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What is a thesis | A Complete Guide with Examples

Table of Contents

A thesis is a comprehensive academic paper based on your original research that presents new findings, arguments, and ideas of your study. It’s typically submitted at the end of your master’s degree or as a capstone of your bachelor’s degree.

However, writing a thesis can be laborious, especially for beginners. From the initial challenge of pinpointing a compelling research topic to organizing and presenting findings, the process is filled with potential pitfalls.

Therefore, to help you, this guide talks about what is a thesis. Additionally, it offers revelations and methodologies to transform it from an overwhelming task to a manageable and rewarding academic milestone.

What is a thesis?

A thesis is an in-depth research study that identifies a particular topic of inquiry and presents a clear argument or perspective about that topic using evidence and logic.

Writing a thesis showcases your ability of critical thinking, gathering evidence, and making a compelling argument. Integral to these competencies is thorough research, which not only fortifies your propositions but also confers credibility to your entire study.

Furthermore, there's another phenomenon you might often confuse with the thesis: the ' working thesis .' However, they aren't similar and shouldn't be used interchangeably.

A working thesis, often referred to as a preliminary or tentative thesis, is an initial version of your thesis statement. It serves as a draft or a starting point that guides your research in its early stages.

As you research more and gather more evidence, your initial thesis (aka working thesis) might change. It's like a starting point that can be adjusted as you learn more. It's normal for your main topic to change a few times before you finalize it.

While a thesis identifies and provides an overarching argument, the key to clearly communicating the central point of that argument lies in writing a strong thesis statement.

What is a thesis statement?

A strong thesis statement (aka thesis sentence) is a concise summary of the main argument or claim of the paper. It serves as a critical anchor in any academic work, succinctly encapsulating the primary argument or main idea of the entire paper.

Typically found within the introductory section, a strong thesis statement acts as a roadmap of your thesis, directing readers through your arguments and findings. By delineating the core focus of your investigation, it offers readers an immediate understanding of the context and the gravity of your study.

Furthermore, an effectively crafted thesis statement can set forth the boundaries of your research, helping readers anticipate the specific areas of inquiry you are addressing.

Different types of thesis statements

A good thesis statement is clear, specific, and arguable. Therefore, it is necessary for you to choose the right type of thesis statement for your academic papers.

Thesis statements can be classified based on their purpose and structure. Here are the primary types of thesis statements:

Argumentative (or Persuasive) thesis statement

Purpose : To convince the reader of a particular stance or point of view by presenting evidence and formulating a compelling argument.

Example : Reducing plastic use in daily life is essential for environmental health.

Analytical thesis statement

Purpose : To break down an idea or issue into its components and evaluate it.

Example : By examining the long-term effects, social implications, and economic impact of climate change, it becomes evident that immediate global action is necessary.

Expository (or Descriptive) thesis statement

Purpose : To explain a topic or subject to the reader.

Example : The Great Depression, spanning the 1930s, was a severe worldwide economic downturn triggered by a stock market crash, bank failures, and reduced consumer spending.

Cause and effect thesis statement

Purpose : To demonstrate a cause and its resulting effect.

Example : Overuse of smartphones can lead to impaired sleep patterns, reduced face-to-face social interactions, and increased levels of anxiety.

Compare and contrast thesis statement

Purpose : To highlight similarities and differences between two subjects.

Example : "While both novels '1984' and 'Brave New World' delve into dystopian futures, they differ in their portrayal of individual freedom, societal control, and the role of technology."

When you write a thesis statement , it's important to ensure clarity and precision, so the reader immediately understands the central focus of your work.

What is the difference between a thesis and a thesis statement?

While both terms are frequently used interchangeably, they have distinct meanings.

A thesis refers to the entire research document, encompassing all its chapters and sections. In contrast, a thesis statement is a brief assertion that encapsulates the central argument of the research.

Here’s an in-depth differentiation table of a thesis and a thesis statement.

Now, to craft a compelling thesis, it's crucial to adhere to a specific structure. Let’s break down these essential components that make up a thesis structure

15 components of a thesis structure

Navigating a thesis can be daunting. However, understanding its structure can make the process more manageable.

Here are the key components or different sections of a thesis structure:

Your thesis begins with the title page. It's not just a formality but the gateway to your research.

Here, you'll prominently display the necessary information about you (the author) and your institutional details.

• Title of your thesis
• Your full name
• Your department
• Your institution and degree program
• Your submission date
• Your Supervisor's name (in some cases)
• Your Department or faculty (in some cases)
• Your University's logo (in some cases)
• Your Student ID (in some cases)

In a concise manner, you'll have to summarize the critical aspects of your research in typically no more than 200-300 words.

This includes the problem statement, methodology, key findings, and conclusions. For many, the abstract will determine if they delve deeper into your work, so ensure it's clear and compelling.

Acknowledgments

Research is rarely a solitary endeavor. In the acknowledgments section, you have the chance to express gratitude to those who've supported your journey.

This might include advisors, peers, institutions, or even personal sources of inspiration and support. It's a personal touch, reflecting the humanity behind the academic rigor.

Table of contents

A roadmap for your readers, the table of contents lists the chapters, sections, and subsections of your thesis.

By providing page numbers, you allow readers to navigate your work easily, jumping to sections that pique their interest.

List of figures and tables

Research often involves data, and presenting this data visually can enhance understanding. This section provides an organized listing of all figures and tables in your thesis.

It's a visual index, ensuring that readers can quickly locate and reference your graphical data.

Introduction

Here's where you introduce your research topic, articulate the research question or objective, and outline the significance of your study.

• Present the research topic : Clearly articulate the central theme or subject of your research.
• Background information : Ground your research topic, providing any necessary context or background information your readers might need to understand the significance of your study.
• Define the scope : Clearly delineate the boundaries of your research, indicating what will and won't be covered.
• Literature review : Introduce any relevant existing research on your topic, situating your work within the broader academic conversation and highlighting where your research fits in.
• State the research Question(s) or objective(s) : Clearly articulate the primary questions or objectives your research aims to address.
• Outline the study's structure : Give a brief overview of how the subsequent sections of your work will unfold, guiding your readers through the journey ahead.

The introduction should captivate your readers, making them eager to delve deeper into your research journey.

Literature review section

Your study correlates with existing research. Therefore, in the literature review section, you'll engage in a dialogue with existing knowledge, highlighting relevant studies, theories, and findings.

It's here that you identify gaps in the current knowledge, positioning your research as a bridge to new insights.

To streamline this process, consider leveraging AI tools. For example, the SciSpace literature review tool enables you to efficiently explore and delve into research papers, simplifying your literature review journey.

Methodology

In the research methodology section, you’ll detail the tools, techniques, and processes you employed to gather and analyze data. This section will inform the readers about how you approached your research questions and ensures the reproducibility of your study.

Here's a breakdown of what it should encompass:

• Research Design : Describe the overall structure and approach of your research. Are you conducting a qualitative study with in-depth interviews? Or is it a quantitative study using statistical analysis? Perhaps it's a mixed-methods approach?
• Data Collection : Detail the methods you used to gather data. This could include surveys, experiments, observations, interviews, archival research, etc. Mention where you sourced your data, the duration of data collection, and any tools or instruments used.
• Sampling : If applicable, explain how you selected participants or data sources for your study. Discuss the size of your sample and the rationale behind choosing it.
• Data Analysis : Describe the techniques and tools you used to process and analyze the data. This could range from statistical tests in quantitative research to thematic analysis in qualitative research.
• Validity and Reliability : Address the steps you took to ensure the validity and reliability of your findings to ensure that your results are both accurate and consistent.
• Ethical Considerations : Highlight any ethical issues related to your research and the measures you took to address them, including — informed consent, confidentiality, and data storage and protection measures.

Moreover, different research questions necessitate different types of methodologies. For instance:

• Experimental methodology : Often used in sciences, this involves a controlled experiment to discern causality.
• Qualitative methodology : Employed when exploring patterns or phenomena without numerical data. Methods can include interviews, focus groups, or content analysis.
• Quantitative methodology : Concerned with measurable data and often involves statistical analysis. Surveys and structured observations are common tools here.
• Mixed methods : As the name implies, this combines both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.

The Methodology section isn’t just about detailing the methods but also justifying why they were chosen. The appropriateness of the methods in addressing your research question can significantly impact the credibility of your findings.

Results (or Findings)

This section presents the outcomes of your research. It's crucial to note that the nature of your results may vary; they could be quantitative, qualitative, or a mix of both.

Quantitative results often present statistical data, showcasing measurable outcomes, and they benefit from tables, graphs, and figures to depict these data points.

Qualitative results , on the other hand, might delve into patterns, themes, or narratives derived from non-numerical data, such as interviews or observations.

Regardless of the nature of your results, clarity is essential. This section is purely about presenting the data without offering interpretations — that comes later in the discussion.

In the discussion section, the raw data transforms into valuable insights.

Start by revisiting your research question and contrast it with the findings. How do your results expand, constrict, or challenge current academic conversations?

Dive into the intricacies of the data, guiding the reader through its implications. Detail potential limitations transparently, signaling your awareness of the research's boundaries. This is where your academic voice should be resonant and confident.

Practical implications (Recommendation) section

Based on the insights derived from your research, this section provides actionable suggestions or proposed solutions.

Whether aimed at industry professionals or the general public, recommendations translate your academic findings into potential real-world actions. They help readers understand the practical implications of your work and how it can be applied to effect change or improvement in a given field.

When crafting recommendations, it's essential to ensure they're feasible and rooted in the evidence provided by your research. They shouldn't merely be aspirational but should offer a clear path forward, grounded in your findings.

The conclusion provides closure to your research narrative.

It's not merely a recap but a synthesis of your main findings and their broader implications. Reconnect with the research questions or hypotheses posited at the beginning, offering clear answers based on your findings.

Reflect on the broader contributions of your study, considering its impact on the academic community and potential real-world applications.

Lastly, the conclusion should leave your readers with a clear understanding of the value and impact of your study.

References (or Bibliography)

Every theory you've expounded upon, every data point you've cited, and every methodological precedent you've followed finds its acknowledgment here.

In references, it's crucial to ensure meticulous consistency in formatting, mirroring the specific guidelines of the chosen citation style .

Proper referencing helps to avoid plagiarism , gives credit to original ideas, and allows readers to explore topics of interest. Moreover, it situates your work within the continuum of academic knowledge.

To properly cite the sources used in the study, you can rely on online citation generator tools  to generate accurate citations!

Here’s more on how you can cite your sources.

Often, the depth of research produces a wealth of material that, while crucial, can make the core content of the thesis cumbersome. The appendix is where you mention extra information that supports your research but isn't central to the main text.

Whether it's raw datasets, detailed procedural methodologies, extended case studies, or any other ancillary material, the appendices ensure that these elements are archived for reference without breaking the main narrative's flow.

For thorough researchers and readers keen on meticulous details, the appendices provide a treasure trove of insights.

Glossary (optional)

In academics, specialized terminologies, and jargon are inevitable. However, not every reader is versed in every term.

The glossary, while optional, is a critical tool for accessibility. It's a bridge ensuring that even readers from outside the discipline can access, understand, and appreciate your work.

By defining complex terms and providing context, you're inviting a wider audience to engage with your research, enhancing its reach and impact.

Remember, while these components provide a structured framework, the essence of your thesis lies in the originality of your ideas, the rigor of your research, and the clarity of your presentation.

As you craft each section, keep your readers in mind, ensuring that your passion and dedication shine through every page.

Thesis examples

To further elucidate the concept of a thesis, here are illustrative examples from various fields:

Example 1 (History): Abolition, Africans, and Abstraction: the Influence of the ‘Noble Savage’ on British and French Antislavery Thought, 1787-1807 by Suchait Kahlon.

Example 2 (Climate Dynamics): Influence of external forcings on abrupt millennial-scale climate changes: a statistical modelling study by Takahito Mitsui · Michel Crucifix

Checklist for your thesis evaluation

Evaluating your thesis ensures that your research meets the standards of academia. Here's an elaborate checklist to guide you through this critical process.

Content and structure

• Is the thesis statement clear, concise, and debatable?
• Does the introduction provide sufficient background and context?
• Is the literature review comprehensive, relevant, and well-organized?
• Does the methodology section clearly describe and justify the research methods?
• Are the results/findings presented clearly and logically?
• Does the discussion interpret the results in light of the research question and existing literature?
• Is the conclusion summarizing the research and suggesting future directions or implications?

Clarity and coherence

• Is the writing clear and free of jargon?
• Are ideas and sections logically connected and flowing?
• Is there a clear narrative or argument throughout the thesis?

Research quality

• Is the research question significant and relevant?
• Are the research methods appropriate for the question?
• Is the sample size (if applicable) adequate?
• Are the data analysis techniques appropriate and correctly applied?
• Are potential biases or limitations addressed?

Originality and significance

• Does the thesis contribute new knowledge or insights to the field?
• Is the research grounded in existing literature while offering fresh perspectives?

Formatting and presentation

• Is the thesis formatted according to institutional guidelines?
• Are figures, tables, and charts clear, labeled, and referenced in the text?
• Is the bibliography or reference list complete and consistently formatted?
• Are appendices relevant and appropriately referenced in the main text?

Grammar and language

• Is the thesis free of grammatical and spelling errors?
• Is the language professional, consistent, and appropriate for an academic audience?
• Are quotations and paraphrased material correctly cited?

Feedback and revision

• Have you sought feedback from peers, advisors, or experts in the field?
• Have you addressed the feedback and made the necessary revisions?

Overall assessment

• Does the thesis as a whole feel cohesive and comprehensive?
• Would the thesis be understandable and valuable to someone in your field?

Ensure to use this checklist to leave no ground for doubt or missed information in your thesis.

After writing your thesis, the next step is to discuss and defend your findings verbally in front of a knowledgeable panel. You’ve to be well prepared as your professors may grade your presentation abilities.

Preparing your thesis defense

A thesis defense, also known as "defending the thesis," is the culmination of a scholar's research journey. It's the final frontier, where you’ll present their findings and face scrutiny from a panel of experts.

Typically, the defense involves a public presentation where you’ll have to outline your study, followed by a question-and-answer session with a committee of experts. This committee assesses the validity, originality, and significance of the research.

The defense serves as a rite of passage for scholars. It's an opportunity to showcase expertise, address criticisms, and refine arguments. A successful defense not only validates the research but also establishes your authority as a researcher in your field.

Here’s how you can effectively prepare for your thesis defense .

Now, having touched upon the process of defending a thesis, it's worth noting that scholarly work can take various forms, depending on academic and regional practices.

One such form, often paralleled with the thesis, is the 'dissertation.' But what differentiates the two?

Dissertation vs. Thesis

Often used interchangeably in casual discourse, they refer to distinct research projects undertaken at different levels of higher education.

To the uninitiated, understanding their meaning might be elusive. So, let's demystify these terms and delve into their core differences.

Here's a table differentiating between the two.

Wrapping up

From understanding the foundational concept of a thesis to navigating its various components, differentiating it from a dissertation, and recognizing the importance of proper citation — this guide covers it all.

As scholars and readers, understanding these nuances not only aids in academic pursuits but also fosters a deeper appreciation for the relentless quest for knowledge that drives academia.

It’s important to remember that every thesis is a testament to curiosity, dedication, and the indomitable spirit of discovery.

Good luck with your thesis writing!

Frequently Asked Questions

A thesis typically ranges between 40-80 pages, but its length can vary based on the research topic, institution guidelines, and level of study.

A PhD thesis usually spans 200-300 pages, though this can vary based on the discipline, complexity of the research, and institutional requirements.

To identify a thesis topic, consider current trends in your field, gaps in existing literature, personal interests, and discussions with advisors or mentors. Additionally, reviewing related journals and conference proceedings can provide insights into potential areas of exploration.

The conceptual framework is often situated in the literature review or theoretical framework section of a thesis. It helps set the stage by providing the context, defining key concepts, and explaining the relationships between variables.

A thesis statement should be concise, clear, and specific. It should state the main argument or point of your research. Start by pinpointing the central question or issue your research addresses, then condense that into a single statement, ensuring it reflects the essence of your paper.

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Thesis Statements

What this handout is about.

This handout describes what a thesis statement is, how thesis statements work in your writing, and how you can craft or refine one for your draft.

Introduction

Writing in college often takes the form of persuasion—convincing others that you have an interesting, logical point of view on the subject you are studying. Persuasion is a skill you practice regularly in your daily life. You persuade your roommate to clean up, your parents to let you borrow the car, your friend to vote for your favorite candidate or policy. In college, course assignments often ask you to make a persuasive case in writing. You are asked to convince your reader of your point of view. This form of persuasion, often called academic argument, follows a predictable pattern in writing. After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. This sentence is the thesis statement, and it serves as a summary of the argument you’ll make in the rest of your paper.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement:

• tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
• is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
• directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.
• makes a claim that others might dispute.
• is usually a single sentence near the beginning of your paper (most often, at the end of the first paragraph) that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

If your assignment asks you to take a position or develop a claim about a subject, you may need to convey that position or claim in a thesis statement near the beginning of your draft. The assignment may not explicitly state that you need a thesis statement because your instructor may assume you will include one. When in doubt, ask your instructor if the assignment requires a thesis statement. When an assignment asks you to analyze, to interpret, to compare and contrast, to demonstrate cause and effect, or to take a stand on an issue, it is likely that you are being asked to develop a thesis and to support it persuasively. (Check out our handout on understanding assignments for more information.)

How do I create a thesis?

A thesis is the result of a lengthy thinking process. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment. Before you develop an argument on any topic, you have to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts (such as surprising contrasts or similarities), and think about the significance of these relationships. Once you do this thinking, you will probably have a “working thesis” that presents a basic or main idea and an argument that you think you can support with evidence. Both the argument and your thesis are likely to need adjustment along the way.

Writers use all kinds of techniques to stimulate their thinking and to help them clarify relationships or comprehend the broader significance of a topic and arrive at a thesis statement. For more ideas on how to get started, see our handout on brainstorming .

How do I know if my thesis is strong?

If there’s time, run it by your instructor or make an appointment at the Writing Center to get some feedback. Even if you do not have time to get advice elsewhere, you can do some thesis evaluation of your own. When reviewing your first draft and its working thesis, ask yourself the following :

• Do I answer the question? Re-reading the question prompt after constructing a working thesis can help you fix an argument that misses the focus of the question. If the prompt isn’t phrased as a question, try to rephrase it. For example, “Discuss the effect of X on Y” can be rephrased as “What is the effect of X on Y?”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? If your thesis simply states facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it’s possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. If your thesis contains words like “good” or “successful,” see if you could be more specific: why is something “good”; what specifically makes something “successful”?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? If a reader’s first response is likely to  be “So what?” then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue.
• Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your thesis and the body of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to change. It’s okay to change your working thesis to reflect things you have figured out in the course of writing your paper. Remember, always reassess and revise your writing as necessary.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? If a reader’s first response is “how?” or “why?” your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the reader. See what you can add to give the reader a better take on your position right from the beginning.

Suppose you are taking a course on contemporary communication, and the instructor hands out the following essay assignment: “Discuss the impact of social media on public awareness.” Looking back at your notes, you might start with this working thesis:

Social media impacts public awareness in both positive and negative ways.

You can use the questions above to help you revise this general statement into a stronger thesis.

• Do I answer the question? You can analyze this if you rephrase “discuss the impact” as “what is the impact?” This way, you can see that you’ve answered the question only very generally with the vague “positive and negative ways.”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not likely. Only people who maintain that social media has a solely positive or solely negative impact could disagree.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? No. What are the positive effects? What are the negative effects?
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? No. Why are they positive? How are they positive? What are their causes? Why are they negative? How are they negative? What are their causes?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? No. Why should anyone care about the positive and/or negative impact of social media?

After thinking about your answers to these questions, you decide to focus on the one impact you feel strongly about and have strong evidence for:

Because not every voice on social media is reliable, people have become much more critical consumers of information, and thus, more informed voters.

This version is a much stronger thesis! It answers the question, takes a specific position that others can challenge, and it gives a sense of why it matters.

Let’s try another. Suppose your literature professor hands out the following assignment in a class on the American novel: Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn. “This will be easy,” you think. “I loved Huckleberry Finn!” You grab a pad of paper and write:

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.

You begin to analyze your thesis:

• Do I answer the question? No. The prompt asks you to analyze some aspect of the novel. Your working thesis is a statement of general appreciation for the entire novel.

Think about aspects of the novel that are important to its structure or meaning—for example, the role of storytelling, the contrasting scenes between the shore and the river, or the relationships between adults and children. Now you write:

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.

• Do I answer the question? Yes!
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not really. This contrast is well-known and accepted.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? It’s getting there–you have highlighted an important aspect of the novel for investigation. However, it’s still not clear what your analysis will reveal.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? Not yet. Compare scenes from the book and see what you discover. Free write, make lists, jot down Huck’s actions and reactions and anything else that seems interesting.
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? What’s the point of this contrast? What does it signify?”

After examining the evidence and considering your own insights, you write:

Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave “civilized” society and go back to nature.

This final thesis statement presents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis of its content. Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidence from the novel that will convince the reader of your interpretation.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. 2018. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing , 8th ed. New York: Pearson.

Ruszkiewicz, John J., Christy Friend, Daniel Seward, and Maxine Hairston. 2010. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers , 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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How to Write a Strong Thesis Statement: 4 Steps + Examples

What’s Covered:

What is the purpose of a thesis statement, writing a good thesis statement: 4 steps, common pitfalls to avoid, where to get your essay edited for free.

When you set out to write an essay, there has to be some kind of point to it, right? Otherwise, your essay would just be a big jumble of word salad that makes absolutely no sense. An essay needs a central point that ties into everything else. That main point is called a thesis statement, and it’s the core of any essay or research paper.

You may hear about Master degree candidates writing a thesis, and that is an entire paper–not to be confused with the thesis statement, which is typically one sentence that contains your paper’s focus. 

Read on to learn more about thesis statements and how to write them. We’ve also included some solid examples for you to reference.

Typically the last sentence of your introductory paragraph, the thesis statement serves as the roadmap for your essay. When your reader gets to the thesis statement, they should have a clear outline of your main point, as well as the information you’ll be presenting in order to either prove or support your point. 

The thesis statement should not be confused for a topic sentence , which is the first sentence of every paragraph in your essay. If you need help writing topic sentences, numerous resources are available. Topic sentences should go along with your thesis statement, though.

Since the thesis statement is the most important sentence of your entire essay or paper, it’s imperative that you get this part right. Otherwise, your paper will not have a good flow and will seem disjointed. That’s why it’s vital not to rush through developing one. It’s a methodical process with steps that you need to follow in order to create the best thesis statement possible.

Step 1: Decide what kind of paper you’re writing

When you’re assigned an essay, there are several different types you may get. Argumentative essays are designed to get the reader to agree with you on a topic. Informative or expository essays present information to the reader. Analytical essays offer up a point and then expand on it by analyzing relevant information. Thesis statements can look and sound different based on the type of paper you’re writing. For example:

• Argumentative: The United States needs a viable third political party to decrease bipartisanship, increase options, and help reduce corruption in government.
• Informative: The Libertarian party has thrown off elections before by gaining enough support in states to get on the ballot and by taking away crucial votes from candidates.
• Analytical: An analysis of past presidential elections shows that while third party votes may have been the minority, they did affect the outcome of the elections in 2020, 2016, and beyond.

Step 2: Figure out what point you want to make

Once you know what type of paper you’re writing, you then need to figure out the point you want to make with your thesis statement, and subsequently, your paper. In other words, you need to decide to answer a question about something, such as:

• What impact did reality TV have on American society?
• How has the musical Hamilton affected perception of American history?
• Why do I want to major in [chosen major here]?

