How We Talk about Testing and College Writing: the Revealing Rhetoric of SAT Prep Books
Keywords:
First-year writing, standardized testingAbstract
In this article, I analyze the rhetoric of major SAT prep books in order to discern what these books teach students about writing in college and beyond. I begin by emphasizing the damage done by these books positing the SAT-W essay as an example of "college writing" before moving into a discussion of the closed nature of writing for graders rather than a knowable audience. Finally, I study what these books say about the writing process and the specific elements they tell students to include in their essays. Throughout my article, I tie my findings about the rhetoric of SAT prep books to criticisms others in the field of rhetoric and composition have lodged against standardized test writing and the impact it has on our students, highlighting that essays on college entrance exams pose a particular threat for first-year writing because of their claims to measure college readiness.
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