Although I found this reading very interesting, I dwelled on the incredible importance and unusual circumstances teachering writing in the post-post modern era will be. Wilson's statement early in the reading; "How we prepare students to use language MATTERS; our instruction shapes not only who they are , but who they become" stuck in my mind through the rest of the reading.(Williams 3) In one sense I like knowing that what I am preparing to do as a career is valuable work, in another sense it is daunting to know that as teachers we are given the opportunity and privilege to influence those who will shape the future , and we are facing challenges with our students, teachers never encountered before in history. Williams discusses the decline in of recent decades and that the students are using "restricted code - language characterized by a limited vocabulary and an inability to communicate abstract ideas-that is painfully unsuited to conveying anything but the most shallow concepts." (2) Does the immediate- gratification, technology-infused generation have even a need or inclination towards understanding that which is intangible? How do we teachers help them see the necessity of learning it, or even begin to instill the desire to do so? How do teachers turn students to concepts beyond their chosen limited comprehension and keep society moving forward, when visionary poets' and sage philosophers' words have been replaced by redundant, repulsive music video rants and staged brawlselevating reality show hosts' advice.
If they are not able to convey these ideas, can they understand the sage literature we as English majors know have shaped and moved society forward. as English majors the literature
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