Is there an essay-writing skill?

[Boojatta]

Perhaps the main element affecting the mark received on an essay assignment is luck. Certainly, there is a variety of different possible essays that one particular student could write in response to one particular assignment. Even if a particular student were to actually write all possible responses available to that student in response to a particular essay assignment, there is no reason to believe that the student would be able to guess which would be evaluated as better and which would be evaluated as worse. One problem is that the student would be guessing.

Another problem is that conventional practice is to demand that each student submit exactly one essay in response to a particular essay assignment. Submission of zero essays would provoke a grade of zero on the assignment. However, submission by one student of two essays is simply prohibited. If a student were to submit two, then one can anticipate that ordinarily either the instructor would make an arbitrary choice of which one to accept or an instructor would refuse to make even an arbitrary choice and would condemn the student for violating a rule of conduct.

[MineralMan]

1. There is such a skill. Even you can learn to write well.

You may find classes designed to teach that skill at your local community college. I suggest you take one.

[able1]

2. Yes

Before you sit down to write, imagine that you're an editor of a newspaper. You want articles that capture attention, hold interest,
that are relevant to the lives of most readers, and you want it written in plain English, using words whose meaning is crystal clear,
free of jargon, forceful, and convincing - with an element of surprise that makes people feel they've learned something worth
knowing and that they are satisfied that they know enough about the topic to be able to use it in conversations.

[patrice]

5. AND it is possible to teach each of the traits that you have identified here, so that there is no

guessing about what works in good writing. Furthermore, these traits CAN be developed through feedback and practice, practice, practice . . .

:hi: Welcome to DU able1! :hi:

:bounce: Have Fun! :bounce:

[able1]

10. Thanks, patrice. Nice to be here, he said "In His Own Write". EOM

[patrice]

3. luck? wrong. You apparently have never taught. Some answers ARE better than others.

When you call a Help Desk are all answers equally helpful? Given the same content, does it not matter how that content is communicated to content-users?

[Trajan]

4. Man O'Man ....

One rarely plumbs such depths ....

[Turbineguy]

6. In our English course

we were obliged to bring in an essay on any subject every Monday. No essay would get you a "zero", whereas a really terrible essay (or one spelling error) would earn an "F" or 60. That would mean turning in 2 "A" grade essays in order to still fail the course for every week you missed. But no, it was one essay per week. On one Monday morning I cranked out an essay during breakfast criticizing the essay policy, for which I got a "B" grade.

In the end, in order to pass the course, the Professor allowed me to redeem myself by working up an annotated bibliography which turned out so well he asked me how much I paid somebody at UC Berkley to do it.

37 years later we are still friends.

The policy should be one that encourages students to write as this is what is key. Draconian failure policies put a student in an impossible and hopeless position. How many young students would think in terms of, "I'll be glad I did this when I'm 46 years old"?

[FirstLight]

7. Skill? maybe...FORMAT, yes

In my Junior Yr of HS, our English teacher decided we all had to know how to write expository essays. The standard format is vital to college applications and is a huge part of most college writing assignments.

The UC style was what she called it, though it was basically a 5 paragraph essay.
for practice and concept and format specifics, google "5 paragraph expository essay"

As far as skill, I would think that any teacher worth their salt would rcognize that not ALL of us are writers...but the basics need to be covered and by using a clear format, even someone who doesn't make clear points can make a decent argument. Knowing how to put your ideas in writing can be a handy thing in LIFE...look at all the money that companies have to spend on training employees in email "nettiquite", etc. as well...

It makes me shudder to think tht my child, and probably many thousands more, are being deprived of these skill sets because the teachers have to "teach to the test" now


hmmm...makes me think I should offer a class as a freelancer...? not a bad idea!

edit: spelling...first cup O coffee, not there yet!

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. Skill in essay writing is not judged by what you write, but by how you write.

A good essayist - like a good debater - could be assigned a topic and write cogent essays arguing pro or con or neutral positions, or mere ruminations on the subject, all with equal effectiveness. Any instructor with an ounce of integrity will grade a well written essay supporting a position he doesn't like better than a poorly written essay that he agrees with.

