James'+Thoughts+on+Writing+Process

The first thing that struck me about the article was the idea that writing has been taught in some form since Greek and Roman times. It's amazing to consider that writing has been developing and changing that long. It's a helpful reminder that we're not the first to struggle through writing or teaching writing, and we won't be the last.

I agree with Emig's study that was quoted that writing seems to be in two modes: to convey a message or to reflect on one's own feelings. I think, however, that within the "convey a message" mode there is more to be explored. For example, Ayn Rand wrote to promote conservative values and her Objectivism philosophy, but which category does that fall under? She's conveying a message, but in a creative way. It's a different way to convey a message than it would be if she had merely written essays.

I'm pleased with the 1992 NAEP assessment commentaries. In my assessment class, we've been discussing that writing essay questions out involves a high level thinking. I think this is true in the writing process. Filling pages with words that all convey a particular idea requires organization a skill. I was disappointed, however, to read that the NAEP is unique in that it is one of the few studies to look at the instructional writing process and the final written product. I was also disappointed to see that some of the NAEP results were so broad it was hard to find out what appropriate writing instruction is. Along these same lines, I was surprised at how old most of the studies cited were. I would hope and expect more recent research on the writing process.

I was also pleased to read about the NWP's wide spread influence, although the outcomes of this seemed a little ambiguous.

Overall, I felt the article lacked some definitive ways to enhance the writing process. While many studies were surveyed, it was hard to compile a single idea or method that seemed to be the best way to teach the writing process.