Jason McIntosh Volume 5 Chapter Description Grades are an important part of school. Among other things, they tell students how well they met assignment outcomes, whether they are on track to pass their courses and graduate, and if they qualify for certain scholarships and extracurricular activities. However, grades are also the cause of a great […]
Jennifer Wells Volume 5 Chapter Description Many of us have something we want to learn to do that is beyond what we are currently able to do. While there are a number of key factors that can influence our success (or contribute to our failure), one of the most important is our own orientation toward
Dispositions Towards Learning Read More »
Glenn Lester, Sydney Doyle, Taylor Lucas, and Alison Overcash Volume 5 Chapter Description Many college students write for one reason and one reason only: to complete a class assignment. But students who subscribe to this view of writing—writing as merely a means to an end, a tool to achieve a grade—are seriously limiting themselves. In
We Write Because We Care: Developing Your Writerly Identity Read More »
L. Lennie Irvin Volume 5 Chapter Description Many freshmen enter college with a one-draft writing process where revision means tidying up errors and then submitting the final product. This chapter is about changing your thinking about revision as a foundation for changing your practice of revision. The chapter explores the false concepts about writing and
Changing Your Mindset About Revision Read More »
Jeremy Levine Volume 4 Chapter Description Grades are an (often) unmentioned but all-powerful force in the writing classroom. We know that grades mean a great deal to students, motivating many of their decisions in the classroom.* But because grading is uncomfortable and inexact work, we rarely discuss it openly in class — a silence that
What Are We Being Graded On? Read More »
Kate McKinney Maddalena Volume 1 Chapter Description In this essay, I argue against the common misconception that “I” has no place in formal writing. I discuss many theoretical and rhetorical ways (objectivity and intellectual integrity, and clarity and organization, respectively) in which first person, used prudently, can improve written argument. I then show some examples
I Need You to Say “I”: Why First Person Is Important in College Writing Read More »
Ben Rafoth Volume 1 Chapter Description In this chapter, a writing center director and author of books and articles about learning to write invites tutors to tell why writing centers help students become better writers. They explain how the power of conversation in collaborative learning environments helps to expand a writer’s ideas, and we see
Why Visit Your Campus Writing Center? Read More »
Susan E. Antlitz Volume 1 Chapter Description One of the toughest challenges students face is figuring out what to write about. Connecting personal identity and purpose to more public contexts and subjects can play a significant role in helping students to write confidently. “Taking Flight” acknowledges the anxiety writers can feel when faced with the
Taking Flight: Connecting Inner and Outer Realities during Invention Read More »
Sarah Allen Volume 1 Chapter Description I work to dispel the myth of the “inspired writer” (the figure who generates perfect prose without the frustrated process of revision or failure) and to tell the truth about the writing process as I and many of my colleagues and students experience it. I find that a good
The Inspired Writer vs. the Real Writer Read More »
Lennie L. Irvin Volume 1 Chapter Description This chapter explores the task of writing in college. It details common myths about academic writing and the importance of developing a “writer’s sense” within the writing situation. It identifies features of the complex “literacy task” college writing assignments require and decodes elements of the academic writing situation
What is Academic Writing? Read More »
