Do you think that you can write in general? After reading Elizabeth Wardle’s “You Can Learn to Write in General,” and diving in a little deeper it seems as if you can not write in general. On first thought, one would think that, sure, as long as one knows how to write and form sentences, they can write in general; but one can’t. There are different elements to different types of writing, for example, poetry and a blog post are two very different types of writing with different purposes, audiences, and structures. In order to be able to write different forms of writing, one needs to be open and aware that different writing requires different skills. Metacognition, thinking about ones thinking, is very important when it comes to learning to write. Students and all other writers for that matter need to look for examples and use context to write the piece one is writing. Practice and cognitive awareness is a way of learning to write different kinds of writing.
Almost right off the bat, Wardle makes her message clear in her piece, saying, “The idea that we can all learn to “write in general” is not just a harmless myth. It’s a dangerous idea that needs to die because it hurts students and frustrates teachers and employers. And writers who believe it are easily discouraged because they don’t know how to learn what they need to learn in new writing situations (Wardle 31).” Students and teachers need to be aware of the possibility of being able to write in new situations with the help of outside sources and previous writing knowledge and skills. Students should be aware that writers are always going to be using prior knowledge to get to know the way around writing in other contexts and types of texts (Elon). Wardle later talks about being able to use transfer to help one write in all situations without needing any kind of “magic formula” (Wardle 32), which was previously brought up by an article in the Elon University’s Journal discussing writing transfer, “the phenomenon in which new and unfamiliar writing tasks are approached through the application, remixing or integration of previous knowledge, skills, strategies, and dispositions (Elon 4).”
Metacognition and thinking about one’s thinking is another important thing to pay attention to when learning how to write. One needs to make sure they are thinking about the writing processes taking place and retaining it for later use in new and unfamiliar writing situations. In a special-issue in the journal Composition Forum, an article by Irene Clark and others discusses genre awareness, the metacognitive side of writing for both teachers and students. “Genre awareness is the idea being that a metacognitive understanding of genre can help students make connections between the type of writing assigned in the Composition course—that is, academic argument— and the writing genres they encounter in other disciplines (Clark 65).” When one can have genre awareness, they are not only learning how to write in that particular genre; they are also learning how all of the elements in a text are influenced by the purpose of the text and in turn the type of text being used. This whole article was focused on students and how teachers can help their students reach the possibility of being able to write a wide range of types of text after their first year in college. But the article argues that genre awareness is larger than just that and that, “the concept of genre awareness can not only benefit students in first year writing classes but also students in all disciplines (Clark 69).” All students, or anyone for that matter, can be benefited from genre awareness because people are always going to be writing one thing or another, whether it be emails, blog posts, or social media posts. A study was done in which a freshman class was structured based around specific genres and built around each other, with metacognition constantly being focused on through discussion and self-evaluation. At the end of the school year, students were given surveys to evaluate their understanding of different genres. “Responses to surveys distributed to students at the end of the semester indicate that they all found their understanding of genre useful for approaching writing tasks in other disciplines and that this understanding made them less anxious about writing in general (Clark 69).” The article has many different examples of classes who used this method, and all had similar results; metacognition and genre awareness is useful in the approach of and writing of different types of texts. Even the Elon University’s Journal agrees that metacognition is important in learning, especially the writing process, saying, “Explicitly modeling transfer-focused thinking and the application of metacognitive awareness as a conscious and explicit part of a process of learning. (Elon 5)”
Wardle ended her piece in the perfect way. She said “There is no writing inoculation because there is no such thing as writing in general. But this isn’t bad news. Rather, it gives all writers permission to keep learning, to fail, and to engage in new kinds of writing in new situations (Wardle).” Everyone needs to understand and accept that you can not write in general, that it takes practice and attention. You can’t write in general, but you can learn to write a wider range of texts. Next time you are writing anything, think about what you’re doing and how that could change if it were a different type of text with a different purpose.
Bibliography
Image 1: Writing Cooperative
Image 2: Pinterest
Clark, Irene L., and Andrea Hernandez. “Genre Awareness, Academic Argument, and Transferability.” The WAC Journal 22 (2011). Web. 15 April 2019.
Elon Statement on Writing Transfer. 29 July 2013. Web. Date of Access. < http://www.elon.edu/ e-web/academics/teaching/ers/writing_transfer/statement.xhtml>.