4/17

I'm definitely most familiar with WLC in my own work. My undergrad in Philosophy emphasized this approach, often outright saying that grammatical accuracy is unimportant. The ideas took precedent over any thing else. My work in English has followed along these lines, though, notably, with much greater emphasis on the grammar side (WLL? Kinda?). Poli sci also worked with LW because the form is so specific, frustratingly so.

In my teaching, this semester is almost exclusively LW (specifically close readings). I have been essentially ignoring content in the papers they produce to see if they have figured out the structure of the close reading. Some WLL and WLC is a necessary (and happy) byproduct, but it is certainly not the main focus. I think incorporating all of these together will synthesize the learning process in a positive way for students, but it might overwhelm them to focus on so many things (especially if they are unfamiliar with one aspect, like how to write a close reading).

Comments

  1. Lindsey QuinnApril 16, 2018 at 6:21 AM

    I get the frustratingly specific form--that's something I run into with my law students. Not only does a brief of memo have a VERY specific format-questions, facts, precedence etc... but each instructor has subtly or wildly different requirements. They even have specific formats for each paragraph (which also differ by instructor). It's maddening sometimes like I'm just teaching them to jump through hoops like circus ponies.

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