Reading carefully and critically lays the foundation for college-level writing. PACS 1 has a number of days in its schedule specifically devoted to helping students understand the requirements and practices of college-level writing. Some of that time will be devoted to learning principles and practices and some will be spent working with other students in peer review.

Once again, the main rubric categories will be an important part of the framework:

• Focus: The development of a purposeful claim in a clear thesis
• Support: The use of reasoning and gathering of evidence to strengthen the thesis
• Coherence: The arrangement of the parts of an argument / paper to enhance the flow of reasoning from one part to the next and make a coherent whole
• Correctness: The crafting of sentences and paragraphs correctly so as to express the writer’s ideas
• Style: The selection of words and refinement of sentence structures to create a sense of the writer’s attitudes in the development of “voice.”

Writing Workshop 1: The big picture and the need for academic integrity.

1. Academic writing starts with careful and critical reading—”inhabiting” a text to find out what its author says.
2. It responds to ideas from texts by “critiquing” them—testing their reasoning and evidence.
3. Both inhabiting and critiquing are necessary; neither one is enough to constitute good academic writing by itself.
4. Academic integrity means knowing the requirements and forms of academic work.

Writing Workshop 2: A clear main idea (thesis) and reasoning and evidence to support it.

1. Developing a good thesis begins with discovering what it is you want to say.
2. Developing a thesis means clarifying the relationship among main points.
3. Support is the development of main points with reasoning and evidence.

Writing Workshop 3: A good structure moves from point to point, and clear sentences and paragraphs express ideas and shape attitudes.

1. Coherence: orderly paragraph structure to guide the reader.
2. Correctness is absolutely essential! Tripping up the reader with mistakes creates an irritated audience!

Writing Workshop 4: All good writing is re-writing, and nothing engages the reader more than a strong sense of voice in an essay.

1. Revision: Rewriting means taking a fresh look, not just patching and filling. Is there a better way to make your point?
2. Editing: Using words and sentences effectively.
3. Style: Word choice matters! Developing your own “voice” gives the reader a sense of your commitment to your ideas. That makes for strong engagement.