Lesson #1- My Professor Wants Me To Do What?! Understanding Your Assignment

The very first hurdle in writing your paper is going to be fully understanding the assignment. Sometimes your professor will give you the assignment orally in class, sometimes it will be a hand out that outlines what you need to do, and sometimes it is in the syllabus.

If your professor tells you the assignment in class make sure you are taking good notes. Write down what he wants your writing to focus on, length requirements, what format he wants it in, and what type of essay it is (compare, contrast, literary analysis, and so on. More on these later). Also, make sure to take note of the deadline for when this assignment is due. This sounds like a no-brainer, but it is crucial.

If your professor has this in a handout or in the syllabus you are going to want to look for the same things as listed above.

Sometimes you will be given a specific prompt to answer, a topic to focus on, or story to analyze. If this is the case you will want to make sure you read the directions carefully, so that you will write what the teacher wants you to and not something else entirely. If the assignment gives you a question(s) to answer then make sure that when you write your paper you answer it fully. If you have a specific topic to focus on make sure whatever you decide to write on within that topic fits into the context of the class. If you are given a story to analyze you are going to want to pick a certain angle to do it from unless you are given that information by your teacher. If you are still in doubt I would suggest you ask your professor before you start writing the paper the way you think it should be. Asking them might save you from a grade you don't want, because the paper was not what the professor wanted.

Length requirement is something that most students freak out about, but let me let you in on a secret...Writing concisely is harder than writing a lot. It's okay, you don't have to believe me now, but we will talk more about this when we talk about organizing your paper and outlining. For now, in this part of the writing process I want you just to make not of how many pages your paper should be and move on to format.

Format is a big deal when looking at your paper. Does your professor want MLA? APA? Chicago Format? Make note of this so that you can look up this format and know how to lay out your paper. However, like the length requirement you should not be dwelling there yet. We will talk more about this later.

Next, consider the type of essay. If you have a prompt this will give you a hint. The prompt may be something like "consider what freedom in America meant in the 1950s" and if that is the case then your writing would most likely just be informative. However, you could have a prompt that is something more like this "Did freedom mean the same thing for men as it did women in America in the 1950s", and in this prompt you are going to have to pick a side of the argument and write a persuasive paper.

When you are not given a prompt, but a more general topic or subject area then the professor will likely lay out what s/he wants. Again, if you are not sure exactly then email, phone, or talk to your professor in person.
The last item that I want to address is time. Know the due date and DO NOT get started the night before, or even a couple days before. Plan this process out. I encourage you to spend some time on this paper daily. It doesn't have to be an inordinate amount of time. Maybe you can spend 30 minutes on it a day if it's due in a few weeks or maybe 1-2 hours a day if it's sooner than that. The writing process if done correctly and thoroughly takes time. For instance, this blog post has been weeks in the making. The writing itself took maybe an hour. However, the thought, planning, outlining, research, and editing has been the tedious part. So please, I beg you give yourself time. When you get a good grade back on your paper you will be glad you did.

Next week we will be discussing picking a topic a little more in depth, and beginning to dive into the wonderful world of research!

Happy writing everyone!

Introduction

Hello:
If you have stumbled across this blog you probably need some help in writing. You may be overwhelmed, nervous, or frustrated with all the ins-and-outs of writing a college paper. I am here to tell you that it doesn't have to be that way. I want this blog to be a valuable, easy to understand resource to get you started on your college writing journey. I am going to take you through the very basics of the writing process, link to other web-pages, and give you other ideas of where to go for help. This is not an in depth, all encompassing blog, but hopefully it will help a few of you.

The first thing I would like to suggest to college students is that if you only buy one textbook in college then buy whatever writing handbook you need for English 101. This handbook should be helpful with everything from grammar to formatting. If you can't afford that textbook then buy a cheaper but updated edition of a similar one. It will be a lot more in depth than I can be, and I recommend you make it your best friend. The next thing I would suggest is to establish communication with your professor if you are having trouble. Your professor will be able to either help you or direct you to a tutor or writing center on campus that can.

This brings me to my next point, if you campus has a writing center then visit them. I have been a tutor at a college writing center for a year now, and I can testify that students who utilize the services offered there get better grades. There will be other sites that I will link to in the future that can help you with some other more specific writing needs as well. For now I will give you a sneak peak at what posts you can expect in the days ahead.

1. Understanding your writing assignment
2.How to pick a topic
3.Research
4. How to write a thesis statement
5. Outlining and organizing.

This is just the first five lessons.I have many more planned. I encourage you to stay tuned for more. Also, please feel free to leave questions, and I might just devote a whole blog post to those.