Westfield State College Writer's Guide
Westfield State College Writer's Guide
You have just been asked to write a lengthy research paper for your physical science class, and panic is surging through your veins. What will you write about? Where do you begin? How will your professor react to what you write? Most people, including professional writers, are acquainted with these anxious moments when encountering a new writing assignment. Even for the most practiced writers, writing is never effortless. It is a complicated process that requires both time and energy.
But you do not have to be a genius to write well. Being patient with yourself, taking time to write and revise, and believing that you do have something valuable to say will make the complicated process of writing both more meaningful and more successful. Talking with your professors, participating in writing classes at WSC, as well as workshops offered by student support services, and spending some time with this guide will also help you to write with more skill and confidence. Learning to write well is a gradual and lifelong process.
This writing guide has been designed to help WSC students better handle the varied writing assignments they encounter in their biology, mathematics, and physical science classes. Included is material on approaching writing assignments in general, as well as sections that focus specifically on individual class assignments, such as lab reports, position papers, and reviews. While these assignments are described in relation to the disciplines out of which they grow, the writers of this guide have worked together in hopes that users will see the similarities as well as the differences between writing a paper for a class in mathematics, and one for a biology class.
This first section is intended to provide a general overview of the writing process and to introduce some of the concepts and terminology used throughout the guide. Reading this introduction will make working with the other sections of the guide easier.
The place to begin with any writing assignment, whether it be in a biology, mathematics, or physical science class, is in reflection. Before even sharpening a pencil or pulling out a pen, a writer takes time to study the demands of the particular assignment. She asks questions such as: What exactly am I being asked to do? Who is doing the asking? In other words, for whom am I writing? Why am I writing? What will the rewards be? Asking such questions is part of the process of putting the assignment into context--it is a way of analyzing the rhetorical situation.
Rhetoric may be traditionally defined as discourse. To study rhetoric is to study the nature of discourse, written and oral. This means looking at how discourse is produced and communicated. The rhetorical situation, then, might be defined as an "occasion for discourse and its communication." To simplify matters, let's refer to it as an occasion for communication. In this guide we're primarily concerned with occasions for written communication, particularly those met in biology, mathematics, and physical science classes. The word occasion, or situation, is important here because the nature of written communication (how it looks, how it sounds) is determined by the scene or context in which writing is produced.
In other words, when a student sits down to write a particular paper, she writes that paper for a specific audience. She may know what it is she wishes to say, having a set message in mind, but she packages her message so that it will be appropriate for and most effective on a particular audience. Thus, understanding and analyzing the audience, as well as her specific goals in writing, and her particular relationship to that audience, will help this student to produce a stronger paper.
A good way to break the rhetorical situation down is to think of it as being like a miniature drama consisting of three players or actors. Every occasion for communication calls for a message, an audience, and at least one writer, all of whom meet on a single stage. Teachers and scholars today, drawing on the theories of both ancient and modern rhetoricians, represent the relationship between these three players with an equilateral triangle:
Why an equilateral triangle? Such a triangle symbolically connects these three elements while stressing that all three are equal and dependent upon each other. Who the writer is affects the kind of message being offered; similarly, who sits in the audience influences the way the message is tailored and delivered. The next three sections of this page take a closer look at the crucial role these three elements play in writing and suggest questions writers may ask of themselves when embarking on the writing process.
The message might be defined as the claim, thesis, organizing principle, or hypothesis of a paper; the message is a reflection of a writer's reasons and aims for writing. Sometimes when a student sits down to write papers, she knows immediately and precisely what she wants to say, having a working thesis or claim firmly in mind. She may have just completed a biology lab and now needs to report her findings from that lab. Or she may have read a journal article and now needs to summarize the main point of that article. However, it also happens that when starting out a writer will have vague ideas about what she wants to say, but no clear sense of either her overall message or purpose. This feeling of vague uncertainly is especially common when a student is asked to write research or position papers.
