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Five rebuttals continue the discussion begun in the first round of "What's Wrong with Writing" essays critiquing writing, the writing process, education about writing, sacrificing writing teachers . . . gulp.

Context: Students selected two of their peer's essays regarding "What's Wrong with Writing" to pursue the thoughts articulated in them and generate arguments based on the combination. Does this process generate snew ideas or even a new thesis? Do you find that you support an argument in one of the essays more than argument(s) in the other essay? The instructor's essay, Becoming Audience, is an example. I generated my own thesis but the idea for it came about because of what I read in your writing. I used quotes and paraphrasing to create my argument.

This is an opportunity to put the strengths and weaknesses of two points-of-view into a kind of

1. competition,
2. collaboration, or
3. something else.

Hopefully, your rebuttal will either strengthen an existing argument through a novel combination of ideas already presented OR will generate a new argument in which you utilize given arguments as evidence for something not yet articulated.

Here is Joe's comparison of Katie and Ryan's essays.

Toughen Up by Kim

On Second Thought... by Nina

My Thoughts Exactly by Katie