The Importance of Writing

Writing is one of the key skills all successful students must acquire. You might think your main job in a history class is to learn facts about events. So you read your textbook and take notes on important dates, names, causes, and so on. But however important these details are to your instructor, they don’t mean much if you can’t explain them in writing. Even if you remember the facts well and believe you understand their meaning completely, if you can’t express your understanding by communicating it—in college, that almost always means in writing—then as far as others may know, you don’t have an understanding at all. In a way, then, learning history is learning to write about history. Think about it. Great historians don’t just know facts and ideas. Great historians use their writing skills to share facts and ideas effectively with others.

History is just one example. Consider a lab course—a class that’s as much hands-on as any in college. At some point, you’ll be asked to write a step-by-step report on an experiment you have run. The quality of your lab work will not show if you cannot describe that work and state your findings clearly in writing. Even though many instructors in courses other than English classes may not comment directly on your writing, their judgment of your understanding will still be mostly based on what you write. This means that in all your courses, not just your English composition courses, instructors expect good writing.

In college courses, writing is how ideas are exchanged, from scholars to students and from students back to scholars. While the grade in some courses may be based mostly on class participation, oral reports, or multiple-choice exams, writing is by far the single most important form of instruction and assessment. Instructors expect you to learn by writing, and they will grade you on the basis of your writing.

If you find that a scary thought, take heart! By paying attention to your writing and learning and practicing basic skills, even those who never thought of themselves as good writers can succeed in college writing. As with other college skills, getting off to a good start is mostly a matter of being motivated and developing a confident attitude that you can do it.

ENG 100 Learning Outcomes

Every course in every accredited college has an official list of skills that the course should teach the students. These are called “learning outcomes.” In ENG 100, by the end of the semester, the student should be able to:

1. Write appropriately for different occasions, audiences, and purposes (i.e. letter writing, telling a story, expository prose, etc.).
2. Demonstrate understanding of essay structure.
3. Compose essays, themes or other texts developed around a central idea, controlling generalization or thesis.
4. Create compositions that demonstrate an understanding of why and how writing moves from one idea to the next.
5. Demonstrate an understanding of plagiarism and apply strategies to avoid it.
6. Demonstrate the writing process.
7. Demonstrate an ability to critically read and analyze student or teacher selected texts.
8. Accept and use critical feedback to revise texts.
9. Recognize and edit mechanical, grammatical, and other surface level errors.

These official learning outcomes are important because they were the guide we used to curate and craft this textbook. This textbook and every assignment in ENG 100 are designed to help you achieve these specific learning outcomes.

You Can Write!

Students at Central Arizona College come from diverse backgrounds, including a wide variety of nationalities, ages, economic situations, and cultures. You may be coming from another country where English is your second language, not your first. You may be a returning student who hasn’t been in college for a few years. You may have had bad experiences in high school English and are seeking to build your skills. Or you may be coming from something entirely different. Whatever your background, your English composition instructor can tell you that it is possible to not only write, but to write well. If you put in the time and effort, you can write!

Here are a few tips for being successful in ENG 100 (and also in college):

1. Do not use any kind of AI. It’s tempting to use AI, such as Grammarly, for instance, to rephrase and correct your grammar. Don’t do this! This robs you of the opportunity to learn and improve. Imagine you are a track athlete, and you are trying to improve your time, but instead of running practice races yourself, you have a friend run for you. Will your time improve? No! You have to do the work to get the benefits.
2. Start early. When you get the assignment, start writing. Don’t procrastinate. Motivational writer Roy T. Bennett explains, “Your life is happening right now. Don’t let procrastination take over your life. Be brave and take risks.”
3. Ask for help. Remember that The Learning Center at every Central Arizona College campus has tutors available to help you from brainstorming through editing. Also take advantage of your professor; go to office hours or, if your professor doesn’t have office hours, message your professor for feedback or ask to meet with them.
4. Pay attention and participate. If you just sit there and stare at your phone or ignore your professor, you aren’t going to get a lot out of the lessons. Each lesson is designed to help you succeed in achieving those learning outcomes. Come prepared with a good attitude and be ready to participate. It will make a difference.

We know you can do this! We are excited to see you succeed. We hope you find these tips and this textbook helpful throughout your journey in this class.

Cover Design Credit

The cover of this textbook was created by CAC Alumni Kimberly Day, AAS-Graphic Design: “Born and raised in the beautiful state of Arizona, I have always been inspired by the vibrant scenery of Arizona’s sunsets and cultural heritage. My passion lies in creating visually stunning designs that bring imagination to life. As a Graphic Designer I aim to establish a genuine connection with the viewer, inviting them to explore emotions and narratives that resonate universally. Ultimately, my goal is to create art that sparks conversation, provokes thought, and nurtures connection.”

Attributions

3.9 Writing from Strategies for First Year College Success OpenStax is licensed under a CC BY-NC 4.0