| Work Samples:
Use of the Writing Methodology:
Abby’s instructor has asked the class to come up with
either an issue of interest or concern on which to base an essay. He also
asked that the essay be an argument: that is, the students need to take a
stand on an issue and support that stand. Some issues will require research;
some may not. Abby has decided to write on a topic she knows something about
and in which she is genuinely interested. She knows she may have to do some
research to strengthen her points later on.
Abby’s college has two campuses. At the main campus,
the students pay a fee to park for the entire school year. At the downtown
campus, students must pay a parking fee at a city-owned ramp every time they
park. The parking costs for those taking classes downtown are significantly
higher than the cost for parking at the main campus. Abby, who has a strong
opinion on most things, feels this is unfair. Her classmates agree. They
have said they will support her if she sends her essay to the college
president.
|
Step |
What Abby does |
|
1
Prepare for
writing or prewriting |
Abby spent some time free writing: for
fifteen minutes she wrote down all her ideas on student parking. She
then looked at the parking policies on the college’s web site and took
notes. She came into class with questions for her classmates. Did they
feel the same about parking downtown? |
|
2
Identify the topic, purpose, and audience |
Because this is a topic of genuine concern
to many students, Abby concluded, her purpose is clear: outline the
problem and her suggestions for solutions. Then she plans to send the
essay to the president of the college. Although Abby’s primary audience
will be her classmates, she knows that this essay must be very formal if
she wants to send it to the college president. She doesn’t want to lose
her passion for the topic, though, so she knows she may have to do some
revising. |
|
3
Exploratory writing |
Abby uses this stage of the Writing
Methodology to further explore all the issues surrounding parking. She
knows that the city does not have to offer reduced parking rates to
students. Abby also knows that there are several buses that students can
take to the downtown campus, and that many students already live
downtown. She’ll need to show that there is still a need for parking
reform, even though she feels the system itself is unfair. Abby thinks
she will ask students how much money they spend downtown on restaurants
and shopping. Maybe she can show the city and the college why giving
students a break on parking could help the downtown economy. |
|
4
Compose a thesis statement |
Abby’s thesis at this point is: It is unfair
for students at the same college to have to pay two unequal parking
rates at different campuses. |
|
5
Devise a plan |
Abby has a week to do research and have a
draft ready for peer review. She has interviewed classmates in three
classes and has an appointment scheduled with the dean in charge of
student services. She is also reviewing the college’s parking policies,
as well as policies at other colleges in the area. Abby is also looking
at the latest report from the downtown business association. |
|
6
Create a draft |
Using what she has learned about integrating
sources from Chapter 9, Abby writes a draft of her essay.
The draft is in the most common college
essay format: Title, Introduction, Thesis, Development, and Conclusion.
Abby likes her title but she is not yet
satisfied with her introduction.
The thesis states her position on the topic.
She adds one more sentence that essentially outlines her main points.
Abby refers back to this to make sure she is
staying on track. The body of the essay develops each of her main
points, and the conclusion summarizes her main points and asks for an
appropriate response to the problem. In the past, Abby has tended to
procrastinate. Knowing that someone else will be giving her feedback on
her draft makes it less daunting to write. She knows that everyone will
want feedback on their own work. And, she copied down a quote the
instructor had on the board and taped it to her computer: "Don’t get it
right, just get it written." (James Thurber, American writer and
humorist.) |
|
7
Assess the draft |
Abby’s classmates are very helpful; they’d
like to see a response from the college president! They agree to give
her essay draft a formal writing assessment. Here are some of the
highlights from that assessment: They like her ideas for involving the
city and they think her facts on costs strengthen her argument. They
suggest that she strengthen her thesis; "unfair" isn’t very clear. They
also suggest that she write a more engaging introduction, perhaps the
story of a classmate who really struggles to pay parking fees. In
talking about parking, several classmates have had the insight that they
could carpool or take the bus to save on gas, too. |
|
8
Revise the draft |
Abby takes her classmates’ suggestions into
consideration. She determines which revisions will strengthen her essay
and which might take it off course. She clarifies her main position, her
supporting points, and makes her introduction more engaging. With the
recommendations her peers have made, Abby is able to create a strong
conclusion. |
|
9
Proofread the draft |
Abby spends a good deal of time re-reading
her essay for language and punctuation errors. She doesn’t want the
college president to stop reading her essay because of a grammar or
spelling error. |
|
10
Produce a final copy |
Abby prints off two copies: one to turn in
for the assignment and one for the president. |
|
Parking Lot
Blues: How Can We Make Parking Costs Fairer for All Students?
We all know how much it costs to fill up even our little
student cars these days. The price of gas is a factor in many of our
everyday plans. The cost of parking is another expense in our already
tight budgets. Paying parking hurts even more when we feel it is unfair.
