ABSTRACT
Most of the state-level standards that author have seen require students to approach writing through the lenses of the traditional discourses, usually one at a time. Younger writers, for example, often begin writing autobiographically, before "graduating" on to more difficult domains: literary analysis, persuasive writing, and expository writing. When students understand the real-world purposes for writing they begin to internalize the relevance of writing, and more important, they develop an understanding that writing is an important skill to carry into adulthood. When students begin to understand this relevance, their writing improves. Have students choose a paper they have already written and have them revise it with a different purpose in mind. Students can also benefit by revising the purpose of others' writing. Instead of providing students with a mixture of articles, have students find them. Students who cannot identify an author's purpose will go through life susceptible.
