[703] in Depressing_Thoughts
Re: The MIT Writing Requirement and other foul-smelling substances
nlgilman@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (nlgilman@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Sun Dec 18 00:38:50 1988
I think you are missing what we are trying to say, and your
remark "people ... (who, nevertheless, have never received any formal
training in writing)" is false. Some of have had formal training, some
of us have even won regional prizes for our work. Some of us have
earned money based on our capabilities as a writer. Our biggest
complaint is how it is run. In my particular case, they had no
problem with my writing, they just did not think I knew enough about
current events.
I have a lot of respect for many of the technical writing
instructors I have occasion to deal with. However, I have almost no
respect for the graduate students they bring in to help them grade
papers. Also many of these instructors do not know enough about the
particular fields to be able to judge what is acceptable and what is
not. (Read up on the chemical engineering fiasco mentioned
earlier...) I have also been annoyed by people who tell me that I do
not write well because I should have margins of over an inch as
opposed to just under an inch, while not commenting on the text of my
document.
I know I have a lot to learn about writing and I would be
happy to learn more. However the writing requirement, as it is set up
now, does nothing to further this goal. A writing requirement of a
different form might be useful, most of the people here at M.I.T. know
very little about practical writing. It is hard to learn how to write
well. It is something that needs to be encouraged. I have spent many
years of my life battling with the english language. Shoving writing
down someone's throat is *not* the way to get them to improve their
writing skills.
