Keep, William. “Rewriting Business as Usual”

Keep, William. "Rewriting Business as Usual." Direct from the Disciplines: Writing across the Curriculum. Ed. Mary T. Segall, and Robert A. Smart. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 2005. 9-17.

In “Rewriting Business as Usual,” William Keep notes that although we often find writing in various disciplines to be quite different from one another. He states, “I listened with amazement as a political science professor described passive voice as a valued writing style. I began fighting against passive voice with my very first student, yet here was a respected colleague valuing a style I sought to dramatically reduce” (11). Keep also points out that writing in the same discipline can also vary significantly (10-11). These facts no doubt can perplex students until they have an understanding of the important role context plays in writing. Keep found that allowing and encouraging revision improved student writing. He states, “By providing such opportunities, we encourage students to view the improvement of their writing to be an ongoing and important goal” (16).