If you have an argumentative essay, then you will be writing about an opinion. To make it easier, you may want to choose an opinion that you feel passionate about so that you’re writing about something that interests you. For example, if you have an interest in preserving the environment, you may want to choose a topic that relates to that. 

If you’re writing your college essay and they ask why you want to attend that school, you may want to have a main point and back it up with information, something along the lines of:

“Attending Harvard University would benefit me both academically and professionally, as it would give me a strong knowledge base upon which to build my career, develop my network, and hopefully give me an advantage in my chosen field.”

Step 3: Determine what information you’ll use to back up your point

Once you have the point you want to make, you need to figure out how you plan to back it up throughout the rest of your essay. Without this information, it will be hard to either prove or argue the main point of your thesis statement. If you decide to write about the Hamilton example, you may decide to address any falsehoods that the writer put into the musical, such as:

“The musical Hamilton, while accurate in many ways, leaves out key parts of American history, presents a nationalist view of founding fathers, and downplays the racism of the times.”

Once you’ve written your initial working thesis statement, you’ll then need to get information to back that up. For example, the musical completely leaves out Benjamin Franklin, portrays the founding fathers in a nationalist way that is too complimentary, and shows Hamilton as a staunch abolitionist despite the fact that his family likely did own slaves. 

Step 4: Revise and refine your thesis statement before you start writing

Read through your thesis statement several times before you begin to compose your full essay. You need to make sure the statement is ironclad, since it is the foundation of the entire paper. Edit it or have a peer review it for you to make sure everything makes sense and that you feel like you can truly write a paper on the topic. Once you’ve done that, you can then begin writing your paper.

When writing a thesis statement, there are some common pitfalls you should avoid so that your paper can be as solid as possible. Make sure you always edit the thesis statement before you do anything else. You also want to ensure that the thesis statement is clear and concise. Don’t make your reader hunt for your point. Finally, put your thesis statement at the end of the first paragraph and have your introduction flow toward that statement. Your reader will expect to find your statement in its traditional spot.

If you’re having trouble getting started, or need some guidance on your essay, there are tools available that can help you. CollegeVine offers a free peer essay review tool where one of your peers can read through your essay and provide you with valuable feedback. Getting essay feedback from a peer can help you wow your instructor or college admissions officer with an impactful essay that effectively illustrates your point.

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Developing a Thesis Statement

Many papers you write require developing a thesis statement. In this section you’ll learn what a thesis statement is and how to write one.

Keep in mind that not all papers require thesis statements . If in doubt, please consult your instructor for assistance.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement . . .

• Makes an argumentative assertion about a topic; it states the conclusions that you have reached about your topic.
• Makes a promise to the reader about the scope, purpose, and direction of your paper.
• Is focused and specific enough to be “proven” within the boundaries of your paper.
• Is generally located near the end of the introduction ; sometimes, in a long paper, the thesis will be expressed in several sentences or in an entire paragraph.
• Identifies the relationships between the pieces of evidence that you are using to support your argument.

Not all papers require thesis statements! Ask your instructor if you’re in doubt whether you need one.

Identify a topic

Your topic is the subject about which you will write. Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic; or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper.

Consider what your assignment asks you to do

Inform yourself about your topic, focus on one aspect of your topic, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts, generate a topic from an assignment.

Below are some possible topics based on sample assignments.

Sample assignment 1

Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II.

Identified topic

Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis

This topic avoids generalities such as “Spain” and “World War II,” addressing instead on Franco’s role (a specific aspect of “Spain”) and the diplomatic relations between the Allies and Axis (a specific aspect of World War II).

Sample assignment 2

Analyze one of Homer’s epic similes in the Iliad.

The relationship between the portrayal of warfare and the epic simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64.

This topic focuses on a single simile and relates it to a single aspect of the Iliad ( warfare being a major theme in that work).

Developing a Thesis Statement–Additional information

Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic, or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper. You’ll want to read your assignment carefully, looking for key terms that you can use to focus your topic.

Sample assignment: Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II Key terms: analyze, Spain’s neutrality, World War II

After you’ve identified the key words in your topic, the next step is to read about them in several sources, or generate as much information as possible through an analysis of your topic. Obviously, the more material or knowledge you have, the more possibilities will be available for a strong argument. For the sample assignment above, you’ll want to look at books and articles on World War II in general, and Spain’s neutrality in particular.

As you consider your options, you must decide to focus on one aspect of your topic. This means that you cannot include everything you’ve learned about your topic, nor should you go off in several directions. If you end up covering too many different aspects of a topic, your paper will sprawl and be unconvincing in its argument, and it most likely will not fulfull the assignment requirements.

For the sample assignment above, both Spain’s neutrality and World War II are topics far too broad to explore in a paper. You may instead decide to focus on Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis , which narrows down what aspects of Spain’s neutrality and World War II you want to discuss, as well as establishes a specific link between those two aspects.

Before you go too far, however, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts. Try to avoid topics that already have too much written about them (i.e., “eating disorders and body image among adolescent women”) or that simply are not important (i.e. “why I like ice cream”). These topics may lead to a thesis that is either dry fact or a weird claim that cannot be supported. A good thesis falls somewhere between the two extremes. To arrive at this point, ask yourself what is new, interesting, contestable, or controversial about your topic.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times . Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Derive a main point from topic

Once you have a topic, you will have to decide what the main point of your paper will be. This point, the “controlling idea,” becomes the core of your argument (thesis statement) and it is the unifying idea to which you will relate all your sub-theses. You can then turn this “controlling idea” into a purpose statement about what you intend to do in your paper.

Look for patterns in your evidence

Compose a purpose statement.

Consult the examples below for suggestions on how to look for patterns in your evidence and construct a purpose statement.

• Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis
• Franco turned to the Allies when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from the Axis

Possible conclusion:

Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: Franco’s desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power.

Purpose statement

This paper will analyze Franco’s diplomacy during World War II to see how it contributed to Spain’s neutrality.

• The simile compares Simoisius to a tree, which is a peaceful, natural image.
• The tree in the simile is chopped down to make wheels for a chariot, which is an object used in warfare.

At first, the simile seems to take the reader away from the world of warfare, but we end up back in that world by the end.

This paper will analyze the way the simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64 moves in and out of the world of warfare.

Derive purpose statement from topic

To find out what your “controlling idea” is, you have to examine and evaluate your evidence . As you consider your evidence, you may notice patterns emerging, data repeated in more than one source, or facts that favor one view more than another. These patterns or data may then lead you to some conclusions about your topic and suggest that you can successfully argue for one idea better than another.

For instance, you might find out that Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis, but when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from them, he turned to the Allies. As you read more about Franco’s decisions, you may conclude that Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: his desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power. Based on this conclusion, you can then write a trial thesis statement to help you decide what material belongs in your paper.

Sometimes you won’t be able to find a focus or identify your “spin” or specific argument immediately. Like some writers, you might begin with a purpose statement just to get yourself going. A purpose statement is one or more sentences that announce your topic and indicate the structure of the paper but do not state the conclusions you have drawn . Thus, you might begin with something like this:

• This paper will look at modern language to see if it reflects male dominance or female oppression.
• I plan to analyze anger and derision in offensive language to see if they represent a challenge of society’s authority.

At some point, you can turn a purpose statement into a thesis statement. As you think and write about your topic, you can restrict, clarify, and refine your argument, crafting your thesis statement to reflect your thinking.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Compose a draft thesis statement

If you are writing a paper that will have an argumentative thesis and are having trouble getting started, the techniques in the table below may help you develop a temporary or “working” thesis statement.

Begin with a purpose statement that you will later turn into a thesis statement.

Assignment: Discuss the history of the Reform Party and explain its influence on the 1990 presidential and Congressional election.

Purpose Statement: This paper briefly sketches the history of the grassroots, conservative, Perot-led Reform Party and analyzes how it influenced the economic and social ideologies of the two mainstream parties.

Question-to-Assertion

If your assignment asks a specific question(s), turn the question(s) into an assertion and give reasons why it is true or reasons for your opinion.

Assignment : What do Aylmer and Rappaccini have to be proud of? Why aren’t they satisfied with these things? How does pride, as demonstrated in “The Birthmark” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” lead to unexpected problems?

Beginning thesis statement: Alymer and Rappaccinni are proud of their great knowledge; however, they are also very greedy and are driven to use their knowledge to alter some aspect of nature as a test of their ability. Evil results when they try to “play God.”

Write a sentence that summarizes the main idea of the essay you plan to write.

Main idea: The reason some toys succeed in the market is that they appeal to the consumers’ sense of the ridiculous and their basic desire to laugh at themselves.

Make a list of the ideas that you want to include; consider the ideas and try to group them.

• nature = peaceful
• war matériel = violent (competes with 1?)
• need for time and space to mourn the dead
• war is inescapable (competes with 3?)

Use a formula to arrive at a working thesis statement (you will revise this later).

• although most readers of _______ have argued that _______, closer examination shows that _______.
• _______ uses _______ and _____ to prove that ________.
• phenomenon x is a result of the combination of __________, __________, and _________.

What to keep in mind as you draft an initial thesis statement

Beginning statements obtained through the methods illustrated above can serve as a framework for planning or drafting your paper, but remember they’re not yet the specific, argumentative thesis you want for the final version of your paper. In fact, in its first stages, a thesis statement usually is ill-formed or rough and serves only as a planning tool.

As you write, you may discover evidence that does not fit your temporary or “working” thesis. Or you may reach deeper insights about your topic as you do more research, and you will find that your thesis statement has to be more complicated to match the evidence that you want to use.

You must be willing to reject or omit some evidence in order to keep your paper cohesive and your reader focused. Or you may have to revise your thesis to match the evidence and insights that you want to discuss. Read your draft carefully, noting the conclusions you have drawn and the major ideas which support or prove those conclusions. These will be the elements of your final thesis statement.

Sometimes you will not be able to identify these elements in your early drafts, but as you consider how your argument is developing and how your evidence supports your main idea, ask yourself, “ What is the main point that I want to prove/discuss? ” and “ How will I convince the reader that this is true? ” When you can answer these questions, then you can begin to refine the thesis statement.

Refine and polish the thesis statement

To get to your final thesis, you’ll need to refine your draft thesis so that it’s specific and arguable.

• Ask if your draft thesis addresses the assignment
• Question each part of your draft thesis
• Clarify vague phrases and assertions
• Investigate alternatives to your draft thesis

Consult the example below for suggestions on how to refine your draft thesis statement.

Sample Assignment

Choose an activity and define it as a symbol of American culture. Your essay should cause the reader to think critically about the society which produces and enjoys that activity.

• Ask The phenomenon of drive-in facilities is an interesting symbol of american culture, and these facilities demonstrate significant characteristics of our society.This statement does not fulfill the assignment because it does not require the reader to think critically about society.

Drive-ins are an interesting symbol of American culture because they represent Americans’ significant creativity and business ingenuity.

Among the types of drive-in facilities familiar during the twentieth century, drive-in movie theaters best represent American creativity, not merely because they were the forerunner of later drive-ins and drive-throughs, but because of their impact on our culture: they changed our relationship to the automobile, changed the way people experienced movies, and changed movie-going into a family activity.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast-food establishments, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize America’s economic ingenuity, they also have affected our personal standards.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast- food restaurants, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize (1) Americans’ business ingenuity, they also have contributed (2) to an increasing homogenization of our culture, (3) a willingness to depersonalize relationships with others, and (4) a tendency to sacrifice quality for convenience.

This statement is now specific and fulfills all parts of the assignment. This version, like any good thesis, is not self-evident; its points, 1-4, will have to be proven with evidence in the body of the paper. The numbers in this statement indicate the order in which the points will be presented. Depending on the length of the paper, there could be one paragraph for each numbered item or there could be blocks of paragraph for even pages for each one.

Complete the final thesis statement

The bottom line.

As you move through the process of crafting a thesis, you’ll need to remember four things:

• Context matters! Think about your course materials and lectures. Try to relate your thesis to the ideas your instructor is discussing.
• As you go through the process described in this section, always keep your assignment in mind . You will be more successful when your thesis (and paper) responds to the assignment than if it argues a semi-related idea.
• Your thesis statement should be precise, focused, and contestable ; it should predict the sub-theses or blocks of information that you will use to prove your argument.
• Make sure that you keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Change your thesis as your paper evolves, because you do not want your thesis to promise more than your paper actually delivers.

In the beginning, the thesis statement was a tool to help you sharpen your focus, limit material and establish the paper’s purpose. When your paper is finished, however, the thesis statement becomes a tool for your reader. It tells the reader what you have learned about your topic and what evidence led you to your conclusion. It keeps the reader on track–well able to understand and appreciate your argument.

Writing Process and Structure

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Getting Started with Your Paper

Interpreting Writing Assignments from Your Courses

Generating Ideas for

Creating an Argument

Thesis vs. Purpose Statements

Architecture of Arguments

Working with Sources

Quoting and Paraphrasing Sources

Using Literary Quotations

Citing Sources in Your Paper

Drafting Your Paper

Generating Ideas for Your Paper

Introductions

Paragraphing

Developing Strategic Transitions

Conclusions

Revising Your Paper

Peer Reviews

Reverse Outlines

Revising an Argumentative Paper

Revision Strategies for Longer Projects

Finishing Your Paper

Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist

How to Proofread your Paper

Writing Collaboratively

Collaborative and Group Writing

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How to write a thesis statement, what is a thesis statement.

Almost all of us—even if we don’t do it consciously—look early in an essay for a one- or two-sentence condensation of the argument or analysis that is to follow. We refer to that condensation as a thesis statement.

Why Should Your Essay Contain a Thesis Statement?

• to test your ideas by distilling them into a sentence or two
• to better organize and develop your argument
• to provide your reader with a “guide” to your argument

In general, your thesis statement will accomplish these goals if you think of the thesis as the answer to the question your paper explores.

How Can You Write a Good Thesis Statement?

Here are some helpful hints to get you started. You can either scroll down or select a link to a specific topic.

How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is Assigned How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is not Assigned How to Tell a Strong Thesis Statement from a Weak One

How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is Assigned

Almost all assignments, no matter how complicated, can be reduced to a single question. Your first step, then, is to distill the assignment into a specific question. For example, if your assignment is, “Write a report to the local school board explaining the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class,” turn the request into a question like, “What are the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class?” After you’ve chosen the question your essay will answer, compose one or two complete sentences answering that question.

Q: “What are the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class?” A: “The potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class are . . .”

A: “Using computers in a fourth-grade class promises to improve . . .”

The answer to the question is the thesis statement for the essay.

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How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is not Assigned

Even if your assignment doesn’t ask a specific question, your thesis statement still needs to answer a question about the issue you’d like to explore. In this situation, your job is to figure out what question you’d like to write about.

A good thesis statement will usually include the following four attributes:

• take on a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree
• deal with a subject that can be adequately treated given the nature of the assignment
• express one main idea
• assert your conclusions about a subject

Let’s see how to generate a thesis statement for a social policy paper.

Brainstorm the topic . Let’s say that your class focuses upon the problems posed by changes in the dietary habits of Americans. You find that you are interested in the amount of sugar Americans consume.

You start out with a thesis statement like this:

Sugar consumption.

This fragment isn’t a thesis statement. Instead, it simply indicates a general subject. Furthermore, your reader doesn’t know what you want to say about sugar consumption.

Narrow the topic . Your readings about the topic, however, have led you to the conclusion that elementary school children are consuming far more sugar than is healthy.

You change your thesis to look like this:

Reducing sugar consumption by elementary school children.

This fragment not only announces your subject, but it focuses on one segment of the population: elementary school children. Furthermore, it raises a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree, because while most people might agree that children consume more sugar than they used to, not everyone would agree on what should be done or who should do it. You should note that this fragment is not a thesis statement because your reader doesn’t know your conclusions on the topic.

Take a position on the topic. After reflecting on the topic a little while longer, you decide that what you really want to say about this topic is that something should be done to reduce the amount of sugar these children consume.

You revise your thesis statement to look like this:

More attention should be paid to the food and beverage choices available to elementary school children.

This statement asserts your position, but the terms more attention and food and beverage choices are vague.

Use specific language . You decide to explain what you mean about food and beverage choices , so you write:

Experts estimate that half of elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar.

This statement is specific, but it isn’t a thesis. It merely reports a statistic instead of making an assertion.

Make an assertion based on clearly stated support. You finally revise your thesis statement one more time to look like this:

Because half of all American elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar, schools should be required to replace the beverages in soda machines with healthy alternatives.

Notice how the thesis answers the question, “What should be done to reduce sugar consumption by children, and who should do it?” When you started thinking about the paper, you may not have had a specific question in mind, but as you became more involved in the topic, your ideas became more specific. Your thesis changed to reflect your new insights.

How to Tell a Strong Thesis Statement from a Weak One

1. a strong thesis statement takes some sort of stand..

Remember that your thesis needs to show your conclusions about a subject. For example, if you are writing a paper for a class on fitness, you might be asked to choose a popular weight-loss product to evaluate. Here are two thesis statements:

There are some negative and positive aspects to the Banana Herb Tea Supplement.

This is a weak thesis statement. First, it fails to take a stand. Second, the phrase negative and positive aspects is vague.

Because Banana Herb Tea Supplement promotes rapid weight loss that results in the loss of muscle and lean body mass, it poses a potential danger to customers.

This is a strong thesis because it takes a stand, and because it's specific.

2. A strong thesis statement justifies discussion.

Your thesis should indicate the point of the discussion. If your assignment is to write a paper on kinship systems, using your own family as an example, you might come up with either of these two thesis statements:

My family is an extended family.

This is a weak thesis because it merely states an observation. Your reader won’t be able to tell the point of the statement, and will probably stop reading.

While most American families would view consanguineal marriage as a threat to the nuclear family structure, many Iranian families, like my own, believe that these marriages help reinforce kinship ties in an extended family.

This is a strong thesis because it shows how your experience contradicts a widely-accepted view. A good strategy for creating a strong thesis is to show that the topic is controversial. Readers will be interested in reading the rest of the essay to see how you support your point.

3. A strong thesis statement expresses one main idea.

Readers need to be able to see that your paper has one main point. If your thesis statement expresses more than one idea, then you might confuse your readers about the subject of your paper. For example:

Companies need to exploit the marketing potential of the Internet, and Web pages can provide both advertising and customer support.

This is a weak thesis statement because the reader can’t decide whether the paper is about marketing on the Internet or Web pages. To revise the thesis, the relationship between the two ideas needs to become more clear. One way to revise the thesis would be to write:

Because the Internet is filled with tremendous marketing potential, companies should exploit this potential by using Web pages that offer both advertising and customer support.

This is a strong thesis because it shows that the two ideas are related. Hint: a great many clear and engaging thesis statements contain words like because , since , so , although , unless , and however .

4. A strong thesis statement is specific.

A thesis statement should show exactly what your paper will be about, and will help you keep your paper to a manageable topic. For example, if you're writing a seven-to-ten page paper on hunger, you might say:

World hunger has many causes and effects.

This is a weak thesis statement for two major reasons. First, world hunger can’t be discussed thoroughly in seven to ten pages. Second, many causes and effects is vague. You should be able to identify specific causes and effects. A revised thesis might look like this:

Hunger persists in Glandelinia because jobs are scarce and farming in the infertile soil is rarely profitable.

This is a strong thesis statement because it narrows the subject to a more specific and manageable topic, and it also identifies the specific causes for the existence of hunger.

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UMGC Effective Writing Center Designing an Effective Thesis

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Key Concepts

• A thesis is a simple sentence that combines your topic and your position on the topic.
• A thesis provides a roadmap to what follows in the paper.
• A thesis is like a wheel's hub--everything revolves around it and is attached to it.

After your prewriting activities-- such as assignment analysis and outlining--you should be ready to take the next step: writing a thesis statement. Although some of your assignments will provide a focus for you, it is still important for your college career and especially for your professional career to be able to state a satisfactory controlling idea or thesis that unifies your thoughts and materials for the reader.

Characteristics of an Effective Thesis

A thesis consists of two main parts: your overall topic and your position on that topic. Here are some example thesis statements that combine topic and position:

Sample Thesis Statements

Importance of tone.

Tone is established in the wording of your thesis, which should match the characteristics of your audience. For example, if you are a concerned citizen proposing a new law to your city's board of supervisors about drunk driving, you would not want to write this:

“It’s time to get the filthy drunks off the street and from behind the wheel: I demand that you pass a mandatory five-year license suspension for every drunk who gets caught driving. Do unto them before they do unto us!”

However, if you’re speaking at a concerned citizen’s meeting and you’re trying to rally voter support, such emotional language could help motivate your audience.

Using Your Thesis to Map Your Paper for the Reader

In academic writing, the thesis statement is often used to signal the paper's overall structure to the reader. An effective thesis allows the reader to predict what will be encountered in the support paragraphs. Here are some examples:

Use the Thesis to Map

Three potential problems to avoid.

Because your thesis is the hub of your essay, it has to be strong and effective. Here are three common pitfalls to avoid:

1. Don’t confuse an announcement with a thesis.

In an announcement, the writer declares personal intentions about the paper instead stating a thesis with clear point of view or position:

Write a Thesis, Not an Announcement

 2. a statement of fact does not provide a point of view and is not a thesis..

An introduction needs a strong, clear position statement. Without one, it will be hard for you to develop your paper with relevant arguments and evidence.

Don't Confuse a Fact with a Thesis

3. avoid overly broad thesis statements.

Broad statements contain vague, general terms that do not provide a clear focus for the essay.

Use the Thesis to Provide Focus

Practice writing an effective thesis.

OK. Time to write a thesis for your paper. What is your topic? What is your position on that topic? State both clearly in a thesis sentence that helps to map your response for the reader.

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Tips on writing a thesis statement: composing compelling thesis statements.

College-level courses demand a solid grasp of writing concepts, and some students arrive at Intro to Composition unprepared to write a high-quality essay. Teachers tend to give a bit more slack at the high school level, but college professors are often much more exacting. That’s why excellent writing skills are crucial to the majority of college courses — even outside the English department. 

One of the most important elements to master is the thesis statement. A strong thesis statement is at the root of all writing, from op-eds to research papers. It’s an essential element of any persuasive piece; something we look for without even thinking about it. A convincing, attention-grabbing thesis statement keeps the reader engaged — and lets them know where the piece is headed. 

Having a few tips and tricks in your toolbox can help you to make a convincing academic argument every time.

What is a Thesis Statement?

First, the basics. A thesis statement is a sentence or two that states the main idea of a writing assignment. It also helps to control the ideas presented within the paper. However, it is not merely a topic. It often reflects a claim or judgment that a writer has made about a reading or personal experience. For instance: Tocqueville believed that the domestic role most women held in America was the role that gave them the most power, an idea that many would hotly dispute today. 

Every assignment has a question or prompt. It’s important that your thesis statement answers the question. For the above thesis statement, the question being answered might be something like this: Why was Tocqueville wrong about women? If your thesis statement doesn’t answer a question, you’ll need to rework your statement.

Where Will I Use Thesis Statements?

Writing an exceptional thesis statement is a skill you’ll need both now and in the future, so you’ll want to be confident in your ability to create a great one. Whether in academic, professional, or personal writing, a strong thesis statement enhances the clarity, effectiveness, and impact of the overall message. Here are some real-world examples that demonstrate the importance of composing an outstanding thesis statement:

• Academic writing. The success of academic research papers depends on an exceptional thesis statement. Along with establishing the focus of the paper, it also provides you with direction in terms of research. The thesis sets a clear intention for your essay, helping the reader understand the argument you’re presenting and why the evidence and analysis support it.
• Persuasive writing. Persuasive writing depends on an excellent thesis statement that clearly defines the author’s position. Your goal is to persuade the audience to agree with your thesis. Setting an explicit stance also provides you with a foundation on which to build convincing arguments with relevant evidence.
• Professional writing. In the business and marketing world, a sound thesis statement is required to communicate a project’s purpose. Thesis statements not only outline a project’s unique goals but can also guide the marketing team in creating targeted promotional strategies.

