Verrinda's response to "Bullshit in Academic Writing"

The article, "Bullshit in Academic Writing: A Protocol Analysis of a High School Senior's Process of Interpreting Much Ado About Nothing." by Peter Smagorinsky, Cindy O'Donnel - Allen, and Susan Bynum, raised many questions for me. Smagorinsky discussed how the teacher distributed an assignment sheet with topics and questions for the essay, but I do not recall reading about the teacher distributing a rubric sheet for the essay assignment. I believe Susan would have felt a lot more confident with the essay if she had a rubric to adhere to. Smagorinsky stated: "Susan dedicated nearly half of the aggregated protocols to generating and refining her thesis statement. She began this process by saying, The main points of this - I guess that is what I want to start off with because that would be the easiest to do my thesis statement." (pg. 383, Smagorinsky) This statement clearly displays that Susan is not clear about the format of the paper. It appears that the teacher wants the students to follow a persuasive essay format due to the tone of the essay question: "Discuss how the song captures the spirit of the entire play." So it appears as if the teacher wants her students to persuade the audience how the song that Beatrice sings applies not just at the moment she recites it, but throughout the whole play. However, before Susan can begin writing her thesis statement, she needs to understand what the song actually means. I believe the teacher assumed that Susan could interpret the song because of her honors background. I also believe that over estimated Susan knowledge on essay formats and essay types. It is clear that Susan did not understand what type of essay she should apply for her topic nor the format for it. Before assigning this type of assignment, the teacher should have did a line by line open discussion with her class for the translation and meanings of the song. The next thing the teacher should have done was assess her students' knowledge of the song and then introduce the essay. While introducing this essay, she should have: (1) explained the type of essay she wants them to use, (2) go over the format of the essay, (3) have the students hand in a thesis statement that must be approved by her before they could begin writing their essay, (4) have the students write down three valid examples from the play that must be approved by her, and then (5) review the format she wants them to use, MLA or APA. This was the first time the students had an assignment of this element, so as a teacher, she should of walked them through this process. The next time around she should not walk them through if her intent is to still give them exposure to college content essays. Susan bull shitted her way through the essay because she honestly did not know how to do the essay. However, all the blame does not all lye with the teacher. Susan waited until the night before the rough draft was due to begin writing it and she left the assignment sheet at school. The teacher wanted to expose her students to a college essay, it is ironic that Susan reacted like the typical college freshman and some upper class men would have regarding this essay.