Chapter 1: Introduction to College Writing at CNM

This textbook was designed for English 1110 and 1120, Composition I and Composition II, respectively. If you are enrolled in one of these courses, you may be nearing the end of your studies at Central New Mexico Community College (CNM), you may be just starting your studies at CNM, or you may have already taken this class but didn’t finish. The reality is every English 1110 and 1120 course at CNM contains a diverse range of students. If you are enrolled in English 1110 or 1120 at CNM, you are likely a resident of New Mexico (NM). You might have gone to an elementary or secondary school here. You might feel like a part of the unique culture here in NM. Wherever you started, we welcome you to CNM!

The graphic below lists the outcomes for English 1110 and 1120, which will be introduced by your instructor and included in your syllabus.

CNM offers resources that can help you not only with your studies but also with managing your responsibilities as well. In this textbook, we’ll cover the conventions of writing, and we’ll also cover some of the resources available to you as a CNM student. And since this book is free and available on the internet, you can keep it…forever!

Throughout this text, the writers–all CNM English faculty, some of whom are still paying back student loans–are the we who compiled this textbook. We did so because we believe that a college education should be engaging, enlightening, informative, life-affirming, worldview-upturning and affordable. We believe it shouldn’t cost money to learn how to write, and that is why we are making this book available to you. This project also would not have happened without the support of CNM’s OER initiative and Liberal Arts administration.

This textbook will cover ways to communicate effectively as you develop insight into your own style, writing process, grammatical choices, and rhetorical situations. With these skills, you should be able to improve your writing talent regardless of the discipline you enter after completing this course. Knowing your rhetorical situation, or the circumstances under which you communicate, and knowing which tone, style, and genre will most effectively persuade your audience, will help you regardless of whether you are enrolling in history, biology, theater, or music next semester–because when you get to college, you write in every discipline. To help launch our introduction this chapter includes a section from the open access textbook Successful Writing.

As you begin this chapter, you may wonder why you need an introduction. After all, you have been writing and reading since elementary school. You completed numerous assessments of your reading and writing skills in high school and as part of your application process for college. You may write on the job, too. Why is a college writing course even necessary?

It can be difficult to feel excited about an intro writing course when you are eager to begin the coursework in your major (and if you are an English major, let your teacher know so you can talk about your future education plans). Regardless of your field of study, honing your writing skills—plus your reading and critical-thinking skills—will help you build a solid academic foundation.

In college, academic expectations change from what you may have experienced in high school. The quantity of work you are expected to complete increases. When instructors expect you to read pages upon pages or study hours and hours for one particular course, managing your workload can be challenging. This chapter includes strategies for studying efficiently and managing your time.

The quality of the work you do also changes. It is not enough to understand course material and summarize it on an exam. You will also be expected to seriously engage with new ideas by reflecting on them, analyzing them, critiquing them, making connections, drawing conclusions, or finding new ways of thinking about a given subject. Educationally, you are moving into deeper waters. A good introductory writing course will help you swim.

Academic Writing Principles

According to Boundless Writing, academic writing comes in many forms and can cover a wide range of subject matter; however, successful writing will demonstrate certain conventions, no matter what is being written about.

“Academic writing” is a broad term that covers a wide variety of genres across disciplines. While its features will vary, academic (or scholarly) writing generally tries to maintain a professional tone while arguing for (or against) a specific position or idea.

There are many different approaches to academic research since each discipline has its own conventions that dictate what kinds of texts and evidence are permissible. Scholarly writing typically takes an objective tone, even though it argues in favor of a specific position or stance. Academic writing can reach a broader audience through more informal venues, such as journalism and public speaking.

The Thesis Statement: Making and Supporting a Claim

Strong academic writing takes a stance on the topic it is covering—it tries to convince the reader of a certain perspective or claim. This claim is known as the “thesis statement.” The majority of an academic paper will be spent using facts and details to “prove” to the reader that the claim is true. How this is done depends on the discipline; in the sciences, a research paper will present an original experiment and data to support the claim; in a literature class, an essay will cite quotations from a text that weave into the larger argument. Regardless of discipline, the overarching goal of most academic writing is to persuade the reader to agree with the claim.

Concision

Concision is the art of using the fewest words possible to convey an idea. Some students mistakenly think that longer words and more complicated sentence structures make their writing sound more sophisticated. In reality, however, the longer and more complicated a sentence gets, the harder it is for a reader to interpret that sentence, and the harder it is to keep them engaged with your argument. For example, if you find yourself using a phrase like “due to the fact that,” you can simplify your wording and make your sentence more powerful by saying “because” instead. Similarly, say “now” or “currently” rather than “at this point in time.” Unnecessarily complicated wording distracts your reader from your argument; simpler sentence structures allow your ideas to shine through.