Where Do Thesis Statements Go? 

A good practice is to put the thesis statement at the end of your introduction so you can use it to lead into the body of your paper. This allows you, as the writer, to lead up to the thesis statement instead of diving directly into the topic. Placing your thesis here also sets you up for a brief mention of the evidence you have to support your thesis, allowing readers a preview of what’s to come.

A good introduction conceptualizes and anticipates the thesis statement, so ending your intro with your thesis makes the most sense. If you place the thesis statement at the beginning, your reader may forget or be confused about the main idea by the time they reach the end of the introduction. 

What Makes a Strong Thesis Statement?

A quality thesis statement is designed to both inform and compel. Your thesis acts as an introduction to the argument you’ll be making in your paper, and it also acts as the “hook”. Your thesis should be clear and concise, and you should be ready with enough evidence to support your argument. 

There are several qualities that make for a powerful thesis statement, and drafting a great one means considering all of them: 

A strong thesis makes a clear argument .

A thesis statement is not intended to be a statement of fact, nor should it be an opinion statement. Making an observation is not sufficient — you should provide the reader with a clear argument that cohesively summarizes the intention of your paper.

Originality is important when possible, but stick with your own convictions. Taking your paper in an already agreed-upon direction doesn’t necessarily make for compelling reading. Writing a thesis statement that presents a unique argument opens up the opportunity to discuss an issue in a new way and helps readers to get a new perspective on the topic in question. Again, don’t force it. You’ll have a harder time trying to support an argument you don’t believe yourself.

A strong thesis statement gives direction .

If you lack a specific direction for your paper, you’ll likely find it difficult to make a solid argument for anything. Your thesis statement should state precisely what your paper will be about, as a statement that’s overly general or makes more than one main point can confuse your audience. 

A specific thesis statement also helps you focus your argument — you should be able to discuss your thesis thoroughly in the allotted word count. A thesis that’s too broad won’t allow you to make a strong case for anything.

A strong thesis statement provides proof.

Since thesis statements present an argument, they require support. All paragraphs of the essay should explain, support, or argue with your thesis. You should support your thesis statement with detailed evidence that will interest your readers and motivate them to continue reading the paper.

Sometimes it is useful to mention your supporting points in your thesis. An example of this could be: John Updike's Trust Me is a valuable novel for a college syllabus because it allows the reader to become familiar with his writing and provides themes that are easily connected to other works. In the body of your paper, you could write a paragraph or two about each supporting idea. If you write a thesis statement like this, it will often help you to keep control of your ideas.

A strong thesis statement prompts discussion .

Your thesis statement should stimulate the reader to continue reading your paper. Many writers choose to illustrate that the chosen topic is controversial in one way or another, which is an effective way to pull in readers who might agree with you and those who don’t! 

The ultimate point of a thesis statement is to spark interest in your argument. This is your chance to grab (and keep) your reader’s attention, and hopefully, inspire them to continue learning about the topic.

Testing Your Thesis Statement

Because your thesis statement is vital to the quality of your paper, you need to ensure that your thesis statement posits a cohesive argument. Once you’ve come up with a working thesis statement, ask yourself these questions to further refine your statement: 

• Is it interesting ? If your thesis is dull, consider clarifying your argument or revising it to make a connection to a relatable issue. Again, your thesis statement should draw the reader into the paper.
• Is it specific enough ? If your thesis statement is too broad, you won’t be able to make a persuasive argument. If your thesis contains words like “positive” or “effective”, narrow it down. Tell the reader why something is “positive”. What in particular makes something “effective”?
• Does it answer the question ? Review the prompt or question once you’ve written your working thesis and be sure that your thesis statement directly addresses the given question.
• Does my paper successfully support my thesis statement ? If you find that your thesis statement and the body of your paper don’t mesh well, you’re going to have to change one of them. But don’t worry too much if this is the case — writing is intended to be revised and reworked.
• Does my thesis statement present the reader with a new perspective? Is it a fresh take on an old idea? Will my reader learn something from my paper? If your thesis statement has already been widely discussed, consider if there’s a fresh angle to take before settling.
• Finally, am I happy with my thesis ? If not, you may have difficulty writing your paper. Composing an essay about an argument you don’t believe in can be more difficult than taking a stand for something you believe in.

Quick Tips for Writing Thesis Statements

If you’re struggling to come up with a thesis statement, here are a few tips you can use to help:

• Know the topic. The topic should be something you know or can learn about. It is difficult to write a thesis statement, let alone a paper, on a topic that you know nothing about. Reflecting on personal experience and/or researching your thesis topic thoroughly will help you present more convincing information about your statement.
• Brainstorm. If you are having trouble beginning your paper or writing your thesis, take a piece of paper and write down everything that comes to mind about your topic. Did you discover any new ideas or connections? Can you separate any of the things you jotted down into categories? Do you notice any themes? Think about using ideas generated during this process to shape your thesis statement and your paper.
• Phrase the topic as a question. If your topic is presented as a statement, rephrasing it as a question can make it easier to develop a thesis statement.
• Limit your topic. Based on what you know and the required length of your final paper, limit your topic to a specific area. A broad scope will generally require a longer paper, while a narrow scope can be sufficiently proven by a shorter paper.

Writing Thesis Statements: Final Thoughts

The ability to compose a strong thesis statement is a skill you’ll use over and over again during your college days and beyond. Compelling persuasive writing is important, whether you’re writing an academic essay or putting together a professional pitch. 

If your thesis statement-writing skills aren’t already strong, be sure to practice before diving into college-level courses that will test your skills. If you’re currently looking into colleges, Gustavus Adolphus offers you the opportunity to refine your writing skills in our English courses and degree program . Explore Gustavus Adolphus’ undergraduate majors here .

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Developing Strong Thesis Statements

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These OWL resources will help you develop and refine the arguments in your writing.

The thesis statement or main claim must be debatable

An argumentative or persuasive piece of writing must begin with a debatable thesis or claim. In other words, the thesis must be something that people could reasonably have differing opinions on. If your thesis is something that is generally agreed upon or accepted as fact then there is no reason to try to persuade people.

Example of a non-debatable thesis statement:

This thesis statement is not debatable. First, the word pollution implies that something is bad or negative in some way. Furthermore, all studies agree that pollution is a problem; they simply disagree on the impact it will have or the scope of the problem. No one could reasonably argue that pollution is unambiguously good.

Example of a debatable thesis statement:

This is an example of a debatable thesis because reasonable people could disagree with it. Some people might think that this is how we should spend the nation's money. Others might feel that we should be spending more money on education. Still others could argue that corporations, not the government, should be paying to limit pollution.

Another example of a debatable thesis statement:

In this example there is also room for disagreement between rational individuals. Some citizens might think focusing on recycling programs rather than private automobiles is the most effective strategy.

The thesis needs to be narrow

Although the scope of your paper might seem overwhelming at the start, generally the narrower the thesis the more effective your argument will be. Your thesis or claim must be supported by evidence. The broader your claim is, the more evidence you will need to convince readers that your position is right.

Example of a thesis that is too broad:

There are several reasons this statement is too broad to argue. First, what is included in the category "drugs"? Is the author talking about illegal drug use, recreational drug use (which might include alcohol and cigarettes), or all uses of medication in general? Second, in what ways are drugs detrimental? Is drug use causing deaths (and is the author equating deaths from overdoses and deaths from drug related violence)? Is drug use changing the moral climate or causing the economy to decline? Finally, what does the author mean by "society"? Is the author referring only to America or to the global population? Does the author make any distinction between the effects on children and adults? There are just too many questions that the claim leaves open. The author could not cover all of the topics listed above, yet the generality of the claim leaves all of these possibilities open to debate.

Example of a narrow or focused thesis:

In this example the topic of drugs has been narrowed down to illegal drugs and the detriment has been narrowed down to gang violence. This is a much more manageable topic.

We could narrow each debatable thesis from the previous examples in the following way:

Narrowed debatable thesis 1:

This thesis narrows the scope of the argument by specifying not just the amount of money used but also how the money could actually help to control pollution.

Narrowed debatable thesis 2:

This thesis narrows the scope of the argument by specifying not just what the focus of a national anti-pollution campaign should be but also why this is the appropriate focus.

Qualifiers such as " typically ," " generally ," " usually ," or " on average " also help to limit the scope of your claim by allowing for the almost inevitable exception to the rule.

Types of claims

Claims typically fall into one of four categories. Thinking about how you want to approach your topic, or, in other words, what type of claim you want to make, is one way to focus your thesis on one particular aspect of your broader topic.

Claims of fact or definition: These claims argue about what the definition of something is or whether something is a settled fact. Example:

Claims of cause and effect: These claims argue that one person, thing, or event caused another thing or event to occur. Example:

Claims about value: These are claims made of what something is worth, whether we value it or not, how we would rate or categorize something. Example:

Claims about solutions or policies: These are claims that argue for or against a certain solution or policy approach to a problem. Example:

Which type of claim is right for your argument? Which type of thesis or claim you use for your argument will depend on your position and knowledge of the topic, your audience, and the context of your paper. You might want to think about where you imagine your audience to be on this topic and pinpoint where you think the biggest difference in viewpoints might be. Even if you start with one type of claim you probably will be using several within the paper. Regardless of the type of claim you choose to utilize it is key to identify the controversy or debate you are addressing and to define your position early on in the paper.

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25 Thesis Statement Examples That Will Make Writing a Breeze

Understanding what makes a good thesis statement is one of the major keys to writing a great research paper or argumentative essay. The thesis statement is where you make a claim that will guide you through your entire paper. If you find yourself struggling to make sense of your paper or your topic, then it's likely due to a weak thesis statement.

Let's take a minute to first understand what makes a solid thesis statement, and what key components you need to write one of your own.

A thesis statement always goes at the beginning of the paper. It will typically be in the first couple of paragraphs of the paper so that it can introduce the body paragraphs, which are the supporting evidence for your thesis statement.

Your thesis statement should clearly identify an argument. You need to have a statement that is not only easy to understand, but one that is debatable. What that means is that you can't just put any statement of fact and have it be your thesis. For example, everyone knows that puppies are cute . An ineffective thesis statement would be, "Puppies are adorable and everyone knows it." This isn't really something that's a debatable topic.

Something that would be more debatable would be, "A puppy's cuteness is derived from its floppy ears, small body, and playfulness." These are three things that can be debated on. Some people might think that the cutest thing about puppies is the fact that they follow you around or that they're really soft and fuzzy.

All cuteness aside, you want to make sure that your thesis statement is not only debatable, but that it also actually thoroughly answers the research question that was posed. You always want to make sure that your evidence is supporting a claim that you made (and not the other way around). This is why it's crucial to read and research about a topic first and come to a conclusion later. If you try to get your research to fit your thesis statement, then it may not work out as neatly as you think. As you learn more, you discover more (and the outcome may not be what you originally thought).

Additionally, your thesis statement shouldn't be too big or too grand. It'll be hard to cover everything in a thesis statement like, "The federal government should act now on climate change." The topic is just too large to actually say something new and meaningful. Instead, a more effective thesis statement might be, "Local governments can combat climate change by providing citizens with larger recycling bins and offering local classes about composting and conservation." This is easier to work with because it's a smaller idea, but you can also discuss the overall topic that you might be interested in, which is climate change.

So, now that we know what makes a good, solid thesis statement, you can start to write your own. If you find that you're getting stuck or you are the type of person who needs to look at examples before you start something, then check out our list of thesis statement examples below.

Thesis statement examples

A quick note that these thesis statements have not been fully researched. These are merely examples to show you what a thesis statement might look like and how you can implement your own ideas into one that you think of independently. As such, you should not use these thesis statements for your own research paper purposes. They are meant to be used as examples only.

• Vaccinations Because many children are unable to vaccinate due to illness, we must require that all healthy and able children be vaccinated in order to have herd immunity.
• Educational Resources for Low-Income Students Schools should provide educational resources for low-income students during the summers so that they don't forget what they've learned throughout the school year.
• School Uniforms School uniforms may be an upfront cost for families, but they eradicate the visual differences in income between students and provide a more egalitarian atmosphere at school.
• Populism The rise in populism on the 2016 political stage was in reaction to increasing globalization, the decline of manufacturing jobs, and the Syrian refugee crisis.
• Public Libraries Libraries are essential resources for communities and should be funded more heavily by local municipalities.
• Cyber Bullying With more and more teens using smartphones and social media, cyber bullying is on the rise. Cyber bullying puts a lot of stress on many teens, and can cause depression, anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts. Parents should limit the usage of smart phones, monitor their children's online activity, and report any cyber bullying to school officials in order to combat this problem.
• Medical Marijuana for Veterans Studies have shown that the use of medicinal marijuana has been helpful to veterans who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Medicinal marijuana prescriptions should be legal in all states and provided to these veterans. Additional medical or therapy services should also be researched and implemented in order to help them re-integrate back into civilian life.
• Work-Life Balance Corporations should provide more work from home opportunities and six-hour workdays so that office workers have a better work-life balance and are more likely to be productive when they are in the office.
• Teaching Youths about Consensual Sex Although sex education that includes a discussion of consensual sex would likely lead to less sexual assault, parents need to teach their children the meaning of consent from a young age with age appropriate lessons.
• Whether or Not to Attend University A degree from a university provides invaluable lessons on life and a future career, but not every high school student should be encouraged to attend a university directly after graduation. Some students may benefit from a trade school or a "gap year" where they can think more intensely about what it is they want to do for a career and how they can accomplish this.
• Studying Abroad Studying abroad is one of the most culturally valuable experiences you can have in college. It is the only way to get completely immersed in another language and learn how other cultures and countries are different from your own.
• Women's Body Image Magazines have done a lot in the last five years to include a more diverse group of models, but there is still a long way to go to promote a healthy woman's body image collectively as a culture.
• Cigarette Tax Heavily taxing and increasing the price of cigarettes is essentially a tax on the poorest Americans, and it doesn't deter them from purchasing. Instead, the state and federal governments should target those economically disenfranchised with early education about the dangers of smoking.
• Veganism A vegan diet, while a healthy and ethical way to consume food, indicates a position of privilege. It also limits you to other cultural food experiences if you travel around the world.
• University Athletes Should be Compensated University athletes should be compensated for their service to the university, as it is difficult for these students to procure and hold a job with busy academic and athletic schedules. Many student athletes on scholarship also come from low-income neighborhoods and it is a struggle to make ends meet when they are participating in athletics.
• Women in the Workforce Sheryl Sandberg makes a lot of interesting points in her best-selling book, Lean In , but she only addressed the very privileged working woman and failed to speak to those in lower-skilled, lower-wage jobs.
• Assisted Suicide Assisted suicide should be legal and doctors should have the ability to make sure their patients have the end-of-life care that they want to receive.
• Celebrity and Political Activism Although Taylor Swift's lyrics are indicative of a feminist perspective, she should be more politically active and vocal to use her position of power for the betterment of society.
• The Civil War The insistence from many Southerners that the South seceded from the Union for states' rights versus the fact that they seceded for the purposes of continuing slavery is a harmful myth that still affects race relations today.
• Blue Collar Workers Coal miners and other blue-collar workers whose jobs are slowly disappearing from the workforce should be re-trained in jobs in the technology sector or in renewable energy. A program to re-train these workers would not only improve local economies where jobs have been displaced, but would also lead to lower unemployment nationally.
• Diversity in the Workforce Having a diverse group of people in an office setting leads to richer ideas, more cooperation, and more empathy between people with different skin colors or backgrounds.
• Re-Imagining the Nuclear Family The nuclear family was traditionally defined as one mother, one father, and 2.5 children. This outdated depiction of family life doesn't quite fit with modern society. The definition of normal family life shouldn't be limited to two-parent households.
• Digital Literacy Skills With more information readily available than ever before, it's crucial that students are prepared to examine the material they're reading and determine whether or not it's a good source or if it has misleading information. Teaching students digital literacy and helping them to understand the difference between opinion or propaganda from legitimate, real information is integral.
• Beauty Pageants Beauty pageants are presented with the angle that they empower women. However, putting women in a swimsuit on a stage while simultaneously judging them on how well they answer an impossible question in a short period of time is cruel and purely for the amusement of men. Therefore, we should stop televising beauty pageants.
• Supporting More Women to Run for a Political Position In order to get more women into political positions, more women must run for office. There must be a grassroots effort to educate women on how to run for office, who among them should run, and support for a future candidate for getting started on a political career.

Still stuck? Need some help with your thesis statement?

If you are still uncertain about how to write a thesis statement or what a good thesis statement is, be sure to consult with your teacher or professor to make sure you're on the right track. It's always a good idea to check in and make sure that your thesis statement is making a solid argument and that it can be supported by your research.

After you're done writing, it's important to have someone take a second look at your paper so that you can ensure there are no mistakes or errors. It's difficult to spot your own mistakes, which is why it's always recommended to have someone help you with the revision process, whether that's a teacher, the writing center at school, or a professional editor such as one from ServiceScape .

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Thesis Definition

The thesis is one of the most important concepts in college expository writing. A thesis sentence focuses your ideas for the paper; it's your argument or insight or viewpoint crystallized into a single sentence that gives the reader your main idea. It's not only useful for the reading audience to understand the purpose of the essay; this purpose is also useful for you as a writer, as it indicates the type of support that will follow in the paper and may indicate a logical structure or order for that support. Thus, you need to have a good grasp of the concept of thesis in order to proceed.

The thesis identifies two basics:

• what your ideas are about, and
• what your ideas are (i.e. what you will be trying to prove).

There are two parts to a thesis sentence that reflect these basics.

• The topic in the thesis tells what you are writing about.
• The angle in the thesis tells what your ideas are about the topic (again, what you are trying to prove).

For example:

• All successful college students have certain basic characteristics. [The main topic is about college students, while the idea or angle about the topic is that successful students share certain characteristics. The thesis indicates the type of support needed--discussion of those characteristics that contribute to college success.]
• For most adult students returning to college, the problems that they face along the way are outweighed by their achievements. [The main topic is about adult college students, while the idea or angle about the topic is that problems are outweighed by achievements. The thesis indicates the type of support needed and the order of that support--an explanation of the problems first and then an explanation of achievements second.]
• Adult students returning to college make up a higher percentage of entering students than they did twenty years ago because of a number of statistical, economic, and social reasons. [The main topic is about adult students returning to college, while the idea or angle about the topic is that there are reasons for the higher percentage of adults returning to college. The thesis indicates the type of support needed and the order of that support--an explanation of the statistical reasons first, economic reasons second, and social reasons third.]

Do you understand the basic topic and angle concept? If so, then there are a few more things to consider about the thesis. (And if not, now's the time to start asking a learning coach for assistance, so Email [email protected] ). It's important to investigate additional thesis characteristics at this point to make sure that you'll be creating a working thesis sentence that is workable and appropriate for college essays.  In addition to knowing what a thesis is, you need to know what a thesis is not. A thesis sentence's angle should NOT be:

• Too broad. For example, the following thesis really doesn't pinpoint a specific insight about the topic:  Adult students returning to college have a hard time. In what ways do adult students have a hard time? You'd need to identify a more specific insight in this angle.
• Too narrow a statement of fact. For example, the following thesis really cannot be developed into a full essay because the angle doesn't contain the writer's own thoughts or insights about the subject:  Adult students returning to college read an average of 7.5 books per term. A reader may respond by saying, "So what?" A narrow statement of fact does not contain your own personal analysis, argument, or interpretation of the topic--that all-important angle which a thesis must have.
• An announcement. For example, the following really is not a thesis at all because it lacks an angle that gives the writer's own insight into the topic: My topic is the adult student returning to college. Again, "So what?" What's the reader's idea here?

Once you create a working thesis, you should assess it to make sure that it fulfills thesis characteristics.  Make sure it has a clear topic (indication of what the thesis is about) and angle (what your own ideas are about the topic, i.e. what you are trying to prove). Make sure that the angle is not too broad, too narrow, a statement of fact, or an announcement. Work with the angle to make it indicate the order of your support, if you choose to do that for yourself or for your reading audience. And realize that the thesis is a working thesis until you finalize the essay (it's okay to revise the thesis as you go along, just as long as you retain important thesis characteristics.)

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Writing In College: From Competence to Excellence

(44 reviews)

Amy Guptill, SUNY Brockport

Copyright Year: 2016

ISBN 13: 9781942341215

Publisher: Open SUNY

Language: English

Formats Available

Conditions of use.

Learn more about reviews.

Reviewed by Olga Gould, Assistant Professor Reading/Literacy, Eastern New Mexico University on 2/16/24

The book Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence by Amy Guptill is written in the easily comprehensible for Higher Education students language. This publication targets college-level learners. In a very reader-friendly, engaging, and... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The book Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence by Amy Guptill is written in the easily comprehensible for Higher Education students language. This publication targets college-level learners. In a very reader-friendly, engaging, and informative style, this study-guide explains to the beginning writers the most essential aspects of writing for academic purposes. Every chapter and each section of it focuses on a specific question, which also adds to comprehensiveness of the information discussed and clarified by the author. Guptill addresses her reading audiences in a friendly and inclusive manner which may also contribute to the college students' ability to engage with this reading and deeper comprehend the meaning of the conveyed ideas.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

This publication appears to be accurately written. Moreover, this book is composed in a very good academic English language. Additionally, it includes an entire chapter on proofreading, editing, and mechanics. The author does not seem to be biased in her discussion of the issues with the academic writing. On the contrary, this author's role may be viewed as a liaison between a beginning, struggling student-writer and faculty. Guptill attempts to balance the professor to student communication on writing within academe. The rich information she is providing is accurate and up to date. Thus, Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence can be considered a reliable source of information.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Guptill refers in her current book to the recent research publications most of which were published during the first two decades of the 21st century. As anticipated, the topics this author addresses will stay relevant to the field of teaching students the academic writing strategies and skills for quite a long time. The content of Guptill's publication is not expected to become obsolete in a short period of time as a large number of students enter colleges and universities with their underdeveloped writing skills. Additionally, it seems quite natural and explainable that the first-year(s) students might have never had any sufficient exposure to the knowledge on the expectations of the academic writing, such as literature review, research report, etc. So, it may be concluded that the book Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence by Amy Guptill will not become outdated and will not need too many updates soon.

Clarity rating: 5

Guptill's text presents a very clearly written and well-explained piece of college reading. This author supplies every chapter with the examples positioned within the adequate contexts. All the terminology used in the classes concerning with writing for academic purposes is thoroughly explained. The author exemplary demonstrates the difference between the everyday spoken English language, texting, and professional and academic writing. This book is written in lucid and accessible prose the purpose of which is to make the complicated ideas easy to understand. So, the clarity of all the detailed notions seems to be outstanding.

Consistency rating: 5

Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence by Amy Guptill is internally consistent in terms of its framework. Many significant attributes and terminology used in the field of college writing are consistently present throughout this entire publication. The tone of this text is steadily even within the selected by this author frame. So, Guptill not only explains how to write but also demonstrates it via her publication.

Modularity rating: 5

One of the best features of this publication is its modularity. The author divides her text into chapters, sections, and subsections. Importantly, these smaller sections frame is consistent and makes it easy for audiences to read while knowing what to expect in every following, similarly structured chapter. The chapters, sections, subsections, and blocks with the supplemental information have headings and subheadings. The additional information aligns well with the content of the chapter or section it supplements without causing interruptions in the reading process. So, the modularity of this publication seems to be very thoughtfully streamlined.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Organization of this publication is outstanding. The topics are presented in a logical and clear fashion. The book chapters and sections are evenly distributed in terms of their volume and content load. Focusing on a beginning writer, including the first-generation in college student, this text is mindfully organized.

