What writing formats are required in freshman year (liberal arts curriculum)?

Parents Forum
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– I’m not sure if this post should land in a different forum, but I figure parents would know how to help. – My D16 has been the recipient of an extremely poor academic education (despite our efforts to access good education). We’ve essentially had to “homeschool” her after the regular schoolday to help her learn how to think, research, and write. However, we’ve done this just enough to get her through a very, very undemanding level of assignments/assessments in her schools from grade school through high school.

So, she’s now heading into college in fall with almost no research or writing experience. In high school, she’s written one longer theme on a dramatic work, a bunch of college admissions and scholarship essays, one attempt at a precis, one short essay comparing some works of literature, and waaaay too many assigned sloppy PowerPoints. In my estimation, she is in no way prepared for college-level writing. Her former and current teachers just brush away her/our concerns. She gets mainly As. And, may I mention that she hates reading text or listening to audio books?

Despite her LDs/ADHD, her English, Reading, Writing ACT scores were 30s and above and 10, respectively, and her neuropsych evals place her at the 99th percentile for vocab with other verbal stuff also in the 90s. However, she has no real experience with the typical reading and writing workload of college prep h.s. students.

So, my big concern now is that she doesn’t know the formats required for college writing. And I can’t seem to find a good list anywhere. The state h.s. learning standards are too convoluted to extract a realistic list of critical writing-formats from them. And so I turn to wisdom of the CC hive…

Question: What types of research tasks and writing formats are required to be mastered by a student entering college?

We’ve got about five months of weekend “homeschool” to assist my D16 to learn this stuff. (Her teachers suggest she “just go to the college’s writing center” when she gets to college. Argh! Pass the buck much?)

Please…what would you recommend?

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My kids went to a pretty intense HS and wrote multiple research papers every year. Research papers vary greatly in length and can be on virtually any topic. I think that benefited them in college. She can google online how to write a research paper and find some general ideas. I would also have her understand the MLA citation (footnote and in-text formats) and how to format a bibliography (there are online tools to help with bibliographies these days) . A bit part of doing a research paper is finding good sources so she could pick a topic or two and look for sources online and at the library to just get familiar with the process. Lastly, I would be sure she is familiar with plagiarism rules so it doesn’t happen accidentally,

And yes, most colleges do have writing centers so utilizing that resource might be helpful at least for the first paper or two.

I’m sure she won’t be the only one with no experience in this area.

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This was my sister-in-law many years ago. She crashed and burned her first semester at Harvard despite stellar SAT scores. She ended up dropping out, attending the U of Florida for a while, and then returned to Harvard when she realized she was throwing away a great opportunity. I think if she hadn’t panicked so much she’d have been all right. There was a study center that could have walked her through the process of writing a research paper.

I think few kids would be happy about a parent led project to write research papers the summer before college, but I do think it would be okay to broach the subject of the inadequacies of her education and ask her if she feels like she would like to prepare a little in advance. Maybe not by actually writing papers, but perhaps by reading a few samples and getting familiar with some of the rules and approaches.

There are really lots of good sources of help on the internet. For example:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/658/
http://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/introduction

It also doesn’t hurt to be clear that you are willing to pay for four years of college, but no more.

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John C. Bean wrote a very nice book for college professors called Engaging Ideas. Much of it talks faculty through writing assignments. You might find it helpful for imagining what writing in college looks like. I have shared it with a number of faculty in a number of disciplines when they ask me about teaching writing.

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Many colleges have a required first-year writing course, sometimes “writing intensive seminars” on various topics. And study/writing centers. She should register with the disability office and take advantage of whatever help she can get with her LDs. Do you know what school she will be attending? Do you know what kind of major she might gravitate towards?

I think that reading good writing tends to result in producing good writing. I’d be inclined to encourage her to read good writing on topics that interest her, most likely magazine articles, and discuss it with her. Subscribe to The New Yorker! :slight_smile: It might also be interesting to read articles on the same subject from different sources, and compare the writer’s choices in both style and content. Some controversial thing in the news, for example. It could be fun. :slight_smile:

When she does write a research paper in college, she will have to be careful about citing sources and footnotes, or she could find herself charged with plagiarism, even unwittingly.

