{"id":1742,"date":"2016-09-09T20:59:07","date_gmt":"2016-09-09T20:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-collegesuccess\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=1742"},"modified":"2024-05-01T18:33:12","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T18:33:12","slug":"text-what-to-do-with-essay-assignments","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-collegesuccess-2\/chapter\/text-what-to-do-with-essay-assignments\/","title":{"raw":"What to Do with Essay Assignments","rendered":"What to Do with Essay Assignments"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Identify how to approach common types of\u00a0college\u00a0writing assignments<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p class=\"p1\">Writing assignments can be as varied as the instructors who assign them. Some assignments are explicit about what exactly you'll need to do, in what order, and how it will be graded. Some assignments are very open-ended, leaving you to determine the best path toward answering the project. Most fall somewhere in the middle, containing details about some aspects but leaving other assumptions unstated. It's important to remember that your first resource for getting clarification about an assignment is your instructor\u2014he or she will be very willing to talk out ideas with you to be sure you're prepared at each step to do well with the writing.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"p1\">Most writing in college will\u00a0be a direct response to class materials\u2014an assigned reading, a discussion in class, an experiment in a lab. Generally speaking, these writing tasks can be divided into three broad categories.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"p1\">Summary Assignments<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"p1\">Being asked to summarize a source is a common task\u00a0in many types of writing. It can also seem like a straightforward task: simply restate, in shorter form, what the source says. A lot of advanced skills are hidden in this seemingly simple assignment, however.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"p1\">An effective <strong>summary<\/strong> does the\u00a0following:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li class=\"p1\">reflects your accurate understanding of a source's thesis or purpose<\/li>\r\n \t<li class=\"p1\">differentiates between major and minor ideas in a source<\/li>\r\n \t<li class=\"p1\">demonstrates your ability to identify key phrases to quote<\/li>\r\n \t<li class=\"p1\">demonstrates your ability to effectively paraphrase most of the source's ideas<\/li>\r\n \t<li class=\"p1\">captures the tone, style, and distinguishing features of a source<\/li>\r\n \t<li class=\"p1\">does not reflect your personal opinion about the source<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThat last point is often the most challenging: we are opinionated creatures by nature, and it can be very difficult to keep our opinions from creeping into a summary, which is meant to be completely neutral.\r\n<p class=\"p1\">In college-level writing, assignments that are <em>only<\/em> summary are rare. That said, many types of writing tasks contain at least some element of summary, from a biology report that explains what happened during a chemical process, to an analysis essay requiring\u00a0 you to explain several prominent positions on gun control as a component of comparing them against one another.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"p1\">Defined-Topic Assignments<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"p1\">Many writing tasks will\u00a0ask you to address a particular topic or a narrow set of topic options. Even with the topic\u00a0identified, however,\u00a0it can sometimes be difficult to determine what aspects of the writing will be most important when it comes to grading.<\/p>\r\nDefined-topic writing assignments are used primarily to identify your familiarity with the subject matter. You must shape and focus that discussion or analysis so that it supports a claim that you discovered and formulated. Although the topic may be defined, you can't just grind out four or five pages of discussion, explanation, or analysis. It may seem strange, but even when you're asked to \"show how\" or \"illustrate,\" you're still being asked to make an argument.\r\n<p class=\"p1\">Often, the handout or other written text explaining the assignment\u2014what professors call the <strong><span class=\"s1\">writing prompt<\/span><\/strong>\u2014will explain the purpose of the assignment, the required parameters (length, number and type of sources, referencing style, etc.), and the criteria for evaluation. Sometimes, though\u2014especially when you are new to a field\u2014you will encounter the baffling situation in which you comprehend every single sentence in the prompt but still have absolutely no idea how to approach the assignment. No one is doing anything wrong in a situation like that. It just means that further discussion of the assignment is required. Below\u00a0are some tips:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ol class=\"ol1\">\r\n \t<li class=\"li2\"><strong>Focus on the <\/strong><span class=\"s1\"><strong>verbs<\/strong>. <\/span>Look for verbs like <em>compare<\/em>, <em>explain<\/em>,<em> justify<\/em>,<em> reflect,<\/em> or the all-purpose <em>analyze<\/em>. You\u2019re not just producing a paper as an artifact; you\u2019re conveying, in written communication, some intellectual work you have done. So the question is, what kind of thinking are you supposed to do to deepen your learning?