Breaking the Rules

There are countless examples of respected scholarly pieces that bend these principles—for instance, the “reader response” school of literary criticism abandons the objective stance altogether. However, you have to know the rules before you can break them successfully.

Think of a chef putting chili powder in hot chocolate, a delicious but unexpected bending of a rule: typically, desserts are not spicy. In order to successfully break that rule, the chef first had to understand all the flavors at work in both ingredients, and make the choice knowing that it would improve the recipe. It’s only a good idea to break these rules and principles if there is a specific, good reason to do so. Therefore, if you plan to dispense with one of these conventions, it is a good idea to make sure your instructor approves of your stylistic choice.

Building Academic Writing Skills

Academic work is an excellent way to develop strong research and writing skills. Try to use your undergraduate assignments to build your reading comprehension, critical and creative thinking, research and analytical skills. Having a specific audience in mind as you write will help you engage more directly with the reader and adapt to the conventions of writing in any given genre.

In addition, time management, not talent, has been the secret to a lot of great writing through the ages. Not even a “great” writer can produce a masterpiece the night before it’s due. Breaking a large writing task into smaller pieces will not only save your sanity but will also result in a more thoughtful, polished final draft.

Seeking Help Meeting College Expectations

Depending on your education before coming to CNM, you will have varied writing experiences as compared with other students in class. Some students might have earned a GED, some might be returning to school after a decades-long break, and still other students might either be graduating high school, or be freshly graduated. If the latter is the case, you might enter college with a wealth of experience writing five-paragraph essays, book reports, and lab reports. Even the best students, however, need to make big adjustments to learn the conventions of academic writing. College-level writing obeys different rules, and learning them will help you hone your writing skills. Think of it as ascending another step up the writing ladder.

Many students feel intimidated asking for help with academic writing; after all, it’s something you’ve been doing your entire life in school. However, there’s no need to feel like it’s a sign of your lack of ability; on the contrary, many of the strongest student writers regularly seek help and support with their writing (that’s why they’re so strong). College instructors are familiar with the ups and downs of writing, and most colleges have support systems in place to help students learn how to write for an academic audience. The following sections discuss common on-campus writing services, what to expect from them, and how they can help you.

Writing Mentors

Learning to write for an academic audience is challenging, but colleges like CNM offer various resources to guide students through the process. Most instructors will be happy to meet with you during office hours to discuss guidelines for writing about their particular discipline. If you have any doubts about research methods, paper structure, writing style, etc., address these uncertainties with the instructor before you hand in your paper, rather than waiting to see the critiques they write in the margins afterward. If you have questions, ask them. For example, if you’re not sure about which point of view is appropriate for a specific paper, raise your hand in class and ask your teacher. Your peers may have a similar question. Finally, you are not bothering your instructor by showing up for office hours; they’ll be glad to see you.

Tutoring Center

CNM students have access to The Learning and Computer Center (TLCc), which is available on six campuses: Advanced Technology Center, Main, Montoya, Rio Rancho, South Valley, and Westside. At these writing centers, trained tutors help students meet college-level expectations. The tutoring centers offer one-on-one meetings, online, and group sessions for multiple disciplines. TLCc also offers workshops on citing and learning how to develop a writing process.

Student-Led Workshops

Some courses encourage students to share their research and writing with each other, and even offer workshops where students can present their own writing and offer constructive comments to their classmates. Independent paper-writing workshops provide a space for peers with varying interests, work styles, and areas of expertise to brainstorm.

Writing in drafts makes academic work more manageable. Drafting gets your ideas onto paper, which gives you more to work with than the perfectionist’s daunting blank screen. You can always return later to fix the problems that bother you.

Communicating in a College Course

Communication courses teach students that communication involves two parties—the sender and the receiver of the communicated message. Sometimes, there is more than one sender and often, there is more than one receiver of the message. The main purpose of communication whether it be email, text, tweet, blog, discussion, presentation, written assignment, or speech is always to help the receiver(s) of the message understand the idea that the sender of the message is trying to share. This section will focus on electronic communication in a college course.

Email or message

An email or message sent to your instructor is often the result of a question you may have. Many students think contacting their instructor shows that they weren’t paying attention or that they are the only student did not understand something, so they often keep quiet and go on trying to do work that they do not understand. Other students think that their teacher is their own private tutor, so they email or message the teacher several times a day to ask questions that likely have answers in the syllabus and in the learning module instructions. Both of these behaviors are unhelpful and frustrating to the students and the instructor.

It is a good idea to balance these two opposite behaviors. Ask a question if you are unable to find the answer yourself. Your instructor likes hearing from her students and will have a general response time to emails and messages noted in the syllabus. Give your instructor some time to respond to your email and be sure to check your inbox for her reply.

On the other hand, avoid monopolizing your teacher’s email inbox with dozens of emails and messages per week and expecting her to respond immediately. Nobody enjoys having their inbox blown up with multiple messages by the same person. Try to remember your instructor will likely have many other emails from administrators, staff, and other students.

