But is the freshman seminar the only way to introduce first year students to collegiate level writing?
According to "What is College Writing for?", from What is College Level Writing?, the freshman seminar, or "First Year Writing Orientation", is one of many successful methods of teaching collegiate writing skills to freshman students. Others include the traditional five-paragraph essay, Sociopolitical writing, and the Rhetoric program.
All of these methods successfully teach students how to write at a college level.The only twist is some are better at certain writing styles than others. The Rhetoric program incorporates classical rhetorical concepts to contemporary essays through the use of ethos, pathos and logos. Sociopolitical writing teaches students how to bring about more democratic and personally humane economic, social and political arrangements.
The benefit of the First Year Writing Orientation (FSEM) over these other methods is the opportunity to incorporate different styles of writing and argumentation, including the ones mentioned above, into one course. It also offers the opportunity to introduce first year students to academic life through discussion based argumentation, which aren't necessarily incorporated into these other programs.
Another benefit that the FSEM offers is an immersion in discussion and technology through multimedia presentations. Classroom discussion offers students a chance to practice argumentation and exchange opinions. These opinions are just as important to collegiate writing as traditional research, and this method of discussion allows freshmen students to practice this exchange of opinion on a casual level before incorporating them into an argument.
One method not mentioned in the "What is College Writing for?" is the use of writing workshop. In the chapter "The Great Conversation (of the Dining Hall)", one student offers her opinion on learning collegiate writing the hard way: through writing a six page, researched paper on Tolkien's fantasy for her honors class. After several failed attempts and sleepless nights, she recalls sitting down with a group of friends in the dining hall and asking, "Do you mind if I talk about Tolkien?"
She expressed her opinions and what she was trying to argue. Her friends asked questions and offered arguments of their own. She gathered the information from their opinions as material and received an excellent grade on her final paper.
As a creative writing major, I can attest to the importance of writing workshops. I can write and rewrite a paper, creative or academic, and think it covers all necessary angles, but if I show it to a few of my friends, they can usually find a weak link in the argument. Now I use the writing workshop method not only for creative writing and academic work but also for personal writing, especially if I'm looking to have the work published.
I consider the methods taught in the FSEM to be a great introduction to college level writing and believe it offers students a thorough immersion into the academic atmosphere. However, I wish I had been introduced to the writing workshop during my FSEM. My papers have always been improved through asking others' opinions and I feel that this is an essential skill for first year students to incorporate into their collegiate wriitng skills.
According to "What is College Writing for?", from What is College Level Writing?, the freshman seminar, or "First Year Writing Orientation", is one of many successful methods of teaching collegiate writing skills to freshman students. Others include the traditional five-paragraph essay, Sociopolitical writing, and the Rhetoric program.
All of these methods successfully teach students how to write at a college level.The only twist is some are better at certain writing styles than others. The Rhetoric program incorporates classical rhetorical concepts to contemporary essays through the use of ethos, pathos and logos. Sociopolitical writing teaches students how to bring about more democratic and personally humane economic, social and political arrangements.
The benefit of the First Year Writing Orientation (FSEM) over these other methods is the opportunity to incorporate different styles of writing and argumentation, including the ones mentioned above, into one course. It also offers the opportunity to introduce first year students to academic life through discussion based argumentation, which aren't necessarily incorporated into these other programs.
Another benefit that the FSEM offers is an immersion in discussion and technology through multimedia presentations. Classroom discussion offers students a chance to practice argumentation and exchange opinions. These opinions are just as important to collegiate writing as traditional research, and this method of discussion allows freshmen students to practice this exchange of opinion on a casual level before incorporating them into an argument.
One method not mentioned in the "What is College Writing for?" is the use of writing workshop. In the chapter "The Great Conversation (of the Dining Hall)", one student offers her opinion on learning collegiate writing the hard way: through writing a six page, researched paper on Tolkien's fantasy for her honors class. After several failed attempts and sleepless nights, she recalls sitting down with a group of friends in the dining hall and asking, "Do you mind if I talk about Tolkien?"
She expressed her opinions and what she was trying to argue. Her friends asked questions and offered arguments of their own. She gathered the information from their opinions as material and received an excellent grade on her final paper.
As a creative writing major, I can attest to the importance of writing workshops. I can write and rewrite a paper, creative or academic, and think it covers all necessary angles, but if I show it to a few of my friends, they can usually find a weak link in the argument. Now I use the writing workshop method not only for creative writing and academic work but also for personal writing, especially if I'm looking to have the work published.
I consider the methods taught in the FSEM to be a great introduction to college level writing and believe it offers students a thorough immersion into the academic atmosphere. However, I wish I had been introduced to the writing workshop during my FSEM. My papers have always been improved through asking others' opinions and I feel that this is an essential skill for first year students to incorporate into their collegiate wriitng skills.
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