<\/li>\r\n \t<li class=\"li2\"><strong>Put the assignment in context<\/strong>. Many professors think in terms of <span class=\"s1\">assignment sequences. <\/span>For example, a social science professor may ask you to write about a controversial issue three times: first, they will ask you to argue for one side of the debate and then they will ask you to argue for another. Finally, you'll be asked for a more comprehensive and nuanced perspective by incorporating text produced in the first two assignments. A sequence like that is designed to help you think through a complex issue.\u00a0If the assignment isn\u2019t part of a sequence, think about where it falls in the span of the course (early, midterm, or toward the end), and how it relates to readings and other assignments. For example, if you see that a paper comes at the end of a three-week unit on the role of the Internet in organizational behavior, then your professor likely wants you to synthesize that material in your own way.<\/li>\r\n \t<li class=\"li2\"><strong>Try a free-write<\/strong>. A free-write is when you just write, without stopping, for a set period of time. The \u201cfree\u201d part is <i>what <\/i>you write\u2014it can be whatever comes to mind. <span class=\"s1\">Professional writers use free-writing <\/span>to get started on a challenging writing task or to overcome writer's block or a powerful urge to procrastinate. The\u00a0idea is that if you just make yourself write, you can\u2019t help but produce some kind of useful nugget. Thus, even if the first eight sentences of your free-write are all variations on \u201cI don\u2019t understand this\u201d or \u201cI\u2019d really rather be doing something else,\u201d eventually you\u2019ll write something like \u201cI guess the main point of this is . . . ,\u201d and you\u2019re off and running.<\/li>\r\n \t<li class=\"li2\"><strong>Ask for clarification<\/strong>. Even the most carefully\u00a0crafted assignments may need some verbal clarification, especially if you're new to a\u00a0course or field.\u00a0Try to convey to your instructor that you want to learn and you\u2019re ready to work, and not just looking for advice on how to get an A.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Try It<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/7c514381-4f1b-4b53-9138-569c1fa4bf46\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2 class=\"p1\">Undefined-Topic Assignments<\/h2>\r\nAnother writing assignment you'll potentially encounter is one in which\u00a0the topic may be only broadly identified\u00a0(\"water conservation\" in an ecology course, for instance, or \"the Dust Bowl\" in a U.S. history course), or even completely open (\"compose an argumentative research essay on a subject of your choice\").\r\n\r\nWhere defined-topic essays demonstrate your knowledge of the <em>content<\/em>, <strong>undefined-topic assignments <\/strong>are used to demonstrate your <em>skills\u2014<\/em>your ability to perform academic research, to synthesize ideas, and to apply the various stages of the writing process.\r\n<p class=\"p1\">The first hurdle with this type of task is to find a focus that interests you. Don't just pick something you feel will be easy to write about\u2014that almost always turns out to be a false assumption. Instead, you'll get the most value out of, and find it easier to work on, a topic that intrigues you personally in some way.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"p1\">The same getting-started ideas described for defined-topic assignments will help with these kinds of projects, too. You can also try talking with your instructor or a writing tutor at your college's writing center to help brainstorm ideas and make sure you're on track. You want to feel confident that you've got a clear idea of what it means to be successful in the writing and that you\u2019re not wasting time working in a direction that won't be fruitful.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>glossary<\/h3>\r\n<strong>assignment prompt:<\/strong> instructional material provided by the teacher explaining\u00a0the purpose of the assignment, required parameters, and criteria for evaluation\r\n\r\n<strong>summary:<\/strong> a writing task that asks the student to restate in shorter form what the source says\r\n\r\n<strong>undefined-topic assignment:<\/strong> a writing task based on a broadly identified topic that the student is expected to pull into focus\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Identify how to approach common types of\u00a0college\u00a0writing assignments<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\">Writing assignments can be as varied as the instructors who assign them. Some assignments are explicit about what exactly you&#8217;ll need to do, in what order, and how it will be graded. Some assignments are very open-ended, leaving you to determine the best path toward answering the project. Most fall somewhere in the middle, containing details about some aspects but leaving other assumptions unstated. It&#8217;s important to remember that your first resource for getting clarification about an assignment is your instructor\u2014he or she will be very willing to talk out ideas with you to be sure you&#8217;re prepared at each step to do well with the writing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Most writing in college will\u00a0be a direct response to class materials\u2014an assigned reading, a discussion in class, an experiment in a lab. Generally speaking, these writing tasks can be divided into three broad categories.