Avoid sending harsh or demanding emails or messages when you are panicked, frustrated, or angry. Walk away from your computer and return at a later time when you feel calmer. Then re-read the instructions, or syllabus, or the course materials you find confusing, and if you still cannot find the answer because it is not there, definitely email or message your instructor.

So now that you have decided to email or message your instructor, decide if your instructor prefers a certain type of communication. Some instructors prefer emails from the college-wide email system while others prefer messages that go out from the online course shell itself. Some instructors may prefer phone calls and some may prefer texts.

Tips for Emailing Your Instructor

• Be polite: Address your professor formally, using the title “Professor” or “Instructor” with their last name. Depending on how formal your professor seems, use a salutation (“Dear” or “Hello” followed by your professor’s name/title (Dr. XYZ, Professor XYZ, etc.)
• Pose a question. Clearly introduce the purpose of your email and the information you are requesting. If you are not asking a specific question, be aware that you may not receive a response to your email.
• Be concise. Instructors are busy people, and although they are typically more than happy to help you, kindly get to your point quickly. Sign off with your first and last name, the course number, and the class time. This will make it easy for your professor to identify you.
• Do not ask, “When will you return our papers?” If you MUST ask, make it specific and realistic (e.g., “Will we get our papers back by the end of next week?”). Most Instructors teach multiple classes and could have hundreds of assignments to grade.
• Do not ask your Instructor if you missed anything important when you were absent. Instructors work diligently to design their coursework, so asking if any of that content was important can be considered rude or dismissive of their hard work. Instead ask if missed anything that was not included on the course schedule.

Sample Email to an Instructor

Email Etiquette Review

Keep your message brief, specific, professional, and grammatically correct. For more information about how to write an email or message to your instructor, watch this video from Learning to Learn by Kwantlen Polytechnic Institute.

Creating an appropriate tone can feel overwhelming. We know that all emails should be polite, and emails to your instructor may be more formal or professional. Not all Instructors will expect formal emails, but it’s important to remember that your instructor is not your friend and that an email or message is not a text message. It is not appropriate to send an informal or colloquial message and to assume your instructor is your friend or acquaintance and that an email or message is the same as text message.

Communication on Public Discussion Boards

Whenever you are being asked to communicate or post in a discussion forum or other communication mode, you need to ask yourself if there will be one recipient or several. In other words, who will be your readers? Is the forum private so that only your instructor or only a group of classmates or only a specific classmate can see it or is it public so that everyone, all of your classmates and your instructor can see your post? Check the forum to which you are posting for these settings.

The discussion board is a public forum, so you might have a broad audience. Create a post according to the recipient(s). It is nice to address a classmate by name if you are responding to a specific person in a discussion forum. Online classes can be a solitary experience, so it can be nice when a classmate is actually responding to you, personally. It is also advisable to use a greeting such as “Classmates” if you are addressing a discussion post to everyone in the class. Most of the time, discussions tend to be public, so you can make sure of the assignment’s settings before you post.

Do’s: Discussions usually have specific guidelines for posts. Most require you to use college English and write in complete sentences. This chapter from CNM’s grammar OER covers appropriate language. Essentially, you should avoid text language, capitalize “I”, and check your spelling, grammar, and punctuation before submitting your posts. Sometimes there are specific questions and a certain number of sentences required, so read the instructions closely. Avoid short posts, such as “I agree” because it is too general and doesn’t encourage ongoing discussion; instead, explain what you agree with and why. Often, there is a reading that needs to be completed before you post. Make sure you read the required text before posting instead of just “winging it” because your classmates and teacher can tell.

Don’ts: Avoid copying and pasting your own post to respond to several of your classmates. Your instructor, who will be viewing and grading your posts, can tell that your posts are identical and is unlikely to give you full credit for identical posts. Second, avoid copying and pasting your classmates’ posts to present as your own. There is a timestamp on your posts in an online classroom, and your instructor will have physical evidence of who posted a response first. Also, your classmates and instructor will notice your copied post, and you will be guilty of plagiarism. Last, do not post unrelated ideas; for example, if you are asked about the main idea of a text you read, make sure to read the text, and respond by giving what you think is the main idea, not by posting that you liked the text because of a personal experience you had. It isn’t wrong to include personal content, but be sure to answer the instructor’s questions first to earn full credit.

Communicating in a college classroom with multiple audiences can be complex, but these tips will help you create respectful and thoughtful messages.

This chapter is a synthesis of three texts:

• Adapted from “Boundless Writing”
• Adapted from “Chapter One ” of Successful Writing, 2012, used according to creative commons 3.0 cc-by-nc-sa
• Some sections of this chapter written by Angelika Schwamberger, published by Central New Mexico Community College, and licensed using Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
• Some sections were adapted from Learning to Learn Online by Alice Macpherson and Christina Page, which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.