Interface rating: 5

Thanks to the modern days' affordances of the internet-based reading, the book by Guptill contains the links to the additional sources mentioned within its chapters or in connection to their content. This feature allows the audience to easily navigate between the different reading platforms and choose the appropriate time for doing so. For example, different readers might prefer to explore the provided links prior, during, or after reading basing their preferences on the level of their interest in each of the discussed aspects. Adding the links, rather than chunks of the texts, facilitates the flow of the reading process in the audience and minimizes or eliminates the distracting effect.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Guptill's book presents a well-written text without grammatical errors. It may serve students as an example to follow.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The book Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence by Amy Guptill does not contain any culturally insensitive or offensive language. This reading seems to be highly welcoming and inclusive for both the Domestic and International students from diverse backgrounds.

With the publisher's and author's kind permission, I will add this book as supplemental resource for my students in my Writing courses. P.S. I truly loved reading this book and will use its content in my instruction with salient reference to its author, full APA citation, and the link to this text. Thank you. Sincerely, Dr. Olga Gould

Reviewed by Vivian Chin, Instructor, Hawaii Community College on 12/13/21

The nine chapters of this book cover material ranging from what college professors might expect to how to avoid informal speech patterns in writing. The titles of the chapters seem straightforward and not confusing. Although this textbook does not... read more

The nine chapters of this book cover material ranging from what college professors might expect to how to avoid informal speech patterns in writing. The titles of the chapters seem straightforward and not confusing. Although this textbook does not include a section specifically aimed towards English Language Learners, the chapter, "Getting the Mechanics Right" seems helpful for ELL students and for students who must code-switch into so-called standard English.

I would only note that in an example in the chapter, "Getting the Mechanics Right," it is highly unlikely that anyone would text with an accent on the e in cafe: "INFORMAL: u shd go 2 café b4 wrk bc coffee, and that this error might alienate students." I question the author's reliability simply because of this trivial point. On the other hand, one might use autocorrect while texting and one's phone would automatically put an accent on the e in cafe.

The material in this book seems very useful to students. I have downloaded this book so that I will remember to use it! I do think that the language may be a bit elitist at times, However, the chapters are thoughtfully titled and seem to contain sufficient information for students to follow and to do well in a college composition course.

Students with developing reading abilities may have trouble comprehending this book, however, much of the possibly unfamiliar vocabulary is useful for students to learn, e.g., "substantive."

The language of this book does seem to be consistent. The voice does not talk down to the reader. The word choice is appropriate for the audience.

The exercises at the end of the chapters seem useful. I think that a summary or a bullet point list of important points would be helpful at the end of each chapter.

I appreciate the organization of this textbook as it begins with possible expectations and ends with a chapter on diction. It follows a logical pattern, moving from general to specific.

With the help of my students I was able to navigate this book. Unfortunately it was a bit counterintuitive for me as one needs to expand the Main Body of the book to be able to access chapters. Students were able to figure this out, however.

I did not notice any grammatical errors. :)

Cultural Relevance rating: 2

This book seems to be blind to the writing and experiences of people of color. Because of this weakness or omission, it avoids the token representation or cursory inclusion of people of color, which can be just as offensive as our erasure.

A useful book.

Reviewed by Kate Nolin-Smith, Senior Lecturer, University of Wisconsin - Superior on 9/20/21

This book covers most of the basic components of a first year composition course in terms of expectations, general researching, and academic writing. There are clear sections dedicated to forming a thesis, writing paragraphs, and structuring an... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This book covers most of the basic components of a first year composition course in terms of expectations, general researching, and academic writing. There are clear sections dedicated to forming a thesis, writing paragraphs, and structuring an essay. However, there could be more to address types of arguments, appeals to the audience, and citing sources.

The information in the text is accurate and presented in an unbiased manner.

Most of the information presented in the text is up to date and could easily be updated if needed.

This text is written in a straightforward manner and avoids complicated or wordy explanations.

The text has a consistent "voice" throughout.

The text has clearly marked topics and subsections in each chapter.

The organization of information is easy to follow and structured in a logical way.

This text is free of any obvious interface issues.

There were no obvious grammar errors in the text.

The text is not culturally insensitive in any way.

Reviewed by Julie Mainka, Adjunct Instructor, Butler Community College on 5/31/21

I am not sure if comprehensiveness is the main goal. The chapters which are present are quite strong, but discussions of cultural competency were largely missing. In my teaching, critical thinking about cultural contexts is far more important... read more

I am not sure if comprehensiveness is the main goal. The chapters which are present are quite strong, but discussions of cultural competency were largely missing. In my teaching, critical thinking about cultural contexts is far more important than having a perfect paragraph, mechanics, etc. This book largely seems to cover the basics of writing in a college-context, but there does not seem to be much explicit discussion of how to critically think by incorporating intersecting communities, identities, schools of thought, etc. In other words, more emphasis on critical thinking and how scholars use cultural lenses to critically think would be useful.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

The content is accurate concerning the basics of entering a scholarly conversation, but it leaves out a large part of the academic conversation: navigating intersecting cultural contexts. If you plan to supplement heavily, this a great book to get accurate information on basic information.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The book is largely relevant to today’s students. It would be helpful to be more explicit about the diverse backgrounds of the students coming into a first-year composition course, however. There are up-to-date examples and some discussion of contemporary pronoun usage. The inclusion of real student comments are great as well! This shows how the skill at hand is directly relevant to a real person.

In general, I loved the authorial voice most of the time. The author is often warm and inviting. She attempts to welcome the student into the academic conversation rather than slamming them with rules or scaring them into “writing well”. The explanations and examples are usually very clear and blend a colloquial and academic style well.

The text is very consistent in terminology and framework and is, in fact, explicitly linked in multiple places. Each chapter is implicitly and explicitly connected to other chapters.

The chapters are short and sweet. Since this book does not include a reader, this is one of its best features. Each chapter functions well alone and as a complete guide. I had so many ideas for which readings to pair with each chapter! The way the book is structured is also wonderful. The author focuses on why one writes, the purpose of writing, gathering information, and THEN putting everything together.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

This is related to my comment above. The basic organization is wonderful. I would add more concerning critical thinking and cultural competency, but this can be added into almost every chapter instead of presenting a separate section for it.

I used an older generation iPad and had no issues with the text or links. In fact, I loved that there were so many links in order to clarify or offer more insight.

I found a couple of insignificant typos, but that’s it! This book was clearly edited and proofread several times.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

I did not find anything to be intentionally malicious, but there were only small attempts to be inclusive. In general, there seems to be an effort to avoid explicitly discussing intersectional identities. As much as I loved the book, this seems to be a severe oversight. In all of the composition courses I’ve taught, I assign students current issues to research, analyze, and process. Doing this kind of work requires an ability to find the intersections of identities and be able to complicate the issue at hand through various lenses. Although this book strongly advocates for this type of thinking, there is little attempt to put it into practice. Sometimes this is manifested as something seemingly small, like assuming that most college students are traditional students. However, this can have a large impact on students. In general, I would advocate for explicit discussions of (dis)abilities, ethnicities, socioeconomic statuses, etc. Staying silent and hoping that the material is universal can cause some students to feel excluded. In other words, I feel everyone benefits from an explicit appeal to intersectionality. I would like to end on a positive note, however. There were some attempts at inclusivity (e.g. pronoun discussion, non-standard English discussion, etc.). These are excellent inclusions, there just needs to be a far more explicit attempt at diversity and inclusion.

One thing I loved was the humanizing of professors. Guptill explained how many professors have little professional training in HOW to teach and how grading is a very difficult part of being a professor. She added some longer discussions as well as many small references throughout the text. I think introductory students often do not know what a professor does, so this helps to demystify the professor (and their job) and show the students that we are just fellow humans who struggle just like they do. We ultimately have the goal of helping them as much as we can, but we are also people.

Reviewed by Martha Ucci, Professor of English, Bristol Community College on 5/26/21

As a reader for a first year composition course, this is an excellent choice. Guptiill strikes the perfect balance between composition rhetoric and good old fashioned advice. Indeed, her lens is squarely focused on the user, which is the... read more

As a reader for a first year composition course, this is an excellent choice. Guptiill strikes the perfect balance between composition rhetoric and good old fashioned advice. Indeed, her lens is squarely focused on the user, which is the student. There are live links to articles and bold boxes that reveal student's perspective and experiences that will certainly resonate with students who want to see themselves represented in the text. The content covers a brief examination of the vernacular of higher education to the mechanics of writing. Topics such as vetting research articles and paraphrasing content is especially pertinent to the novice research paper writer.

The content is accurate and offers humor at times to invite the student writer to embrace the often arduous task of academic writing. For example, there is a reference to a video on how to conquer writer's block, followed by a witty Sponge Bob Square Pants video. Students need levity and so many texts are one dimensional. However, that is not the case with Guptill's book.

The purpose of the text is very clear and Guptill incorporates data from employers who are seeking strong written communication skills, as well as critical thinkers. She also recognizes the role faculty play in shaping how students write and think about writing from their own scholarship. One of the exercises includes interviewing a faculty member about their process for writing and how that in turn leads to generating articles for publication. In fact, she refers to faculty (kiddingly) as "egg heads." Student's will gravitate to the witty elements in the text.

Guptill's prose and examples of writing are very concrete. She breaks down the process of writing into manageable parts, while encouraging students to break free form the conventional 5-paragraph essay. Her chapter on paraphrasing is especially effective. She provide examples of successful introductory paragraphs and some not-so successful paragraphs. She addresses being concise in writing, as well as the importance of cohesiveness.

The text is very consistent. The basic format of each chapter remains same throughout, lending consistency for the user.

One of the best features of this text is that the chapters are very digestible. They are not too long for students to lose focus. The exercises at the end of each chapter really reinforce the concepts presented and allow students to gain greater practice in achieving their writing goals. There are several articles that Guptill refers to throughout the text which invites more depth and credibilty to the topic being covered. I was especially pleased to see the AAC&U Written Communication Rubric used and explained in the text..

The text is neatly organized and very adaptable for student use.

The interface is great.

The grammatical elements are well done. The footnotes are very rich with articles and Guptill's own observations. Lots of fun to read.

Cultural Relevance rating: 1

The text is not culturally insensitive. I would say the the students quoted in the text may not represent the diverse body of student writers in college, especially the community college.

I think this is a great text to incorporate in a first year writing course. Students will really engage with the text and it offers a variety of concepts suitable for the "reluctant" writer.

Reviewed by Ann Pelelo, Professor of English, Clarke University on 12/18/20

There is not an index or a glossary, but all areas and ideas listed within the Table of Contents are covered well for the intended audience—high school writers who are transitioning to college writing. The explanations are, at times, brief, but... read more

There is not an index or a glossary, but all areas and ideas listed within the Table of Contents are covered well for the intended audience—high school writers who are transitioning to college writing. The explanations are, at times, brief, but the author supplies numerous ancillary links to augment the information presented. Given the generality of the topics, this book could be used within and outside of composition classes; that is what I find most attractive about it.

Some of the content in Chapter 1 is “cringe-worthy.” For example, “Most of your professors have had little to no formal training in pedagogy (the science of teaching). They’re extensively trained in their scholarly or creative fields, well versed in relevant theories, methods, and significant findings. Many taught during graduate school, but most come to their jobs relative novices about teaching.” This generalization can be a misleading and/or inaccurate description of many institutions of higher learning. The author continues: “Even those who spend a majority of their time on teaching think of themselves as scholars or artists who also teach.” She also writes: “Your professors—immersed as they are in their own fields—may forget that you have such varied demands, and they may not take class time to explain the particular conventions of their field.” Although I understand, as a person who has spent 25 years teaching full-time at the college level, what the writer is trying to convey about the “college environment,” these generalizations put forth in the beginning of the book make me uneasy, and I worry about how students will receive them. I loved, however, that also in this chapter the message is clear that in college students “drive their own learning.” The content of the remaining chapters is on-point for the intended audience, and it echoes many of the important lessons about writing that I’ve been trying to convey to students throughout my teaching career.

The content is up-to-date. Some things like paragraph unity and development of argumentative thesis sentences will remain static over time. Nuances about contemporary writing are touched upon in the last chapter. In fact, that chapter includes a discussion of gendered language—a hot topic of debate today. The exercises found at the ends of chapters were useful and in-tune with “the real world.”

The text is written in lucid and accessible prose. It also consistently provides adequate context for the ideas discussed. I especially appreciate how the author takes the reader through the rhetorical situation in an authentic and practical manner—this will be attractive and useful to students. I also appreciate how, in Chapter 3, the author explains the distinctions between high school and college writing and how to write an effective “college’ thesis statement. In addition, Chapter 4 includes a helpful overview of what makes a source “good.” The simple and usable chart that explains different levels of quality sources, their uses and how to find them will be useful to students. And Chapter 5, “Listening to Sources, Talking to Sources,” relates well how sources should function in student writing. The explanations are clear and logical.

The text’s framework is consistent. Each chapter ends with “exercises.” And each chapter includes many links to ancillary resources. In addition, footnotes are used frequently and consistently.

It is easy to imagine using specific chapters of this text in a variety of different classes. One doesn’t necessarily have to have read Chapter 3 in order for Chapter 4 to be useful. However, if the author does refer to information found in a previous chapter, she provides a link to it.

The organization of ideas is logical and clear throughout each chapter and among the chapters themselves. Each chapter begins with an overview of its contents and the “why” of its significance. Therefore, students encounter early in each chapter the importance of the information that will follow and how that information connects to their future college experiences.

Interface rating: 3

The book contains many helpful embedded links. However, when using the pdf version of the text, once a link was accessed, “going back” took one back to the beginning of the book—not where one had left off. In addition, I found many “dead links.” Furthermore, some links were labeled in misleading ways. For example, on page 12 a link is named “assignment prompt,” but it takes one to the main page of the Purdue Writing Lab. Given that the publication date is 2016, I wonder how often the author should check the links included in this text.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

I frequently encountered clunky sentence structures and clunky transitions between sentences and between ideas, but that clunkiness did not take away from the content. There are a few typos as well (“than” instead of “then,” for example). I also noticed some punctuation errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

Cultural sensitivity is a complex subject. However, in my review of this text, I did not encounter culturally insensitive language or examples, other than the frequent use of “mastering.” Furthermore, the tone and language are accessible for many ELL students. Some of the statements that are meant to be humorous may be lost on those learners, but losing out on the humor has a negligible impact on the important content.

Reviewed by Tasha Williams, Instructor, Leeward Community College on 7/28/20

The text does a great job of anticipating possible student perspectives and addressing them in a way that appeals to students. Its inviting tone stands to benefit first-year writing students greatly because it covers key concepts. In addition, I... read more

The text does a great job of anticipating possible student perspectives and addressing them in a way that appeals to students. Its inviting tone stands to benefit first-year writing students greatly because it covers key concepts. In addition, I was pleasantly surprised by the discussion of instructors' professional duties. I believe the effective discussion demystifies the instructor role, thus rendering us more approachable. The second chapter focuses on the importance of knowing the audience and what teachers expect from assignments, which is a good topic that is seldom addressed explicitly. Understanding the assignment is essential to successfully achieving the goals of the writing assignment. The discussion of the three story thesis is very helpful and written in a non-condescending tone. It is strategically placed as a foundation for subsequent chapters. The remaining chapters help students develop paragraphs and address technical issues in their writing.

The author is accurate and unbiased. It is refreshing to encounter a text that provides practical guidance for students with regard to topics that teachers sometimes discuss with fellow practitioners. She does a good job of addressing these topics with a down-to-earth approach to students.

I look forward to sharing this text with my students because of its relevance to their experiences. The author incorporates a discussion of how writing has increased due to technological needs which is current with the times. With the increase in online classrooms due to the Covid-19 pandemic, online classrooms will benefit from resources that spark conversations in an online format.

Clarity rating: 4

One of the best features of this text is its ability to discuss the content in an accessible manner and break down information.

The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.

The chapters are relatively short and easy to comprehend.

The information in the text is logically organized. The text does a good job of building upon key concepts. While the chapters stand alone, each chapter reinforces important skills that are covered in previous chapters.

There are no significant interface issues. The text refers to chapter numbers, but the chapters could also be numbered for consistency.

The grammar does not interfere with the reader’s grasp of the content.

While the text does not appear to be culturally insensitive, it could be more inclusive of more students’ experiences. Chapter one begins with a discussion of why writing is important in terms of enhancing one’s professional career, but students who belong to underrepresented groups may feel that they are learning to write for other peoples’ purposes rather than their own. In addition to discussing how writing has the potential to enhance students’ careers, it could also address how writing may enhance other important aspects of students' lives such as family and community.

Reviewed by Nicholas Papas, Professor, Middlesex Community College on 6/25/20

This text would work well as a first-year writing text. While it does not cover "all areas and ideas of the subject," it provides a fairly comprehensive (and readable) discussion of important concepts and ways of thinking. I would add that one of... read more

This text would work well as a first-year writing text. While it does not cover "all areas and ideas of the subject," it provides a fairly comprehensive (and readable) discussion of important concepts and ways of thinking. I would add that one of the most appealing aspects of the text is that it does not try to be comprehensive.

The views presented in the text are well-grounded and nuanced. Having said that, because the text tries (and succeeds) to talk to student in a "real" way, there are certainly some statements, because of their clarity and boldness, that may ruffle some feathers. Again, I see this as a positive aspect, providing opportunity for discussion and, yes, critical thinking.

The content itself is likely to remain relevant, though it is certainly a product of the times. Many of the links to outside content don't work (already). This is unfortunate because the links that do work are useful.

The style is clear and engaging.

I noticed no problems with internal consistency.

The text is divided into nine fairly short chapters. There are clearly labeled sub-sections within each chapter. The short chapters lend themselves well to being assigned individually at different points in the course. The sub-section titles would make it easy to refer students to a particular section for review.

The chapters are organized in a logical way. The same is true for the sections within each chapter.

Interface rating: 4

I read this as a PDF file on an iPad. As such, the interface is pretty simple. The only intra-text navigation is done through the table of contents--which works fine.

A few typos. No major concerns.

One of the strengths of the text is that it addresses a fairly specific audience. This allows the author to speak to the concerns and assumptions of this audience. This strength could also be a weakness when the text is assigned to non-traditional students--students who may not have "mastered [American] high-school level conventions of formal academic writing," but who may have an academic background that would transition just as well, if adequately scaffolded, to successful demonstration of the course's stated learning outcomes.

I actually enjoyed reading this "textbook."

Reviewed by Regina Daus-Haberle, Instructor, Bridgewater State University on 6/19/20

Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence, while brief, addresses the key concerns of incoming first year students as they transition from high school writers to college-level academics. With that focus in mind, Amy Guptill prepares... read more

Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence, while brief, addresses the key concerns of incoming first year students as they transition from high school writers to college-level academics. With that focus in mind, Amy Guptill prepares students for the metamorphosis in writing and analysis that occurs in first year writing classrooms and in introductory subject-matter classrooms. Guptill identifies the most critical steps involved in producing high quality college-level writing, and her lessons demystify the writing process so that students can follow concrete steps towards achieving mastery and gaining confidence.

Guptill's approach to writing is both accurate and approachable--great qualities for a first-year writing text. She explains concepts clearly, and more importantly, she explains why and how students should be thinking about the writing process in clear, concise, understandable terms. Guptill also explains concepts of audience in a bias-free manner, emphasizing that there is a difference between standard written English and more informal language. Identifying that distinction and explaining why it's important to be able to switch between registers of speech is a valuable way to frame ideas of appropriate rhetoric.

This text provides time-honored and time-tested explanations for how to master the art of communicating effectively in writing with an updated and upbeat twist. Its lessons will certainly remain relevant.

One of the greatest strengths of this text is its accessibility and clarity. It is written in a conversational style which students will find readily accessible and engaging. Moreover, Guptill addresses concerns and difficulties students are likely to encounter. She then explains strategies for mastering discrete elements of the writing process in easy-to-understand language.

The style, structure, and tone of this text are all consistent throughout. The chapters are short and retain a common structure: Guptill introduces the chapter's concept, intersperses her explanation with student testimonials which are engaging, offers additional resources, and finally provides follow-up exercises. This model works well and enables the student to grow in familiarity with the text.

This text is remarkably well organized and lends itself to easily assigned and utilized chapters. It is quite short, but that works incredibly well since it provides the necessary content without being overwhelming for the student.

The text is well-organized as it breaks down the writing process into a logical procedure--with each chapter building on those that came before. It is very easy for a student to follow.

There are no interface problems with this text.

The text contains no grammatical errors.

This text is not culturally insensitive or offensive.

I am excited to introduce this text into my first-year writing courses! It will become my primary "how-to-write" text, and I think my students are going to really find it helpful.

Reviewed by Jamie Parmese, Adjunct Assistant Professor of English, Raritan Valley Community College on 4/13/20

For the intended audience of this text, I would say that this text does cover areas and ideas of the subject appropriately considering that students in ENGL 111 or even ENGL 112 would seem to be the ones who might be able to benefit a lot from... read more

For the intended audience of this text, I would say that this text does cover areas and ideas of the subject appropriately considering that students in ENGL 111 or even ENGL 112 would seem to be the ones who might be able to benefit a lot from this text. This textbook does not claim to cover all ideas relevant to composition, but again, considering its intended audience, I think it does a fair job. Although I was unable to find an index or a glossary, students would appreciate the sections of information that define concepts like how to build a thesis part by part, offering alternative forms of communicating potentially annoying questions with professors, etc.

I found the information in this text to be accurate. I appreciated its honesty in the beginning that professors have different preferences and that getting to know a professor's preference of writing is just part of the world of academia. I know from anecdotal experience how stressed students are each semester that they come into my own ENGL 111 and ENGL 112 courses worrying about whether or not they will meet my expectations on the first day as I hear over and over again, "Each professor is so different." I think students would appreciate confronting that reality head-on through the tips of communication that this textbook offers.

I think the content is up-to-date and not in a way that will quickly make the text obsolete within a short period of time. Not only does this textbook obviously focus on writing and composition, but it also effectively markets to students the value of communication. Too often, professors hear complaints from students about how our particular course will help them even though they are in a different X major. For instance, the fact that employers' most highly valued skill from prospective employees is communication is valuable and encouraging, as well as possibly motivating, for students to know. I doubt that the high value of communication will change.

Overall, I found this text to be written in accessible prose. The varied use of capitalization, italics, bold font, etc. signals to the student that certain pieces of information are important - particularly in the boxes of quotes containing valuable advice. Not only do the boxes of tips offer clarity, but they really do evoke a warm, inviting tone for students to feel that professors are truly on their side. Too often, just from anecdotal experience, I find that it takes a long time to earn the trust of students who feel that they have been "tricked" or "cheated" by past professors. The inviting tone of this text makes not only the advice clear but helps students to consider the content.

Consistency rating: 4

The text is internally consistent in terms of framework. I think the terminology could have been a little more consistently framed in terms of all important words being bold, for instance. Instead, there is a variation of fonts throughout the text, which yes, as I mentioned before, is important in signaling to the reader that these terms and concepts are important, but I think that a little more consistency in how that information is signaled could possibly benefit readers in helping them keep track of these terms and concepts. The more consistent a text is in signaling important concepts, the easier it is for students to go back and refer to them for more study.

