Kratzke

In his article “Recopying to Revise,” Kratzke decries the superficiality that has taken over the modern classroom. He blames democratization and multiculturalism for a “dummy down effect,” a political correctness that includes differences by ignoring them in the name of being “easy, free, forgiving, attentive, comfortable, interesting, unchallenging, fun.” He also blames the computer. He quotes Neitzche: “our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts.” The spell and grammar check give students a false notion that the machine is correcting their errors; the instantaneous of information made available gives even scholars a sense of the transitory nature of knowledge, how rapidly it moves.
To offset this superficiality, Kratzke would have students return to a pre-computer mode of composition which included recopying a paper before it is handed in. In recopying the paper, a student is almost automatically inclined to revise it. Recopying is almost a metaphor for reflection. Writing a first draft is an experience, but the meaning of a draft is shaped by revision in the same way that reflection is a way of processing experience for its deeper meaning.