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A Baker's Dozen of Student Writing Problems |
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Falling
into the banal rather than arguing a controversial matter.
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Making
a black and white distinction between fact and opinion, rather than
making an assertion with evidence.
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Building to thesis at the end, but not revising the introduction. |
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Straying from the thesis. Failing to understand that writing is always discovery and that the thesis should be tentative and revised later. |
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Paragraph unity, with in-depth issue coverage. |
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Overdependence
on sources.
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Summation of sources rather than synthesis. Listing what each critic said separately. Improperly integrating sources without "marking," or proper documentation. |
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Awkward syntax Students need to read aloud. |
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Not managing the flow of information in a sentence Students bury the main point in a clause, just as they bury original ideas in paragraph fluff. |
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Pacing Students leave no time to revise or use interlibrary loans. |
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Believing revision is changing a word here and there, adding a comma etc. |
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Misconceiving audience for assignment.
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Failing
to see where and how to use evidence. Students use secondary evidence as "proof," rather than responding to it. |
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