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••••
Understanding College
and Other Writing Situations
1a
What is a writing situation?
Think of th e following situations: writing a text message to a friend; a resea rch
paper for a history class; a job application letter; a Web si te for a museum.
These situations resul t in texts widely different in length, fotmat, content, or­
gan ization , style, and so on. A writing situation is the combination of several
elements: your topic, your purpose, your aud ience, your role as a writer, and
your context and special requirements.
You'll often be assigned a topic, the su bject you need to write about and,
perhaps, the sources (7b) that you' ll need to use. Topics can be very gene ral
("Write abo ut poverty") or very specifi c CMalyze the factors that led to James
Ferguson's poverry"); you'l! be more successful if you narrow broad topics (2bJ).
It may surprise you ro learn that you can take on different roles (person­
alities or identities) for different writing situations. The context of your pur­
pose a nd audience can affect the writing si tu ati oll" ontext refers to the
circumstances in which your readers will encounter your writin Special re­
quirements are practical matters such as how much time you're' given to com ­
plete the assignment and the required length of your writing.
U nd erstanding a writing situation gLlides your writing process and shapes
your fillal draft. A writing process tiiat lIlight be cHective in olle situatioLl might
not be appropriate for another, and the final drafts would have different char­
acteristics. For example, writing a history paper in the short, informal style of
a text message definitely won't impress a professor. Similarly, texting your friends
in long paragraphs will make them impatient (and perhaps wonder who's using
your cell phone).
You r writing situation also hel ps determine the tone of your writing. Tone
refers to the attitude conveyed in writing, mostly by the write r's word choice.
A tone can be formal, informal, laid back, pomf)OUS, sarcastic, concerned, judg­
mental, sympath etic, and so on. The tone you lise greatly affec ts your readers'
sense of the ROLE* you've ch osen.
<Terms in SM ALL CAPITAL LETTERS have been defined elsewhere in [his [exr. To find a deftni­
tion, look up [he term in [he index Jnd [Urn ro [he page number in bold type.
1b
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1b
UNDERSTANDING COLLEGE AND OTHER WRITING SITUATIONS
What does "purpose" mean for writing?
A writer's purpose morivates w har and h ow h e or she writes. Quick Re fer­
ence l. J lisrs four major purposes for writing.
•
What is expressive writing?
Expressive writing is writillg to express your persollal thoughts , feelillgs, and
opinions. Some express ive writing is for the writer's eyes only, such as that in
diaries, personal journals, or explorarory drafts. Orher peo ple, howeve r, express
the m selves in e-mails to friends and colleagues or in blogs for all the world ro
see. A crucial reaso n for much of this kind of writing is simply for peopl e ro
make connections with others, Social networking sites like Facebook, fi)J' ex­
ample, do impart information and, occasionally, try to p ersuade others; how­
ever, their main purpose is ro establish and deepen human cOIltaC[, This
purpose, which is as old as personallerter wriring, has bee n invigorated by dig­
iral communica tion,
Quick Reference 1.1
•••••
Purposes for writing
o
To express yourself or build connections with others " To inform a read er ~ To persuade a reader '0
To create a literary work
In this handboo k, we concentrare on rwo major purposes for most forms of
college wriring: to inform and to persuade. The twO rem ai ning purposes
listed above are imponanr fo r conrributing ro human thoughr and culture,
bur rhey relare less ro what mosr college wtjring involves,
Finally, som e expressive wriring for public audiences falls into rhe ca tegory
of Iirerary wriring. The excerpt here comes from a memoir intended for pub­
lic read ing,
For mu ch of her life my morher longed, passionareiy longed, for a decenr
house. One wirh a yard rh at did nor have to be cleared wirh an ax. One with
a roof thar kepr OU t the rain. One with a floor that you could not fall through.
She longed for a bea UliEul house of wood o r ston e, Or of red brick, like the
hOlls es her many sisters and th eir husba nds had. When I was thirteen she
found such a house, Green-shuttered, white-wa lled, Breezy, With a lawn and
a hedge and gianr pecan trees, A porch swing. There her g.udens flouri shed in
spite oE the shade, as did her youngest daughter, for whom she sacrificed her
What does "purpose" mean for writing?
1b
life doing hard labor in someone else's house, in order ro afford peace and
preuiness for her child, ro whose grateful embrace she rerurned eaeh night.
-Alice Walker, " My Mother's Blue Bowl"
What is informative writing?
Informative writing seeks (0 give information to readers and usually to ex­
plain ic. Another name for this type of writing is expository writing beca us e
it expounds on-sets forth in detail-observations, ideas, facts, scientific da ta,
and statistics. You can find informative writing in textbooks, encyclopedias ,
technical and business reports, manuals, nonfiction books, newspape rs, and
ma ny magazines.
The essential goal of informative writing is ro educate your readers about
something. Like all good educatOrs, therefore, you want to present your infor­
mation clearly, accurately, compl etely, and fairly. Quick Reference 1.2 gi ves
you a checklist [0 assess your informative writing.
