Another article on poor writing skills:
http://www.popecenter.org/commentaries/article.html?id=2651No Wonder Johnny (Still) Can’t Write
Students don’t write well and professors don’t want to help them.
By J.M. Anderson
February 10, 2012
Ask college professors what their biggest gripe is with undergraduates today, and most will tell you that they don’t read and they can’t write. Ask college students if their professors are taking the time to teach them, and most will tell you that they aren’t.
Let’s focus on writing. Good writing is largely a matter of taste and judgment that is cultivated through practice, experience, and extensive reading. Teaching it requires dexterity and finesse. Students can improve as writers when their teachers give them the attention they both need and deserve.
Here’s a typical introductory paragraph from a paper in Western Civ II discussing how humanism and the Protestant reformation represent a radical break with the Middle Ages:
"During the fourteenth through the sixteenth century the motivation was religion. During this time Christian meant Catholic as in Roman Catholic. As they believed in the Pope as the one who would save them to go to heaven. Just as the people who believed in the Prince, as the ruler for all to look up to as an example."
Students who write like this need more than a few marginal comments on their papers; they need rigorous criticism of their writing and guidance in making substantive revisions.
