Re: (Fwd) Re: Master's Degree

[BrYan Westbrook <westbrok -at- HSNP -dot- COM>]

[Pardon me if this goes through twice.  I received a bounce message and wasn't
sure if it was from the list itself or one of the subscribers.]


Only coming through in waves, Katherin King wrote:

>>>Halfway through a masters program in Professional Writing I had
>professors tell me there really wasn't anything they could teach me. <<

Was this program offered through a writing department or an English department?
In my long collegiate odyssey I have been a student in one of each.  

The English department had the type of "it can't be taught" attitude you
described and was very abstract in its instruction.  Consequentially I stopped
attended the "workshops" all together and settled for mostly "B"s with no
effort.

After a four year "sabbatical" I returned to college as a tech writing major.
This program is run outside of the confines of the English department and has
shed the requisite touchy-feely approach to writing that I experienced before.
I learned more about writing my first semester in that program than I did in
three years in the other.

My own opinion is that writing itself cannot be taught directly, but writing
improvement through writing strategies, editing techniques, and writing formats
can. 


-----
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/6663/index.html
Woody Allen FAQ, Drew Carey, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome,
Famous Arkansans, Poetry, Classic Rock, Elmore Leonard

 TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot-  Send commands
   to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
  Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/  or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html