WHAT IS COLLEGE WRITING?

The purpose of this handbook is to demystify academic writing formats. In this OER college-level writing style guide, we will enter the world of academic composition by exploring how to write in a variety of formats typically found at colleges, such as:

• personal narrative
• critical analysis
• argumentative essay
• research paper

I used the word “format” to describe the four different types of writing assignments because all college writing, and all writing more generally, requires you to go through the same stages of the writing process. It does not matter if the writing you are producing is a discussion board post or a 10-page research paper; your instructors will expect to see writing that demonstrates specific types of understanding. By the end of this course, I hope you will be able to explain how demonstrating your ability to understanding and respond appropriately to different writing situations (human learning) cannot be replaced by machine learning in the form of Generative AI (Large Language Models or LLMs such as ChatGPT, Copilot, or Claude).

What is an Essay?

The word essay has come to be understood as a type of writing in Modern English, its origins provide us with some useful insights. The word comes into the English language through the French influence on Middle English; tracing it back further, we find that the French form of the word comes from the Latin verb exigere, which means “to examine, test, or (literally) to drive out.” Through the excavation of this ancient word, we are able to unearth the essence of the academic essay: to encourage students to test or examine their ideas concerning a particular topic.

Essays are shorter pieces of writing that often require the student to hone a number of skills such as close reading, analysis, comparison and contrast, persuasion, conciseness, clarity, and exposition. As is evidenced by this list of attributes, there is much to be gained by the student who strives to succeed at essay writing.

The purpose of an essay is to encourage students to develop ideas and concepts in their writing with the direction of little more than their own thoughts (it may be helpful to view the essay as the converse of a research paper). Therefore, essays are (by nature) concise and require clarity in purpose and direction. This means that there is no room for the student’s thoughts to wander or stray from his or her purpose; the writing must be deliberate and interesting, focused and clear, and more than anything, responding to a question the writer, themselves, wishes to explore.

While no essay can be reduced to a simple series of steps or formulas, we will see that the essay format does provide a coherent template, an ancient and powerful structure, through which we can engage the world of ideas and communicate our discoveries in meaningful and academically productive ways.

Remember this is a process. There is an old saying, “writing is rewriting.” The goal is not so much to arrive at a perfect piece of writing as it is to engage the spectacular and complex world around us with increasing clarity of thought and vision. And, hopefully, with a sharpened sense of the importance of inquiry, evaluation and synthesis as vital steps on any path towards understanding.

An essay is an attempt to know something about the world with more depth of perspective. When we write an essay, we are opening ourselves up to the full spectrum of human knowledge and wisdom while simultaneously reaching for new connections to the truth and its relevance to our lives. It is a sacred, scientific, and self-empowering task. One that we continue to perfect as long as we are alive and curious.

But it is also a difficult and resource-intensive task. One that requires a lot of energy, focus, diligence, patience, and vulnerability. College is tough under any circumstances, and the modern world continues to add much stress, anxiety, and complexity to the student experience. So be patient with yourself as you work to expand your skills, your knowledge, and hopefully your opportunities in the world.