My Thoughts

Singh-Corcoran ~ Writing In First-Year Composition

Natalie Singh-Corcoran defines writing in first-year composition as an introduction to academic discourse. She claims that writing is a core pillar of life, and first-year composition is meant to be a “jumping off point” for students. The assignments given in first-year composition are intended to teach writers to be aware of rhetorical knowledge, critical thinking, their process, writing conventions, and how to utilize technology in writing. But more so than any of these, first-year composition is meant to show students that writing is “a lifelong process” (Singh-Corcoran). Singh-Corcoran’s example of an assignment helps to elaborate on her previous claims by describing the purpose of each part of the assignment. She incorporates rhetorical knowledge into the assignment by requiring the writers to consider the audience, context, and purpose of the assignment. She then incorporates critical thinking by requiring students to synthesize information from several sources. Finally, she emphasizes the recursive nature of writing by requiring multiple drafts. These aspects of the assignment combine all goals of first-year composition to help teach all necessary skills for college-level writing. Overall, Singh-Corcoran defines writing in first-year composition as the beginning of a life-long journey.

Singh-Corcoran ~ Writing Outside of First-Year Composition

Singh-Corcoran describes writing outside of first-year composition as a set of transferrable skills that can be applied anywhere in life. Writing takes many different shapes and forms. Some places require 10 to 20 page research papers, while others require very short pieces that communicate a lot with very little. Writing outside of first-year composition is a discipline-specific skill that involves research and critical thinking. Corcoran supports this stance by giving the example of Lauren O’Connor, “She didn’t immediately know how to compose these documents, so she had to learn the way the HP community spoke and wrote” (Singh-Corcoran). Lauren needed to adapt the writing skills she learned in college to her new environment. Another example was Godwin Erakeife, a chemical engineer who utilized his writing skills on his senior project. His project was to design and describe an ethanol plant with a team. Godwin found himself utilizing writing skills he learned from first-year composition: “…they had to consider their audience, and the audience needs, concerns, and expectations…his assignment had to conform to conventions specific to the chemical engineering profession… the project required drafting and redrafting on multiple occasions” (Singh-Corcoran). On multiple occasions, Godwin adapted skills he had learned from first-year composition and applied them in new ways to new scenarios. Singh-Corcoran describes writing outside of first-year composition as a foundational piece to one’s career that can be adapted to any situation as it is needed.

Taczak ~ Transfer

Kara Taczak defines transfer as “The ability to take writing knowledge and practices from one context and use it to repurpose or reframe it in a new/different writing context” (Taczak, Kara). She expands on this definition by comparing writing to style. Just as different outfits match different scenarios, different writing situations call for other methods and structures. Parts of one’s writing style are transferred into new situations to help form responses; writing done in one context is shifted and adapted to fit another. Another example Taczak gives is how writing knowledge from high school English is transferred to a college entrance exam (Taczak, Kara). While the subjects and conventions change, one can still utilize their past knowledge. Overall, transfer is defined as the ability to take prior knowledge and adapt it into new situations.

My Writing Style

My current views on writing are very similar to those described by Singh-Corcoran and Taczak. Writing has almost always been an opportunity and a challenge for me. It’s been a way to learn something new, to improve my skills and to learn new skills. I didn’t believe these skills had much use outside of writing, but I still enjoyed it. Over time, I slowly learned that these skills were used outside of English. I found I could research, communicate, and learn more effectively. My skills even transferred to other classes and writing styles, where I realized how much I didn’t know about writing. Overall, writing to me is almost exactly what the articles described: a set of transferrable skills that can continually be improved.