Freshmen students in college go through the first-year composition experience to be exposed to different writing styles, and to develop a skill set on how to be a part of the community that they wish to get a degree in. It is crucial for new students to learn the language of the community that they wish to join. David Bartholomae, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, discusses this in Inventing the University. He talks about how students reach the same level of academic writing as current members of certain societies, and is correct in his writings. The objective of the first-year composition experience is to introduce students to writing techniques that they will use to engage in their respective career fields.
Bartholomae uses a metaphor
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In one specific claim Bartholomae continues his rant. He declares, “They must, that is, see themselves within a privileged discourse, one that already includes and excludes groups of readers. They must be either equal to or more powerful than those they would address” (Bartholomae 9). This idea produced by Bartholomae is a bit extreme. As previously mentioned, a student must be confident in their abilities as a scholar and, as a result, their gained confidence can most definitely propel them to do even better, but attempting to appear more powerful than others can be negative; it can have a negative impact on one’s chances of becoming a part of the society. Trying to seem more powerful than others can come off as rude and self-centered, and the audience would immediately stop paying attention to the arguments that are brought up in the writing. When individuals try to appear higher in rank than each other, it creates tension between them, which is detrimental to relationships that people hope to foster in their respective career fields. As opposed to doing what David Bartholomae suggests, when addressing an audience, I suggests acting as if the audience and the writer are equals, all while being respectful. Maximum efficiency in a community can be reached, but only if everyone works together as equals. If all …show more content…
Providing new students with chances to learn about communication in the workplace allows them to become aware of the importance of communication in general. In the event that students are not exposed to the numerous unique methods of communication before attempting to join the work place, then the students will be in for a rude awakening. The large amounts of communication would likely be overwhelming for the students, and will prevent them from performing their jobs with maximum efficiency. In order for new students to join a new academic community, they must first be exposed to writing styles in their discipline, and the first-year composition experience does
In this article written by David Bartholomae, the author discusses problems basic writers make and about how they must use the discourse (communication style) of the academic community they are writing to, to be an effective writer. Bartholomae believes that “Inventing the University," is being able to assemble and mimic the universities language(5). Which means, if a student wants to be an efficient writer, he or she must be able to speak the language of his or her audience. Bartholomae writes that a common mistake of basic writers is that they don’t use an authoritative voice, and tend to switch into a more passive voice. This could be due to the fact that students have difficulty establishing their mindset or attitude for an audience
In Patricia Limerick’s article “Dancing with Professors”, she argues the problems that college students must face in the present regarding writing. Essays are daunting to most college students, and given the typical lengths of college papers, students are not motivated to write the assigned essays. One of the major arguments in Limerick’s article is how “It is, in truth, difficult to persuade students to write well when they find so few good examples in their assigned reading.” To college students, this argument is true with most of their ...
Academic writing is a very discouraging topic that most young writers do not even want to begin to think about or imagine doing. Throughout college everyone will be asked to write multiple academic essays regardless of their major. We have read two sources in class that have helped clear up some common myths and also helped make academic writing not seem so foreign. The two sources we read were “What is Academic Writing?” and the first chapter of the book “From Inquiry to Academic Writing”. Many young students seeking a college degree are fearful about the amount of work needed to be done in order to survive their college courses. Academic writing is a challenging topic that many young people struggle to get a grasp on. Once the skill of
As a student, I have learned many different skills that I will take with me throughout my journey from this course. We have traversed many different types of writing styles, which any college student, or any person for that
Transitioning from high school to college can be overwhelming. Before English 1301, I thought that I did not have to worry about being prepared for college. I quickly realized that my little background in writing essays was not going to be enough for college. Writing is not just something that I will use in English classes. In college, I will have to use effective writing skills in all my classes to complete research papers, essay tests and communicate to professors. Throughout my education, writing strategies persisted to be something that did not come easy to me. I dreaded writing because I could never find ways to get my thoughts down on paper. Ironically, a class that petrified me due to the amount of writing that was required ended up helping me in so many ways. English 1301 and my professor prepared me so much for college and real life.
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For me, being a college writer means writing well-organized essays that readers enjoy reading. Being a well rounded writer was also important. Each unit in this class challenged me to write in a well-organized, concise way. During each unit, we conducted some sort of revision activity where I was exposed to other students’ writing. As I read their work, I picked up on their use of transition words and separation of paragraphs to make the essay flow. Naturally, I began implementing more transition words in my own work and learned the appropriate ways to split paragraphs. The structure of the class was key to the organization of my ideas which was crucial to the development of my essay. During the third unit of this class, we were asked to identify an issue on campus, conduct research on the issue, and finally propose a solution to correct the issue. At first, it was difficult to get my ideas down and figure out what it was I would research. What I learned in class allowed me to first identify the issue I would research, write a rough draft, and hear what others had written before the final paper was due. This helped me to identify the main points, brainstorm and figure out what additional research I would need to find to support my argument. Being able to organize my thoughts from the beginning made writing the paper a much easier process. This course has helped me to grow as a writer and make
When writing, it is important to pay attention to tone; the writing may come across in a manner other than what the writer had intended. Writing needs to be effectively organized, main points need to be stated clearly and long sections should be divided into separate paragraphs. Poor spelling often keeps many individuals from getting jobs; errors may change the meaning of the writing. Any form of written communication needs to be written in a professional manner, as it represents the writer as a person, and with the knowledge that whatever is written is permanent. Teachers could be emailing the parents of their students or writing notes home.
I write to you to tell you about my trip across the Atlantic and the experiences of that long trip. The ship was big in size but with all the fellow Christians made for a small living area. Our rations were small and consisted of daily porridge, bread, and stale water. As a sailor on the ship, I had the opportunity to get lost in my work by its repetitive nature. The crew and passengers were getting agitated and we were all looking for a change of scenery.
An Ignited Reunion “Bye mom!” I called out as my mom ushered my sister and brother out of the house. I knew how she felt. Marcos and Jade were a handful. “Bye Maddy,” my mom yelled as she started to walk down the road, “Take care, we will be back soon!”
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