What Is University Writing? First-year Writing At Arizona State University

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What Is University Writing?First-year Writing At
Arizona State University

• Sarah Duerden,Senior Lecturer
• Writing Programs
• Arizona State University
• http//www.public.asu.edu/atsjd

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Overview

• What is college-level writing?
• The two semester sequence at ASU
• What is taught what is not taught
• My versions of 101 and 102
• Problems my students encounter
• How to further prepare students for college
  writing
• Q A

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What Is College-level Writing?

• According to Patrick Sullivan, a student should
  write in response to an article, essay, or
  reading selection that contains at least some
  abstract content (16).

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• The writer should demonstrate the following
• a willingness to evaluate ideas and issues
  carefully,
• some skill at analysis and higher level thinking,
• the ability to integrate some of the material
  from reading skillfully,
• and the ability to follow the standard rules of
  grammar, punctuation, and spelling (17).

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Students At ASUhttp//www.asu.edu/writingprograms
/teacherresources/wpguide/missionstatement.htm

• Goals
• to engage the ideas encountered in academic and
  serious public discourse,
• to develop complex ideas and arguments through
  serious consideration of different perspectives,
• and to connect their life experiences with ideas
  and information they encounter in classes.
• By
• exploring what others have written about issues,
• using their readings to expand their notion of
  what counts as an appropriate position,
• exploring the multiplicity of any topic,
• and realizing that multiple stories or
  interpretations exist.

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In Practice

• We require the use of college-level non-fiction
  readings that invite students to become actively
  engaged with the author's point of view, rather
  than simply to read for "information" or "main
  ideas."

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In Practice, continued

• students learn to evaluate arguments, weigh
  evidence and scrutinize reasoning.
• they learn that multiple interpretations are
  possible, but that not all are "equally valid,"
  that although language is semantically rich, more
  responsible readings are distinguished by careful
  analysis and textual support.
• students learn to use reading to examine
  identified perspectives through historical and
  cultural analyses that consider both the
  antecedents and the implications of a particular
  perspective, and that explore how such
  perspectives are embedded in complex cultural
  contexts.

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In Practice Cont.

• In English 101 (first semester) we focus
  specifically on making clear claims in response
  to non-fiction texts supported by a variety of
  evidence including,
• Other written texts,
• Ethnographic research,
• Personal experience.
• Often (but not always) the focus in 101 is on
  popular culture including pop culture texts and
  articles analyzing those texts.
• Teachers required to use a Rhetoric and may
  choose to use a Reader in addition.

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English 102

• In the second semester, our focus is on formal
  argumentation that involves articulating a claim,
  using definitions consistently, supporting the
  claim with a variety of evidence, and drawing
  conclusions. Students read and write various
  genres of argument.

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• In English 102, students learn the following
• how to write persuasively and to understand the
  demands made on them by the arguments they
  encounter,
• how to assess not only "factual" evidence, but
  the values, emotions and needs that affect the
  reasoning process,
• how to construct and present a persuasive
  character for themselves,
• and develop their understanding of the
  relationship between evidence and conclusions.

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Research In All Courses

• In both courses, students engage in various forms
  of research for each paper.
• Whether collecting data through fieldwork,
  interviews, listserv participation, web-searches,
  or library holdings, students are encouraged to
  investigate how language defines a particular
  community, how its members communicate with one
  another in writing, how writing generates
  concepts for understanding human experience, and
  how it sometimes results in community action.
• Part of students research involves collecting
  relevant samples of writing that communities
  produce.
• Thus, the kinds of research we emphasize enables
  students not merely to conform to convention, but
  to enter into the scholarly debate which the
  conventions are intended to facilitate.
• Therefore, for us there is no such thing as The
  Research Paper. Research is part of all writing.

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In All Courses

• Four major writing projects
• Multiple drafts
• Most teachers read drafts and make formative
  comments others do not read all rough drafts
• All teachers use peer review extensively (many
  teachers require two different drafts for peer
  review before the polished paper)
• Some allow for a one-time revision of a graded
  paper others do not
• In WAC 101 (across two semesters) students
  complete 3 papers each semester and a final

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In All Courses

• All teachers make extensive use of small group
  discussion small group work for invention etc.
• A reflective final or portfolio in each course.
• Teachers choose texts from approved lists so
  courses do vary.
• All classes capped at 19.
• Some taught in regular classrooms, others in
  computer-mediated classrooms. Some taught as
  hybrids some sections fully online.

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First-Year Writing Sequences

• ENG 101--gtENG 102 (70 of students take this
  track)
• WAC 101--gtENG 101--gtENG 102 (20 of our students
  take this track)
• We also have ESL versions of 101, WAC 101, and
  102
• ENG 105 (10 of students take this one-semester
  course)

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Possible Differences Between High School And
College

• No Literature in First-Year Composition.
• We stress the notion of discourse communities so
  that students see that writing differs according
  to which discourse community they are writing
  for.
• We actively discourage specific formulas for
  structuring essays.
• In particular this means abandoning the five
  paragraph theme because it often limits students
  thinking (for a larger discussion see Sharon
  Crowley in The Methodical Memory and Keith
  Hjortshoj The Transition to College Writing).

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• We actively encourage students to use the
  personal voice (if appropriate for the rhetorical
  situation of the paper).
• We expect standard grammar, punctuation, and
  spelling.
• And, according to Jack Meiland, the biggest
  difference is that college work requires that
  students engage in a different kind of
  intellectual activity (104).

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What Is Not Taught

• Grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
• Teachers may develop mini lectures on style tips
  such as when and how to use passive voice or how
  to make transitions more effective.

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• Formulas or rigid structures for papers or
  paragraphs.
• Emphasis may be on genre such as accepted genre
  for proposal etc.
• Academic Writing as the only style.
• We teach students to adapt their writing to the
  discourse community and rhetorical situation.

