num_pages: 288
description: An important challenge to what currently masquerades as conventional wisdom regarding the teaching of writing. There seems to be widespread agreement thatwhen it comes to the writing skills of college studentswe are in the midst of a crisis. In Why They Can't Write  John Warner who taught writing at the college level for two decades argues that the problem isn't caused by a lack of rigor or smartphones or some generational character defect. Instead he asserts we're teaching writing wrong. Warner blames this on decades of educational reform rooted in standardization assessments and accountability. We have done no more Warner argues than conditioned students to perform writing-related simulations which pass temporary muster but do little to help students develop their writing abilities. This style of teaching has made students passive and disengaged. Worse yet it hasn't prepared them for writing in the college classroom. Rather than making choices and thinking critically as writers must undergraduates simply follow the rulessuch as the five-paragraph essaydesigned to help them pass these high-stakes assessments. In Why They Can't Write  Warner has crafted both a diagnosis for what ails us and a blueprint for fixing a broken system. Combining current knowledge of what works in teaching and learning with the most enduring philosophies of classical education this book challenges readers to develop the skills attitudes knowledge and habits of mind of strong writers.
language: English
title: Why They Can't Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities
publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press