Quick Reference 1.2
Informative writing
~
•••••
~-----------------------------,
• Is its information clear)
•
c
Does it present facts, ideas, and observations that can be veri fled)
o
Does its information seem complete and accurate)
o
Is the writer's TONE reasonable and free of disronions? (8 d)
What is persuasive writing?
Persuasive writing, also called mgumentatilJe writing, seeks ro persuade readers
to support a particular opinion. \'V'hen you write to persuade, you deal wi th de­
batable topics-those that people ca n consider from more than one point ofview.
Your goal is to change your readers' minds-or at least to bring your readers' opin­
ions closer to your point of view. To sllcceed, YOli wanr to evoke a reaction in your
audience so that they think beyond their presellt positioll (for example, reaso ning
why free speech needs to be preserved) or take actioll (for example, register to
vote). Examples of persuasive writing include newspaper ed irorials, lette rs to the
editor, opin.ion essays in magazines, reviews, sermons, adverrising, fund-raising
!ertel's, books that argue a point of view, business proposals, and so on.
In general terms, persuasive writing means you need to move beyond merely
sta ting your opinion. You need to give the basis for that opinion. You sup­
POrt your opini o n by using specific, illustrative details to back lip your
generalizations, which are usuaJly very broad sta tements.
Quick Referen ce 1. 3 gives yo u a checklist to assess yo ur persuasive writing.
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1b
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UNDERSTANDING COLLEGE AND OTHER WRITING SITUATIONS
Quick Reference 1.3
•••••
Persuasive writing
9
Does it presenr a point of view abour which opinio ns vary'
• Does it sup pan its point of view wirh specifics?
Q
Does it provide so und reasoning and logic'
.. Are the pans of irs argument clear?
• Does it imend to evoke a reaction from rhe reader?
EXERCISE 1-1
For each paragraph, decide if the dominant purpose is in­
formative , persuasive, or expressive . Then , use the information in section 1b to
explain your answers.
A. Trees are living archives, carrying within their structure a record not on ly of
their age but also of precipitation and temperature for each year in which a ring
was formed . The record might also include the marks of forest fires, early frosts
and, incorporated into the wood itself, chemical elements the tree removed
from its environment. Thus, if we on ly knew how to unlock its secrets, a tree
could tell us a great deal about what was happening in its neighborhood from
the time of its beginning. Trees can tell us what was happening before written
records became available. They also have a great deal to tell us about our fu­
ture. The records of past climate that they contain can help us to understand
the natural forces that produce our weather, and this, in turn, can help us plan.
-James S. Trefil, "Concentric Clues
from Growth Rings Unlock the Pa st"
B. Actual physical location threatens to evaporate everywhere we look. In­
formation, we are everywhere taught, has annihilated distances. Surgeons
can cut you open from a thousand miles away. Facsimile Las Vegas casino s
delive r Rome and New York on the same daily wa lk . You don 't have to go
to the office to go to the office. You can shop in your kitchen and go to
school in your living room. And , sadly enough, when you actually do go
out shopping, one mall seems much like another. For what actually mat­
te rs, physicality d oesn't matter anym o re . Even with money; now, we are
told, information about money is more important than the actual green
-Richard Lanh am, The Economics of Attention
C. Although Littleman , my eleven-year-old poodle, has never been sepa­
rated from his thirteen-year-old mother, Simone , they are remarkably dif­
ferent . Simone weighs in at about fi ve kilograms with very delicate,
sophisticated features and coarse, curly hair. Slightly shorter, Littl eman t ops
the scale at no more than three kilograms and is quite handsome with his
teddy-bear features and soft wavy hair. Simone was th e first dog in the fam­
ily and is a pedigreed p oodle. In many ways she is the picture of a thorough­
bred, with her snobby attitude and nonchalant manners. On the other hand,
Wha t does "audience" mean for writing?
1c
Littleman came into the family a year later with four other puppies of pure
breeding, but they were never registered. Unlike his mother, Littleman is very
friendly, almost to the point of being pesty at time s.
-Linda Neal, student
1C
What does "audience" mean for writing?
Your audience consists of everyone who will read your writing, but it especially
refers to readels to whom you're most dileclly <Iillling your words. Thinking
about audience means figuring out how to reach your audience in various kinds
of situations. Effec tive writers know th ey need to adjust th eir writing for dif­
ferent tasks ,md audiences.
After college, your audiences are likely to be readers o f your business, profes­
sional, and public writing (Chapters 39-40). In college, yo u'll surel y address a mix
of audience types that expect to read ACAOElvllC WRiTING. H ere's a list of categories
of those audi ences, each of which is detailed in the section listed in parentheses.
Gen eral educated audiences
c;
Specialist audiences
Your instructor (who represents your general or specialized readers)
" Your peers (class mates, co-workers, friends, or others like yo ursel f) (6a)
The more speci fics yo u und ersta nd abo ut each of you r audie nces, the ber­
ter your chances of communicating with them successfull y.
..
~
I! , ESOL Tips: (1) If you do not share a cui rural background with your read­
ers, it may be difficult for you to es tim ate how much your readers know about
your topic. Discussing your topic w ith friends or classmates might help you de­
cide what backgroun d information YO II need to include in yo ur paper.
