Grayson Carter

In Dan Berrett’s article, “Students Come to College Thinking They’ve Mastered Writing,” the idea of freshman thinking they are or must be a refined writer is discussed. Students may think this way coming into college, but their teachers do not. While students might feel satisfied and think that they are prepared with their writing skills, professors found that these students did not necessarily meet the expected level (Berrett 1). Many students reported that they would normally write around 25 hours every week. They said that most of those hours of writing was for more formal purposes like passages to make changes in society (Berrett 1). It was found that one reason the new students might feel this way is that their assumptions about writing differed greatly from those of faculty members and their expectations. One big thing that students will not get for a while, is that good writing is not just listed as a bunch of steps one is to follow that automatically make one’s writing good. Good writing requires one to be in different mental states; it requires the understanding of how to write for different audiences and different reasons (Berrett 2). Berrett includes in the article that writing is not just universal and that in order to do very well, writers must use different forms of writing specifically for their purpose (2). It seems as though students think that, before they even take a class, they are supposed to know everything about writing; in reality, they are supposed to learn new skills and enhance others (Berrett 2). Berrett says that many believe the schools these students previously attended with their test focus might cause these feelings about writing (2). Berrett ends his article by saying that students these days do not think that informal writing actually counts as writing, and that students should practice writing for informal purposes because it can help them (2). Even if they feel like it, students are not fully prepared to write in all contexts when they arrive at college.

Writing is something we have been used to since childhood. Beginning to write with just a few words and activities to improve our pendmanship. From easy sentences we all gradually improve our writing, as expected from higher levels of education. However, throughout all this time, many of us have been writing blind. Only writing what is seen an necessary, oblivious to the true skill and precision it takes to actually write quality work. Through the use of Anne Lammott’s article “Shitty First Drafts” and personal experiences, I will advice you, my fellow freshman, on certain a aspect of writing that you may not have known prior to joining the college world, as well as offer some life advice.

There are various types of writing that are done that occur in different situations and for different audiences. Technical writing, which is also referred to as business writing, is done in a business or work atmosphere. This differs from academic writing, that is done in school, in the purpose, context, and audiences. Also, these differ in the expected amount of errors, some in academic and none in business, and the confidentiality.

Most elements of writing (development, organization, and style) fit task, purpose, and audience. Some identifiable mismatches.

The relationship that I have with writing is complicated and we don’t always get along. Although we tend to make up even when I get frustrated and want to quit. When being assigned a paper I struggle with what to write. My words seem to never come out the way I would like and I’m always having to start over and over again. It starts to get frustrating after a while. Needless to say writing isn’t one of my favorite things to do but it’s apart of our everyday lives like texting, sending emails, posting on Facebook, Twitter, and so on. I personally have only used texting as my main daily form of writing since I graduated high school. So therefore I would like to refresh my memory of what I learned in high school and widen my use of writing while in this writing course.

Students are instructed on how to develop and organize their writing by developing a plan or out line to follow. Teachers should discuss with their students how to effectively plan out their writing strategy. Students need to be taught to question themselves about the purpose of their writing. Questions like; “Who am I writing for?” or “How will I organize my thoughts?” are two general examples. Gersten mentions the importance and purpose of the first draft and how it provides a concrete reminder for where the writing is going. The plan and its draft provide a common language for teacher and students to share making communication easier. He also speaks of the strengths of the revision process. Gersten illustrates how peer-editing can be a useful tool to employ during writing.

The process I used when writing previously changed during the first few weeks of this class. Already I have altered the way I write my drafts, and the way I read other people’s work. Lamott’s “Shitty First Draft” made me come to the realization that one draft isn’t always the best approach. Therefore, I took multiple steps in examining my draft and critiquing it accordingly. Additionally, I started brainstorming topics, and this led me to create a roadmap for the list of destinations and topics I wanted to touch on and the message I wanted the reader to take away. This is just the beginning of the year and I already have a sense that as I progress through the semester my work will be continually get better.

Writing has been something that we have always had to do in school. My writing process and techniques have changed drastically since I have entered Writing 1310. When I first set foot into the classroom, I was a good writer, but I didn’t know format too well. As I went through the class, I improved on my writing skill, process, and format. In this paper, I am going to discuss my improvements in skill and my writing process, as well as the changes I have made throughout this course.

As an Agriculture Science major with minors in Animal Science and Agronomy, I have learned that my future could to a variety of career paths. From education to applied research Agriculture is an industry that is need of students with a passion and foundation to feed the world. That also means that we need a good solid foundation of core concepts that make us sustainable and effective in our chosen careers. Technical writing I have found has been overlooked and not applied in the way that it fully could be to make students better rounded and viable in a competitive job market. I would like to apply the lessons that I have learned over the last three months and apply these skills. We will be looking at three technical documents that are commonly used in the Agriculture science industry and those being, Pamphlets or programs, emails, and Informative documents that help educate producers. These documents are the most widely used and will be most commonly seen and dealt with by Agricultural Professionals.

The purpose of this memo is to discuss my knowledge of technical writing and past experiences learning to write a technical document. My goal is to become a better writer and learn more about technical writing.

Writing is often a difficult process to accomplish. Normally, when writing a paper, I usually write whatever comes to mind for a few minutes without any regard to grammar or spelling. I have come to realize that brainstorming is a less effective way for me to construct a paper because I found it difficult to organize and to write in a constructive manner. By acknowledging the purpose for writing and the audience, a clear pattern makes writing a much easier task to accomplish and organize. The pattern of development I decided to use is creating a rough draft of the first assignment. In my opinion, this pattern makes it much easier for writers to convey their point of view to a particular audience. For instance, the rough draft pattern consists

It may come as no surprise, then, that I was thrilled to be "required" to enroll in a writing class. Writing for any reason, whether academic or creative, always throws me back to the joyous childhood creativity of sitting before the computer, preparing to let the waves of story come crashing out of me.

Landon Carter is a senior in high school, he is in the graduating class of 1958. He lives in Beaufort, North Carolina. Every year the church Landon attends, performs a play called The Christmas Angel. Hegbert Sullivan (the preacher of Landon’s church), wrote the play based off a part of his life. Hegbert’s wife died during childbirth, so he was left to raise his daughter, Jamie Sullivan, alone. Jamie is an amazing, sweet girl who always puts others needs ahead of her own. Landon wins student body president and he has to decorate, attend, and clean up the homecoming dance. He asks many girls but they all have dates or plans, he is left with no choice but to ask Jamie. Jamie agrees to go to the dance with Landon under one condition...she

One way that technical writing is different from other college writing is the purpose for which it is written. Technical writing is composed to allow the reader to manage large amounts of information in a way that allows he or she to take action. Other college writing generally has the purpose to educate, entertain, or share thoughts, opinions, and experiences. Another way that technical writing varies from other college writing is the style in which the document is written. In technical writing, there are two widely used styles: plain style and persuasive style. In other college writings, there can be numerous other writing styles, such as expository, descriptive, and narrative, used in the composition.

J. E. Mahan, A. Jayasumana, D. Lile and M. Palmquist, "Bringing an emphasis on technical writing to a freshman course in electrical engineering," in IEEE Transactions on Education, vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 36-42, Feb 2000.