I like the idea of using romantic rhetoric to explore your thoughts and feelings through self-expression. I always liked this idea because it does make students more interested and personally involved in their writing. I like that there is no "right" or wrong" to it. Students don't have to feel intimidated and unsure about their writing. (at least from a grading point of view) It states how the the writing is very confessional and how the most successful include painful personal experiences. This reminds me about The Freedom Writers movie and the work of Erin Gruwell. She encouraged her students to write self-expressive entries that helped the students to deal with the problems in their lives and form a sense of community in the classroom. I think that self- expressive writing would be really beneficial in the classroom.
It gave an example of how when students write a book report they include a section about their reaction or response to the book detailing their feelings. I remember doing a book report like this and I remember writing it with ease in junior high. I knew I had read the book and my opinion on it couldn't be wrong. I felt confident when I wrote it and I remember getting a good grade on it. This happened in junior high school and I still remember it. I think the writing does appear more authentic when it is written from your own personal experience or knowledge.
I like the idea of Writing Across the Curriculum. I like the examples for the art and science class in the elementary school. The writing-intensive model for middle school and high school did not appeal to me as much, but I would try to make it a little more creative. I have never been involved in an education that emphasized WAC. ( or if I was I don't remember it)
I hope that emoticons do not start to show up in my students papers when I go out teaching. I would love to grade more on content than mechanics, but emoticons are completely inappropriate. I would allow them in content focused journal entries, but not in anything else. I would not allow them to use these in their papers. I would have to agree with the more traditional teachers that it would not be preparing them for the workplace, which would not allow use of emoticons. Students must be able to learn to write without them for more professional documents or they will be unsuccessful.