A common belief is that writing is used simply to reflect what the writer already knows. What is forgotten is that writing may also be used to discover what it is one has to say. The process of writing is in itself a learning process. That is why the best papers are usually ones that evolve out of multiple drafts, as a writer engages in writing to determine what she has to say.
As mentioned above, a writer working on summaries and laboratory reports will often have a fairly clear sense of what it is she is setting out to report. But a student will also meet occasions when she does not know what it is she wishes to say. There are any number of strategies that a student in such situations may use to help generate ideas. Many of these strategies are introduced in secondary school English classes or in composition classes as prewriting activities. Although it may be tempting to think of these activities as classroom exercises, most successful writers take time to prewrite in some way or another. Prewriting helps a writer to identify the main idea she wishes to convey. Different strategies work better for different people (as well as for different assignments), so experimenting with the varied strategies is a good way to determine what works best. Below is a list of strategies commonly used by the writers of these pages, both singly and in combination:
For more information on these particular strategies see Additional Writing Resources
Coming up with the message is also easier when a writer has identified her purpose for writing. Even a student who begins with a clear sense of what she wants to say needs to take time to reflect on her purpose in writing. Again, a writer often identifies her purpose by using prewriting to ask questions: With what is it that I want my particular audience to leave? Am I trying to provide new information? Do I want to entertain the audience, or inspire them? Am I out to argue something? Am I trying to confirm something that they already believe, or do I want them to call into question a certain theory or idea in their minds, or provide new information that will complicate a particular viewpoint? Am I making a proposal? Am I evaluating someone or something? Am I offering an alternative definition of something? Thinking about purpose helps writers to refine their message.
After using prewriting strategies to reflect on her purpose, a writer often finds it easier to articulate her message, framing it clearly as a claim or thesis. Where and how she frames and presents that message (as a statement or as a question; at the beginning or end of the paper, for example) depends on the particular assignment and the field out of which the assignment grows. Sections of this guide describe in greater detail how messages are often framed and presented in particular assignments and fields, as well as how to organize supporting material. Again, what prewriting strategies are used is not so important; what matters is that a writer takes time to explore and experiment with her ideas before committing herself to a specific message; and even after a writer has delineated her message, she often returns to prewriting strategies to generate evidence and supporting examples or details. The drawing board remains beside the writer throughout the process of writing, as she writes and then rewrites multiple times.
Before beginning to write, a writer will also take time to think about the audience for whom she is writing, asking questions such as: What sorts of values and beliefs does my audience have? What are they like demographically (i.e., am I writing to younger or older people, professionals in a particular field, or members of a larger community, like my home town)? Why do I want to address my message to them?
Analyzing one's audience for a particular writing assignment is not unlike the process of picking out a greeting card. When a person purchases a greeting cards, she generally has some particular message she wishes to send. She may want to wish someone happy birthday, or tell someone hello, or apologize for being a screw-up, or wish someone better health. Thus, she knows what she wants to say, but how the message is conveyed, i.e., with humor or schmaltz, is determined by whom she is sending the card to and her relationship to this person. For instance, I may be able to send my mom a light-hearted, funny "Sorry I missed your birthday" card, but my Dad may require a more penitent tone. Similarly, I probably wouldn't send a really drippy Valentine to someone I had only just started dating. There are, likewise, certain birthday cards that are fine for your best friends (ones that make jokes about age, for instance), but inappropriate for your boss.
When a person buys a greeting card, she analyzes, either unconsciously or consciously, the rhetorical situation, including her audience. She may already have a message, but she tailors that message for her particular audience.
Writing an essay is similar, as a writer often begins with a message and then thinks about her audience: What are the values and interests of the people for whom I am writing? Are all the members of my audience part of one distinct community (a scientific community, a group of elementary school teachers, a business association), or are they a more general audience (the WSC community, including administrators, teachers, students, staff)? What kinds of evidence/proof will the audience expect (raw data, source material, informal or formal logic, or a mixture of all three)?
