Panchal 1

Tejashri Panchal
Noreen Hannon
English 111
April 23, 2020
Strategies of College Writing
For many students, the thought of writing an effective and relevant essay brings along a
challenge. Some students, in their freshman year believe they cannot write an essay. They do
not realize that it is because they lack certain skills that were common among college freshman
40 years ago, says John Maguire. (Maguire) And some students plagiarize or hire someone to
write on behalf of them. Students should improve research skills. Teachers should also help them
by reviewing their work. Student’s work must be checked by a teacher. Students should engage
in learning to write, rather than opting for an easy approach.
Every new situation, audience or purpose requires a writer to create an effective essay or
Article. There are some areas that needs to be focused on, such as, content of the essay, a hook to
engage readers, word choice and sentence formation. Everyone should give themselves time to
find out people’s values and expectations, and look at the examples to write successfully in a
new situation. Using language skills is very important. Using correct vocabulary is important for
academic writing. Using uncertain words can decrease the clarity of an argument. People
are aware that big words are only used to make up a weak argument. Sentence formation also
plays an important role. All sentences should be organized in the correct order.
Research is key before writing any essay. One’s research could be a foundation
for the rest of the essay. One should be able to do more than enough research to support
topic. Before the essay lay out, make sure to have enough research to support the
argument. Research really means seeking information that is new, evaluating and organizing that
information and reporting research to others. Researching can not only be used in a particular
genre or instance. Witte says that research can be used as a fundamental element of all forms of
writing: academic, professional, or personal. She also says that researching does not mean to
narrow a task to looking up information, but to create and discover new information in response
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to a problem. Researching means students should look for problems to solve and not to look for
answers. Alison says that research ought to begin with a question and not an answer. Research is
good for school, home, or workplaces. It could have a good impact.
“If one attempts to write something in general, not for any specific audience, or not in
specific context, one will not be able to write it because the writing in general cannot be
done”, says Elizabeth Wardle. (Wardle 33) She explains that It is not only common sense that
tells us that learning to write in general is not possible. Every new situation or audience or
purpose requires writers to learn to understand new possibilities. Belief of writing in general
makes writing easier, but there is no such thing "writing in general. The idea “write in general” is
a dangerous idea and that needs to stop because it makes students, teachers, and employees
frustrated. We all should give ourselves time to find out people’s values and expectations and
look at the examples to write successfully in new situations. If one can remember that there is no
such thing as “writing in general”, it will help us write well in all situations. It is not a bad thing
that there is no such thing as “writing in general”, because it gives all writers permission to keep
learning, to fail, and to engage in new kinds of writings in new situations.
The thesis statement is a road map of an essay. It tells readers what to expect from rest of
the paper. The thesis statement makes a claim that others might not agree with. It is usually only
one sentence at the end of first paragraph that presents one’s argument to readers. It is an
interpretation of a question or subject, but it is not a question or subject itself. It could interpret
the significance of the subject matter under discussion. It is also called “main idea” or
“controlling idea”. For this statement, research can be used to verify assumptions and arguments.
“Sometimes what we need is just a little support for an idea, a confirmation of the best approach
to a problem, or the answer to simple questions.”, says Emily Weirszewski. (Weirszwski 233)
She also says that a research that often guides to new ideas and important choices usually begin
with unsettled questions instead of thesis statements and predetermined answers. In order to truly
learn a topic or issue, especially when it involves important decision making, one need to learn to
embrace uncertainty and feel comfortable knowing one might not find answers after starting
research projects.
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When it comes to writing, students these days can hire a writer online. Teachers use
plagiarism detectors but they still can not find out if the student hired someone to write it for
them. Plagiarism is stealing someone else’s work and presenting it as your own. But in this case,
essay writing services are providing brand new essays. They sell essays, without being someone
else’s work used; students are getting credits for the work they did not do. “Essay writing has
become a cottage industry premised on systematic flaunting of the most basic aims for higher
education.”, says Richard Gunderman. (Gunderman) Writers who produce such essays, they
must have earned a Ph.D. degree or master’s degree. Being this much educated and still doing
such a thing is not right. When students do that, they are down valuing the degree they are
pursuing. It is injustice for the students who write their essays by themselves.
Teachers should grade student’s work or essays. Teachers need to help students to be a
skilled writers. Grades help students to determine what skills they need to improve and what
areas they need to focus on. Students should do proper research before writing essays. If students
dive deep in their research and learning, students can get more knowledge. The articles of
Richard Gunderman, John Maguire, Elizabeth Wardle, Emily Wierszewski, and Alison Witte,
students would become more engaging in writing and learning process. Rather than going for an
easy approach, students would work on the writing process.
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Works Cited

Wierszewski, Emily. “Research Starts with a Thesis Statement.” Bad Ideas about Writing, edited
by Drew Loewe and Cheryl Ball, Van Haren Publishing, 2017, pp. 231-35.
Witte, Alison. “Research Starts with answers.” Bad Ideas about Writing, edited by Drew Loewe
and Cheryl Ball, Van Haren Publishing, 2017, pp. 226-30.
Wardle, Elizabeth. “You Can Learn to Write in General.” Bad Ideas about Writing, edited by
Drew Loewe and Cheryl Ball, Van Haren Publishing, 2017, pp. 30-33.
Friend, Christopher. “Student Writing Must Be Graded by the Teacher.” Bad Ideas about
Writing, edited by Drew Loewe and Cheryl Ball, Van Haren Publishing, 2017, pp. 273-77.
Maguire, John. “The Secret to Good Writing: It’s About Objects, Not Ideas.” The Atlantic, 2
Oct. 2012, theatlantic.com/world.
Gunderman, Richard. “Write My Essay, Please!.” The Atlantic, 24 Oct. 2012,
theatlantic.com/world.