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\">Summary Assignments<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">Being asked to summarize a source is a common task\u00a0in many types of writing. It can also seem like a straightforward task: simply restate, in shorter form, what the source says. A lot of advanced skills are hidden in this seemingly simple assignment, however.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">An effective <strong>summary<\/strong> does the\u00a0following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\">reflects your accurate understanding of a source&#8217;s thesis or purpose<\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\">differentiates between major and minor ideas in a source<\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\">demonstrates your ability to identify key phrases to quote<\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\">demonstrates your ability to effectively paraphrase most of the source&#8217;s ideas<\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\">captures the tone, style, and distinguishing features of a source<\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\">does not reflect your personal opinion about the source<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>That last point is often the most challenging: we are opinionated creatures by nature, and it can be very difficult to keep our opinions from creeping into a summary, which is meant to be completely neutral.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">In college-level writing, assignments that are <em>only<\/em> summary are rare. That said, many types of writing tasks contain at least some element of summary, from a biology report that explains what happened during a chemical process, to an analysis essay requiring\u00a0 you to explain several prominent positions on gun control as a component of comparing them against one another.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\">Defined-Topic Assignments<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">Many writing tasks will\u00a0ask you to address a particular topic or a narrow set of topic options. Even with the topic\u00a0identified, however,\u00a0it can sometimes be difficult to determine what aspects of the writing will be most important when it comes to grading.<\/p>\n<p>Defined-topic writing assignments are used primarily to identify your familiarity with the subject matter. You must shape and focus that discussion or analysis so that it supports a claim that you discovered and formulated. Although the topic may be defined, you can&#8217;t just grind out four or five pages of discussion, explanation, or analysis. It may seem strange, but even when you&#8217;re asked to &#8220;show how&#8221; or &#8220;illustrate,&#8221; you&#8217;re still being asked to make an argument.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Often, the handout or other written text explaining the assignment\u2014what professors call the <strong><span class=\"s1\">writing prompt<\/span><\/strong>\u2014will explain the purpose of the assignment, the required parameters (length, number and type of sources, referencing style, etc.), and the criteria for evaluation. Sometimes, though\u2014especially when you are new to a field\u2014you will encounter the baffling situation in which you comprehend every single sentence in the prompt but still have absolutely no idea how to approach the assignment. No one is doing anything wrong in a situation like that. It just means that further discussion of the assignment is required. Below\u00a0are some tips:<\/p>\n<ol class=\"ol1\">\n<li class=\"li2\"><strong>Focus on the <\/strong><span class=\"s1\"><strong>verbs<\/strong>. <\/span>Look for verbs like <em>compare<\/em>, <em>explain<\/em>,<em> justify<\/em>,<em> reflect,<\/em> or the all-purpose <em>analyze<\/em>. You\u2019re not just producing a paper as an artifact; you\u2019re conveying, in written communication, some intellectual work you have done. So the question is, what kind of thinking are you supposed to do to deepen your learning?<\/li>\n<li class=\"li2\"><strong>Put the assignment in context<\/strong>. Many professors think in terms of <span class=\"s1\">assignment sequences. <\/span>For example, a social science professor may ask you to write about a controversial issue three times: first, they will ask you to argue for one side of the debate and then they will ask you to argue for another. Finally, you&#8217;ll be asked for a more comprehensive and nuanced perspective by incorporating text produced in the first two assignments. A sequence like that is designed to help you think through a complex issue.\u00a0If the assignment isn\u2019t part of a sequence, think about where it falls in the span of the course (early, midterm, or toward the end), and how it relates to readings and other assignments. For example, if you see that a paper comes at the end of a three-week unit on the role of the Internet in organizational behavior, then your professor likely wants you to synthesize that material in your own way.<\/li>\n<li class=\"li2\"><strong>Try a free-write<\/strong>. A free-write is when you just write, without stopping, for a set period of time. The \u201cfree\u201d part is <i>what <\/i>you write\u2014it can be whatever comes to mind. <span class=\"s1\">Professional writers use free-writing <\/span>to get started on a challenging writing task or to overcome writer&#8217;s block or a powerful urge to procrastinate. The\u00a0idea is that if you just make yourself write, you can\u2019t help but produce some kind of useful nugget. Thus, even if the first eight sentences of your free-write are all variations on \u201cI don\u2019t understand this\u201d or \u201cI\u2019d really rather be doing something else,\u201d eventually you\u2019ll write something like \u201cI guess the main point of this is . . . ,\u201d and you\u2019re off and running.