For example, if a student is writing a proposal to increase the number of parking places on campus, she might direct that proposal to the President. Or, she might write to the Campus Voice. But the letter she writes to the President is going to read differently from the one she writes to the paper. Similarly, a student might be tempted to think that her biology paper should be written solely for her professor (an audience of one), when in fact her professor might expect the paper to be written for the larger academic discipline of which the professor and student are part. That means the professor will read the paper as a representative of that larger community. A student helps herself through the writing process, then, by asking her professor to specify the intended audience for an assignment and by then reflecting on the goals, values, and interests of that audience. This process will lead the student to also think about herself and her own goal in relation to that audience.
A writer takes time to reflect on herself. Reflecting on purpose and making one's purpose clear to the audience is of course part of the process of thinking about a writer's role. But a convincing writer also does an excellent job of establishing her credibility with her audience. What does that mean? To use an analogy, she adopts the attire (the clothing, hat, and shoes) required by her particular audience; and she learns and speaks her audience's language. A writer usually wants to be accepted, to be read, to be given high marks. Thus, she has to think about the image or persona she presents through her writing.
How does this translate into actual writing practice? A writer usually establishes credibility byCredibility, however, is more than just cosmetic. Aristotle, an ancient Greek scholar whose work on rhetoric is today well regarded, points out that it is possible to convince people of something even if the writer or speaker does not believe that something, but he also points out that the best rhetorician (or writers) believes in what she is saying. Choosing a topic that is important to you, or discovering something meaningful in a topic you may have previously found uninteresting, will help you to establish greater credibility. In other words, adhering to some of the conventions and expectations of your audience does not mean that you should throw your own creativity or innovation out the window. By offering a strong message, supported with original evidence and vivid details, and by adopting an engaging prose style, a writer shows her audience that she cares about her work, no matter what the assignment is.
But what does it mean to work within a certain genre? What conventions accompany each genre? And, more specifically, how does the writer balance the need to respect convention with the need to innovate?
Ask successful people in your chosen field, and they will tell you what your college professors told you: that you must do a lot of writing and speaking in a variety of situations in order to succeed. And they will admit that the writing that helps them to succeed is a variation on the assignments that you are doing in your college classes. While the people, places, and ideas change, the assignments and expectations remain much the same, both in and out of school.
So how does your knowledge of the elements of the Rhetorical Triangle help you to become a success in your field? Your knowledge of the essential elements of writing--writer, message, audience--will help you when you apply them to the many situations you will encounter in your college, professional and personal lives.
For your college classes, you will write summaries and abstracts of your reading, journal entries, reaction papers, critical responses, evaluations and arguments, position papers, proposals for action and for grants, short and long research reports, laboratory reports, business correspondence--including letters of application and resumes, and specialized documents to get and keep a job in your field.
In your professional career--from the time you apply for your first job until you move into the highest levels--you will will write summaries and abstracts of your reading, journal entries, reaction papers, critical responses, evaluations and arguments, position papers, proposals for action and for grants, short and long research reports, laboratory reports, business correspondence--including letters of application and resumes, and specialized documents to get and keep a job in your field.
The differences among these rhetorical situations are due primarily to conventions and genres. (Genre, a word taken from French, is broadly used to mean any grouping by similar characteristics. You will hear people refer to the genre of poetry vs novels, editorials vs news reports, actions films vs horror movies, journal entries vs narratives, for example. Anything that can be grouped by conventions is a genre.) Expected formats and kinds of messages are conventions. Yet genre is aword that combines the concepts of convention and innovation. Changing ideas, language, and data are innovations. In each of your classes of your college career (and in your professional career as well), you will be asked to do writing assignments that tell you to follow certain conventions and to provide your own innovations.