Kara, a student at our airport campus, pays $60 each semester to park in
the student lot. Jeff, who takes classes at our downtown campus, pays $8
a day to park at the ramp across the street from school. He tries to get
classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but this semester he’s on campus on
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. His parking costs $24 a week. Michelle
has to take classes at both campuses this semester, so she pays $60 plus
parking at the downtown ramp. This runs her about $8 dollars a week
extra. Three students at the same college, all paying different rates
for parking. Is this fair? The staff at our college wear buttons that
say "Students first!" Well, the first thing on students’ minds these
days is money and how much it costs to go to college. Parking is
becoming a bigger part of our costs. We need to have a fairer parking
policy for all students at our college. To make my argument, I will look
at what my classmates say, what other colleges in the area offer, what
we offer, and how we can find solutions.
Our campus is different from other college campuses in
town because we are a commuter campus. No one lives in dorms; everyone
must drive or take a bus to school. The classmates I interviewed for
this paper, Kara, Jeff, and Michelle, all represent students who need to
drive to school. Kara lives twenty miles from campus. This is the best
school for her veterinary technician program and she is happy overall
with her classes and teachers. Kara also works part-time in her hometown
to help pay for school. She explained, "I know college will help me get
the career I want in the future, but I’m worried about paying for it in
the present." Kara’s main concern right now is the cost of gas. Parking
is fair, she feels, if she can take all her classes at the airport
campus. Jeff doesn’t live as far away as Kara, but he’s also worried
about gas and parking. Jeff is going to transfer to the university in a
year, and he may live on campus then. For now, he lives at home on the
west side of town to save money. He also works a part-time job, on the
north side of town. Jeff could get to school by bus from home, but he
couldn’t get to work after school. He complained that, "The parking
system does not take working students into consideration, even though
most students work." Michelle agrees with Jeff on that point. She feels
frustrated that there is no shuttle between our two campuses. "I have a
friend at the private college in town, and even they have a shuttle!"
Michelle exclaimed. It was clear from interviewing my classmates that
many students are upset about the parking system at our college.
Following Michelle’s suggestion, I looked into the
private college’s transportation plan as explained on their website.
Many students live on campus there, so their situation is not the same
as ours. They have very limited parking, and also charge for that
privilege by credit: a student taking 12+ credits pays $100 per
semester, 7-11 credits costs $40, and 1-6 credits costs $25. They also
have a shuttle that will pick students up at the main bus transfer
points. One of their greenest solutions is a carpooling board on the
main campus website. Students who do not
live on campus can find other students in their
neighborhoods to carpool with. This might work well for us. The
university is very clear on their parking policy. Their campus website
explains it this way: "The best advice to students regarding parking on
campus is DON’T BRING YOUR CAR." Because students live downtown, they
argue, they can either walk almost everywhere or take the city bus. The
university also has a campus bus, a necessity because of the large space
the campus covers. There is some very limited parking for students who
can prove they: are commuters, work off-campus, or have special needs.
There are also city-owned parking ramps nearby and metered spaces on
campus.
In some ways, we are lucky at our college to have as much
parking as we do at the airport campus. There is a shuttle at night from
the main building to the parking lots for safety. That also helps a lot
when it’s cold in the winter. I have not heard of any students who
couldn’t find parking when they needed it. I was somewhat surprised,
though, to find that, "The cost for parking is established by the
college advisory board." I wonder how many students the board talks with
every semester. The student senate did have a voice in determining how
much each student pays so that we can have free city bus passes: $1.30
per credit. This is a very helpful aspect of transportation at our
college, we do have free bus passes if we show our pass and our student
ID. As I found out in talking with students, however, not all students
can take advantage of the bus. Too many of our students live far away,
or work, or both.
What are some solutions? When I mentioned a shuttle
between the two campuses, all the classmates I spoke with thought that
was a great idea. We wouldn’t mind spending a little more money each
semester if we could park cheaply at the airport campus and take a
shuttle to our downtown classes. I have heard that people have talked
about a shuttle for years, so I am unclear on why this has never
happened. Being a two-year school can be a challenge with these issues.
Students complain, but are gone in two years, so some things never seem
to change. This is one reason why I’d like to see changes in parking
now. Another solution is to work out a fee agreement with the city so
that students can park for reduced rates when taking classes. Jeff said
he might eat lunch at a restaurant more often if he didn’t have to pay
so much for parking. Michelle agreed with him. When we talked, she said
she’d like to eat out or do a little shopping once in a while when she’s
downtown. Paying so much for parking, however, makes that impossible.
The city does not have to offer us cheaper parking, but the Downtown
Business Association (DBA) is interested in getting students to spend
more money downtown. I spoke with Adrienne Smithson, current president
of the DBA. Ms. Smithson said, "We’d like to see students spend more
time---and more money---downtown before and after their classes. We also
have many jobs that students could fill if they knew about them." Ms.
Smithson said that the DBA might be willing to help fund a pilot
program, giving students vouchers for parking or vouchers for reduced
prices for meals or at some stores. She’d be happy, she said, to talk
with the college and the city.
If someone like Ms. Smithson is willing to work on
solutions, I think the students and administrators at our college should
also be willing to solve this parking problem once and for all. The
students at our college are the future for our city and our state.
