In chapter eight, Lindemann discusses the importance of
teaching students flexibility, and she breaks down a few strategies for
teaching form. I like the idea of outlines but teaching kids how to outline has
always been a bit tricky. First they don’t like them—but when they do decide to
make use of them, they oftentimes refuse to deviate even a little bit from
them. Their entire education has been long along this right vs. wrong binary,
so if they assume that their outline if correct, many of them will stick to it
even at the expense of their own argument. I like that Lindemann suggests we
teach them flexibility, but I think that also extends to our teaching style—which
makes me a bit anxious because I like structure, but it’s definitely important.
In her discussion on form, Lindemann mentions that sometimes
a writer will raise a reader’s expectations and deliver. I had a student do this
recently where her introductory paragraph discussed her parents’ influence on
her reading, but there was no discussion of either parent in her essay, except
for a sentence or two. I pointed this out, and something seemed to spark in
her. She wrote her share of introductions in high school, but I don’t think she
ever connected that the introduction serves a purpose to the rest of your
essay. It bothered that it didn’t seem obvious to her, but if no one ever
explained that the first paragraph in her essay doesn’t just mean introducing
three main points, then I can see how she this was news to her. After that, she
started rearranging her paragraphs on her own and asking my input once she
reached a decision.
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