Chapter 22: LEVELS OF THE COLLEGE WRITER
What is your level of college writing? ---
Introduction
This chapter shows the three typical stages of the
American university and college writer. The stages probably describe 90%
or more of writers in college and are based on extensive research on how writers
transfer their writing knowledge from one level to another. This chapter
has been presented in another form at several regional and national
conferences for writing instructors.
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The Three Stages of a College Writer—Grade
Levels
A Handout for Students
(vers. 24 Mar. ‘12; chart subt. rev.
8-12)
(Quotations
and paraphrases are from David Bartholomae's "Inventing the University" in
Literacy: A Critical Sourcebook.)
Grade Levels: K-12
The K-12 writer is in the early stages of
learning writing awareness and skills, culminating in being able
to comment on literature and to offer
an essay that is "a Lesson on Life" (513) using everyday language (519). |
Grade Levels: 9-13
Beginning College Writer: The
beginning college writer
(and successful basic-developmental or
high school writer) is one who can "hear the 'melody
of formal English'" (523)
and imagine being an "insider"
(516), able to use this formal tone someday
(521).
|
Grade Level: 12-15
Intermediate College
Writer: The
intermediate college writer
(at end of or after College
Comp I) can, in a formal academic tone,
sustain a logical argument using quality research (521). |
Grade Range: 15-17+
Advanced College Writer/Beginning Professional:
The advanced college writer
(or beginning professional) is "dramatically conscious
of forming" something to say, can take a position against "common" ideas,
and can sing the "song" of a discipline's or profession's pattern and style
of writing (521). |
The Three Stages of the College Writer—More
Description
(Quotations are from Lee Ann
Carroll's How College Students Develop as Writers.)
(A)
The beginning college writer
(and successful basic-developmental or high
school writer) is learning "new 'basic skills'" (119) with a "desire to produce
writing . . . 'good enough' for success'" and a "growing awareness of different
types of writing" (85).
Successful Types of Writing:
self-expression, descriptions, 5-paragraph themes, reports, and
journal writing
Audience: little
or no conscious recognition of—or attention to—the concept of "audience"
Voice/tone/style:
informal, informative, or storytelling ("once upon a time . . . .") with sense
of immediacy/relevancy
Method of Writing Arguments:
simple arguments, especially in "five-star" (five-paragraph) format using
personal anecdotes, along with general/common-knowledge ideas and quotations,
for support
(B)
The intermediate college writer
(near the end of or after a 1st 1000-level college composition class)
can "accommodate . . . expectations of . . . professor readers" (23) and has
knowledge of "rewriting" (73) and "writing strategies . . . related to research,
style, audience, organization, and analysis" (74).
Successful Types of Writing:
academic essays using argument, analysis, and/or research writing
Audience: the
academic teacher as audience
Voice/tone/style:
academic, logical, balanced, and persuasive with sense of authority and
appropriateness
Method of Writing Arguments:
extended, cohesive argument and/or analysis using academic/professional
resources; ability to examine an issue from opposing sides with general fairness
and balance
(C) The advanced-college (or
beginning-professional) writer can both hear and sing
the “song” of academic and/or professional writing, is "aware of the
disciplinary conventions in [the] major" (89), and is skilled in producing
"texts . . . intended to do work in the 'real' world" (126).
Successful Types of Writing:
critical arguments, reviews, deep research, logical summaries and analyses,
and/or evaluations in one or more specific academic disciplines or professions
Audience: an
academic or professional group as the readers
Voice/tone/style:
logical, fair, and thoughtful with conscious use of the writing patterns of a
discipline or profession (e.g., a business proposal, a science report, a play
review) and a sense of balanced presentation of multiple viewpoints
Method of Writing Arguments:
a research paper with support of a specific subject using accurate, convincing,
reliable resources, a unique viewpoint,
and detailed consideration—and logical rejection—of
valuable alternatives
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An MS Word version of this, along
with a separate version for instructors and, may be found at
www.richard.jewell.net/writings.htm.
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Conclusion: What Is Your Own Level?
(new 8-12)
What is your own writing level? What, in the
above lists, makes you think that you are at that level? Do you stand
somewhere in the middle of one of these levels, at its beginning, or at its end?
In other words, where do you stand in this spectrum:
Beginning College Writer: |
low level
middle level
high level |
Intermediate College Writer: |
low level
middle level
high level |
Advanced College Writer: |
low level
middle level
high level |
Understanding where you are, now, means
understanding where you have been. And it also means you now have a guide
for where you will go in the future.
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