Now, in Essay 2, you are faced with that same audience, but with one important difference: Several members of this group continue to believe one of the two “bad ideas about writing” identified below. Your purpose for writing Essay 2 is to convince these instructors that this “bad idea about writing” is, in fact, a bad idea and not helpful to their future writing students. So, while your purpose in Essay 1 was to inform, your purpose in Essay 2 is to persuade.
To do so, your argument will draw support from three essays. I’ve suggested thematic groupings and natural pairings of articles below, but you may select articles from other sections of Bad Ideas about Writing if you’d like, and you may consider other “bad ideas” discussed in your text but not listed below.
Group 1: Bad Idea 1: Good writing happens naturally, with minimal process.
“Some People Are Just Born Good Writers” – Jill Parrot
“Failure Is Not an Option” – Allison D. Carr
“Strong Writing and Writers Don’t Need Revision” – Laura Giovanelli
Or:
Group 2: Bad Idea 2: Standard English is essential to good writing.
“There is One Correct Way of Writing and Speaking” – Anjali Pattanayak
“African American English is Not Good English” – Jennifer M. Cunningham
“Official American English Is Best” – Steven Alvarez
