Dartmouth Writing Program
What is an Academic Paper?
This article discusses the differences between a college paper and a high school paper. Two very different things. “. Old formulae, such as the five-paragraph theme, aren't sophisticated or flexible enough to provide a sound structure for a college paper.” Academic writing which is the type of writing one would use in College is typically devoted to topics and questions that are of interest to the community. (Gocsik, 2005). Gocsik states that academic writing should present the reader with an informed argument.
Choosing a topic can be difficult if the instrucor has not given the writer a topic to write on. The writer needs to make sure it’s relevant and interesting. The writer should also consider their position on the subject and their audience and how the writer plans to reach the reader. Gocsik states “don't write simply to please your professor.”
The very first thing the writer should do is to find out what they know about the topic. Then the writer should figure out what is important about the topic and then ask themselves what they don’t know about the topic.
Using appropriate tone and style is very important when writing on a college level. According to Gocsik, “Remember: professors are human beings, capable of boredom, laughter, irritation, and awe. Understand that you are writing to a person who is delighted when you make your point clearly, concisely, and persuasively. Understand, too, that she is less delighted when you have inflated your prose, pumped up your page count, or tried to impress her by using terms that you didn't take the time to understand.” Interesting papers and papers that make the reader laugh, smile and really think about are the types of papers that instructors are looking for.
One of the aspects of writing that I detest the most is how it is taught to students at a younger age. I try to incorporate writing into my curriculum as much as possible, mainly because it is mandated as part of "Writing Across the Curriculum" here in Florida, but struggle to find ways to encourage students to break from the enforced past instructional methods.
ReplyDeleteI think that it's important to begin students writing with a purpose at a younger age. My middle school students felt cheated and enraged when they found out that the conversational grabbers that their language arts teacher required that they write cost them points in my class. Writing is a process and as such, I think that we need to begin at the same point and work towards the end result.
@ Amanda
ReplyDeleteI like and agree with Joe’s comment about starting young writing with a purpose. Everyone must start somewhere and I believe the beginning stages of writing have to have a purpose. As for more developed writing, its clear that there should be a prominent difference between high school writing and college writing but where does that difference begin. I once found this website that I bookmarked that I found interesting about the “nuts and bolts” of college writing. For myself, I was never a strong writer so when I got to college for my undergrad I had a difficult time. I found myself starting at square one and unlearning what I had been taught.
Michael Harvey’s Nuts and Bolts: http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/
@ Amanda, Your posting about The Dartmouth Article and how it differs from what we students learn in high school brings an interesting follow up conversation, starting with Joe’s reply. Even though there are so many resources out there in regards to strategies in writing. What can we do as instructors to instill the love of writing in our students or at least avoid the moaning and groaning every time there is a writing assignment? Why do so many students say, “I hate writing”?
ReplyDeleteEarlier in my school years I found those writing assignments boring and tedious and I was constantly worried about how many points I would lose if I missed a comma or wrote a run on sentence. Until one of my college instructors allowed us a little more leeway on an assignment and I found the perfect topic to write about, one that I enjoyed. I found that to break students away from the chains “duty writing”, one has to enjoy it. One strategy instructors can use is to make sure students understand that the skill of writing is something that they will use the rest of their lives and not a temporary task for a grade. Another technique is allowing them to write about a subject they like. Instructors should take away the barrier of expecting grammar perfection. Through own experience I realized that writing has so much more intensity and flow when it is about something the writer is passionate about. Yes, “writing in college is very different than writing in high school” (Gocsick 2004). However, what propels students to become good writers in college is how much they have enjoyed their writing experience in the past.
Reference:
Gocsik, K. (2004). What is an academic paper? Retrieved on July 10, 2010 from http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/what.shtml
@ Amanda, Your posting about The Dartmouth Article and how it differs from what we students learn in high school brings an interesting follow up conversation, starting with Joe’s reply. Even though there are so many resources out there in regards to strategies in writing. What can we do as instructors to instill the love of writing in our students or at least avoid the moaning and groaning every time there is a writing assignment? Why do so many students say, “I hate writing”?
ReplyDeleteEarlier in my school years I found those writing assignments boring and tedious and I was constantly worried about how many points I would lose if I missed a comma or wrote a run on sentence. Until one of my college instructors allowed us a little more leeway on an assignment and I found the perfect topic to write about, one that I enjoyed. I found that to break students away from the chains “duty writing”, one has to enjoy it. One strategy instructors can use is to make sure students understand that the skill of writing is something that they will use the rest of their lives and not a temporary task for a grade. Another technique is allowing them to write about a subject they like. Instructors should take away the barrier of expecting grammar perfection. Through own experience I realized that writing has so much more intensity and flow when it is about something the writer is passionate about. Yes, “writing in college is very different than writing in high school” (Gocsick 2004). However, what propels students to become good writers in college is how much they have enjoyed their writing experience in the past.
Reference:
Gocsik, K. (2004). What is an academic paper? Retrieved on July 10, 2010 from http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/what.shtml
@ Amanda, Your posting about The Dartmouth Article and how it differs from what we students learn in high school brings an interesting follow up conversation, starting with Joe’s reply. Even though there are so many resources out there in regards to strategies in writing. What can we do as instructors to instill the love of writing in our students or at least avoid the moaning and groaning every time there is a writing assignment? Why do so many students say, “I hate writing”?
ReplyDeleteEarlier in my school years I found those writing assignments boring and tedious and I was constantly worried about how many points I would lose if I missed a comma or wrote a run on sentence. Until one of my college instructors allowed us a little more leeway on an assignment and I found the perfect topic to write about, one that I enjoyed. I found that to break students away from the chains “duty writing”, one has to enjoy it. One strategy instructors can use is to make sure students understand that the skill of writing is something that they will use the rest of their lives and not a temporary task for a grade. Another technique is allowing them to write about a subject they like. Instructors should take away the barrier of expecting grammar perfection. Through own experience I realized that writing has so much more intensity and flow when it is about something the writer is passionate about. Yes, “writing in college is very different than writing in high school” (Gocsick 2004). However, what propels students to become good writers in college is how much they have enjoyed their writing experience in the past.
Reference:
Gocsik, K. (2004). What is an academic paper? Retrieved on July 10, 2010 from http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/what.shtml