Modularity rating: 4

I do think that one drawback of this textbook is that there is not much color, along with the fact that there are long sections of black text on white background. I have found other open textbooks to be a little more visually engaging, and I think that this textbook could have benefited from that a bit, especially since the content is solid. Because of the lack of visual engagement, I do think that the long sections of black text on white background with few graphics, images, etc. could be overwhelming and possibly create a boring experience for readers - not all will want to have the discipline to keep themselves engaged in reading such a long, uniform text.

I think this text has great organization. Just from the chapter and section titles, it is clear that the authors took into careful consideration students' very real concerns and worries that they have when they start to enter the world of college writing. I think the fact that the textbook is under 100 pages also helps in not having the text be overwhelming to an unmanageable point for the reader. I have seen one open textbook that was over 500 pages, which I think would be a turn-off for the student reader. I think that how this textbook is organized by phrases that students use, such as "correctness" in writing really makes it effectively inviting for them.

I had zero problems navigating this textbook, which is definitely a strength there. Thanks to its clear organization, navigating around this textbook is simple and accessible. I did not have any problems with the links, and in fact, I found them very useful that again, I found tapped into students' real concerns - for instance, in Chapter 9, how employers hesitate to hire - or might not hire at all - prospective employees who write with incorrect grammar. I think this is a challenge for teachers to address, too, by the way - so often, professors are encouraged to consider grammar as the least area of concern, when in reality, it might make or break a hiring chance.

I did not find any grammatical errors in this text.

To be honest, I found one of the opening lines of the textbook to be a bit insensitive to diverse academic backgrounds. This line was, "You may have performed so well in high school that you're deemed fully competent in college level writing and are now excused from taking a composition course" on page 1. I understand the author's point in trying to market the value and importance of good composition, which I think is done very well overall, but many students - especially first-year ones - come into class on the first day feeling very insecure already about their writing skills, and I'm not so sure that reading this opening line will help too much with that.

Overall, I think this textbook would make an excellent companion to the standard ENGL 111 and even ENGL 112 textbooks that we use in our English department, and that is only because the standard textbooks we use are really anthologies that contain literary or non-fiction pieces for the students to write about. This textbook reminded me very much of a popular book on writing that a professor at my undergraduate university referred me to when I started taking writing intensive courses, and it changed my outlook and confidence in my writing skills for the better. I think that this textbook could do the same for students beginning college and beyond.

Reviewed by Kevin Zepper, Professor, Minnesota State University System on 3/7/20

I appreciate Guptill's approach in this textbook. In the previous textbooks I've reviewed for my composition courses, I've never seen anything quite like the first two chapters in Writing In College. In the first chapter, "Really? Writing? Again?"... read more

I appreciate Guptill's approach in this textbook. In the previous textbooks I've reviewed for my composition courses, I've never seen anything quite like the first two chapters in Writing In College. In the first chapter, "Really? Writing? Again?" there's the justification for the new college student to adjust to more writing and seek improvement. Maybe this is something assumed or left unsaid, but Chapter one dishes out the reality of writing for students. Chapter Two, "What Does the Professor Want? Understanding the Assignment," is another important message left out of many of the writing texts I've examined. On a side note, I appreciate the explanation in the section regarding what a "professor does." The remaining chapters are all direct and focus on the positive aspects of developing a writing process.

After reading through the text twice, I feel the information is at least as accurate as other readers or college composition writing texts I've read in my twenty years of teaching. Given the audience, I feel the language is appropriate for incoming first-year students.

The reason I am rating this category a 4 is I was hoping for some sample essays as models for students. In my experience, some students learn new material in this fashion. Of course, there is the cost factor of selecting anything outside of the author's own contributions. (I would like to point out a typo on page fifteen, first line of the sentence. Shouldn't the word be "it" instead of "if?")

Writing doesn't change much. Philosophies of content and literary theories are added to on a regular basis. I feel Guptill's ebook is quite relevant given what's out there.

I never had the feeling that Guptill was trying reach beyond the first-students level of reading comprehension. For me, it was a reasonable fast read and manageable for creating assignments.

The appearance and layout appear reasonably uniform. Though not a deal breaker, the bold boxes did break up the text, but were distracting in some ways. I was hoping for quotes from experienced writers, tips on how to approached a specific issue, like free writing or revision. It's a small quibble!

In my personal opinion, this is an easy text to negotiate, simple to assign sections for further discussion through the writing process.

The chapters almost mirror the importance of each step in the process of writing. There is nothing I've read which deviates from the set chapters or content therein.

I read my download of Guptill's text on a fourth generation iPad. It was readily available t read through my iBooks app. There were no issues with the interface whatsoever.

(I would like to point out a typo on page fifteen, first line of the sentence. Shouldn't the word be "it" instead of "if?")

I didn't detect anything considered malicious or offensive.

I am seriously considering this as a text in future sections of composition. If I can feed a reader of some kind, hopefully open source, I would have the perfect combination to continue my next twenty years teaching college composition!

Reviewed by Bradley Hartsell, Adjunct English Professor, Emory & Henry College on 11/1/19

This textbook does a really good job of walking the reader (i.e. the student) through the process of writing effectively in higher education, starting with demystifying writing (which is sneakily really important; writing can often be perceived by... read more

This textbook does a really good job of walking the reader (i.e. the student) through the process of writing effectively in higher education, starting with demystifying writing (which is sneakily really important; writing can often be perceived by students and young writers as an imposing ivory tower, of sorts) and on through feet-on-the-ground strategies for improving writing (e.g. the three storied thesis is a great tidbit that can stick with students). The one thing slightly holding back the textbook's comprehensiveness is Chapter 9 is comparatively skimpy, trying to cram fundamental grammar lessons (e.g. 'affect' vs. 'effect'; 'definitely' vs. 'defiantly') into an otherwise bite-sized chapter, in a text that is ostensibly for high-level writing students who would've either already mastered these elements of grammar (reminders are helpful, sure, but a whole chapter seems superfluous) or should be reading a composition-focused textbook, not a rhetorical-based one.

The information is well-sourced, and to my eyes, is accurate and error-free. Some hyperlinks no longer work, but I feel that's more a relevant in the 'Interface' category than 'Accuracy.' The thing that slightly gives me pause is much of the first chapter characterizes an ideal professor, and while 'biased' feels too strong an accusation, it seems aimed to heavily prepare young writers for a particular, almost idyllic style of professor. I'm not sure of the better way of conveying this to a student (you certainly wouldn't portray an ambivalent or constricting professor), but Guptill's form in Chapter 1 does bring the issue of 'unbiased' into question.

Barring unforeseen shifts on language and our current understanding of written communication, this textbook seems relevant for quite some time. Again, however, the few out-of-date hyperlinks hurts the text's relevance. All of the in-text material, however, appears perfectly relevant, barring the glaring issue that the first two chapters are strangely miscast. Guptill demystifying writing and conveying the attitude of a modern professor works well rhetorically and philosophically, an effective motivational tool to the reader, but presumably, the professor assigning this book is having Guptill explain his or her own motivations and pedagogy, which would theoretically be conveyed by the professor themselves during class meetings and/or in their syllabus.

Guptill breaks down fairly loft ideas and ideals down to prose that's actually fairly accessible. End-of-chapter exercises do a good job of reframing the lessons in the corresponding chapter. I do wonder if some of the in-chapter exercises could be slightly more explained, like the three-story thesis lesson, for instance, does a good job, by using real examples, of building basic statements of fact (level 1) into more complex argumentative statements (level 2) and into the ultimate level (3) of assessment, analysis, and arguability. However, sometimes it's not totally clear what separates Level 2 from Level 3, besides more words. Despite this small critique, the text's clarity is one of its strongest qualities.

Each chapter settles into welcoming patterns of introduction, tiered pedagogies, examples, student testimonials, a graphic or two, and exercises. This being solely written by Guptill seems to be the reason for such strong consistency.

Well-broken down into digestible pieces in what is ultimately a very digestible, 85-page textbook. Clickable chapters in the index is convenient, plus the nature of Guptill's rhetoric means much of this book could be arranged in pretty malleable ways by the professor (i.e. Chapter 7 (Intros and Outros) this week, Chapter 3 (Constructing the Thesis and Argument) next week).

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

The strengths found in part in the textbook's modularity hurt it in its organization. Chapters 1 & 2 are well-placed but it's unclear Back to Basics: The Perfect Paragraph comes in at Chapter 6, after two chapters regarding sources, which themselves came over the thesis/argument chapter. Similarly, Chapter 9 being the grammar crash-course chapter feels slightly out of place and then the book ends all of the sudden with a (very) brief conclusion that still feels attached to the grammar chapter 9, and 3 exercises that feel like an afterthought. It feels like a more appropriate conclusion would restate the early chapters' demystification of writing and/or reflecting on the process of building theses and arguments.

The text is clean and unobstructed, with graphs/figures well-placed within the text. Again, the issues are with the hyperlinks, both the aforementioned broken links, but also, some of the links go to seeming-placeholder AAC&U/database pages that are likely to leave the reader feeling like they wasted time; not enough of the links/references link out to beefy articles/resources that could lead to further, relevant reading.

The textbook does not appear to contain any grammatical errors, not to my eye, at least.

Other than the odd footnote in the first chapter encouraging a sect of students to become tradespeople, Guptill's writing is middle of the road (though lively, not boring) and sensitive; the text's examples, while relevant, don't seem politically or socially-charged.

Overall, I appreciate the digestibility and the tenor of Guptill's book. As stated in the relevance category, it's not sure how a professor is supposed to assign the first couple of chapters; if I were a composition instructor (which I am), I don't know what my students get out reading Chapter 2: What a Professor Wants when I am the professor and I can just tell them. I really like this book in breaking down what makes effective theses, arguments, intros, and using sources, which is what I feel is the strongest part of this text. Like I said, the first 2 chapters are well-written and well-meaning but awkwardly, and I wonder about the linear progression of this book (it seems better served to be taught from out of order). And I wouldn't use this book as my composition, grammar-base, even for high-level writers. I find this textbook, ultimately, to be a good supplemental piece of a writing-intensive college course, but not to be used as a primary text.

Reviewed by Adam Pope, Assistant Professor, Writing Program Administrator, University of Arkansas on 11/1/19

The text covers the general gist of the writing process in a classroom in college. This text would be well-suited to a WID or WAC course where writing is simply a part of the class that needs some special guidance. The text works as a style manual... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

The text covers the general gist of the writing process in a classroom in college. This text would be well-suited to a WID or WAC course where writing is simply a part of the class that needs some special guidance. The text works as a style manual for writing in academic contexts and does this well. It doesn't serve well as a Writing Studies course textbook, but I don't think that was the intent of the author. Because of this I would say it does what it does very comprehensively, but it doesn't cover everything a Writing Studies book would.

The textbook is accurate in what it covers. It does not cover the field of Rhetoric and Composition's traditional stomping grounds, but instead focuses on providing a stylistic handbook to students of writing. The advice is internally consistent and stands upon sources that make sense in usage. It does not, however, interact with field-specific knowledge from writing studies. This is a practical choice, and the book stands alone just fine.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

This book is relevant to writing studies courses, though I would argue it is particularly useful for those teaching a WID or WAC approach. The text doesn't hew to traditional Rhetoric and Composition approaches, borrowing instead a form-based approach that treats writing as a schema that can be replicated and tweaked with formulas. While this can be effective to scaffold writing into a course that isn't within the realm of Rhetoric and Composition, I find the lack of engagement with Composition and Rhetorical theory to limit its use in a classic writing studies application. This lack, however, makes it a stronger fit for an instructor looking to add writing to their course without learning the terms of Rhetoric and Composition.

The book is clearly written. The author distinguishes between sources, original text, ideas, and suggestions very well. The formatting the text uses allows lists and other examples to pop out visually. The text is very direct and plainly written for a student audience and doesn't convey a sense of superiority or putting on airs.

Sections are consistent. The text references itself and other ideas on a regular basis, creating a unified whole that functions as a single book rather than a collection of articles and essays that happen to belong in the same binding. This shared vision is effective, though the downside is that the sections all speak to a larger focus on the goals of the book. This is not a choose your own adventure text. It is a very specific way to teach writing.

The text has a useful level of modularity if you wish to cover the major ideas of the author. However, the particular sections don't have a navigational hierarchy within them that leads to an easy transition between different sections. The sections are very much a single argument with sub-points rather than something that can be picked apart easily.

The book has a clear flow and directionality. It references its own flow and direction on a regular basis and is internally in conversation with its own ideas and structure. The structure moves from a simple introduction to more complex concerns and then closes with style. This is a normal move for a style manual or writing manual, a category I would apply to this particular text.

Some links do not work and result in a dead end. The lack of sub-sections within the major chapters is problematic for easy access to new areas, especially for folks with limited access to scrolling, such as those using a screen reader.

The text is clear, functional, and has no issues I find.

This text is not culturally offensive in my reading. It focuses entirely on the cultural migration from high school to college and focuses on the need to understand the culture of college courses and the way that academics and faculty work.

This is a very interesting book that tackles writing from the angle of a style guide or writing manual rather than a rhetorical text that one would find in a Rhetoric and Composition program. The text mirrors treatises on style and writing like Strunk and White and other classics such as They Say/I Say. While it would not be my first choice for a Composition course, I think it has a great potential to bridge writing for students in a WID or WAC setting where writing needs to be covered in a clear and direct way.

Reviewed by Lucas Street, Director of the Reading/Writing Center and Instructor of English, Augustana College on 7/31/19

For a slim, 84-page text, Writing In College is indeed comprehensive. Guptill provides practical, student-centered advice on transitioning from high-school writing to college writing. Yet this advice is couched in context, both theoretical and... read more

For a slim, 84-page text, Writing In College is indeed comprehensive. Guptill provides practical, student-centered advice on transitioning from high-school writing to college writing. Yet this advice is couched in context, both theoretical and experiential. Guptill wants students to know the “why” behind academic writing, even when that “why” isn’t necessarily flattering to the genre. I expect her honesty will give this text credibility among students and faculty alike.

Writing In College doesn’t pretend to be a compendium of every possible academic genre. It focuses on only one: the academic argumentative essay, as assigned in and written for undergraduate courses around the U.S. Each step of the process is covered here: from understanding the assignment to putting the finishing touches on sentence-level edits.

Unfortunately, the book provides no index or glossary.

Guptill’s text has a strong basis in writing theory, from seminal theorists like Peter Elbow and Joseph Williams to more recent scholarship from AAC&U. She also leans on contemporary cognitive theorists like Daniel Kahneman. And as a sociologist as well as writing instructor, Guptill brings a strong WAC background to her text.

The text is very up-to-date, referencing Google and Wikipedia extensively in the “Secondary Sources…” chapter, comparing them to academic databases, and advising students how they are and aren’t useful. I also appreciated how some of the end-of-chapter activities ask students to put online essay mills to the test by evaluating the samples found there.

However, while I appreciate the number of hyperlinks included in the text, I imagine it will take some doing to make sure they’re updated as websites come and go in years to come.

The prose is very student-friendly: breezy, conversational, but not dumbed-down in the slightest. It’s enjoyable to read and not at all dry. Guptill frequently includes "personal experience" sidebars from five very diverse student writers, whom she credits as co-authors. Jargon is always explained. The tone is pitched just right to engage students.

This is a single-author text (except for the "student experience" sidebars mentioned above), so it’s very unified.

Chapters are short (8-10 pages each), self-contained, and include section headings. Although these chapters do refer (and link) to each other, they can be assigned and read independently. In my composition classes, I did assign all nine chapters, since none seemed superfluous.

The book is very well-organized, providing a logical, pedagogically sound progression from higher-order concerns like thesis construction to lower-order concerns (“Getting the Mechanics Right”).

As mentioned above, the text contains numerous links (3+ per page). All footnote citations also link to the sources online. Other than some charts and diagrams, though, the layout is fairly barebones. Images might have been nice to include--although they could have also cluttered things. Both the PDF version and online version are easy to read, with attractive typefaces and layout.

Grammatical Errors rating: 3

There are a handful of typos and a few major errors, including at least two comma splices. I also noticed some minor punctuation issues such as an occasional missing hyphen, comma, or apostrophe.

The text is culturally sensitive. The five students from whom Guptill solicited quotations about the writing process seem a diverse group.

Writing in College demystifies the most important elements of college writing via useful heuristics and a highly readable, accessible (and at times cheeky) style. Guptill’s slim text helps students new to academic writing avoid common pitfalls.

I’ve assigned the entire text in my composition classes this year and it’s worked well as a student-friendly guide to not only the “how” but the “why” of academic writing.

Reviewed by Cleatta Morris, Instructor, LSUS on 4/11/19, updated 5/6/19

The book takes a refreshing, atypical approach to freshman rhetoric and composition. It’s neither a writing handbook nor a reader and doesn’t pretend to be. Instead, it gives practical advice to new college students on how good writing can help... read more

The book takes a refreshing, atypical approach to freshman rhetoric and composition. It’s neither a writing handbook nor a reader and doesn’t pretend to be. Instead, it gives practical advice to new college students on how good writing can help them throughout their college careers and beyond. It explores the expectations that college professors have of their students before moving on to the fundamentals of academic writing beyond the five-paragraph essay. The book offers footnotes, hyperlinks to sources and supplemental readings, and clear examples throughout. It also offers two or three exercises at the end of each chapter. It does not contain an index or a glossary. An index would be useful, however. This book is an interesting way to help students understand the importance of developing their critical thinking and writing skills, but it’s not as comprehensive as it could be. It could touch on more than one pattern of organization, and it could use more examples and more exercises, particularly in the last two chapters; faculty must depend on handbooks and supplemental readings to serve as writing models.

The book seems unbiased and accurate in its approach to the subject matter, college-level writing. On the downside, it contains an uncited quote from a television series and at least one dead hyperlink.

The sources are fairly up-to-date (most 2007 or newer). The topic doesn’t call for constant revisions except for those areas that intersect with online technology, and the book could be revised easily enough.

The book is accessible to its audience; the tone is conversational without being too informal. The student anecdotes add to the accessibility.

The text is consistent in its approach, tone, and layout.

The chapters are fairly short, have clear headings, and are fairly self-contained. The instructor would have no trouble assigning chapters or even parts of a chapter as needed.

While I might have organized the text slightly differently, the author’s approach works fine.

There are no issues with the book’s interface/appearance.

The text contains numerous grammatical and mechanical errors: a spelling error, a redundancy, multiple sentence fragments (semicolon issues), and agreement errors. The author doesn’t see the pronoun-antecedent errors as an issue, however; she explains her preference for using they/their with a singular subject in a section about gendered language. I suspect she has a similar attitude toward her use of semicolons and sentence fragments.

The text is culturally sensitive and straightforward.

The first three chapters are the strongest and most relevant to freshmen-level writing students. They discuss the importance of clear written communication and explain the differences between high school- and college-level writing. Chapters four and five are good for addressing multiple aspects of outside sources. Chapters six, eight, and nine are the weakest: they skim the surface of grammatical and mechanical issues and could be eliminated without undercutting the rest of the text.

Reviewed by Chris Werry, Associate Professor, San Diego State University on 3/27/19

This textbook provides a broad and welcoming introduction to academic writing. It is an excellent general introduction to academic culture and composition, containing smart tips for thinking about why professors assign writing, how they tend to... read more

This textbook provides a broad and welcoming introduction to academic writing. It is an excellent general introduction to academic culture and composition, containing smart tips for thinking about why professors assign writing, how they tend to evaluate it, and how students should approach writing in a university context. The comprehensiveness of the text is a definite strength, and I imagine many students could profit greatly from reading this before coming to university. Depending on the class you are teaching, it could also be a potential limitation. For example, there is little on the specifics of argument analysis. That may not matter if argument analysis is not a focus of the class being taught.

Accuracy and formatting are excellent.

Because the text is a general introduction to writing and academic culture it is likely to age well. It also covers broad areas such as understanding what professors want, decoding assignments, constructing a thesis, finding and managing sources, etc., that are likely to remain current for a long time.

The writing is consistently clear, engaging, and inviting. It includes many comments by students. These are invaluable. They provide excellent tips and are very reassuring.

Terms, categories and concepts are consistent.

The page design of this textbook is simple but strong. Many chapters are also self-contained and so could be mixed and matched. There are sections on academic culture and expectations, constructing a thesis and argument, sources, pargraphing, building an introduction and conclusion, cohesion and clarity, and mechanics. A student who wanted to focus on one of these areas could easily read a chapter without needing to have read all the preceeding ones.

The text moves from introductory sections on academic culture, differences between writing in academic contexts and high school, to constructing a thesis and argument, managing sources, pargraphing, building an introduction and conclusion, and tackling cohesion clarity, and mechanics. This is a useful organizational structure for a general guide to academic writing.

The textbook is easy to navigate.

No grammatical errors.

The references are fine. A number are from sociology ( the author's home discipline). Again, a major strength are the reflections, tips and observations from students that are woven into each chapter.

I was particularly impressed by the sections at the start that help students understand why writing matters, its intellectual value, its relationship to critical thinking, professional success, and to academic development. This was inviting, instructive and motivating (it could easily have been hectoring). I also enjoyed the section explaining differences between writing in high school and university, and the section explaining academic culture and glimpse into professor's training and approaches to writing.

Reviewed by Jane Garrard, Dr. Jane Garrard, Professor, Chemeketa Community College on 2/4/19

The text is extremely comprehensive and extensively covers all the major areas in college writing, such as research writing, critical thinking, and mechanics, just to name a few. After each thorough and easy to understand chapter, there are... read more

The text is extremely comprehensive and extensively covers all the major areas in college writing, such as research writing, critical thinking, and mechanics, just to name a few. After each thorough and easy to understand chapter, there are relevant follow up exercises that are interesting and require both comprehension and application.

From my experience as a college writing professor for seventeen years, the text is both thorough and accurate. It covers the main and most important areas in writing. Nothing was omitted and it all rang true.

It was definitely current and relevant. It wasn't too dated, and it addressed topics of relevance in the introduction, such as Facebook and texting. It also made the immediate point that learning to write will help students in various facets of their lives.

The text was well- written and easy to understand. The jargon was appropriate for the college reader. Explaining some of the terminology, such as literature review and peer review, was quite helpful, so that students are familiar with all the relevant terms.

The text was internally consistent. There were no noticeable variations in terminology and framework.

The text was structured in a way that was easy to follow and made sense. After wading through a couple chapters, I knew what to expect going forward. There was definitely comfort in its predictability. Each chapter contained just enough information. It was informative without being overwhelming.

The topics were definitely arranged in a logical, clear fashion that made sense. The mechanics section, however, might be placed closer to the front of the book.

The only thing that I found difficult was that the text was small. I would have liked to have seen it larger with more spacing .

There was no mechanical errors that I could detect.

There was nothing that was culturally insensitive as far as I could tell, nothing that I would deem offensive. It seemed pretty objective.

I liked that the book was packed with useful and relevant information. I particularly liked the follow up exercises at the end of each chapter which encourage students to think critically and become more interactive in terms of their own learning. I also enjoyed the section on what professors want. That would definitely pique student interest.

Reviewed by Elizabeth Stearns, Lecturer, The Ohio State University at Newark on 6/19/18

One of the strengths of this text is its thoughtful treatment of specific elements of the writing process, but it is not as comprehensive as other writing textbooks. Chapter 3, for example, discusses how to craft a complex, compelling thesis... read more

One of the strengths of this text is its thoughtful treatment of specific elements of the writing process, but it is not as comprehensive as other writing textbooks. Chapter 3, for example, discusses how to craft a complex, compelling thesis statement using a “three-story” model, and this is certainly something that developing writers will find helpful. However, there isn’t a discussion of the pre-thesis stages of the writing process that writers can use to *arrive* at a thesis. In many college classes, students are given prompts asking them to develop arguments that demonstrate mastery of a particular concept or subject, and so the very process of taking the course may supply the opportunities for preliminary thinking required to formulate a thesis. However, Guptill says that the textbook “is well suited to composition courses or first-year seminars” (“About the Book”). As a first-year composition instructor, I find that many of my students aren’t sure about how to find a suitable topic and work their way toward discovering what they think about it, so more guidance on these early stages would be a welcome addition. On pp. 11-12, Guptill does discuss briefly how free-writing can be a useful strategy to try after receiving an assignment, and I would like more of this kind of material.