Readers expect certain things when they read resumes, lab reports, and editorials--they expect conventions. They appreciate innovations, or smart and imaginative departures from those conventions, which make them appreciate this writer's abilities; but they expect to get the information and ideas in what you as college students should learn to recognize as fairly predictable forms. The concepts, language, and data are different, of course. But readers expect to see these changes built upon recognizable foundations.
For your purposes, genre means a literary essay, a lab report, or a research paper in a particular field. So you need to know about the genres that are important in your discipline, and you also need to know about the acceptable ways of proving your points used in the humanities and the sciences. Once you get these down, you will be able to move to other kinds of writing fairly easily.
In your English, science, and math courses, you will be asked to write assignments that may seem to be very different work on your part because of the different subject matter. But because they are variations on similar genres, you will find it easier to move from working on one of these writing assignments to another if you recognize that they build upon the same conventions.
For example, summary and abstract assignments ask you to write about very different subject matter depending upon which course (or job) you are writing for. But each assignment expects you to put key ideas and issues in your own words, to summarize the data, theorems, and arguments of the readings that you are assigned, and to edit your work to make sure that your readers will be able to evaluate its accuracy.
Journal entry assignments will also ask you to focus on different elements with each class and teacher, but they will generally share the expectation that you will show your understanding of the main points of the assigned experience or reading and a personal response to what you have learned, including questions that follow your observations. Position papers usually ask you to combine the methods of summaries and journal entries, but go further by asking you to write an essay in a specified format and length in which you argue for your position on a controversial topic after showing that you have evaluated the information--data, arguments, evidence--about the topic at the end.
And most research paper assignments ask you to combine all of the above with a concluding section (sometimes an introduction, too) that summarizes your own developing argument in order to persuade your readers of your position on the topic. All of these writing assignments are designed by your teachers to prepare you for the writing assignments that you will do in your professional careers. And all of these writing assignments are designed to prepare you for becoming a writer who can persuade others to follow your suggestions by showing that you are a thoughtful reader, careful summarizer, and skillful proponent. Again, the Rhetorical Triangle--writer, message, and audience.
When you hear the term journal, you may be tempted to think of "diaries." Journals are not, however, diaries, though they may share some characteristics. Like diaries, journals are usually used to record a student's learning process; entries are made chronologically and on a daily or weekly basis. Unlike diaries, the journals students keep for certain classes are read by a larger audience, often including the professor as well as other students.
Professors at WSC will often ask their students to keep journals over the course of the semester; but it is important to keep in mind that the aims and objectives of these journal assignments vary from professor to professor, and course to course. One professor might ask you to keep a reading journal, expecting you to summarize and/or comment on weekly readings. Another professor might want you to keep a personal or reflective journal, asking you to relate material encountered in class or through reading to your own life. A third professor might want you to use the journal merely as a drawing board, to record observations or ideas that could be raised in class discussion or used as topics for papers.
Writers also tend to think of journals as "informal," meaning that they need not worry about matters of style or form, but can write spontaneously. However, some professors may expect students to work more deliberately on their journal entries, abiding by certain stylistic and rhetorical conventions. They may ask students to type their entries, expecting that in the process of typing students will revise and rewrite as they would with a more formal essay.
What is the answer, then, to negotiating journal assignments? Communicate with your professor. For example, find out from your professor who the intended audience of your journal entries should be. Also, ask for specific instructions on form, style, and length of the entries and evaluative criteria (what and how will the professor be grading the work). Students should avoid writing all their journal entries the night before a journal is due. Doing so defeats the purpose of a journal, to forward gradually the learning process. Professors are happy to provide answers to questions when they are asked. And regardless of how they are used, journal writing, with its regularity and often exploratory nature, provides students with space for new discoveries.
Other sections of this guide talk about some of the particular rhetorical situations in which you might find yourself while writing college and professional papers. Who are some of those audiences your professor expects you to address? What are the values, interests, conventions (language conventions) those audiences expect? And where is there room for your own creativity and original thinking, while satisfying those expectations? Return to the Contents page to find answers to these and other questions.