<\/li>\n<li class=\"li2\"><strong>Ask for clarification<\/strong>. Even the most carefully\u00a0crafted assignments may need some verbal clarification, especially if you&#8217;re new to a\u00a0course or field.\u00a0Try to convey to your instructor that you want to learn and you\u2019re ready to work, and not just looking for advice on how to get an A.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Try It<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_7c514381-4f1b-4b53-9138-569c1fa4bf46\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/7c514381-4f1b-4b53-9138-569c1fa4bf46?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_7c514381-4f1b-4b53-9138-569c1fa4bf46\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"p1\">Undefined-Topic Assignments<\/h2>\n<p>Another writing assignment you&#8217;ll potentially encounter is one in which\u00a0the topic may be only broadly identified\u00a0(&#8220;water conservation&#8221; in an ecology course, for instance, or &#8220;the Dust Bowl&#8221; in a U.S. history course), or even completely open (&#8220;compose an argumentative research essay on a subject of your choice&#8221;).<\/p>\n<p>Where defined-topic essays demonstrate your knowledge of the <em>content<\/em>, <strong>undefined-topic assignments <\/strong>are used to demonstrate your <em>skills\u2014<\/em>your ability to perform academic research, to synthesize ideas, and to apply the various stages of the writing process.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The first hurdle with this type of task is to find a focus that interests you. Don&#8217;t just pick something you feel will be easy to write about\u2014that almost always turns out to be a false assumption. Instead, you&#8217;ll get the most value out of, and find it easier to work on, a topic that intrigues you personally in some way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The same getting-started ideas described for defined-topic assignments will help with these kinds of projects, too. You can also try talking with your instructor or a writing tutor at your college&#8217;s writing center to help brainstorm ideas and make sure you&#8217;re on track. You want to feel confident that you&#8217;ve got a clear idea of what it means to be successful in the writing and that you\u2019re not wasting time working in a direction that won&#8217;t be fruitful.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>glossary<\/h3>\n<p><strong>assignment prompt:<\/strong> instructional material provided by the teacher explaining\u00a0the purpose of the assignment, required parameters, and criteria for evaluation<\/p>\n<p><strong>summary:<\/strong> a writing task that asks the student to restate in shorter form what the source says<\/p>\n<p><strong>undefined-topic assignment:<\/strong> a writing task based on a broadly identified topic that the student is expected to pull into focus<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-1742\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>College Success. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Amy Guptill. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: SUNY Open Textbooks. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/textbooks.opensuny.org\/writing-in-college-from-competence-to-excellence\/\">http:\/\/textbooks.opensuny.org\/writing-in-college-from-competence-to-excellence\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":19,"menu_order":8,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"College Success\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence\",\"author\":\"Amy Guptill\",\"organization\":\"SUNY Open Textbooks\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/textbooks.opensuny.org\/writing-in-college-from-competence-to-excellence\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-nc-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"76618a39-fd33-4372-82e0-9ed07cbcb901, a8c39dda-4e15-4131-b9d2-85c93bab626d","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-1742","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":133,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-collegesuccess-2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-collegesuccess-2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-collegesuccess-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-collegesuccess-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-collegesuccess-2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7615,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-collegesuccess-2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1742\/revisions\/7615"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-collegesuccess-2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/133"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-collegesuccess-2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1742\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-collegesuccess-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-collegesuccess-2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=1742"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-collegesuccess-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=1742"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-collegesuccess-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=1742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}