Stanley Fish "What should colleges teach?"

Reading Stanley Fish and his opinions and out look on the college curriculum really opened my eyes to things i may have not thought about before. For instance, he studied 104 different English sections, to only find that 4 had actually pertained to writing. I found it quite interesting that out of so many, only 4 had taken the time to study the importance of writing, and how to become a better writer. Also, when he presented his research he was accused of being a reactionary who knew nothing about current trends of English. For someone of such high studies, to be shut down and told he does not know what he was talking about or doing, surprises me. Finally, when finishing reading the paper i found many topics I could agree with, with others that i could not find so much a reasoning of dislike. Stanley Fish, did a good job looking into the curriculum and it definitely has opened my eyes to different things.

What is a Good Writer?

A good writer has many different aspects and skills to consider when writing. For instance, the writer has to consider the audience that they are writing for and the purpose of their writing. A good writer will always keep the audience and purpose of the paper in mind. Following the two most important aspects the rest will fall into place. An important aspect to keep in mind would be focus, a good writer is able to stay on task, and is able to transition two different thoughts together smoothly. It is also important to be creative and descriptive when writing; it is hard to stand out among other great writers; therefore if the writer is able to be more descriptive and more detailed this will capture the reader. This shows how important it is to consider the audience and whether the writer was able to capture their interest. In conclusion, a good writer has to keep many things in mind when writing, including the audience and purpose.
On the other hand, there are things that a bad writer would do. A good writer cannot be lazy or take the easy way out of a situation, because they could miss crucial mistakes, or lose focus. For example, not brainstorming or collecting ideas can make a paper un-organized and can lose focus. Also not being descriptive or detailed can make a paper boring, and won’t be able to capture the reader. Once the reader is no longer interested, they are not going to want to come back and read more. Lastly, a simple look over on a paper is crucial to finding small and minor spelling errors, or punctuation mistakes. A bad writer would not take the extra time to look over and proofread their work, and in the end could distract the reader, and think that the writer does not care. In conclusion, it is important to make small, but large in importance to writing a better paper, and becoming a better writer.