To answer your question on what is required, that will probably depend on which courses she takes. I think that a typical writing-heavy course could require really short papers (3 pages), medium (6-10), and longer finals (12+). These might be analytical and/or research papers. Of course there are lab reports, written exams ( “compare and contrast” is common)…

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Excellent. Thank you. My crude first notion is that, beyond knowing how to research (Digital Paper is a great book on that), she should probably know how to write in the following formats: a book report, a book or other review, a precis, lab notes, a lab report, a report on an experiment’s results, a summary of social science research findings, a review of the literature on a topic, a narrative essay, a how-to instruction, an argumentative essay, a research paper (APA style), a literature paper (MLA style), business/social writing (resume, emails, cover letter, business letter, thank you letter, sympathy note, etc.), a short essay for an exam question, media writing (news story, ad, opinion column, PSA, etc.), a fundraising proposal, class notes, and a study guide. Anything missing?

Of course…she’d not master even half of this, but it might help to simply learn the basic conventions of these formats, along with their purpose and audience. Also, it seems the basic research paper is probably where she should put most her effort? My scheme would be to use content that’s in line with her passions or real needs, like “study abroad” or “college for ADHD students.” Or, “zombies in popular media” (not sure if she’s in zombies, though — but, you get the idea).

Feedback welcome.

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I should add that she uses the well-loved OWL resource and liked the UChicago Little Red Schoolhouse piece on “college writing.” She’s also probably going to contact her college’s LD writing tutor in their writing center to ask for advice for what formats to make sure are solid as she enters college next fall. Apparently the Honors dorm she’ll be in will also supply a good support system for her academics, based on what we’ve heard.

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I was an English major at a top liberal arts college, and I never wrote anything that could be described as a book report, book review, or precis once out of HS. Nor did I write a narrative essay or an argumentative essay. An essay analyzing a literary work that addressed a specific conclusion or topic, yes. And I wrote a lot of papers. :slight_smile: Many of the other things are field-specific.

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@mathmom - Yes on the reading of samples of formats! Year after year, D16 has been tasked with writing assignments in formats she’s never even seen at school. Precis? Theme paper? Psychology literature review? Why do h.s. teachers think a student can create these having never even read one? It just boggles my mind.

Thank god colleges post tip sheets and how-to instructions and SAMPLES of various formats, and we plebs can access them. I love the Internet!

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Sounds like she is tuned into the Writing Center – that is key for papers and other written homework. I crashed and burned my first semester on blue book exams in humanities courses. I was completely clueless. :frowning: I can’t say I ever got the hang of them, I majored in something that didn’t require courses with those kinds of tests.

Good for you to worry about it now. It isn’t just paper formats that can trip you up, too. My D2 almost failed a P/F required lab her first semester because she was not experienced at writing lab reports. The prof had no rubric or examples, seemed baffled by D’s struggles, and most of the other students already had the knowledge. She squeaked through (mostly on effort). We spent some time over winter break reviewing internet sites on writing lab reports, and the next semester lab prof provided a rubric and example. She got the highest grade in the class on the first lab and a good grade in the class. Ironically, she is now successfully researching in the subject of that first lab class, and intends to make a career of it. No thanks to the first prof… Best part: first prof made a comment later about how D had matured and figured out lab reports. D said, “Well, the Chem prof gave me a rubric and an example, which was what I needed.” Snap!

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Thanks again. I love the ideas of showing her short-piece samples of three author’s takes on the same topic/issue.