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My Own Versions Of 101

• In my version of English 101 our readings and
  papers we write focus specifically on the
  transition to college.
• Assignment One Critique of article about college
  students supported by personal experience,
  ethnographic research, and outside readings.

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Assignment Two Article supported by personal
experience, ethnographic research, and outside
experts exploring academic literacies encountered
at ASU and the changes necessary to
succeed.Assignment Three Taking a position on
some problem related to education and suggesting
a solution by using the readings on education as
a starting point and conducting further
research.Assignment Four Evaluation of a
popular culture text aimed at college students,
focusing particularly on values inherent in the
text, using outside experts as support.
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My Version Of English 102

• Assignment One Critical Analysis of an argument
  examining the rhetorical strategies employed and
  explaining what makes the argument effective or
  ineffective.
• Assignment Two Examining the origins of a
  current issue or trend or situation by
  investigating what the issue is and arguing its
  origins, explaining who is affected by the issue,
  the different groups of people who have taken a
  position on issue, its scope and seriousness.
• Assignment Three Arguing Value by returning to
  the issue in the second paper and arguing what is
  wrong or right or what is flawed or not.
• Assignment Four Arguing Crisis by showing how a
  problem is becoming or has become a crisis and
  either advocating that something be done or some
  procedure be changed or arguing for or against a
  policy proposal that has actually been made.

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In Each Course

• Homework comprises a reading journal and
  heuristics

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• Reading Journal Students must summarize each
  reading and write a response to the reading (in
  102 they must include an additional section in
  which they describe the authors appeals and
  evidence)
• Heuristics For each paper I create a series of
  tasks that help students generate and develop
  material from which they can draw to produce a
  draft

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Problems Students EncounterReading

• Some have severe problems reading and accurately
  comprehending complex non-fiction prose.
• Therefore, many are unable to summarize
  accurately.
• Many can describe what an author does, but they
  cannot summarize the argument. They write a
  description but not a summary (first the author
  does x. Then she says y).
• If the essay uses a delayed thesis or employs
  inductive logic, they are confused.
• Many are unwilling to read ideas that they dont
  agree with.
• Many are unwilling or unable to evaluate ideas
  they dont agree with.

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Problems Students Encounter Organization
Development

• Some are unwilling to abandon formulas that were
  useful in high school (and in particular for
  essay exams).
• Some are frustrated by the fact that we dont use
  exact models for them to emulate.
• Some have difficulty with seeing that writing
  depends on the discourse community and changes
  according to the rhetorical situation.

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Research

• Some see research as the last step they do after
  they have outlined a paper.
• In other words, rather than allowing themselves
  to see that a conversation on a topic exists and
  they are about to enter it, they want to
  formulate their opinion and then add what others
  have said.
• Because they are not skilled readers, some
  misinterpret outside research.
• Of course Google rules along with Wikipedia.

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How To Prepare Students For College Writing

• No easy task given how much you are expected to
  already cover as high school teachers and the
  literature focus you are required to take.
• However, more practice reading complex
  non-fiction texts would help students transition
  to the kind of questioning or intellectual work
  that Jack Meiland and Patrick Sullivan describe.
• Also helping them learn how to write an accurate
  summary rather than a description of texts I do
  this in a literary context by pointing out the
  difference between summarizing a film in contrast
  to giving a blow- by- blow synopsis of the plot.

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How To Prepare Students For College Writing
(continued)

• could students summarize arguments about the
  literature they are reading? When I introduce
  summary, I give students an article and
  guidelines for writing a summary. Then in the
  next class, I go through my own writing of a
  summary of that argument. Then I have them pool
  their versions to develop a group version. I
  find writing group summaries in class a good way
  to help students develop this skill.
• could students be asked to read and summarize
  arguments about the subject matter dealt with in
  the literature? For example, when my literature
  students read The Curious Incident in the
  Nighttime, I had them read and summarize
  arguments about Aspergers Syndrome and how best
  to educate those with the disorder.

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How To Prepare Students For College Writing
(continued)

• Sustained and overt discussion of rhetorical
  situation for each assignmenteven if the
  audience is just the teacher, there are
  rhetorical constraints they must follow.
• Discuss the concept of discourse
  communityliterature is a particular discourse
  community with conventions that differ
  significantly from the sciences and social
  sciences.

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• Discussion and use of a variety of evidence.
• Focus on research as a way to support ideas
  rather than a paper in and of itself.
• Discussion of research as a way of entering a
  debate rather than what is added after the paper
  is written.
• Continued use of peer review (our students come
  well prepared for this and we try to develop
  their skills further by focusing on goals for
  each assignment).

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Practicalities

• Computer literacy
• Ability to follow stand rules of grammar,
  punctuation, and spelling
• Familiarity with MLA documentation and how to use
  handbook

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Works Cited

• ASU Writing Programs http//www.asu.edu/writingpr
  ograms/
• Crowley, Sharon. The Methodical Memory
  Invention in Current-Traditional Rhetoric.
  Southern Illinois Press, 1990.
• Hjorshoj, Keith. The Transition to College
  Writing. Boston Bedford St Martins, 2001.
• Meiland, Jack. The Difference Between High
  School and College. You Are Here. Russel
  Durst. (Ed.) New Jersey Prentice Hall,
  2003.104-115.
• Steering Committee of the Outcomes Group. WPA
  Outcomes Statement for First-Year Composition.
  College English 63 (2001) 321-325.
• Sullivan, Patrick. An Essential Question What
  is College-Level Writing? in What is
  College-Level Writing? Patrick Sullivan and
  Howard Tinberg (Eds). Urbana NCTE, 2006. 1-30.