That said, the textbook does a great job of providing practical and helpful guidance on the writing elements it covers, including the thesis statement, introductions and conclusions, paragraph structure, how to handle college-level research, and considerations of style and mechanics. Also helpful are the introductory chapters that give students a broader view of the role writing plays in the academic world and what professors expect of their students’ writing.

As I read the textbook, I did not come across any sections where I questioned the accuracy of the guidance being offered.

The writing advice, tools, and examples that Guptill offers in the text probably won’t expire any time soon. Her guidance on using electronic databases and navigating resources like Google Scholar would only need updating if the technology, or means of accessing it, changes, but there doesn’t seem to be much danger of this in the very near future. If changes are required, I think that they would be easy to implement. One nice feature of the textbook is that the provided examples showcase effective instances of writing across a variety of topics that won’t become outdated. For example, rather than referencing examples from current popular culture, Guptill includes excerpts from essays and books on broad topics such as “the cold fusion controversy of the 1980s” (ch. 6), embodied cognition, and 12th-century theologian Peter Abelard (ch. 7). I think that these are representative of the types of topics students might encounter in a college classroom and are more accessible than examples in other writing textbooks that I’ve read.

No complaints here. The writing is very accessible and would, I think, strike students as friendly. Guptill writes clearly, modeling the style that she advocates students adopt.

Each chapter of the text focuses on a key feature of college-level writing and can be used separately. In addition to this helpful modularity, there are some ideas reinforced in multiple chapters. For example, Guptill stresses the importance of students approaching their writing tasks consciously and taking an active role in the learning process. Another thread is the comparison between how students might have approached writing prior to college (namely the “five-paragraph essay”), and how Guptill is proposing students approach higher-level writing assignments. This is helpful because it draws from the knowledge students already have while showing them new ways of thinking.

As I read the textbook, I had thoughts like, “Oh, this chapter would be a nice supplement when I teach introductions and conclusions.” The textbook could be used on its own or employed as an accompaniment to other texts, either as a whole or in chapters. There are instances where the text refers to something from an earlier chapter, but these references aren’t so numerous or essential that lacking the earlier sections would impede a reader’s understanding.

The textbook is well organized and arranged logically. I like that the chapter on introductions and conclusions follows the chapter on paragraphs, since this reflects the order that I use when I teach these components. The only critique that I have is what I mentioned in the first part of this review, that I would have liked to see a much lengthier discussion of pre-thesis brainstorming and idea-development strategies.

I did not encounter any difficulties navigating or using the text. All the links that I clicked on worked.

I noted only a few instances (5 or so) of small errors, primarily sentences that were missing minor words. Also, there is one paragraph excerpt that is supposed to have parts emboldened, but doesn’t (p. 53).

This text does not have any problems with cultural insensitivity and I don’t think that readers would find any aspects of it offensive. There is an assumption that the primary audience has recently graduated from high school, which might be a bit problematic for non-traditional students. I have one admittedly picky little issue with a sentence on page 5: “By the end of high school you probably mastered many of the key conventions of standard academic English such as paragraphing, sentence-level mechanics, and the use of thesis statements.” I understand that this phrasing is in line with the overarching concept of the textbook, which is that it’s helping move students from “competence” to “excellence.” However, I think that many competent first-year writing students would not identify with the suggestion that they’ve “mastered” anything about writing. This is the only instance where this type of phrasing appears, but it comes early in the text, and might make some students feel a bit inadequate. Like I said, I’m being picky!

I like the presentation of ideas in this textbook and think that students would find the concepts, illustrations, and examples useful. I think that I could pull chapters from it to supplement other materials, and that it would provide students with helpful overviews of topics that I cover in class. Periodically, there appears advice and encouragement from students who contributed to the textbook, and this provides positive sentiments of “you’re not alone, writing IS challenging” that readers might find reassuring.

Reviewed by Chad Judkins, Adjunct Professor of English, Portland Community College on 8/15/17

I think this is a wonderful little book for teaching writing, since it delivers what is so rare in writing texts: well-lived context. It gives the students perspective and a holistic view of what they need to accomplish in writing, and it does it... read more

I think this is a wonderful little book for teaching writing, since it delivers what is so rare in writing texts: well-lived context. It gives the students perspective and a holistic view of what they need to accomplish in writing, and it does it with simplicity, brevity, and wit.

The entire book is only 91 pages, which makes it easy to digest. It will work as an excellent metacognitive text for a writing course, although it will need to be supplemented with more examples of good essays and a rhetorical guide that discusses persuasion, logic, and writing for different audiences. There are, however, links to resources at the end of every chapter that can be found online. This book also does a fine job of discussing writing as a student and for academic purposes and greatly helps to contextual that unique position.

Like the commonly used _They Say, I Say_ (Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, (New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2009), this book offers students a look at "how writing works" in college and academic life and it encourages them to enter the conversation. The main advantage in this book is that it is a bit faster to read than TS/IS, but it is not so comprehensive in terms of offering templates for the students to use. Instead, it is a more perspective-based text, which offers advice on the key areas of thesis, paragraph structure, punctuation, and other requirements to do well in college and in writing critically. The two books could be easily used together, in whole or as excerpts.

One of the other big advantages to this book is its tone: it is friendly, humorous, and down to earth. It favors the practicality of "what do I have to do to succeed" that students tend to use in approaching college courses and it addresses why writing is something that matters in their lives. It also clarifies why students need to think for themselves in their writing and explains how universities favor individual thought over regurgitation and repetition. It has a kind, but no nonsense approach that will appeal to students and keep them reading it, even if they don't have to.

The text itself is also a good example of academic writing for students, implementing quotations, footnotes, and other citations throughout its text in a way that is less evident among other textbooks. As a result, it can be studied as an example of style on its own.

The content is accurate and error-free, with the exception of some hyperlinks that do not function. The material can generally be found with a Google search, however, so it's not critical.

Overall, I find the analysis of writing and argument to be well written, accurate, and timely. For a 91-page textbook, this is very well done. It is true that more could be added to the examples, but that is something an instructor can supplement on their own.

The content here is up to date and should endure for at least a decade, and probably longer, as long as expectations for writing in college courses remain the same.

This book is very clearly written. Clarity and brevity are its main advantage, along with the pleasant tone and humor.

This book is very consistent in its presentation of material, its accuracy, and its general framework.

It would be very easy to use this modularly, and in fact the first chapter is something that I think will apply in nearly every college course, since it offers writing advice at the same time as it introduces students to the expectations of the college environment. The later chapters on thesis statements, punctuation, etc, can also be excerpted and used as modules.

The overall organization is very good. It begins with a broad explanation of the conceptual underpinnings of the college environment, moves into an explanation of why writing is important in academics and in life, and then proceeds through relevant subareas.

Included throughout are excerpts from student contributors, authors, and other relevant material that provide insight into the topics under consideration.

The only issue is the occasional broken hyperlink, but it is minor.

The text contains no apparent grammatical errors.

Cultural relevancy is high, since it is a good introduction to college itself. It applies equally to every student. It is, of course, targeted at American universities and written from that perspective, but this is not something that can be faulted, since that is where it is going to be used.

Overall, an excellent gem of a little book. I put it right up there with many of the other compact introductory guides to college writing and college expectations.

Reviewed by Laura Beadling, Associate Professor, Youngstown State University on 6/20/17

The book does a really thorough job of discussing working with sources. The chapter on thesis statements was also very good. Later in the book, there is a "Back to Basics" section which could have either been eliminated (since this book assumes... read more

The book does a really thorough job of discussing working with sources. The chapter on thesis statements was also very good. Later in the book, there is a "Back to Basics" section which could have either been eliminated (since this book assumes competence) or could have been expanded (to offer support to students who still need to work on some of these topics - introductions, paragraphing, etc.). There is no discussion of genre or different kinds of research writing. No index included.

Text is accurate, error-free, and unbiased.

The majority of links still work, but I found 10 or15 that were dead. I imagine this will be a continuing problem. There is also some discussion of social media, which will have to be checked to maintain relevance.

Very readable without being simplistic or overly complex for undergraduates. Accessible and engaging. Good use of examples and details throughout.

Very consistent throughout.

I think this book is extremely modular and would be easy to use various parts and chapters in a stand-alone manner. The chapters on working with sources could be useful in a variety of writing contexts, as could the chapter on thesis statements. The chapter on understanding assignments could also be very useful in a variety of courses.

The structure mirrors the writing process, which would make it useful in a course with several writing projects or one longer research project.

Very easy to navigate. Images and charts were readable. Nice interface overall.

No grammatical errors that I saw. Very clear and engaging prose.

The book emphasized the need for care in writing about and researching various groups.

This book does assume that the student is competent in writing, and thus would not be a good choice for a beginning or remedial course.

Reviewed by Ellen Polansky, Adjunct Instructor, First Year Writing, Rhode Island College on 4/11/17

This text might be well suited to first year writing seminars (typically writing intensive courses taught by faculty from the disciplines). For a straight-up first year writing class that isn’t anchored in a thematic or disciplinary area, however,... read more

This text might be well suited to first year writing seminars (typically writing intensive courses taught by faculty from the disciplines). For a straight-up first year writing class that isn’t anchored in a thematic or disciplinary area, however, it might serve as a solid complement to other teaching materials that cover a wider array of genres, conventions and rhetorical practices.

The author presents college as a time for students to shed fixed ideas about their perceived weaknesses. This book offers simple strategies that put many students’ earlier experiences into this new context. Amy Guptill demonstrates eloquence when she explains how certain familiar concepts -when used in a college writing context-- take on more nuance and therefore deserve a second, deeper look.

One strength is the book's emphasis on presenting strategies for college level writing while also reminding student readers that no model or framework will fit every writing situation.

Accuracy seems fine.

The author thoughtfully takes into account the range of issues college writers may bring to their courses. Hyperlinks to on-line resources that reinforce or extend the material in the text are used frequently. Many of these websites - especially those linking to college writing program sites -- appear to be maintained and kept current. The text focuses primarily on "standard" written essays with less attention paid to new genres of writing such as blog posts and multi modal formats.This is something that could be updated at some point.

The author addresses students directly with a reassuring, no nonsense (sometimes self-effacing) voice. Student voices interpreting or re-framing the material are sprinkled throughout the text. This is a nice touch as it offers reassurance to novice college writers while reinforcing concepts.

While the explanations are often clearly and efficiently worded, the written examples are sometimes based on topics that are too technical or arcane. As a result, a student reader might get caught up doing the work of figuring out the content rather than absorbing the concept being illustrated. One can imagine many student readers becoming intimidated by the written examples and then tuning out.

The author introduces terminology and sticks with it to reinforce concepts throughout the book.

Many chapters stand alone without needing to refer to preceding or following sections. Chapter and section titles model how to grab the reader’s attention. (“Listening to Sources, Talking to Sources”) Chapters and sections offer an engaging twist on what may seem like familiar concepts to novice college writers (i.e. “Some sources are better than others”).

The chapters and sections are ordered strategically. Sentence level concerns come towards the end of the book while the notion of academic writing as entering a conversation comes first. This sends an important message to beginning college writers that mechanics are legitimate concerns, but the bigger shift they will see in college involves the more global aspects of their writing.

Some hyperlinks are perfectly curated to enrich or expand the chapter content. Others might send a student reader off on a confusing or possibly irrelevant detour. Good links are those that connect to online writing resources that explain new concepts such as “meta discourse.”

The author has clearly taken great care since this is a writing text!

While the intended readership seems to be wide ranging and inclusive, some of the writing examples - while not in any sense offensive or insensitive -- could be a bit more inclusive.

This text offers a nice take on a vexing concern for both students and instructors alike: building strong revision habits. The author devotes a chapter to making a strong case for revising rough drafts. She carefully describes how writing and thinking are intertwined and also how precision (rather than elegance) should be the goal for academic writing. Most importantly, she provides a useful framework for students to use as they take a second look at their writing.

Reviewed by Jenfier Kurtz, Associate Professor, Virginia Western Community College on 2/8/17

This text offers a nice overview of the basics that writers need to consider when developing college level essays. The chapter on analyzing an assignment offers a useful discussion of the different types of writing that may be requested from... read more

This text offers a nice overview of the basics that writers need to consider when developing college level essays. The chapter on analyzing an assignment offers a useful discussion of the different types of writing that may be requested from students, examining terms such as analyze and critical thinking. The chapter on developing an effective thesis statement which focuses nicely on a thesis driven essay as a type of argument. Beyond the explanations of concepts, the book also includes some exercises that give students an opportunity to apply the concepts. These exercises dive into some depth, asking students to truly engage with the concepts rather than the easy types of comprehension questions often found at the end of chapters.

This information seems not only accurate and error-free but open-minded in its discussion of the techniques needed for effective college level writing. All borrowed information is borrowed from reputable sources with clear credit to the sources provided through footnotes.

The content is not only up to date, but written in a way that it remains relevant despite MLA updates or other changes. The topics are covered from a concepts focus, discussing the overall concepts needed for effective writing. The section on using sources does refer specifically to academic articles from databases, but does so in a way that eliminates the need for changes if database formats change.

This book is a bit text-heavy, with lengthy paragraphs for the explanation. While this does offer clear context for the content (and does avoid unnecessary jargon) there is value in conciseness. Sometimes the explanations take on more of a second person reference that I prefer, with statements such as "If you suspect that you're in a quoting rut, try out some new ways of incorporating sources" (45). While this is useful information, it can be confusing to students who are being taught to avoid the second person in their essays.

This text remains consistent in its format and organization. The use of terms is consistent, and the tone (which is rather casual and conversational) is consistent throughout.

The text does seem like it could be broken into sections and/or used piece-meal if an instructor so desired. Each chapter can function as a stand alone feature, which makes this a text that can be used section by section throughout a course.

Each chapter stands alone, yet is also organized in a manner that flows logically from the first chapter, which talks about the role of writing in academic and work pursuits, to the final chapter, which reviews the importance of correctness in writing.

I had no difficulty navigating the text, and found that the presentation of the content on the page was familiar. There were no distracting features, although there are a few links that could become problematic in terms of maintaining access to the linked pages.

I noticed no glaring grammatical errors within the text. However, I did not read it specifically seeking grammatical errors.

This book offers references and quotes from a variety of texts. This makes the content all inclusive, avoiding any specific cultural of racial bias. The textual references are related to general concepts from history, science, and literature. These should remain relevant for a long time.

Overall, this is a well structured and comprehensive book that can assist students as they write college level essays. It is not specifically focused on "English" types of content, and thus can be a resources for a variety of courses.

Reviewed by Kimberly Fahle, Coordinator of Writing Services, Virginia Wesleyan College on 2/8/17

This text covers a lot of important topics related to college writing. The background on higher education generally was an interesting and helpful background not found in many other writing or composition textbooks. One area that I felt this text... read more

This text covers a lot of important topics related to college writing. The background on higher education generally was an interesting and helpful background not found in many other writing or composition textbooks. One area that I felt this text lacked, however, was a discussion of rhetorical situation and genre. Concepts such as audience, medium/mode, purpose and genre are key to my writing pedagogy, but weren't covered in the text. While the text lacked in those areas, the discussion of organization, argument, and source use was very thorough and helpful. Drawing on Graff and Birkenstein's They Say/I Say provided an excellent framework for students to approach the use of secondary sources.

The content of this book is accurate and adheres to the principles of writing and writing pedagogy central to the field of composition.

The text is up-to-date and has potential for longevity in terms of helping students complete traditional essays. One area not covered in the text which may negatively impact its longevity is its complete privileging of traditional alphabetic texts to the exclusion of multimodal composition, which is becoming more and more prevalent in college courses across the curriculum.

The language of this text is very clear and engaging. The tone is friendly, yet still authoritative. It seems ideal for incoming college students.

The tone and structure of this text is consistent, creating a very coherent text.

This text makes good use of subheadings, blocks, and boxes to support clarity and engagement. The only thing that might make the text more successful in this area is the use of visuals.

The organization of this text is logical and effective. I particularly appreciated the placement of sections related to grammar placed at the end of the text with an accompanying explanation of why it was there within the text and how this relates to a successful college writing process.

The interface is easy to use, but hyperlinks within the table of contents and within each page to subsections would be helpful.

Not only does this text appear to be free of grammar errors, it has a nuanced and thoughtful discussion of grammar and debates over "correctness" that I believe is important for a college composition course.

In terms of cultural relevance, I appreciated the discussion of gendered language and issues to consider relating to it. One aspect missing from this discussion, however, was issues of gender identity and pronoun preference. I also appreciated the discussion of informal and formal language and its relation to background, identity, and class.

The excerpts from students found in each chapter were a great mechanism for students to get the perspective of other students, not just teachers and "experts."

Reviewed by Mary Boyes, Assistant Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University Honors College on 2/8/17

This text does not seem to be designed as a rhetoric manual or handbook, rather it is a general introduction to any kind of college/academic writing. This text would be a great companion resource for composition courses but is not comprehensive... read more

This text does not seem to be designed as a rhetoric manual or handbook, rather it is a general introduction to any kind of college/academic writing. This text would be a great companion resource for composition courses but is not comprehensive enough to stand alone. This text would also be ideal for summer institutes or “bridge” classes. As an introduction to college writing, the text is comprehensive. The text does not have an index or glossary, which would be useful.

This text appears to be unbiased and accurate. The author goes out of her way to be inclusive in her examples of student's backgrounds.

This text is relevant and up-to-date. Guptill includes references to technology and social media that are contemporary. Guptill’s links and sources are also current and relevant. Because the text is hyper-linked, the text will require frequent updates/checks on those links. Some of those links are already broken. The chapters covering research will also bear scrutiny over time as how we find sources (via databases or Google Scholar) is likely to change.

The book is written in a clear, conversational style with students as the intended audience. All terminology and jargon are more than adequately explained.

Tone, terminology, and logical framework are all very consistent in this text. Guptill builds from the idea of finding something to write about/figuring out assignments to addressing the actual structure of writing. Guptill's style and the content she addresses in each section is very patterned and clear.

Modularity rating: 3

This is the weakest area for this text. While the sections of this book are clearly organized with headings and sections, the layout and design of the text could be improved upon greatly. The book’s arrangement is very text heavy with few graphics and illustrations. Even though the writing is super clear and accessible, students who are used to accessing information via the web, may find the walls of a text a bit daunting. Additionally, some of the hyperlinks could use more contextualization/instruction so that students aren't just wandering off the page to marginally relevant sources.

Again, Guptill's style and structure is logical. An instructor could easily follow Guptill's organization or could jump around the text without any trouble. Because each section focuses on a specific skill set---creating clear paragraphs, for instance--an instructor could easily use this book as a whole or in parts.

There were no interface issues in the PDF or the online version. I did not try to the ePub version, so I cannot speak to that. The book would benefit from having an interactive glossary and index.

This text contains no significant errors in grammar, except where intended to illustrate poor grammar. There are a couple of typos, though.

Guptill's text is culturally sensitive and inclusive. She addresses how geographic and cultural backgrounds can effect writing and speaks to the ways that students can identify and avoid "nonstandard" or informal English in their writing.

I am definitely going to include this book as a companion text for my research writing course. Guptill's sections on writing paragraphs and getting mechanics right are especially inviting and clear. Additionally, the length of this book is spot on. Students don't want a 300-page tome, they need this kind of pocket guide to get started. I appreciate how Guptill truly kept her audience in mind when she created this book.

Reviewed by Rachel Morgan, Instructor , University of Northern Iowa on 2/8/17

Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence is an excellent supplemental text to a freshman writing course. In nine chapters, the book covers expected material from a first-year writing course: expectations of college writing, evaluation of... read more

Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence is an excellent supplemental text to a freshman writing course. In nine chapters, the book covers expected material from a first-year writing course: expectations of college writing, evaluation of research, incorporation and utilization of research, a focus on cohesion and mechanics. The book approaches the student as a "junior scholar joining the academic community," and takes great care focusing on clarity and concision, including chapters on improving topic sentences and theses. The text engages contemporary college students, understanding that OWL Purdue, Google Scholar, and even Wikipedia are part of the conversation in a current composition classroom. Overall, the book delivers on its promise to take the well-prepared high school student and introduce the student to introductory college writing.

A great benefit of the book is its hyperlinks, which link to academic articles, AAC&U rubrics and commissioned studies. In regards to teaching college writing, the book shows both adherence to time-tested standards of practice (attention to mechanics, organization, and fluency), yet it incorporates a contemporary conversation that addresses writing as a skill employers are seeking and the need for a new college student to learn discipline specific writing.

"They Say / I Say" and "The Nuts of Bolts of College Writing" are two contemporary, popular texts that introduce college writing and research in plain speak, and "Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence" references both these texts and appears very much to translate the college-level writing assignment from professor to student in open and clear communication. Hyperlinks in the texts and footnotes (there are no end notes) take the student to relevant articles, studies, and information that support contemporary writing practices. The book's clear organization would allow for easy updates as necessary.

The book's use of graphic organizers and images create great clarity, and no doubt easily aid visual learners. Chapter 3, with images, debunks the shape of a traditional five-paragraph essay, and shows an essay, that through research, reveals more questions and answers, moving past the five-paragraph model. Chapter 4, "Secondary Sources in Their Natural Habitats" opens with a table that evaluates sources from academic journals to websites. The author understands students should see complex concepts, such as evaluating research, in several digestible formats.

The book's main concern is scaffolding the college writing experience to a new college student, and therefore does not first approach the subject of writing through terminology. For example, the first two chapters, respectively, outline the expectations of professors and students, and walk a student through developing and understanding a writing assignment. Standard terms are used to describe writing, but the book is more concerned with students using and mastering the task of writing rather than recognizing terminology. The framework of the book is extremely consistent and follows the pattern and organization typical of most composition handbooks.

Chapters such as "Listening to Sources, Talking to Sources" would make excellent out of class reading to accompany a lecture or activity on academic sources. Students who might need more guidance at the sentence-level will find the second half of the book helpful as it discusses common problems in writing such as comma usage and awkward word choice. This book is adaptable and could easily be included at various points in a typical composition course, but it could also be recommended independently as a resource for a student who needs more structured guidance.

From chapter to chapter, the book is extremely organized. Clear examples are provided, often in images and tables. Each chapter ends with a useful section of resources and exercises. Unlike more lengthy books, the exercises are curated and easily adapted for in or out of class use. Students should be able to navigate the text easily, particularly the last three chapters, which address issues like writing a more effective introduction or conclusion paragraph. Often the examples progress in a series of three, so the student can see which specific clauses or sentences improve a paragraph's cohesion or a thesis' development.

The text is easy to read, with the majority of hyperlinks being easy to navigate between outside material and returning to the text. However, a few links to publisher produced material or articles are broken. At 85 pages, the book is easy to digest and use as a reference. The images and graphic organizers, while not plentiful, are well-chosen, clear, and apt. The section on mechanics is easy to follow, marking its sentence examples as "informal" and "formal" as well as "incorrect" and "correct."

The text is largely free of grammatical errors, and shows good attention to editing and design.

The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. The examples used show a wide variety of subjects, scholarship, and time periods.

