It’s time to start research writing in College Comp again. I will be completely honest: typically I dread this time of the semester. Students pick topics they are genuinely interested in, I push them to choose scholarly journal articles using the college database, they struggle to comprehend these articles, and then they force out pages of painful, dry writing.
It hurts all of us. This year I want to switch things up. I’m thinking back to my favorite writing experiences from college and beyond: the screenplay based on Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants,” the personal essay about the ending of a cherished friendship, the poem reflecting on my childhood on the farm, a deeply personal blog post about my struggles with post-adoption depression. Many of those writing experiences involved research of some kind, and they were all rich in ideas, but none of them followed the formulaic format of The Research Paper. Many years ago under the tutelage of the late Dr. Bill Broz, I wrote a multigenre paper about my development as a literary person. I included old photos, dialogue, poetry, a letter. The writing was rich in meaning, the experience itself memorable. I want to offer my College Comp students that same opportunity, to delve into rich meaning while playing with nontraditional forms. I want to frame the unit around a short informative essay while including other genres as well. Research will still be a component, but the end product won’t be so stifling. I want them to choose topics that really matter to them, that push them to take risks. But then this nagging voice enters: It’s not academic enough. They won’t learn the skills needed for college success. Not all writing needs to be engaging and enjoyable. Today I’m telling that voice to be silent and I’m getting to work on redefining this important unit. I would be so grateful for feedback, examples, and shared experiences of other teachers.
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September 2020
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