Wondering what writing in college will really be like?

Linked below are some interesting articles about thinking, writing and succeeding in college, as well as some reflections from CSU Channel Islands students on what they learned about reading and writing in their first semester at CI.

Each year, the composition faculty at CSU Channel Islands ask students what they think they’ve learned from their previous writing teachers. And every year the list includes many things that are simply not true, advice that actually makes writing more difficult. Here are a few examples of what I’m talking about:

• Never use the pronoun “I”
• Never address the audience as “you”
• Never use contractions
• Never begin a sentence with “and” or “but”
• Every paper has a thesis
• The conclusion must restate the thesis
• Every paragraph has a topic sentence
• Paragraphs must have a specified number of sentences

If you’ve learned any of these myths, or others too numerous to list, you’ve been misled. None of them are true about all writing. None of them are “rules.” Some are partly true of certain kinds of writing; for example, writers rarely use “I” in formal scientific papers. But in personal essays, use of “I” is necessary. Imagine writing about your personal experience and not being able to refer to yourself! Crazy.

If you look at this article of mine, you’ll find I’ve committed all these no-no’s. And if you pay attention when you read newspaper and magazine articles, novels and short stories, even academic articles in a variety of disciplines, you’ll see that those writers don’t follow any sacred “rules” either.

So why have teachers insisted on these myths?

• Because they wanted to help students. They gave advice helpful in a specific context, but they forgot to mention that the advice wasn’t true in all situations. For example, in argumentative papers, a thesis is useful. It keeps your argument and evidence focused on the point you are making. And frequently writers restate their arguments to bring their papers to a close. So, some teachers (and many textbooks) will insist that students include a thesis in their introduction and conclusion. What they forget to say is that a thesis isn’t appropriate for all kinds of writing. Is there a thesis in this article? Probably, though I’m not consciously thinking about one, and I can assure you it isn’t stated in the introduction, nor will I include it in my conclusion. Many kinds of writing make no use of a thesis whatsoever. A thesis is rare in narratives, in personal letters, in lab reports or executive summaries, in fiction or poetry, in biography or journalism. In fact, just about the only genre where you will consistently find a thesis is argumentative writing—and even then, you won’t always find the thesis stated overtly in the first or last paragraph. Writers are subtler than that. Writers don't follow rules, they make choices based on their intention and their audience. Different audiences or different intentions yield different choices.
• So we encourage you to think like writers. Reconsider all that advice you were given. Understand the context in which it was offered and question whether the advice applies outside that context. And if all this questioning leaves you confused or uncertain, talk to your composition teacher about it. We love to talk about how the conventions of writing are different from “rules." We'd love to help you make informed choices rather than blindly follow some misguided (if well intentioned) "rule." We'd love to help you begin to think like writers.

Adapted from Bob Mayberry, Founding Director of the CSUCI Composition Program

Reflections from CSUCI Students