Lindemann ch. 13

This chapter on developing writing assignments left me with mixed reviews. On one hand I agree that vague unspecific assignments have the potential to set up students for failure. But then also on the other hand I feel as if the teacher created the assignment they know what they are looking for in responses and they will be specific or leave it as open ended prompts. And if all else fails students ask questions to clarify assignments, I guess I felt that the chapter/parts of it was assuming that students weren’t clever enough to gain further clarification on writing assignments. She includes a section (pg. 215) that’s states “before writers can respond to an assignment, they must define themselves a rhetorical problem.”  Well duh, and in that defining stage they could or rather they should be addressing some questions to the teachers to provide specific definitions. Nevertheless, I understand where she is coming from in that it is vital that teachers do provide adequate information for their students in order for them to successfully complete the writing assignments.