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I attended a public high school in Los Angeles. We had limited writing to do, more book reports than anything requiring independent research and synthesis. But I had a good command of grammar and vocabulary. I entered a liberal arts college (Reed) that required a lot of writing. We were all “tested,” so to speak, by the required Humanities courses – year-long courses that were equivalent to 1.5 courses each semester. These courses required many writing assignments, but to the faculty’s credit these were short. By short I mean most were from 500 to 1000 words (2-4 pages as the old typewriters worked), with the longest paper being 1500 words.

By the end of Hum 110 you could either write or know that you couldn’t write! Professors carefully read and made written comments in every paper. We had “paper conferences” in which we met with the professor after each paper was evaluated. The same process was followed Hum 210, the second-year humanities course. (Curriculum is somewhat different now.) (Note: Reed does not offer letter or number “grades” on individual assignments or even for the courses. But grades are definitely kept and recorded at the end of each semester. In writing-intensive courses, I never heard a student ask another student “What did you get from Mr. G?” That is, one never “got” simply a grade on the assignment. So a more typical question would be, “What did Mr. G say about your argument about [topic, or subject]”?)

This was an excellent experience for me. Reed cares about writing. I went on to a professional career in which writing was my main product. I recommend that you look at these webpages from Hum 110: (a) The paper topics (http://www.reed.edu/humanities/Hum110/paper-topics/index.html) and (b) a separate page about writing, including advice about how to read and how to take notes (http://www.reed.edu/writing/hum_resources/). From these links, it appears that students now write fewer papers than I had to write (6 per semester in Hum 110), but the papers are longer (perhaps 1,500-2,000 words).

That’s a college that cares about writing. I’m sure there are many others.

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@mackinaw - Thanks, that’s a great idea. Reed, St. John’s, and the like might have some more resources too – will take a peek. Also, I just found Roy Peter Clark’s books on writing. I wonder if D16 could tolerate (enjoy?) Adler’s How to Read a Book. Reading, thinking, and writing are so tightly wrapped together.

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@intparent - Ha! Love it. Cool kid. :slight_smile:

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@Consolation - I think I’m adding basics such as a “book report” not because she’ll have to do any in college, but rather she never learned that form ever, even back in 4th grade. Maybe an hour or two this month visiting such a basic form might help as a building block? I’m figuring that I could also employ a “lesson” on the book report format to include a chat about types of books, their structures, how to use them, info literacy, library skills, etc.

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Don’t panic too much. :slight_smile:

My D1 worked in the Writing Center in college, and works now as a manager in a research department that produces reports for their clients. She swears by the Purdue OWL materials, and also used an MLA handbook for research papers extensively in college. She now loves a website called Granmar Girl – apparently there is a related podcast, too. @-)

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I wouldn’t bother with book reports. Really. Just too juvenile.

Writing a precis is a good exercise when you are about 13.

To me it’s like drilling a kid in phonics and expecting them to love reading. Read stuff with her on intersting topics and talk about it. She may learn to appreciate good writing.Win:win.

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Yes, helping her find engaging things to read is part of this. She likes clear, direct writing for non-fiction. I’m putting collections such as Best Non-assigned Reading, Best Travel Writing, etc., in front of her to consider for when she has time (starting in June?). She dips into Atlantic mag occassionally. I’d like to talk with her about what she’s reading, though. Will have to make time for that. It’s hard for an oldster like me, who grew up obsessed with reading and writing to get into the head of a modern kid who is not keen on reading, who attended schools with teachers who actively dismissed writing skills, and who can’t find her way around a library. Such a huge gap between us. (She’s not rejecting the effort, however.) So, I’ve also been looking for info on how college writing is being taught to the “Google-it” generation.

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Most kids don’t use the library much these days, don’t be super concerned about that. But knowing how to identify a reputable online source and cite it is important.

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I seldom go to a library anymore either. For academic journals, virtually everything is available online (assuming your library subscribes to a very broad list of journals). Books are a different matter. Much of my work required searching through statistical handbooks from various sources, many not in English. For that, having access to library stacks was important. And (strange as this may sound), I loved getting lost in the library stacks, the smell of old books, and the serendipity of finding things that I would never have located via a catalogue.