According to our college website, 83% of our students stay in town after
graduation, and 91% stay in the state. The students at our college do
not traditionally come from the same economic backgrounds as those
students who attend the private college or the university. If students
really are "first" at our college, shouldn’t supporting our students
during hard economic times be the college’s "first" priority? |
On the Writing Process:
I have to admit that I have a difficult time seeing competing perspectives.
That was one of the points that the peer assessment really helped me to
appreciate. The quote by Dubus talks about empathy and how a writer has to
have that knowledge of the other. In seeing that my essay was less strong
that it could have been at least partly because I neglected to consider
alternative viewpoints, I’d have to say that I MIGHT agree with him, but
this is also something I want to keep thinking about. I know I tend to have
strong opinions and that might be something that I can work on THROUGH my
writing. If I do decide to go to law school and become a lawyer, I know I’ll
have to be able to imagine all the possible alternative views, even while I
try to prove MY case. I guess that my own case and viewpoints just have to
be stronger; they don’t have to be the only point of view. (I think I might
have just had a breakthrough there!)
As for the place of writing in college
or in learning, I learned SO MUCH in doing the research needed to write my
essay. I don’t think there would have been any other way that I could have
learned as much and done so much thinking about what I was learning. In
writing my essay, I not only had to learn things, but I had to figure out
how all those things related to each other. The peer assessment added even
more to what I learned; I hadn’t been aware of some of the weaknesses in my
"case" and after my classmates pointed some of them out, I was able to fill
in the gaps...some of those gaps weren’t just in the paper, but were in what
I knew. I guess I’d have to say that you can learn without writing, but
learning through writing is about the best way to REALLY learn something.
Abby's Interview with her Literature Instructor:
Abby is enjoying most of her
classes this semester, except for her literature class. The instructor and
many of her classmates really seemed to understand and get into the short
stories and novels they were reading—but Abby didn’t. She decided to talk to
her instructor about the novel they were reading, The Great Gatsby,
by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The novel was written in 1925, and Abby wondered why
they were reading such an old book anyway. Abby came up with the following
questions:
1. Why did the instructor like reading
literature?
2. Why should college students read literature
if they weren’t going to be English majors?
3. Why did the instructor think it was important
to read such an old novel?
4. What could Abby learn about writing from this
class?
5. How could reading this novel connect with
Abby’s possible career of law?
6. What tips did her instructor have for reading
literature?
These are the notes Abby
took:
1. Lit. a way to meet new people and see different cultures,
teacher said. Also to see inside others’ minds and lives. Chance to see how
she felt about other ideas, too—and connect to how writers saw their worlds.
Loved to sit and read for hours—as a kid and even now. Remembered characters
for years.
2. Seeing the world through other eyes—good for all students,
whatever field, teacher thinks. Lets student "hear" other "voices"—makes for
good conversations about many things: psychology, values, the economy and
politics of different times, even gender roles. Lit. helps student think
about almost everything.
3. Teacher feels good literature is always relevant to now.
Gatsby is about the American dream—what it is, who has it, who doesn’t, what
people will do to get that dream. Lots of money in the 1920s—like now, but
also a lack of values about what’s really important, Big parties, pretty
clothes, lots of pleasure seeking, lots of greed and cynicism. (Yeah, that
does sound like now!)
4. Teacher feels Abby can learn two main things: how to
analyze and how to write. Reading lit makes you look at details and how they
add up to a main point: ex. How does Gatsby define the American dream? Does
he have it? Why or why not? And: reading good writing helps us "hear"
language and shows us ways to express ourselves.
5. Look at all the illegal things that go on and don’t get
punished in the book. Why is that? What does money have to do with justice?
Most important though is that all writers are "making a case"…observe how
they do that and how they persuade you to follow a story, like a character,
etc.
Tips:
-
After you read
the first chapter or few pages, write down the main points of who
characters are, where they live, when and how they live, what they seem to
be doing, and anything about why they are doing things.
-
Keep reading
with pen in hand. Don’t stop reading, but underline or mark in margins:
any images, ideas, questions I have?
-
In margins or
on separate paper: characters? How are they connected? Motivations?
-
What connects
with me as reader? I might notice law themes, somebody else might notice
nature or gender themes
-
Read for a
while without taking notes: just get into the story
-
Stop reading
for a while and write down any thoughts, questions, even complaints about
the book to bring to class
-
Keep
reading—enjoy being in someone else’s life for a while! Know you might
have to read a story or parts of the novel more than once. Find the human
connections—that’ll make it easier.
By the time Abby gets back in
her group, she has actually read and enjoyed more of The Great Gatsby. She
got into the idea of how we see the American dream these days. She also is
thinking about whether we should re-define that dream if it just means money
and material things. She has started writing an essay about this for her lit
class, and may even write about justice and money for a research project.
Abby tells her classmates that reading lit is about enjoyment, but also
about analysis. One classmate learned that reading history is similar in
that it’s also about analysis, but his instructor also mentioned that
reading history is a great way to understand the present. Another classmate
shared that his anthropology instructor said that reading in that discipline
is a bit like playing Sherlock Holmes. |
