The fundamental assumption that underlies "Worlds Apart" seems to be that the role of university writing classes is purely to prepare students for their future career. This makes sense in specialized majors such as journalism, engineering, law, etc., but I wonder if we should impose the same paradigm for other disciplines such as English, psychology, linguistics, anthropologies, etc. Authentic writing is possible and desirable in journalism, engineering, etc. because the students in these disciplines are expected to become journalists, engineers, etc., but do we always know what English majors end up being? If we can't predict the (majority of) students' future career, what is authentic writing? What are we trying to teach? Are we really responsible for providing job training? Do students come to university to prepare for their future career? (That's what the middle-class adage says, but do students really believe in that?)
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Tosh
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"Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished.: If you're alive, it isn't."
-- Illusions.
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