(2) As someone from a non-US culture, yo u might be surpri sed-even
offended-by the directness w ith w hich peop le speak and write in the United
States. If so, we hope you'll read our open letter to multilingua l stlldents about
honoring their cultures on page 484 . •
•
What is a general educated audience?
A general educated audience is composed of experiell ced readers who reg­
ularly read newspape rs, magn illes, and books, not only beca use the)' have to
but because the), watH roo These read ers typically have a ge nera l knowledge of
many subj ects and are likely to understand something about your ropic. If your
writing contains too many technical details or unusual references, your writing
may confuse an d alienate these readers. C onsequently, for gene ral educated
readers you need to avoid usin g specialized terms without pla inly defining
them, or referrin g to uncomm on info rma tion witho u t explainin g if.
General educated readers usually approach a piece of writing expeccing to be­
come interested in it, to learll about a new topic, to add ro their sto re of knowledge
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1d
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UNDERSTANDING COLLEGE AND OTHER WRITING SITUATIONS
about a subject, or ro see a subject from a perspective other than their own. As a
writer, work to fulfill those expectations. While some readers aren't particularly
knowledgeable or open to new ideas, your goal in most writing that's not intended
for specialized audiences needs to be targeting a general audience, as defined above .
•
What is a specialist audience?
A specialist audience is com~losed of readers who have a thorough knowledge
of specific subjects or who arc particularly committed to certain inrerests or
viewpoints. Many people arc experts in their occupational fields, and some be­
come experts in areas that simply imerest them , such as astronomy or raising
orchids. People from a particular group background (for example, Democrats,
Republicans, Catholics, or military veterans) arc knowledgeable in those areas.
Specialist readers may also share cerrain assumptions and belief~. Addi­
tionally, whenever you introduce a concept that might be new to a specialist au­
dience, explain the concept thorou ghly rather than assuming the audience will
understand it right away.
What is my instructor's role as
audience?
I
As your audience, your insttuctor fun~tions in three ways. First, your instruc­
tor assumes the ro le of your target audience by reading and responding to your
writing as though he or she is one of your intended general or specifIC readers.
Second, your instructor acts as a coach who is dedicated to helping improve your
writing. Third, your instructor evaluates your final drafts.
Although instructors know that few students arc experienced writers or ex­
pens on the subjects they write abour, they expect your writing ro reflect your
having taken the time to learn somerhing worthwhile about a topic and th en
ro write about it dearly. They can recognize a minimal effort almost immediately.
Don't assume that your instructor can mentally fill in what you lea ve out
of your writing. Instrucrors-indeed , al l readers- can't be mind readers, and
they expect students' writing ro fully explore their chosen ropie.
1d
What resources can help me with writing?
Computers are important rools for creating documents, finding resources, man­
aging work , and commun icating with o th ers. Almost all writing projects,
whether in coll ege or beyond, ,·equire them. Although some instructors make
allowances for students with no access ro a computer, they clearly prefer word­
processed final drafts.
In addition ro helping you produce and revise writing, compucers can help
you find SOURCES. Nearly all library catalogs an d databases are now seal-chablc
electron ically, both from within th e library and remotely rhrough the Inter­
net. Caralogs and databases are large collections of references tl1at experts have
What processes do academic writers use?
2a
ga th ered and organized. Some of [hose references exist only in print , but increas­
ingly, they're also availab le online.
A dictionary is indispensable . Most college booksrores offer a vari ety of
h ardback "college dictio naries." Before buying one, browse through a few def­
initio ns, ch eck the fo rmat and accessories (information in the front and back),
and choose the book you like bes t. Keeping a lightweight p aperback abridged
dicti o nary in your book bag can be very handy for checking unknown wo rds
on th e spot. Also, many dicti o naries and other reference books can be down­
load ed o nto a personal digital assistant (PDA) for even grea ter portability.
Another va luabl e resource for writers is a thesaurus, which is a collection
o f synonym s. The alpha betically arranged ones are th e easiest to use. Be sure yo u
check for this fe ature since some thesa uruses are no t o rganized alphabetically.
Roget's 2 1st Century Thesaurus is an excellent volum e arran ged alphabetically.
College libraries , sometimes called learning resource centers, are essential
fo r writers. Libraries are fully stocked with all m anner o f reference books, cir­
cul ating books, resources for o nline access, and more . Some resources are avail­
able o nline, in "full tex t versions," thro ugh the library's Web site. It's h elpful
ro know what resources are available at your library so th at you can dive ri ght
in when you need to ge t info rm ati o n .
••••
Essentia I Processes
for Academic Writing
2a
What processes do academic writers use?
Many people think that professional writers can sit down at their co mputers,
think of ideas, and m ag ically prod uce a finish ed draft, word by perfect word.
Experi enced writers know bener. T h ey know that writing is a process, a series
of activities that starts the moment they begin thinking about a subject and end s
with proo fre ading th e final draft. Experienced writers also know that good
writing is rewriting, again and yet again. Their drafts are fill ed with additions,
deletions, rewo rdings, and rearran gements.
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