Reviewed by Keryn Neary, Adjunct Professor, Concordia University - Portland on 12/5/16

This book covers a wide range of topics addressed in the writing classroom in a way which is through and clear. The division of chapters to reflect the writing process works well for students moving from high school to college level writing. The... read more

This book covers a wide range of topics addressed in the writing classroom in a way which is through and clear. The division of chapters to reflect the writing process works well for students moving from high school to college level writing. The subject matter is clear and allows for direct connections. I really appreciated this text as I use They Say/I Say in the classroom, and this text made connections to that which I was able to highlight with my students.

I found this text to be accurate in the way that it address the subject matter. It followed conventions and pedagogies which are currently being taught in the writing classroom.

The material here is fairly standard and should be considered relevant for a long while.

The writing and examples provided are very clear and easily accessible to students. I tested a chapter of this book on a freshman level writing class and was very pleased with their understanding.

Throughout this text the writing is consistent and easy to navigate. The framework of the chapters is clear and terminology used is defined and easy to understand.

I was able to pull one chapter out of the whole in order to develop a lesson and it seemed that it would be easy to do that throughout this text. While the book works well as a whole, the division of chapters allows for teachers to adjust what would be needed with the particular group of writing students they're working with.

The flow of the text led clearly from one concept to the next in a logical fashion which reflected the writing process. As this is just one way to address the teaching of writing, and personally the way that I prefer, I found it very useful and clear, but I could see that with some methods of writing instruction the structure may not work as well. Nonetheless, this text offers chapters which could be easily reorganized to achieve a number of different goals.

Interfacing with this book worked very well and I found the text easy to navigate. The headings were clear, the few images in the text were easy to understand and the hyperlinks worked well.

Thankfully, as this is a book on writing, the grammar was spot on.

Writing is a way to bring equality to groups with diverse backgrounds. This text does not address issues in a way which would be considered offensive or insensitive and works to encourage students toward developing stronger academic writing skills.

I am looking forward to using this text with my future work with college writers. I was glad that my students reactive positively to the text when I tested it in class and really appreciated the connection to the text we were already using.

Reviewed by Anthony Edgington, Associate Professor, University of Toledo on 8/21/16

Overall, the text is good but could be improved on comprehension. The text is divided into chapters that model the writing process, making it easy for both students and teachers to use throughout a writing project. The text contains a good... read more

Overall, the text is good but could be improved on comprehension. The text is divided into chapters that model the writing process, making it easy for both students and teachers to use throughout a writing project. The text contains a good discussion of argument, offering specific examples and hypothetical situations to explore during classroom discussions. The text is also strong when it comes to discussions on research writing, devoting a few chapters to the topic and looking at research from multiple perspectives (though a stronger focus on researching in an online environment would be useful in the text). The book is not as strong when it comes to introducing students to genres, as the book leans to a "one size fits all" approach to writing at times. For programs that stress an awareness of genres, teachers will need to supplement the text with additional information. Finally, there is little information on writing in technological environments or a discussion of the importance of visual literacy in writing.

The text is highly accurate in the information presented on the writing process, research writing, argument, and other key areas. The citations offered are up to date and recognizable in the field of writing studies. The only concern is information presented on citation (i.e. MLA and APA) as this information undergoes rapid change at times (as of the writing of this review, the MLA has just announced sweeping changes in how sources will be cited in the future). Make sure that this information is continually up-to-date will be necessary going forward.

The content provided in the text is mostly up-to-date, with the aforementioned citation information the only major concern. The content provided is highly relevant and useful for a first year writing course and may be useful in a second semester research writing course as well. The course would not be as useful to an upper-level writing course, business or technical writing course, or WAC course. Information in the research chapters may need to be updated as new forms of sources and new citation methods emerge in the field.

The text is well written for a student audience; terms and ideas are clearly defined and examples are offered to help student writers understand the information. The book is text heavy (with little visual information) which could lead to a lack of attention or interest among students. The exercises offered at the end of the chapters are clear and understandable and help to reinforce the main points from the text. The book also uses bullets and numbering effectively to help organize the information presented.

The book is consistent in the information presented to readers. The structure of the text into chapters based on different areas of the writing process helps with this consistency. The vocabulary and tone of voice throughout the text is also consistent. The use of subheadings helps readers follow the organization within the text.

The text is well organized into clearly marked chapters that focus on separate, yet connected topics. One drawback is that the text is currently one PDF; having the chapters available as separate PDFs may help instructors to make better decisions on what to use from the book and may be easier to organize the book within the course. As currently designed, students will have to do a lot of scrolling through the text to find different chapters and/or topics. No self-referential material was noticed.

The book is organized well into chapters with subheadings. Chapter topics are clear and connect well to the field's views on the writing process. The book is not written in a way that will be confusing to teachers or students.

The text is mostly in a PDF format, so it is easy to navigate. Visual are clear and readable. The text includes hyperlinks to outside sources, which will be useful to teachers and students. The need to continually check hyperlinks for disabled or moved links will be necessary.

No significant grammar errors were noticed.

The text does not contain any apparent issues related to cultural insensitivity. Issues of race, ethnicity, gender etc are rarely discussed in the text, which can be seen as a possible problem, as the book does not discuss the social aspects of writing to a great extent.

Reviewed by Stephen Maley, Lecturer, University of Washington on 8/21/16

The text does not cover all of the topics included in most writing manuals or guides to college writing. Rather, it aims to cover those writing skills and practices that will enable students with a solid high school preparation to “join the... read more

The text does not cover all of the topics included in most writing manuals or guides to college writing. Rather, it aims to cover those writing skills and practices that will enable students with a solid high school preparation to “join the conversation” of academic research and writing.

The text does not include an index.

I found one error in the text. On page 53, a paragraph is revised to improve coherence, with “relevant parts emboldened.” But, in the relevant paragraph there was no bold typeface, either in the PDF or online version.

I did not find any political bias in the text.

The text is up-to-date. To illustrate the spreading usage of they/their for the third person singular pronoun, the text cites posting instructions from Facebook, ie, “write on their timeline.”

The text will likely need to be updated regularly to maintain relevance, and to update web links.

The text is easy to read. Terms like cohesion and coherence are explained and illustrated well.

The framework used throughout the text is that academic writing is part of a conversation. This framework is obvious in the title of Chapter 5: “Listening to Sources, Talking to Sources.” The first two chapters also fit into this framework as students are encouraged to ask for clarification from their professors if an assignment is not clear. The later chapters on writing organization and mechanics discuss the impression these have on readers, again fitting into the framework of a conversation.

I could imagine using any of the latter chapters on a stand-alone basis. The chapter on paragraph construction is particularly helpful for its concise explanation of topic sentences, cohesion, and coherence.

The text begins by addressing student motivations and possible misconceptions regarding college writing. The middle chapters explain how to engage with sources when writing a research paper. And the latter chapters explain principles of good writing.

All of the hyperlinks that I tried worked. The text includes no images or charts.

The only grammatical errors I found in the text were those meant to illustrate certain grammatical errors.

In the context of gendered pronouns, the text emphasizes the importance of respecting differences among people.

I enjoyed reading the text!

Reviewed by Amy Friedman, Asst. Professor, Temple University on 8/21/16

The book has a good, broad approach to many aspects of composing first-year college essays. The examples used throughout clearly indicate the author's awareness of the intricacies of a Writing Across the Curriculum approach, as they draw on many... read more

The book has a good, broad approach to many aspects of composing first-year college essays. The examples used throughout clearly indicate the author's awareness of the intricacies of a Writing Across the Curriculum approach, as they draw on many disciplines. It seems that it would be difficult for a student who reads this book not to make some self-aware improvements in approaching college-level work.The text does a thorough job of considering how college-level work requires specific skill sets, and requires labor to advance from high school level writing, reading, and analysis.

I found no major errors, and applaud an error-free text. There is at least one weird superscript -- see "etiology" in Chapter 6 -- the superscript comes at an odd place -- before the word is used. I'd review to make sure those superscripts appear at the best place for the student reader.

This book will be useful for a while. It deals in depth with the obstacles students perceive in learning how to construct decent college-level pieces of writing - and that situation will obtain for the foreseeable future. The references to ideas about college composition are up-to-date ones, and reflect very current approaches and discussions.This book references _They Say, I Say_ , which is a quite standard text for these courses, and this book absorbs and discusses how this text works, making it a post- _They Say, I Say_ composition work, which makes it pretty modern from an insider's standpoint. Students will continue to journey from high school to college writing assignments, and will need to understand the nuances of what is being asked of them in this new, collegiate environment. This book serves that need well.

This book is pretty clear and easy to follow. Some examples are dense and might scare students, though. Here is one, from Chapter 6: "Both versions convey a topic; it’s pretty easy to predict that the paragraph will be about epidemiological evidence, but only the second version establishes an argumentative point and puts it in context. The paragraph doesn’t just describe the epidemiological evidence; it shows how epidemiology is telling the same story as etiology." At this point, students will be terrified by this parade of big words! And the author does not define "etiology" until the next sentence, at which point many students will have shut down and shifted back to "skim" mode. Don't scare the students! Define the hard word the first time it appears. And if you don't define it then, use that as a teaching moment also -- indicate that this is exactly what occurs in college reading, and one should breathe, and go look up a definition, and get used to doing that all the time. The effort is being made by this author to represent many types of future college writing, which is good. Many disciplines are represented.

Overall, it is reasonably consistent. I do wish the author had avoided the overuse of "flow" in a way that undercuts consistency, however. The author includes a specific application of the term from contemporary psychological work, and also uses the term when discussing what is more aptly called "logic.' The psych reference is in chapter 2: "those times when we’re pleasantly absorbed in a complex activity (what psychologist Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi calls “flow”12)". This describes a brain state, and is used aptly here in the text. Later, in chapters 7, 8, 9, and especially 6, she emphasizes "flow," as in "sentences need to flow." It is arguable that it is not even a genuine concept, this "flow," as what is being argued for is internal logic to each paragraph, a logically-constructed argument, logical sequences of sentences, and so on. It is really quite useless for an instructor to tell a student that her sentences do not "flow."

The target of modularity has been addressed really well by this author. The sections are cogent and logical, and the text is broken up with useful examples. The Resources section is a particularly strong feature of each chapter -- they are specific enough, and have a good variety of sources to try out. The chapter length is great -- not too long, but a decent amount of depth.

Oh dear heavens, there is that term again: "flow." The text is structured logically, if that is what you mean. It does not have to "flow" -- these are discrete chapters on elements of essay structure, and one might use them in a multitude of orders in a teaching syllabus. The topics are clear, and the evidence in each chapter is presented in a way that makes sense.

I'd rate the interface as good. I wish I could more easily go from chapter to chapter -- it seems that typing in a number in the search bar is the most direct way to go from Chapter 6 back to Chapter 3. I'd really like an interactive Table of Contents, and an Index for searching for concepts and key words. Since these don't exist, it feels a bit clunky when moving around the text. The letter "B" is weird in this font: it seems overly serif-ed and curved.

The grammar is fine -- the author hits a good level of interesting, scholarly, clear, and challenging in the overall level of the prose.

I think the text foregrounds cultural sensitivity in its thoughtful recommendations to avoid gender-specific usages, in particular. Overall the book violates no standards of sensitivity, and draws on many types of examples. On the other hand, the discussions of cultural sensitivities could extend to considering cultural standpoint when writing in a more general way; not making assumptions about audience, finding out how to name and discuss racial and ethnic groups in correct terms, and so on. Or the book could include such information as a Resource in the already-excellent Resource sections.

This one thing bothered me a lot. There are somewhat disparaging comments about the professors who will be teaching this material and reading students' work. Example from Chapter 7: " Charitable and well rested instructors just skim over that text and start reading closely when they arrive at something substantive. Frustrated and overtired instructors emit a dramatic self-pitying sigh, assuming that the whole paper will be as lifeless and gassy as those first few sentences." There are other times the author takes this tone or stance. This is negative and unhelpful. As this is a book aimed at first-year students, such examples reinforce old high-school-level attitudes like "my teacher hates me." Quite the contrary ! How about ditching the stereotypes, or at least letting professors exist in the text as neutral, or as earnest readers of student work. These negative comments are inconsistent with the earlier explanations about how professors work: from chapter 2: "Professors don’t assign writing lightly. Grading student writing is generally the hardest, most intensive work instructors do." Just don't make us seem like an obstacle to students doing well or learning.

Reviewed by Kate Michaelson, Visiting Instructor of Composition, University of Toledo on 8/21/16

Though I've only rated the book as a "3" in this category, I do think it's a valuable addition to a writing class. While I would not select this book as a standalone text in a first-year Composition class, it offers a great perspective on the... read more

Though I've only rated the book as a "3" in this category, I do think it's a valuable addition to a writing class. While I would not select this book as a standalone text in a first-year Composition class, it offers a great perspective on the college culture versus high school that I haven't often seen in other textbooks. It covers the ideas of argumentation, source integration, style, organization, and assignment analysis quite thoroughly, and the interactive table of contents in the online version is very helpful.

Where I find it lacking for my own classes would be in providing sample essays, explorations of specific genres, or in-depth examples of students following the writing process. To be fair, this does not seem to be the particular purpose of this text--I see it almost more as a high-level Strunk and White for new college writers--however, I would not feel comfortable teaching college freshmen without those supplemental materials and readings. Fortunately, I can use this book as a supplement to other materials that are readily available elsewhere or that I've prepared myself.

I found the writing very on-point in terms of describing what professors are looking for and articulating some of the common pitfalls first-year college writers should be sure to avoid as they analyze assignments, create arguments, use sources, and revise. The advice for beginning writers was appropriate for setting their expectations in Composition classes but could also be easily applied to other disciplines. Finally, the advice on finding and using sources is very much in line with recommendations in other writing textbooks I’ve used and draws on some of the more widely used concepts like “sandwiching” sources and entering academic conversations.

The text is very up-to-date in framing students' previous writing experiences on standardized tests and referencing their immersion in written communication through social media. Likewise, it does a nice job of describing the context of academia today, the different roles that professors take on, and the expectations of students. The models for writing that it draws on, as well as the stylistic guidelines, are pretty timeless. While the many links are helpful in potentially adding content for students, one concern I had was that they might become outdated or links might break before long if they aren't frequently monitored, but the same could be said for most e-texts.

While I found the book and the messages very clear as an instructor myself, I felt there may have been points when it could potentially be a bit over the heads of some first-year writing students. For instance, Chapter 5 opens by saying that "Everyone knows that a thorough analysis and persuasive argument need strong evidence." Well, unfortunately, I don't know if everyone entering my classes knows that, so at times this text seems to be geared more toward the very well-prepared college student rather than those who might need a bit more guidance. At the same time, I appreciate that the book acknowledges that students come to college with some writing experience and does not attempt to reinvent writing but rather rethink existing skills. Fortunately, though I sometimes worry about the context of the material, ideas are presented very engagingly, draw on concrete situations, and appeal to the student's perspective.

The chapters consistently drew on the idea of students modifying their existing writing skills to meet college expectations. The tone, guidelines, and formatting remained consistent throughout.

Modularity rating: 2

Though at some points the book references ideas from previous chapters, I plan to use it in modules and believe it will lend itself well to that use. For instance, each chapter tackles a specific skill that students will need at a certain point in the semester. I plan to start with the chapters that introduce college writing and analyzing assignments. The nicely titled "Intros and Outros" chapter will be useful early in the writing process as well. The chapters on argumentation, using sources, and "talking to" sources will be great to weave in next in that order. Finally, some of the chapters dedicated to more stylistic elements of writing will be useful when students enter the revision process.

While I plan to jump around a bit, the overall structure of the book makes sense. It begins with an introduction to college culture and how that affects the writing process and progresses into how to respond to assignments. My description of the modular nature of the chapters speaks to the thought put into the rather distinct skill sets each chapter covers.

I didn't have any difficulties reading the book, and I appreciated that it was available in multiple formats. For instance, the interactive table of contents is a nice feature in the online version, but I love having the PDF for my own annotation and printing. The call-out boxes in certain parts of the text are a nice touch and break up the blocks of text somewhat. My one critique would be that there could be a more attention to the visual layout overall since many of the students will be reading the text on screens. While the large chunks of text are quite accessible when printed out, they might appear a bit overwhelming to students scrolling down a screen.

While I noted one or two minor typos, there were no major issues and the book felt like a very professional product.

As I've probably implied previously, the cultural relevance is a really strong point in this text. This book addresses writers entering college in a very practical way that acknowledges their previous experience with writing but gives them guidance on how expectations differ in the college culture. It also frames writing issues in terms that are likely to make sense to students, such as referencing Google Scholar as a potential part of the research process and clearly addressing the various types of sources they will need to evaluate.

Overall I'm very grateful for the opportunity to integrate this text into my first-year writing class. While I will not be using it as a standalone text, it will provide a great perspective for new college writers and offers some very clear instruction on important writing skills across the curriculum. I can imagine it would be useful not only in Composition classes, but other disciplines in which professors expect students to write extensively at a college-level.

Reviewed by Mary Van Ness, Senior Lecturer, University of Toledo, Department of English Language & Literature on 8/21/16

The book is concise and does not pretend to answer any and all issues related to academic writing. It does give practical advice to its target audience regarding how to bring high school quality writing up to the standard level of undergraduate... read more

The book is concise and does not pretend to answer any and all issues related to academic writing. It does give practical advice to its target audience regarding how to bring high school quality writing up to the standard level of undergraduate writing. Guptill's defined target audience is "students who have largely mastered high-school level conventions of formal academic writing and are now moving beyond the five-paragraph essay to advanced engagement with text." Guptill's tone throughout the text would be engaging for the defined audience and much less formal in approach than the typical English teacher would select.

It is refreshing to have a professor of sociology point out issues with argument-driven essays that match many of the main points covered in introductory composition classes. Often students think there is no "carry-over" into other classes from their required English courses. This text would be a good choice for a supplemental "handbook" for a writing across the curriculum course, and would be even stronger if some of its grammar applications were strengthened.

Guptill uses a broad base of research to support her commentary throughout the text. There are a few minor typographical errors in the manuscript, several shifts of pronoun use and pronoun agreements within paragraphs, and an atypical use of "informal" versus "formal" in the "Correctness" section of Chapter 9, but the majority of the content and advice is accurate in composition theory.

The book should have longevity in the core features but I would encourage an updated version with an added chapter including advice on incorporating Toulmin's model of logic to argue claims of fact, cause, value and policy. An additional issue to consider is advice on how ethos, logos and pathos are "balanced" differently in the different discourses of the major academic disciplines.

Guptill's style is clear and reasonably concise. The level of the language is reasonable for college undergraduates.

The approach is consistent and based in learning theory. One of the strongest elements of the text is that it tells readers that improving writing takes effort and time. The closing paragraph sums up that stance: "You can’t become a flawless writer overnight (and no one writes flawlessly all the time). But over the course of a few semesters, you can certainly produce more precise text that presents your ideas in their best light."

The chapters offer excellent modularity.

The organization is coherent and flows smoothly.

The hotlinks interface well.

There are shifts of pronoun use and agreements within several paragraphs, and an atypical use of "informal" versus "formal" in the "Correctness" section of Chapter 9, but the majority of the grammar is consistent and moderately formal in the important models.

Jennifer Haytock summed up the content rather nicely in her reviewer's notes: "Guptill guides beginning college students through the sometimes arcane practices of the academy and does so with warmth, enthusiasm, and humor. The textbook takes students through deciphering assignments, developing sophisticated arguments, finding and using appropriate sources, and some basics of paragraphing, sentence structure, and style. Instructors will find this textbook to be a handy tool for explaining the argument-driven essay and reference for addressing common college-level writing issues. With a diverse range of examples, useful references to other sources, and purposeful exercises, Writing in College focuses on developing students’ skills in practical ways—and helps students understand why their instructors have them do what they do."

Reviewed by Sheri Benton, Lecturer, University of Toledo on 8/21/16

The text effectively explains the differences between high school and college writing expectations, and provides relevant examples for sentence construction, paragraph development, and essay organization, clarity, and concision . While it does not... read more

The text effectively explains the differences between high school and college writing expectations, and provides relevant examples for sentence construction, paragraph development, and essay organization, clarity, and concision . While it does not have an index or glossary, the text has a table of contents and is searchable.

The content is accurate, error-free, and unbiased.

The writing instructions and examples in the book are up-to-date, and the text contains several links to outside resources and examples. A potential concern are broken links if those outside resources are edited or changed, but I believe those links can be updated relatively easily. The author mentions some writing conventions that are in flux and may change (for example, the future likelihood of singular "their"), but overall, the writing instruction is timeless.

The author does an excellent job of speaking to college students in lucid, accessible language and provides her readers with examples that illustrate strong, effective writing.

The text is consistent in design, terminology, and framework. Each chapter includes advice from college students that reinforces the author's discussion, footnotes to resources, exercises and examples, and links to additional outside resources.

While the book does move meaningfully from the first chapter to the last, it would not be difficult to use the chapters in a different order. For example, since the book focuses on argument and use of sources early (chapters 3, 4, & 5), I might have students first read the chapters on clarity (chapter 8) and mechanics (9), especially if I were beginning my course with a different genre, such as a personal narrative.

The topics in the book are presented clearly.and in a logical way. I would likely use chapters 8 and 9 (on clarity and mechanics) before chapters 4, and 5, which discuss finding and using sources, because I don't begin my course with the major argumentative essay. But Guptill makes a good argument within the text that the organization of the text itself reflects: focusing first on well-constructed sentences without a strong, thoughtful argument will not result in a strong essay. Therefore, the writing of an effective essay as a whole is focused on before the nuts and bolts of mechanics.

I found no interface or navigation issues within the text. It took a few tries to realize that clicking on the number in an endnote bumps the reader back up to the corresponding place in the text, but this is likely my inexperience with online textbooks. The one major issue I do see has to do with accessibility and accessible design: several of the links provided in the Other Resources sections use vague language such as "this handout" or "this one." All learners would find descriptive, meaningful link text more helpful.

The text was a pleasure to read and grammatically correct. I found only one word error - "much" for "must" in the first paragraph of chapter 9. The only other problem was in chapter 5 in the discussion of block quotes - the example provided does not accurately display the direct quote by Kahneman in block format. Other than this, the book is well-written and edited.

The text does not contain references that are culturally insensitive or offensive. The author uses multiple examples from a variety of resources.

I really enjoyed this book and plan to use it in my composition courses. Guptill puts relevant, helpful information for new college-level writers into concise, relatable language that I believe they will actually read. She doesn't dismiss or scoff at the skills and preparation students bring with them from high school to college; instead, she uses those rote lessons (such as generic introductions and the 5-paragraph essay) as foundational building blocks for their college writing.

Reviewed by Jenny Friedman-Gaskins, Part-time Faculty, Umpqua Community College on 8/21/16

I am very pleased with the comprehensive nature of the text. It covers all the finer details that are sometimes dropped in the rush of a course based on a quarter system. There are usually things that we as professors spot our students making... read more

I am very pleased with the comprehensive nature of the text. It covers all the finer details that are sometimes dropped in the rush of a course based on a quarter system. There are usually things that we as professors spot our students making mistakes with, but because these are not the main thrust of the curriculum, we end up having to leave them out, only addressing them on a case-by-case basis as they appear in students' writings. I routinely teach WR115 and Wr121 on my campus. These are considered a paragraph-to-essay course, with emphasis on rhetorical modes, while the 121 is the first in the series of transfer courses, with an emphasis on solid essay writing skills being overlaid with argumentation and critical thinking concepts. I feel this text bridges the gap between the two and am planning to make it a required text for both.

Has a pleasing compare and contrast mode when addressing the ideas students may bring with them to a college course, versus what instructors and professors are really looking for. Guptill does an excellent job of linking these expectations to the actual learning that may take place in a writing class. Because of this compare/contrast structure, the accuracy of the descriptions of standard writing curriculum are brought into nice relief, which heightens the accuracy of all the information in the text. Nicely done.

