Lanie McCune English 151 Professor Whicker March 2, 2010

Introduction
One of the many goals of students attending school is not only to learn, but to also prepare for their future. They learn the ways of becoming literate, social interaction, every day life skills, preparation mechanisms, and a plethora of other useful tactics. With the help of literacy sponsors, the properties and set goals of a discourse community, a student is able to develop a strong sense of knowledge. But what is knowledge exactly? Some may say it is the facts and only the facts flowing through your mind. However, some may say its all of the things you base off of those facts, in other words, the creativity and the out of the box thinking one develops about a certain piece of information. When a student is able to dig deeper than just the facts and put more feeling and more serenity into the idea, then a lot more knowledge is being used. Many standardized tests are distributed throughout the world. There has been a lot of controversy and difficulties with standardized tests of english because so many teachers believe that it takes away so much from a student writer. With the sources I found and with information I came up with, I have noticed the problem in these tests and the base for a turnaround. A test should never be focused on one part of knowledge, it just isnt fair.

Annotated Bibliography
Anson, Chris M. "Closed Systems and Standardized Writing Tests." CCC 60.1 (2008): 11328. In his article, "Closed Systems and Standardized Writing Tests", Chris M. Anson, attempts to explain that many students are taught that one must repeat the same writing behavior automatically, and not adapt to different circumstances when writing. For an abundance of standardized tests like the SAT there is a set formula, this means that in order to succeed and score high on the test the rules must be followed. Because of this, a writers thinking is taken away and they are unable to develop certain thinking skills. Anson tells a story about a father who coaches and conditions his daughter to identify famous artwork displayed. By doing this, he had something to show for in the neighborhood, and he was able to demonstrate the acquisition of knowledge. As his daughter was conditioned, she began to show enjoyment and no longer showed her intellectual smarts for her parents but for herself. When someone learns how branch away from a certain expectation and use their knowledge and liking to develop a new way of learning, the correctness and accurateness doesnt matter. Brandt, Deborah. Sponsors of Literacy. College Composition and Communication 49.2 (1998): 165-85. Print.

In her article, "Sponsors of Literacy", Deborah Brandt focuses on literacy skills and where they are acquired. She talks about sponsorship and access and the standards of literacy over time. She states "what I have tried to suggest is that as we assist and study individuals in pursuit of literacy, we also recognize how literacy is in pursuit of them". This may mean we all need literacy and eventually we will find each other. Cecchini, Tyler, and Perez, Hugo. "Motivation in Literacy Development". Young Scholars in Writing. 2008. In their article, "Motivation in Literacy", Tyler Cecchini and Hugo Perez attempt to decipher the methods of motivation to become literate, and to dig down deep, find out just how people view literacy, and what made them become literate today. By interviewing eight first-year honor students at the University of Central Florida, Cecchini and Perez were able to understand more of where all of their academic success in literacy has come from. They were able to find out their motivators, the reasons behind they felt the need to be literate, how technology plays a role, and just the overall feeling of being literate. The authors argue that although literacy can be learned in many different ways, in the end the advantages of being literate are the same and each person can excel in their own way. It doesn't matter how you became literate, but that you accomplished that goal and are prospering in life. Dinan, John S. Standardized Tests of Writing: Multiple Choices of the Wrong Kind The English Journal, Vol. 67, No. 7 (Oct., 1978), pp. 54-56 In his article, Standardized Tests of Writing: Multiple Choices of the Wrong Kind, John S. Dinan, explains his views and reasons he has against standardizing testing of English. He believes that the standardized tests focus on correct writing of English and not the good writing that a student may present. Correct writing of standardized tests can be considered as simple-minded and simply thought out by structural rules, where-as good writing and the correctness of that writing is based off of a certain circumstance. Dinan is a firm believer that when one of his students rejects their own writing, they reject a part of themselves. Many students are so worried and so self-guessing that they think the only way they can succeed in a standardized test is by following certain rules and criteria. Which according to Dinan, is exactly right. Gee, James Paul. Writing about Writing: A College Reader Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. In his article, "Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction", James Paul Gee attempts to discuss the meaning of a Discourse, dominant and non-dominant discourses, fluency, maladaptation, and mushfake and their relation to literacy. He explains that a Discourse is like an "identity kit", it defines who or what you are in certain situations. Like a spy, a Discourse changes and adjusts to specific situations. Gee argues that in order for someone to be included in a discourse community, one must be fluent and they also must have similar ideological thoughts. He suggests that Discourses and discourse communities are related, yet different at the same time.

Jaschik, Scott. Fooling the College Board. Inside Higher Ed, 26 March 2007. <http: // insidehighered.com/news/2007/03/ 26/writing>. In his article, Fooling the College Board, Scott Jaschik refers to Les Perelman to explain that the push of standardized testing for writing can be harmful to students. He describes it is formulaic writing, and that even though standardized tests like the SAT reinforces the fiveparagraph essay college professors have been trying to lead their students away from that approach. If professors believe that a certain process of writing should be eliminated, why continue using and basing standardized tests off of it? Porter, James E. Writing about Writing: A College Reader, Intertextuality and the Discourse Community. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. In his article "Intertextuality and the Discourse Community", James E. Porter attempts to explain the constraints of intertextuality, and how every discourse is composed of pieces of other writings that help convey it's meaning. He argues that not only do texts refer to other texts, but that they actually contain them. Porter also refers to Thomas Jefferson and his part in writing the Declaration of Independence on pages 89 & 90. Jefferson has been said to have either consciously or unconsciously borrowed writing from his culture. This example ties into Porter's belief that creative writers are creative borrowers. Writers are limited by the discourse community they impose on, they are restricted by the intertextual preferences, but the successful writers work around those restraints in order to effect change.

Schaeffer, Robert. "What's Wrong With Standardized Tests?" The National Center for Fair & Open Testing. 17 Dec. 2007. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. <http://fairtest.org/facts/ whatwron.htm>. In this article, Whats Wrong With Standardized Tests?, questions are asked and answers are given. Some questions ask if standardized tests are fair, if they reflect what a student has learned or what what they now, are there better ways to determine student achievement and more. All of the answers go against standardized testing and suggest that they are unfair and that there are better ways to test students. Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Boston: Cambridge UP, 1990. 21-32. Print. In his article, "The Concept of Discourse Community", John Swales attempts to explain the six main points and segments of a discourse community and the reasons behind each one. He talks about the procedural purposes and the public aspects of discourse communities. A discourse community is where a group develops the same ideas and same common goals. Swales argues that there are many discourse communities and they all have different characteristics, but when it comes to defining a discourse community it is all the same.

X Malcolm. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Ed. Alex Haley. New York: Ballantine, 1965. Print In his article, "Learning to Read", Malcom X attempts to tell his story of how he learned to read and write when he spent his time in prison. He argues that anyone can gain the ability to read. Many who knew him would think he got a further education than eighth grade, but in fact he was the one that taught himself. He used the dictionary to rewrite the words and definitions. He found that he was able to remember the words and their meanings which improved his literacy in every way.