ON EDIT: Think of William Buckley - even as I disagree with virtually everything he ever wrote, I admire his skill at writing it - he's a wizard with the English language. Though not as good as Gore Vidal, in my mind.

[Boojatta]

9. Approximately what percentage of instructors don't have an ounce of integrity?

Any instructor with an ounce of integrity will grade a well written essay supporting a position he doesn't like better than a poorly written essay that he agrees with.

[RaleighNCDUer]

13. I have no idea -

I never had one such in any of the creative writing classes I took, though I know very well that my politics were strongly at odds with one (of the two).

Your OP suggested that you were worried about being graded on content rather than quality. I've not personally seen that to be a problem.

[notadmblnd]

11. yes, there are basic essay writing skills

There are different types of essays. Every essay must have a thesis, an introduction, a body (supporting your thesis) and a conclusion. There are different types of essays such as; comparison, definitive, informal, literature and personal. There are some very good websites Out there (just use the google) that will help you in your lay out. One of the things my son does when he writes an essay about a person, is to start by writing out questions about the person, next thing he does, is to write answers to those questions. Then all that is left is for him to do with is is put it together in coherent sentences.

Good luck with your essay writing.

[MorningGlow]

12. Hm. I think you're applying true/false, right/wrong, yes/no to an essay evaluation format

which is not at all the case.

I am a professional writer and editor, and I have taught English in both high school and in business college. I have found that people who aren't comfortable with their writing skills, and especially people who are left-brain dominant (logic over holistic assessment) don't "trust" the writing instructor, because they think the instructor is judging essays arbitrarily, based on his or her opinion of writing style, opinion of the student, or, as you say, whether they have included the "right" answer in the essay according to what the writing instructor believes is the "right" answer.

But writing is not a left-brained, right/wrong, yes/no pursuit. We writing instructors are not looking for the "right" response when we read an essay; instead, we're evaluating whether the writer's essay has met the following criteria:

- Complete sentences
- Correct grammar
- Correct structure
- Clear presentation of subject
- Proper opening, body, and conclusion
- Clearly stated thesis

It may be disconcerting to left-brained students to receive a grade that they can't trace back to specific elements that were done correctly or incorrectly; for those students, some instructors provide a mathematical breakdown of the grading process, assigning a number of points out of 100 to the various facets of "what makes a good essay". If your OP is about a writing class that you're taking now, you might want to talk to your instructor to find out how he or she evaluates the essays assigned.

As for the "one essay only" issue--well, if you take a math test, do you get a couple of tries to get the answers right? If a student in a writing class is paying attention and has learned the proper format of various types of writing, he or she should be able to reproduce that style/format in their completed essay--only one shot required.

However, when I taught high school seniors, I found their writing appalling, yet they had been given high marks for what was, in essence, utter crap, before entering my class. Instead of continuing this terrible practice that would soothe their egos and placate their GPA but would do them no favors when they started college (most of them were planning on going to college), I graded their essays honestly, but gave them the opportunity to improve their grade by sitting down with me to discuss what they needed to do better, heeding my advice and comments on their paper, and then rewriting it. Grading it a second time was more work for me, but I was willing to do it if the students were willing to put forth the extra effort to improve their writing. The best part of it was it was up to THEM whether they wanted to accept a lower grade or do the work better. They were being treated like adults, and their grades were in their hands, leaving them no room to complain.

Sorry for the long-winded response. Hope it clarifies things "from the other side", though. :hi:

[Boojatta]

14. "do you get a couple of tries to get the answers right?" (on a math test)

A question on a math test doesn't necessarily have a unique, correct answer. For example, a question might require a proof, but it would be very unusual for there to be exactly one possible proof for a given statement that is to be proven. However, any proof that is substantively flawless will ordinarily receive a grade of 100%. People who are grading an attempted proof will ordinarily try to focus as much as possible on substantive issues, such as the validity of the reasoning.

On the other hand, it's very rare for an essay to receive a grade of 100%. Ordinarily, some starting grade is assigned based on the grader's general liking or disliking of the essay and based on the grader's general liking or disliking of the author of the essay. Ordinarily, marks are deducted from that starting grade based on superficial characteristics of the essay.

