College Writing Styles - Is Your Teen Ready?

Are you wasting time teaching your teens writing styles they will never need after high school?

The persuasive essay format, which most of us learned as the five-paragraph essay, may well be the only writing style students will use in college or on the job. Unless they major in English, students will not need to

• Write about their personal feelings.
• Write personal narratives.
• Write any imaginative work, such as stories or poems.

Most college instructors are not interested in students' feelings, only in their thinking. Specifically, college faculty want to see that

• Students have read and understood the literature of the discipline.
• Students can use the terms, concepts, thought processes, and procedures of the discipline they are studying.
• Students are developing opinions about the discipline they are studying.
• Students can articulate reasons for their opinions.
• Students have evidence from reputable sources to support their opinions.

Almost every writing skill students must know for college work can be mastered by ordinary youngsters without an ounce of talent or interest in writing. Focusing just on required writing skills takes some of the hassle out to trying to teach unmotivated, struggling, and resistant writers.

Some students you thought (perhaps correctly) had no talent for writing may even develop an interest in creative writing after they see they can master the basics.

Students who have interest, motivation, or talent are not stuck writing five-paragraph essays all their lives. Competent writing is a foundation, not an millstone.

Make sure your students have a solid foundation and turn them loose. You cannot do any harm by sticking to the basics, and you may do a great deal of good. You will certainly make your teaching task simpler.

Author Info:

Linda Aragoni is a writer, writing teacher, and editor of You-Can-Teach-Writing.com, the guide to enabling students grades 7-12 to become competent writers. Get a free copy of all five articles in the series "Is Your Teen Ready for College Writing? just by signing up for Linda's free monthly ezine by Aug. 1, 2008. Details at http://www.you-can-teach-writing.com/ezine.html

Copyright 2008, Linda Gorton Aragoni. You may reprint this article provided the whole text, the author's name, the links, and this copyright notice remain intact.