Rhetoric at Fault in Writing Crisis in US Public Schools, Claims Author of 'Secret DNA' E-Book on Writing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) January 15, 2010 --

Provo, UT, January 15, 2010 -- Bill Drew, author of a successful new e-book on writing, 'The Secret DNA of Writing Essays - And Everything Else', claims Rhetoric has caused the writing crisis in US public schools. Isn't that a rather harsh indictment of Rhetoric? "Not really," said Drew. "What's the dominant emphasis in teaching essay writing in public schools? Introductions, thesis statements, topic sentences, paragraphs, conclusions - all of those came straight out of Rhetoric. And those are just forms, not content. What if a writer did all those forms right, but the audience had already read the content, the ideas, before? The forms wouldn't help."

But forms are necessary, aren't they? "Yes, you have to have familiar forms to convey new content and new ideas. But Rhetoric doesn't show you how to create new content." What about the Topics, the Commonplaces of Rhetoric? "Note that name, 'Commonplaces', which means things already shared and already common. Nothing new there, is there?"

So your e-book, 'The Secret DNA of Writing Essays - And Everything Else', teaches content but not form? "No, that's not right. My book teaches BOTH content and form. You see, teaching only the forms of Rhetoric is a little like that famous picture of the six blind men: each blind man feels only a part of the elephant and tries to imagine what the whole is like. In the case of teaching students how to write essays with Rhetoric, teachers make students focus on the parts of an essay without helping them relate to the whole message of the essay, to 'What's new to the reader'. I used to do that, too, until I discovered that the OldView - NewView relationship is the whole message - the whole elephant, if you will - in whatever you write, including essays."

Conatct :
Bill Drew
NewView Options
Provo, UT
801-373-0447
billdrew@richcontent.com
http://secretdnaofwritingessays.com/

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