过渡到大学写作

While many enter college ready for the workload and style of writing it requires, plenty of students feel less prepared and disoriented by the idea of college writing. For first-year students, this transition can be a challenge that is both frustrating and rewarding. Regardless of your background and how you feel about writing, 这里有一些小贴士可以帮助你轻松过渡. 最重要的是, keep one thing in mind as you make the plunge—what matters most is how you improve from this point on.

笔记和课堂参与

Taking good notes and participating in class are the building blocks to good college writing. They prepare you to writing papers and generate material for you to draw on in your writing. Here are a few guidelines for note-taking and active class participation.

• 课前阅读作业都做完了吗. You might have had classes in high school where you could skip or just skim the reading and still be fine. This thinking will become detrimental once you hit higher level classes!
• Find the method of class participation that works best for you. Many professors build ways for quiet types to participate. Some have the class turn in discussion questions every period, 有些允许每周进行反思性写作, and some require course journals that are periodically graded throughout the semester. 如果你在课堂上说话感到不舒服, put a great deal of effort into these reflective practices. If your professor is not offering any of these ways to participate, either try asking them to reconsider or come to class prepared with a question or two about the reading that you can participate with in the discussion.
• 尝试几种不同的记笔记方式. Some popular types include the Cornell note-taking method, 信息的可视化图表, 或者概述讲座或讨论的结构. 搜索 around on the internet or talk to Academic Advising in order to find the one that’s right for you.
• 和同学一起复习笔记. As Keith Hjortshoj reveals in The Transition to College Writing, students catch only about 35% of the important information revealed in a class lecture (27). Sharing what you learned with a classmate can help you fill in each other’s gaps.

超越五段文章

Many students enter college extremely skilled in writing one type of essay—the five-paragraph or “keyhole” essay that consists of an introduction, 三段话，要点支持主旨, 结论重述了引言. 虽然这是一个很好的初始结构, moving away from this model of writing can help you grow as a writer.

• 考虑你的受众. American students are often trained to write a five-paragraph essay in preparation for standardized testing—a blank audience who knows nothing about who you are and grades your writing based on a concrete rubric. 在大学, 你的教授会在课堂上了解你, 对你的想法感兴趣吗, 并希望你成长. 你可以在写作中冒险, and you should adopt a voice that speaks to your professor and classmates rather than a grading robot.
• 而不是拘泥于这个结构, consider the elements that make all types of writing clear, 简洁的, 和优雅的. As the five-paragraph essay suggests, essays should have a discernible beginning, middle, and end. Rather than a stick-straight structure that constantly refers back to a roadmap presented with the introduction, 让你的文章成长和流动.
• Your writing should center on a clear and concrete argument. Readers are expecting you to develop an argument that is articulated in a thesis statement, supported both in your introduction and through the paragraphs in your essay, 在你的结论里. 你的论点应该站得住脚, 基于证据, and readers are expecting you to address opposition to your argument as wel.

写作的可互换阶段

In American high schools, students are often taught to believe that writing is a linear process. 这完全是不真实的. 在写这份讲义的时候, 例如, 这位作家把草稿看了好几遍, 向其他导师和博士征求意见. Cozzens，并对文本进行了很长时间的修修补补. It is a good idea to have a frame with which to approach writing, but consider the listed steps below to be switchable rather than a linear process. These steps are explored in The Transition to College Writing by Keith Hjortshoj.

• 规划. 规划 what and how you will write is an essential step, one that writers often start with first but can integrate into the writing process at any point. Exercises like brainstorming and mapping can help generate 的想法 and provide direction for your writing. 收集研究, 记笔记, and rereading sources texts are also great ways to start planning your essay. Once you have gathered material, create an outline that gives a rundown of your argument.
• 作曲. This is the actual act of writing, where you are writing new material for your essay.
• 修改. 修改不同于编辑. Instead of a cursory polish of grammar and spelling mistakes, revising gives you the chance to really see what’s working in your paper and what isn’t. 有些人边写边大量修改, 完成后提交一份基本完好无损的草稿. 另一些人则要经过几份草稿, 剪切和粘贴段落, 的想法, 在他们写作的过程中不断地寻找信息来源.
• 编辑. 这个阶段是你挑出语法问题的时候, double-check that your spell check didn’t make any mistakes, 清理掉其他表面的东西. Reading your essay out loud or asking someone else to do it is a good way of catching small mistakes.

现在?

当你开始写第一篇论文的时候, take a deep breath and find something about the text or subject you’re exploring that excites, 混淆了, 或者让你生气. Try out many different types of writing styles as you get more comfortable with academic writing. Talk to your professor, and send them a draft ahead of time if you can. 当截止日期到来的时候, make sure you titled your document as required and release your first college paper into the world