Bloggers or High Schoolers, Where is the Literary Talent?

word munger writes "A few weeks ago, Chad Orzel read a New York Times article which analyzed the best high school writing on the new SAT test. The Times' writer appeared surprised that the best high school writing was so bad. Chad then wondered if the best bloggers could do any better under the same conditions and it was put to the test. Over 500 people tried the timed online test, but just 109 scoreable responses resulted. Professionals graded all the responses which were then posted on a web site where readers can rate the essays themselves, as well as find out the professional score. So who's a better writer, a blogger or a high schooler? You can also read Chad's analysis — or better yet, you can decide for yourself."

The real question...

[davidwr]

Who's a better blogger, CowboyNeal or your average New York Times reporter?

Everyone knows

[Anonymous Coward]

Bloggers are experts at writing

take Slashdot for example

blogs are not eassays

[zoftie]

Perhaps one paraphers don't cut, when experience required in writing introduction conclusion and ability to maintain flow over entire page or five.

amirite?

[Anonymous Coward]

i wuz up all nite wrkn on my essay to pub 2 my blog when i rlzed that it wudnt b reel w/o sum form of sweet lingo dun up in da house 2 sho 2 my othr HS students, so i only got a 2 outta 6 on dat essay when i got a 9/12 on my SAT 1

Re:Sensationalist Journalism

[igaborf]

Reading the article, it seems like the primary problem is that the bloggers tended to not follow directions and wrote about whatever they actually felt like, instead of what they were supposed to write about.

Mod parent off-topic!

Where is the Literary Talent?

[jazman_777]

Not in a box,
not with a fox,
No here not there
Not anywhere.

My Congressman?

[Anonymous Coward]

You should write to your congressman.

I tried, but he kept wanting to know what I was wearing and what my penis size was.

Re:Horrible prompt

[slackmaster2000]

A better prompt may have been:

"Do legs hinder or help people in their effort to train for and win the fifty-yard dash?"

Throughout the ages, human beings have relied on their legs for moving about. From walking to running to hopping, the human leg has indeed proven itself a most valuable and celebrated mobility-enabling appendage. It should come as no startling realization, then, to learn that most human sports are derived from activities that demonstrate the prowness of the leg. And perhaps no sport showcases the raw power of the leg than the fifty-yard-dash.

Oops, it's not supposed to be about the fifty-yard dash, but the importance or unimportance of the leg to training for and successfully running the fifty-yard dash. Good thing I already graduated from college, where I learned quickly that most professors can't write worth a damn anyhow. Perhaps that's the true objective of the SAT writing test - can you quickly write on any subject in such a way as to appeal to a narrow audience? If so, you can make it through the university system without much effort.

Re:this study is a little iffy

[enharmonix]

Exams are also unfair because they give an advantage to students who have revised for them.

...Reviewed for them...

FYI, "Reviewed" in US = "Revised" in UK. I too have tried and tried to convince the English that they're speaking the language wrong, but they refuse to listen to reason, so I just thought I'd try to help you decipher their weird code.

Re:Who cares?

[Plutonite]

They modded you informative.

Such preposterous premonitions against a man who, in the amplitude of his vocabular grandeur, effortlessly dwarves the likes of thy scurrillus vituperations. Of lowly men, thou surely are amongst the most menial in matters of this concern.

See? No troll mod.

Re:Everyone knows

[Anonymous Coward]

Bloggers? I first read that as "boogers"!
Whatever. No difference.