The Idea of an Essay, Volume 3

Analysis & Response 133 education system has lost this mindset. These writers knew that it is imperative to have social critique and encouragement. Many professors do not recognize this need for social interaction within writing. Furthermore, educators do not see the lack of such interaction as an issue. Without realizing it, these teachers take the social aspect out of writing. Many see writing as something that must be done alone. Because of this philosophy, most professors believe that students would become better writers if they just spent more time working on the wording, ideas, and structure of the paper through individual thought. But according to the article “Efficient Ways to Improve Student Writing,” published by the University of Wisconsin, “Students need to talk about papers in progress so that they can formulate their thoughts, generate ideas, and focus their topics,” (par. 9). There is a time for writing alone, but having social support from either peers or professionals aid the student or even the aspiring writer to refine his or her ideas and understand the material that much better. Aubrey Gillette in her essay “Advanced Students’ Individualism in Public High Schools,” observes that the current school system approaches education like a factory. She contends that educators want to create a certain type of student, one who can answer all of the questions and gain that certain test grade, but these same teachers, she argues, are not interested in preparing average students for society (5). This “factory” mindset takes social interaction out of every subject, but especially in writing. Most teachers and professors miss this problem of lacking social interaction in writing, but this problem can only be solved by these same educators. This problem of social interaction in the writing arena is serious to educators. When professors neglect this imperative step in the writing process, there are both blatant and subtle consequences. A student will struggle to understand the material if his or her professor refuses to allow him or her to discuss writing assignments with classmates or anyone else. Dave from Lucille Parkinson’s study is a perfect example. In his chemistry and composition classes, Dave spoke with his fellow students about the writing assignments. In his poetry class, Dave’s professor required him to write a paper in which he analyzed a poem. However, because the professor did not allow him to appeal to his peers for help, Dave misunderstood the poem, and received a corresponding grade. The professor rationalized that