A Review of Bad Ideas About Writing, Edited by Cheryl E. Ball and Drew M. Loewe

Table of Contents About Us References

The reimagined table of contents below maintains the order of the original table of contents in Bad Ideas About Writing. However, in contrast to the open-access PDF, clicking on the title of any section included in our version will take the reader directly to the relevant page for the chapter or section. These anchored links make the text more accessible because they do not require the reader to scroll through the entire document or use other workarounds to reach a particular piece—especially pieces towards the end of the text.

Table of Contents

Introduction. 1

Bad Ideas About What Good Writing Is.

Rhetoric is Synonymous with Empty Speech. Patricia Robers-Miller. 7

America is Facing a Literacy Crisis. Jacob Babb. 13

First-Year Composition Prepares Students for Academic Writing. Tyler Branson. 18

First-Year Composition Should be Skipped. Paul G. Cook. 24

You Can Learn to Write in General. Elizabeth Wardle. 30

Writing Knowledge Transfers Easily. Ellen C.Carillo. 34

Reading and Writing are not Connected. Ellen C.Carillo. 38

Reading is Not Essential to Writing Instruction. Julie Myatt Barger. 44

Bad Ideas About Who Good Writers Are.

Writers are Mythical, Magical, and Damaged. Teri Holbrook and Melanie Hundley. 53

You Need My Credentials to be a Writer. Ronald Clark Brooks. 60

Only Geniuses can be Writers. Dustin Edwards and Enrique Paz. 64

Some People are Just Born Good Writers. Jill Parrott. 71

Failure is Not an Option. Allison D. Carr. 76

There is One Correct Way of Writing and Speaking. Anjali Pattanayak. 82

African American Language is not Good English. Jennifer M. Cunningham. 88

Official American English is Best. Steven Alvarez. 93

Writer's Block Just Happens to People. Geoffrey V. Carter. 99

Strong Writing and Writers Don't Need Revision. Laura Giovanelli. 104.

The More Writing Process, the Better. Jimmy Butts. 109.

Bad Ideas About Style, Usage, and Grammar.

Strunk and White Set the Standard. Laura Lisabeth. 117

Good Writers Always Follow My Rules. Monique Dufour and Jennifer Ahern-Dodson. 121

Writers Must Develop a Strong, Original Voice. Patrick Thomas. 126

Leave Yourself Out of Your Writing. Rodrigo Joseph Rodríguez. 131

Response: Never Use "I". Kimberly N. Parker. 134

The Passive Voice Should be Avoided. Collin Gifford Brooke. 139

Teaching Grammar Improves Writing. Patricia A. Dunn. 144

Good Writers Must Know Grammatical Terminology. Hannah J. Rule. 150

Grammar Should be Taught Separately as Rules to Learn. Muriel Harris. 155

Bad Ideas About Writing Techniques.

Formal Outlines are Always Useful. Kristin Milligan. 163

Students Should Learn About the Logical Fallacies. Daniel V. Bommarito. 168

Logos is Synonymous with Logic. Nancy Fox. 174

Bad Ideas About Genres.

Excellent Academic Writing Must be Serious. Michael Theune. 181

Creative Writing is a Unique Category. Cydney Alexis. 187

Popular Culture is Killing Writing. Bronwyn T. Williams. 194

Popular Culture is Only Useful as a Text for Criticism. Mark D. Pepper. 202

The Five-Paragraph Essay is Rhetorically Sound. Quentin Vieregge. 209

The Five-Paragraph Essay Transmits Knowledge. Susan Naomi Bernstein and Elizabeth Lowry. 214

The Five-Paragraph Theme Teaches "Beyond the Test". Bruce Bowles, Jr. 220

Research Starts with Answers. Alison C. Witte. 226

Research Starts with a Thesis Statement. Emily A. Wierszewski. 231

The Traditional Research Paper is Best. Alexandria Lockett. 236

Citing Sources is a Basic Skill Learned Early On. Susanmarie Harrington. 242

Plagiarism Deserves to be Punished. Jennifer A. Mott-Smith. 247

Bad Ideas About Assessing Writing.

Grading has Always Made Writing Better. Mitchell R. James. 256

Rubrics Save Time and Make Grading Criteria Visible. Anne Leahy. 259

Rubrics Oversimplify the Writing Process. Crystal Sands. 264

When Responding to Student Writing, More is Better. Muriel Harris. 268

Student Writing Must be Graded by the Teacher. Christopher R. Friend. 273

Machines can Evaluate Writing Well. Chris M. Anson and Les Perelman. 278

Plagiarism Detection Services are Money Well Spent. Stephanie Vie. 287

SAT Scores are Useful for Placing Students in Writing Courses. Krisen di Gennaro. 294

Bad Ideas About Writing and Digital Technology.

Texting Ruins Students' Grammar Skills. Scott Warnock. 301

Texting Ruins Literacy Skills. Christopher Justice. 308

Gamification Makes Writing Fun. Joshua Daniel-Wariya. 315

The More Digital Technology, the Better. Genesea M. Carter and Aurora Matzke. 320

Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants. Phill Michael Alexander. 325

Bad Ideas About Writing Teachers.

You're Going to Need This for College. Andrew Hollinger. 333

Dual-Enrollment Writing Classes Should Always be Pursued. Caroline Wilkinson. 338

Secondary-School English Teachers Should Only be Taught Literature. Elizabethada A. Wright. 344

Face-to-Face Courses are Superior to Online Courses. Tiffany Bourelle and Andy Bourelle. 351

Anyone Can Teach an Online Writing Course. Beth L. Hewett. 356

Anyone Can Teach Writing. Seth Kahn. 363

Editor Bios and Acknowledgements.

Digital Publishing Institute Editorial Staff for Bad Ideas.