Table Of ContentESSENTIAL WRITING
SKILLS
FOR
COLLEGE & BEYOND
C.M. GILL
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Acknowledgments
I would like to express my gratitude to those who helped
bring this book to fruition, especially my students, who
inspired the idea for it: Thank you for your dedication to
writing and learning and for making my work feel not at
all like work.
To the many teachers who taught me to write, to think,
and to learn, without whom this book would not exist:
Thank you Mrs. Hall, Mrs. Watson, Mr. Quisenberry,
Mr. Proctor, Dr. Cohen, Professor Rosenberg, Professor
Beebe. Special thanks to Professor Robin Gallaher
Branch for reinvigorating in this disinterested, brash
freshman writing student her love for literature, writing,
and teaching. It carried me far and remains in me still.
Thank you.
I owe a particular debt of gratitude to Professor Nancy
Wilson, one of the best teachers and writers with whom I
have ever had the pleasure to work and learn.
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To my colleagues and friends for supporting and
encouraging me to persevere: Thank you Katherine
Dowdy, Patricia Hernandez, Nadine Cooper-Kohn, and
Deloris Collins.
Thank you to Austin Community College, EBSCO, and
Innovative Interfaces for the use of their screenshots.
Special thanks and humble gratitude to my friend David
for your time, insights, and advice on the text. This
would be a different and much less valuable book
without your help.
To Thomas, who listened to me blather on about this
book, and to many others: Thank you for your
sympathetic ears, your patience, your belief in me, and
your unyielding support and encouragement.
Thank you to my friend and sister, Kim; my father and
teacher, Charles; my uncle, Larry; and my wonderfully
stellar but growing-up-much-too-quickly nephews Tyler,
Alex, Dylan, and Silas for supporting me during this and
all other endeavors always and without question. And
thank you to my mother, Robin, who is always my first,
loudest, and greatest supporter; I couldn’t have written
any of this without you. Thank you for always being
there and never giving up on me.
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About the Author
C.M. Gill has taught academic writing courses for over
ten years in both university and community college
environments. She has published, presented, and won
awards for her own academic work at national and
international conferences and currently works as the
college and career readiness coordinator for Austin
Community College in Austin, Texas.
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Contents
Foreword
Introduction
PART I: IDEA-GENERATION STRATEGIES
Chapter 1: Getting Started and Developing Your
Ideas
PART II: COMPOSING YOUR ESSAY
Chapter 2: Your Ideas
Chapter 3: Breaking Down the Essay
Chapter 4: Their Ideas
Chapter 5: Pre-Research
Chapter 6: Research
Chapter 7: Post-Research
PART III: POLISHING YOUR ESSAY
Chapter 8: Revising and Editing Your Essay
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Chapter 9: Punctuation and Mechanics
PART IV: MAKING THE GRADE
Chapter 10: The Psychology of Grading and Scoring
Suggested Further Reading
Appendix A: Essay-Writing Timelines
Appendix B: Sample Student Essay with Instructor
Comments
Works Cited
Copyright
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Foreword
This book began in my university writing classes. My
students complained about their enormous, all-inclusive
writing manual. They felt intimidated and overwhelmed
by it, and they asked instead for a concise,
easy-to-understand guide to the college writing process.
This book is that guide. The organization will take you
through the writing process—from generating ideas to
polishing the final product.
The value of mastering this process simply cannot be
overestimated. In college, almost all assessment is
written. Professors in every discipline test students’
ability not only to learn the material but also to
demonstrate this knowledge in writing. Aside from the
major papers assigned, college professors also require
in-class essays, book reviews, and chapter summaries,
and even multiple-choice exams include short-answer
and essay questions designed to test writing skills. In
fact, as a college student, you can expect to write
thousands, if not millions, of words in your
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undergraduate career. Strong writing skills are also
crucial in the professional world. Businesses,
governments, and organizations of all kinds highly value
those rare people who possess the skills and knowledge
to communicate effectively in writing. Clearly, investing
in improving your writing skills is not only a good idea;
it’s crucial.
This book will empower you with a strong knowledge of
the college writing process and fill any gaps within your
knowledge of spelling, grammar, or punctuation. Feel
free to use the book as you see fit; skip ahead to access
the material you feel you most need, or read the book
cover to cover. As with anything else, practice will
improve your abilities, so write as much and as often as
you can. If you would like more practice than is offered
within the pages of this book, you can access additional
practice quizzes and student examples for free online at
www.writersdigest.com/essential-college-writing.
Best of luck to you, and happy writing!
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Introduction
UNDERSTANDING ACADEMIA
You’ve probably heard people refer to the college
campus as “The Ivory Tower.” This is, in some ways, an
accurate description of the world and people you will
encounter in college. The atmosphere is one of idealism,
of the pursuit of knowledge, and of the quest for higher
ideals. Mundane, practical matters hold significantly less
importance here than in, say, the business world. In
academia, the dollar is not paramount, nor is physical
appearance, and markers of status, such as expensive
clothing, accessories, and various other products, are not
essential to success.
In academia, there is a purposeful disconnect from the
so-called everyday world, especially in the departments
of the humanities (psychology, English, philosophy,
music, theater, and so on). In fact, the pursuit of higher
knowledge requires this disconnect because it requires
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