing skills. Within the days he spent at the library all he ever did was try to improve his writing. After all the rewriting the words from the dictionary It seems to be like now a days college is getting more and more stressful for students. Speaking as a college student myself it is difficult to work full time and come to school four times a week. Procastination is becoming a bigger issue in the education system.
The essay “In Praise of the ‘F’ Word” by Mary Sherry explains some flaws Sherry has noticed in our education system. These observations are from her teaching perspective, and from her son’s own experience in high school. Sherry claims that some students that have earned a high school degree should not have because they are “semi literate.” She starts out her essay by stating this bluntly, but further explains herself as it goes on. Sherry is an adult literacy grammar teacher, and often faces students that wish they could have had a more beneficial experience in high school.
All of these factors combine and work well together to form a well-executed argument within Cullington’s essay. Cullington begins her essay by addressing her opposition: “It’s taking over our lives” (pg. 361). She cites studies done that suggest that a decline in the quality of students’ formal writing has occurred since the advent of text messaging, and she also cites teachers who believe that their own students’ works are influenced for the worse by the students’ being accustomed to texting and using textspeak. Cullington then proposes her opposing position that the writing of students is unaffected by their use of texting and text speak. She also cites studies that support her thesis that text messaging and textspeak do not have an effect on
In “Does Texting Affect Writing,” essay student Michaela Cullington outlines the concerns about textspeak, and whether it hinders students formal writing abilities; she reviews her own personal research and observations, as well as expert research. Cullington is clearly preparing her readers for the topic of text messaging and textspeak in relation to formal writing by addressing the three main topics she will inquire about, “Some people believe that using… abbreviations is hindering the writing abilities of students, and others argue that texting is actually having a positive effect on writing. In fact, it seems that texting has no significant effect on student writing” (130). As Cullington reviews the conflicting stances, she analyzes each
Referring to an educational setting, when students are instructed to write a formal paper they often leave mistakes on their paper unknowingly or unaware of their mistakes due to the comfortability they have gained through online writing and instant correction, also known as autocorrect. Autocorrect is the software function that makes or suggests corrections for mistakes in spelling or grammar while typing. Frank Gannon captured the point concerning absence of proof reading in his piece English 99: Literacy among the Ruins by allowing the audience to visualize the decline of writing skills among youths in his college class. Gannon begins the piece by describing to the audience his new position as a college “philosopher” educating college students that were unable to learn in a higher-level English class due to the automatic assumptions that the students would be “overly challenged” (Gannon 215). As any individual would, the students in the class began to assemble into their own groups: “the bored looking girls, the jocks and the Bosnian refugees” (Gannon 216).
“Teachers of English and literature have either submitted, or are expected to submit, along with teachers of the more "practical" disciplines, to the doctrine that the purpose of education is the mass production of producers and consumers” (Berry). Berry uses the word practical to describe the way in which we produce students as though they were massed produced. School systems today demonstrate specialization, and with that follows oversimplification. “In our society, which exists in an atmosphere of prepared, public language-language that is either written or being read illiteracy is both a personal and a public danger” (Berry). While schools relax their education standards and primarily focus on profitability, we become vulnerable to loss of literacy through
Through trial and error, college students are having to figure out what constitutes as acceptable writing for every one of their separate classes all on their own without their ethnic backgrounds taken into consideration. While although Dave was considered privileged because of his years of experience in classrooms that consisted of teachers and students who shared similar social backgrounds, “students from diverse communities may need… teachers in the disciplines… [to] provide them with assignments and instructional support appropriate for first steps in using the language of their community” (262) McCarthy’s findings contribute to the notion, “learning to write… is not only a developmental process that occurs within an individual student, but also as a social process, that occurs in response to particular situations” (236). Although McCarthy only documents Dave as he takes this “journey across the curriculum”, her study is addressing the college student body as a whole. She declares that the success of a student is determined not only by their intelligence, but also their ability to adapt to a wide range of social and academic settings without any negative interference towards their
Taking into account his inability to stay on topic, his short attention span, and his poor grammar, Wheeler’s language leads the readers to believe that he is not educated and is incapable of telling a comprehensible
He supports this argument by citing a study conducted by students who have attended The University College London. The study proved to us that we no longer thoroughly read material, rather we just skim over most of what we read. From the convoluted works of the late 19th century, to the material of present day, the way we write and comprehend
Part of my literacy experience was about learning an important lesson in a book and how each page carries a story that’s brought to life. At the time, I didn’t learn about learning critical literacy until I was in my English 91 class. In my English 91 class, I was taught how to use critical thinking in my papers. I imagine how much literacy has been involve in my life from childhood till college. The books I’ve read in my childhood is how I ‘ve taught how to write.
As the digital age comes upon us, more and more Americans become dissatisfied with the state of literacy in this generation. Because the Internet paves the way for shorter and shorter interactions, namely articles versus novels and six-second viral videos versus films, many people that grew up in the age of the Internet have a preference for this condensed form of entertainment. Dana Gioia of The New York Times asserts in his essay “Why Literature Matters” that the decline of reading in America is destined to have a negative impact on society as a whole. Gioia opens his essay with a bittersweet account of which trend is occurring in the twenty-first century America arts scene. He notes that as college attendance rates blossom, the interest