[MorningGlow]

15. Dude, I can't begin to tell you how wrong you are

First of all, regarding the math question--yes, there may be different approaches to the same answer if it's something like a proof, but my point was if you're taking a test, you're not given several chances if you don't get it right the first time, like you seem to want when it comes to writing essays.

Second, some essays certainly DO receive a grade of 100 percent, if they warrant it. And that 100 percent is based on meeting those criteria I posted previously. And no, the instructor does NOT start from a subjective "liking or disliking" of the essay and DEFINITELY not based on liking or disliking the author.
:wtf:

Look, if you have a problem with an instructor who is grading your essays at this time, TALK to the instructor; don't waste your time trying to tell a comp teacher (that'd be me) how she does her job.

[Boojatta]

19. Does each essay have a special quality that distinguishes it from a picture of economic phenomena...

and that allows people to objectively evaluate an essay while it remains beyond human power to objectively evaluate a picture of economic phenomena?

no, the instructor does NOT start from a subjective "liking or disliking" of the essay

Thus Schumpeter employs his economic model to flesh out a larger social vision. The word itself, we recall from our earlier pages, is Schumpeter's. In his magisterial survey of economic thought, on which he was working at his death in 1950, "vision" lies at the center of things. Analysis may be the great glory of economics, but analysis does not spring full-blown from the mind of an economist, any more than Minerva from the brow of Jupiter. There is a "preanalytic" process that precedes our logical scenarios, a process from which we cannot escape, and which is inescapably colored with our innermost values and preferences. "Analytic work," writes Schumpeter, "... embodies in the picture of things as we see them, and wherever there is any possible motive for wishing to see them in a given rather than another light, the way in which we see things can hardly be distinguished from the way in which we wish to see them."

Source:
The Worldly Philosophers
by Robert L. Heilbroner

[FirstLight]

16. I call Bullshit

Sounds like someone is whining because they think the grading of THEIR essay is not legit.

I have seen and even received 100% on an essay. I have also gotten D's and had to re-write.

Math proofs and essays are apples & oranges - so don't EVEN try to compare.

The teacher usually teaches certain criteria that need to be covered in an essay...regardless of topic or which "side" of the argument you are on. If you have a strong thesis, the rest of the paper should be fairly easy to construct. You just need 3 good reasons to back up your thesis, that's your body a- nd a good "stick it to 'em" conclusion that will drive your point home. even if you suck at writing, it is NOT rocket science to pull off a fairly good essay.

Again, I will reiterate that most schools don't even teach the basics of essay writing, and that is required for many college apps as well as in REAL life where there is a need to correspond with people via email - which is becoming totally commonplace in all industries.
Companies spend millions of dollars having to train their workforce how to do basic writen communications - when these are supposed to be part of the thre R's

These abilities are not about talent or skill or subject mater - it is about being able to communicate clearly and make a viable point while doing it. which, I am sorry to say, takes more practice for some than others. But unless you have real Proof of your instructor being biased - this argument really doesn't have a leg to stand on... you just have to knuckle under and learn how to do it.


(FWIW - math is not my thing, either...but I still studied for the tests and managed to pull off B's & C's...so it is just a matter of applying yourself to learning the material)

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. Just do what the rubric says

I think I answered your question but it's hard to tell exactly what you are asking.

[LWolf]

18. Yes, Boojatta, there is skill involved

in writing well. No matter what you are writing.

There are many purposes to an essay assignment. How that essay is graded is going to directly relate to the purpose.

A grade is going to be based on more than one factor: content, organization, conventions, fluency, vocabulary...

Are you getting poor grades and need to understand why? Post an essay, along with the assignment it was written for; we'll explain.

[heyyouse]

20. It's more than one overarching skill.

I taught AP World History and my students were expected to write 3 specific types of essays. I'll take the change and continuity through time essay as an example.

To teach them how to effectively write and express the correct type of reasoning that the question asks, I broke the essay into a set of tasks and worked for weeks on verbage, organization, prewriting, moving from talking about general characteristics to specifics, etc. Essays, regardless of the subject, typically demand lots of small skills that are transferable across disciplines.