Because Writing in College: from Competence to Excellence, is written with an eye to not just what good writing is, but also, the more effective mindset to approach all college learning experiences, the text should maintain a high degree of relevance and longevity to the college/writing community.

A strength of the text is its ability to speak to the college student in clear terms. Many analogies are provided which help illuminate the concepts and are easily approachable.

Good consistency throughout. The author demonstrate clear excellence in her understanding of teaching and writing.

Each section is easy to read and understand on its own. Each module is able to be pulled out as a stand-alone.

The text is very cohesive from the start. The juxtaposition of the Research module with the previous explanation of some philosophical approaches to college writing courses is somewhat abrupt, but, on the other hand, entirely necessary, and I am not sure how this could be structured to move away from this. Because the modules are easily separated, and, I would expect, follow an individual instructor's course flow, this really should not be an issue in any way.

Absolutely no issues with the interface of the book.

There are no grammatical errors--a very clean read.

The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way, and in fact, addresses some of the issues regarding preserving gender neutral references in writing in a realistic and useful way.

I am very pleased with this book. It really does a nice job in explaining not just the technical aspects of writing, but the connection to the larger academic community which can be forged by expressing original ideas in a reflective manner.

Reviewed by Phyllis Nissila, Instructor, Lane Community College, Eugene, Oregon on 8/21/16

I reviewed the text with our institution's developmental writing class in mind, Writing 97 which is an introduction to college essay writing. I preface my comments by saying I believe it is more suited to our higher level writing class, WR115,... read more

I reviewed the text with our institution's developmental writing class in mind, Writing 97 which is an introduction to college essay writing. I preface my comments by saying I believe it is more suited to our higher level writing class, WR115, which bridges the gap between the developmental writing (97) and Writing 121 in our institution.

For Writing 97 purposes, the text would benefit by including more exercises for the writing techniques covered, although the hot links to Online exercises from supplementary materials such as Purdue's, OWL resources, and Diana Hacker's Writing Reference exercises are very helpful. There are many such references and links.

The chapters are text-intensive; therefore, for the purposes of a class similar to our WR97, I believe they would benefit with more of a variety of presentations such as more side bars, the above-mentioned exercises, and information offered in more graphic formats for visual learners.

For the information presented, very accurate.

I believe the information remains relevant and offers classic writing techniques while suggesting a few newer instructional methods such as the "I say/they say" approach to argument writing. An additional effective element of the text is the chapter covering what writing professors expect, and the attention given critical thinking which is such an important element to crafting argument papers, in particular.

The prose is accessible for the transitional student I reference (the WR115 class in our institution) and sufficient context for specialty terms and jargon. I believe the addition of a glossary of terms in a back matter section would have added benefit.

The text is consistent in terms of terminology and framework.

For the student in our developmental writing class, the text would benefit with more variety in the presentation of the material--more graphics, exercises, etc., as noted above.

The topics are presented in a logical, clear fashion.

The interface is consistent.

The grammar in this writing book is very good.

The examples and citations are derived from diverse sources.

I particularly appreciated the hot links to many good resources Online, as noted previously. I believe the "side bar" inserts featuring student responses and perspectives on various writing topics would be of both interest and help to students. The "how to" examples for various writing skills such as topic sentences, three-level thesis statements, and instruction on such "writing mechanics" as how to avoid wordiness, fix run-on sentences, fragments and common punctuation problems, etc, seem to cover many of the most common areas of challenge for writers transitioning from high school to college level writing. The attention to rhetorical techniques and matters of "grace" and style in the last two chapters in particular will also help students upgrade their writing skills for college papers.

For students in developmental writing classes at the college level (perhaps one level lower than I believe this text might be best suited), a course using this textbook would be strengthened by the addition of supplemental materials featuring more practice exercises for each element of the essay, more sample and "whole essay" readings, and more punctuation and grammar exercises. There is some attention to ESL needs (such as in syntax development and various "agreement" issues such as subject/verb and verb tenses), which would benefit the developmental students as well, as many international students fit this demographic, but more may be necessary.

Reviewed by Steven Kelly, English Instructor, Kansas State University on 8/21/16

At less than 100 pages, Writing in College (WIC) is an admittedly brief text. While it doesn’t cover every college writing scenario (an impossible task), it serves as a fantastic primer for students who are making the transition from high school... read more

At less than 100 pages, Writing in College (WIC) is an admittedly brief text. While it doesn’t cover every college writing scenario (an impossible task), it serves as a fantastic primer for students who are making the transition from high school expectations to college expectations. In this way, it’s more like a college writing manifesto than a traditional textbook, which will be refreshing to instructors and edifying for students. The text offers practical writing instruction for beginner college students. It doesn’t hedge; it’s very frank about what college instructors/professors expect from students, how they grade, and what their concerns are (while also revealing that it’s different for different instructors). WIC helps students understand that they’re junior scholars, rather than “knowledge consumers.” I wish I’d had this introduction when I started undergrad, as it would’ve saved me from confusion and amateurish writing mistakes from the get-go. Though there’s no glossary or index, the text’s brevity and easy-to-follow “conversational” structure makes those features largely unnecessary.

Having spent the last decade as either a student or instructor, I can vouch for the text’s accuracy about college writing expectations, at least when it comes to writing argument-driven essays. Guptill perfectly captures the difference between college writing and high school writing, especially highlighting the need for students to consider their audience, to do original thinking, and to critically engage with ideas. Chapters 1 and 2 are especially useful in this regard. More importantly, I believe other college writing experts would support Guptill’s ideas and overall approach. In particular, WIC helps students abandon the rigid and stale “5-paragraph essay” form and see the advantages of writing a more complex, “organic” essay (Chapter 3 handles this subject fabulously). The text forwards the kind of writing that will allow students to excel in a college environment.

WIC seems relatively timeless, as it engages college writing from a rhetorical and processual approach, rather than format- or topic-specific ones. I can see this book being just as honest, relevant, and useful a decade from now. One thing that may need continued work are the hyperlinks embedded in the text, as URLs change or get deleted or as pages/visuals change with new formatting. But it seems that those features could be easily changed to keep up with the times.

Guptill’s prose is wonderful. It’s written conversationally and often uses humor and illustrations that college students will find relatable. The text avoids abstractions and instead delivers practical, concrete information. Students will have no trouble engaging with the text.

WIC maintains a high degree of consistency. It's adequately self-referential (without being overbearing), which should help remind students about concepts discussed in other chapters. The text also has a clearly unified purpose--it all relates back to the specific "genre" of college writing.

As mentioned previously, the text is brief: 9 chapters, approximately 10 pages/chapter. That said, students should easily be able to read and digest chapters within 15-30 minutes (depending on their reading speed, choices to follow links embedded in the text, etc.). Each chapter also makes use of clear, bold subheadings. One downside of the text's modularity, though, is that later chapters sometimes require readers to recall content from earlier chapters. Each chapter could technically stand-alone, but it makes more sense if readers understand the broader context. I can see how that might potentially discourage students; however, I think the text's brevity and lucidity serves as a buffer here. (It's also worth mentioning that on a meta-level WIC is essentially an argument-unto-itself about how to write excellent college papers. In other words, it's putting its own lessons into practice, which instructors and students alike can appreciate.)

Guptill has organized WIC deftly. Altogether, the text takes a top-down approach, focusing on higher-order concerns first and then moving on to discuss lower-order concerns. In my experience, approach like this is conceptually beneficial for students and accurately aligns with the values and objectives of college writing programs. There are 9 chapters, but they can ultimately be grouped into three broader sections. The first three chapters tackle the most important concerns of writing a college assignment: an awareness of genre, audience, and purpose/focus. The next block of chapters (4-7) deals with development, organization, and source integration. Chapters 4 and 5 are especially cogent and useful discussions about finding, evaluating, and using sources. The final block (chapters 8 and 9) handles style and conventions. Chapter 8 has some great information about writing with concision and grace.

WIC's interface is great. It's easily navigable, including intra-text links (like how the links in the table of contents let readers jump directly to each chapter without having to scroll) and easy-to-manage links to sources outside the text. If you have the .pdf file open in a web browser, you can easily right-click links and open them in new tabs. From a design perspective, the text is clean, crisp, and attractive. I especially enjoy the emboldened, boxed-out "Student Voices" asides, which give readers concrete insight from actual college students. These asides add depth and relatability to the text without interrupting it.

I didn't find any grammatical errors. It looks professionally edited and is written expertly--to be expected from a text that's about excellent academic writing. I did find one minor formatting mistake: on p. 53 there's a part where the text says there’s “emboldened” text in the second usage of a quotation, but the bold is missing there. It should be easy to fix, though.

WIC is in no way culturally insensitive or offensive. It takes a global perspective; when it uses examples, it often engages different cultural and geographic backgrounds.

Overall, I love the clarity, frankness, and flexibility Guptill's text offers. It demystifies and simplifies (without over-simplifying) the practice of writing in college in a way that's beneficial for students, graduate students, and instructors alike, on par with Graff and Birkenstein's landmark _They Say/I Say_ text. WIC is equally useful to both writing instructors and instructors from other disciplines, especially considering its brevity. Given the chance, I'd certainly use it in future classes. It would also serve as a great supplementary text for instructors who are a required to use a curriculum-specific textbook.

Reviewed by Carol Russell, Instructor (16 years), Kansas State University on 8/21/16

This text covers many areas that beginning writers face. It covers the basics from understanding the assignment and what the professor wants, to creating the rough draft, to incorporating sources, and finally to grammar. The focus of the '3... read more

This text covers many areas that beginning writers face. It covers the basics from understanding the assignment and what the professor wants, to creating the rough draft, to incorporating sources, and finally to grammar.

The focus of the '3 story thesis' in Chapter 3 is especially useful. Additionally, the idea of creating an outline using "key sentences" rather than topic points is something I will be implementing in my teaching.

This text is complete "with concise discussions, clear multidisciplinary examples, and empathy for the challenges of student life." (About the Book)

Although, this text may not be intended to use as the sole text for a writing course, I found most of the content to be valuable information when teaching the beginning writer. Specifically, I can see this text to be invaluable to the Graduate Teaching Assistant in any writing course.

Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence offers accurate information on many areas of writing. It is especially grounded in the areas of formulating ideas and generating a thesis. Guptill offers alternate perspectives on many of the fears and problems beginning writers face. She encourages her readers to become "conscientious writers."

Guptill uses such sources as OWL, MLA, Chronicle in Higher Education and many others. Most of the information presented, either in text or via an external link, are current and will not become obsolete in the near future. There will be some that will, undoubtedly, need to be updated as new and more useful information is made available. However, this is true of every text.

From a student perspective, this text provides excellent definition and context for all of the technical terms used. Guptill uses external links to make everything as clear to her readers as possible. It is very clear this text is written for students in a writing course. She goes further by stating that what most students learn in their high school writing class may not be what the college professor is looking for. Guptill states that "the assumption behind high-school instruction is that the teacher is the engine of learning." However, she reminds her readers that in college "writing a paper isn’t about getting the “right answer” and adhering to basic conventions; it’s about joining an academic conversation with something original to say." These are valuable lessons for the beginning writer.

Perhaps the most obvious consistency in the framing of this text is how Guptill focuses on writing at a college level, for a collegiate audience. She begins by addressing what a college professor wants and how to produce a paper that may satisfy "thorough understanding of context, audience, and purpose, mastery of the subject, detailed attention to writing conventions, skillful use of high-quality, credible, relevant sources, and graceful language.”

The references at the end of each chapter, with links to each was especially helpful, especially to a beginning writer. Each chapter deals with a topic students face as they sort through writing in an academic environment. I think a student reading this text would appreciate, as I did, the student comments interspersed throughout each chapter.

Each chapter clearly addresses something a college student would either have questions about or would need to know. In an 16 week semester, it is conceivable that each chapter could be addressed in 2 weeks. Given that the exercises at the end of each chapter are not asking students to write a paper, it allows each instructor to structure the chapters (and the lessons within) to coincide with assigned essays.

Also, I would have liked page numbers.

I read the text online. I am especially impressed with the expanded content by way of the internal links to relevant sources. There was only one link that did not work. The use of bold face type, boxed information, bullets etc. made for easier reading. Referring to previously read chapters is a good practice, however, Guptill provides links to previous chapters, which can be somewhat distracting if a student gets into the habit of looking at all links provided.

I did not find grammatical errors.

This text is culturally inclusive. There were no obvious signs of insensitivities. Guptill could have addressed obvious differences in writing perspectives as it pertains to various backgrounds, but I did not feel it was necessary.

I like the way the text speaks to the college student. I can see myself utilizing many of Guptill's ideas and approaches to teaching the beginning writer. Although the author focuses on the argument driven essay, the advice, examples, and exercises can be applied to nearly all writing for the beginner. I agree with the author when she states, "Experienced writers don't figure out what they want to say then write it. They write in order to figure out what they want to say."

Reviewed by Lyda Woods, Adjunct Professor, Rogue Community College on 8/21/16

Guptill's text is indeed a "warm invitation" to join the academic community in which research writing is a key method of communication. What is really wonderful is her approach to writing as that of joining an already existing discourse community,... read more

Guptill's text is indeed a "warm invitation" to join the academic community in which research writing is a key method of communication. What is really wonderful is her approach to writing as that of joining an already existing discourse community, a community that she sets about helping students decode. The text has an effective table of contents, perceptive suggestions from real students throughout, but no glossary nor index.

I believe that Guptill's student-centered approach helps to reduce the bias that instructors without a sociology background may not even be aware exists. By that I mean, she listens and shares students' insights about learning to write and attempts to understand the mind set behind certain kinds of common errors. This approach reminds me of the fascinating work by Dr. Flowers through the Bay Area Writing Project, in which she explored "think aloud" protocols with students who were in the act of composing academic writing.

The content in meaningful and up-to-date and the section on incorporating sources is one of the best I've read because it really looks at how students need to lead into and out of cited material in ways that enhance and support their own arguments.

I love the way the lesson on "key" sentences flows right into the section on outlining to show us that they are connected. She encourages students to write their key sentences into their outlines. This strategy provides helpful scaffolding as students climb toward writing the entire paper. I also like the student input here: "A good paper has cohesion. I love outlines, so I really like the idea of writing my first sentence of each paragraph as my plan. This way, you know what to write about and you know that your paper will flow easily. As a reader, this is an important characteristic to me. If the paragraphs are just jumping around in all different directions, I quickly lose interest in trying to follow along. The reader should not have to struggle to follow your paper. Flow can make the difference between an okay paper and a scholarly product."

Yes the text is internally consistent in terminology and framework. The student insights, boxed off to separated them, accompany each section as well. I really learned a lot reading all the student feedback and appreciate its inclusion throughout.

Yes, the text is easily and readily divisible. One could use part of the text, such as the sections on key sentences and outlines, without incorporating the rest of the text.

The topics move logically, at least for me, from global to local. By that I mean that Guptill explores higher -order cognitive challenges and assumptions about writing first and looks at sentence and paragraph level concerns later.

I experienced no interface issues at all. The table of contents is hyper-linked for ease of navigation.

I encountered no grammar errors.

I experienced no cultural insensitivity. Rather I was impressed by the exploration of academia as a culture, particularly in Chapter 2.

Amy Guptill is able to see writing from the students' perspective, which is a gift. For example, students struggle with the idea of writing about a topic that their audience, primarily their instructor, knows better than they do. Guptill describes this experience well: "When you write for a teacher you are usually swimming against the stream of natural communication. The natural direction of communication is to explain what you understand to someone who doesn’t understand it. But in writing an essay for a teacher your task is usually to explain what you are still engaged in trying to understand to someone who understands it better. "

Reviewed by Cybele Higgins, ESL Faculty, Lane Community College on 8/21/16

Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence addresses all the areas and concepts behind orienting students who are new to writing expectations in college. It is comprehensive in covering everything from moving beyond the five-paragraph essay... read more

Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence addresses all the areas and concepts behind orienting students who are new to writing expectations in college. It is comprehensive in covering everything from moving beyond the five-paragraph essay while not negating its usefulness, to deciphering professors' assignments and expectations of critical thinking, to perfecting the foundational paragraph. The table of contents clearly shows the chapter titles that address the range of sub-topics that need to be considered to produce excellent writing in college. Although it is meant to be a short textbook, the addition of a simple glossary would be helpful, as would a Chapter 10 to conclude the book and bring the book full circle back to the Introduction, sending writers off with excitement to explore their new understanding of excellence in college writing.

The content is accurate, contains no errors, and is unbiased. The accuracy of the book is enhanced by the author's apparent experience as a subject area professor who understands what new college students needs to navigate research-based writing assignments as well as how to work with professors who may or may not incorporate writing strategies into their content courses.

The book will always be relevant. It contains no content that will become dated. The plentiful and effective links to additional resources can be easily updated as needed. The strategies it presents will never become obsolete so long as critical thinking and evidence-based writing is expected in college.

The text is clear, easy to read, and engaging. Key terminology discussed includes context, definitions, and links to resources that explain further. The clear writing style is in itself a model for students new to college writing.

Overall, the text is consistent in terms of terminology and framework. Each chapter presents the topic, hooks the reader to want to learn the 'why' of the topic, explains comprehensively, and finally provides two consistent and extremely useful sections: Other Resources and Exercises.

The modularity of the text is one of the factors that makes it quite accessible to readers. The chapters are all about the same length, have clear sub-sections with sub-titles that flow from one to the next, and clear resources and exercises sections highlighted in red and blue. It is easy to follow the book from where one left off after putting the book down for a few days. Moreover, the way the content presentation is divided makes it so the book or sections of the book could be used in a variety writing, research writing, or subject area courses.

The topics in the text are presented logically and clearly. The book sets the stage for readers to understand the larger context of college writing, gets into identifying what professors want and why, breaks down how to plan writing with organizational structures to fit the task, and then emphasizes the importance of clear paragraphs and mechanics.

The interface of the text, including navigation, charts, and text boxes, is clear. There is nothing in the text that might confuse the reader.

There are no grammar errors in the text. The writing style is enhanced by grammar that communicates effectively for the task. The grammar choices the author makes are all in the service of clear communication with no extra wordiness or unnecessary complexity.

Overall, the text is culturally relevant and not offensive. The book is written in language that should appeal to and catch the attention of readers who have recently graduated from high school in the United States, Canada, etc. The quotations from students create identification with the topic; to enhance this, quotations from a wider variety of student names might broaden the appeal. One concern is that are a limited number of words and references that should be revised to make the book more culturally accessible ("Booyah!" in several chapters and "bullshit" in Chapter 9). A few minor revisions to each chapter with a wider audience in mind -- non-traditional or older students, international students, non-native English speaking resident students, community college students -- would smooth out the cultural references and expand the book's appeal.

I plan to use this book to help get my Academic and College Transition ESL students ready to enter college.

Reviewed by Jennifer Love, Instructor of Writing, Lane Community College on 8/21/16

Amy Guptill's textbook offers a comprehensive discussion of writing in an academic (primarily four-year/university) setting, with an emphasis on the thesis-driven essay that includes research. The focus of each chapter (e.g., "Understanding the... read more

Amy Guptill's textbook offers a comprehensive discussion of writing in an academic (primarily four-year/university) setting, with an emphasis on the thesis-driven essay that includes research. The focus of each chapter (e.g., "Understanding the Assignment"; "Constructing the Thesis"; "Listening to Sources"; "Getting the Mechanics Right") supports the book's larger focus on academic writing, and the chapter topics fit together well. While the book does not contain an index or glossary, the table of contents makes it easy to see which topics are addressed in the book.

The historical focus in Chapter 1 on the origins of universities and of scholarly writing is an interesting element of the book and adds to its comprehensiveness.

As mentioned in the book's "Reviewer's Notes," the audience for *Writing in College* is clearly "well-prepared" students. As a community college instructor, I found some of the material less applicable to my own teaching than it might be to that of an instructor in a four-year college or university. But for the audience that the book is trying to reach, I would call the book comprehensive.

I found the book to be accurate. Many of Guptill's assertions are supported by sources (usually available in full text online) that she provides direct links to in her text. Also, Guptill occasionally brings in her personal experience as a writer (and, more often, the views of students, in their own words) to support her assertions. I did notice a few places in the textbook where I felt that a phrasing could be modified to move beyond a focus on the four-year college environment. (An example--again reflecting my experience as a community college instructor--is in Chapter 3 where Guptill asserts that professors don't want to see obvious theses in essays (21). I personally love to see a thesis in a student's essay that's as clear as a bell! Guptill is clearly aiming for a more nuanced student essay here.)

Guptill's book seems relevant and to have good powers of endurance. References to popular culture (e.g., texting language) are frequent enough to make the book feel current without being intrusive. Guptill also has a good handle on changing conventions in academic discourse and refers to how academic writing has been trending toward a plainer, more direct style; and how "invented" rules like end-of-sentence prepositions can be safely disregarded by most college writers. I found the book timely and up-to-date in an enduring way.

Guptill's textbook has some wonderfully clear chapters and sections. Her discussion of what makes a good thesis (main idea) in an essay in Chapter 3 is lucid and engaging. Guptill also has a nice way of stepping outside her role as an instructor and looking at the conventions of academic writing as (admittedly) sometimes a little odd. She does this at the start of Chapter 2 in her inviting discussion of the irony of the typical writing situation in college: how the writer is writing for an audience (i.e., the instructor) who in many cases understands the subject better than the student (9). (As Guptill points out, this situation is the reverse of most other writing situations, where writers are trying to inform/educate/entertain a less-knowledgeable reader. No wonder writing essays isn't very exciting for a lot of students!)

Parts of the book would benefit from added clarification. The primary area of need involves statements leading into numbered lists, a format Guptill uses frequently to identify the varied reasons or methods for approaches or expectations in academic writing. Often a paragraph preceding a lengthy, numbered list will end with a phrase like "Some points:" or "Here are some possible reasons:" Reading these brief lead-ins, I was often left scratching my head, wondering, "Points about what again?" or "Reasons for what, did you say?"

These lead-in statements could possibly be revised by placing them in bold type, and instead of a general phrase like "Here are five common strategies," include an assertive passage separated from the text that precedes it, stating something like, "Here are five ways to make your thesis both original and grounded in the sources." A phrase like this (especially if bolded and separated from the preceding text) would be easy to refer back to and reduce confusion about what is being discussed in the ensuing lists.

I also felt that many of the longer passages Guptill quotes to illustrate effective paragraphs, such as those in Chapter 6, "Back to Basics: The Perfect Paragraph," could focus on topics that are more easily understandable to a wider, 21st-century audience; quoted passages about the "the cold fusion controversy of the 1980s" (55), for example, could be replaced by something equally newsworthy but more easily understandable to a wide set of readers, such as the benefits of a whole-foods diet or the vast amount of plastic cluttering up our seas.

I also felt that the clarity of the textbook could be improved by Guptill's better identifying the authors and/or subjects of the texts that she is quoting (such as in Chapter 7: "Intros and Outros"). A lengthy quoted passage in Chapter 7 may begin with a lead-in statement as brief as "Victor Seet on religious embodiment:" (61). After reading such brief introductions-to-quoted-examples, I was left wondering, "Who is Victor Seet? What is religious embodiment? Are these students?" (etc.) There needs to be more of the "top bread slice" in these "quotation sandwiches" Guptill makes, preparing readers for the big quotes so we know what to expect from them.

I found Guptill's book consistent in terms of tone (upbeat, encouraging, sometimes humorous) and terminology. Each chapter ends with a section on "Other Resources" and with helpful suggestions for writing projects. I did notice that some elements are present in some chapters but not others. For example, Chapter 5, "Listening to Sources . . . ," ends with a section called "Conclusion"; I did not necessarily see that feature in other chapters. I also observed Guptill referring in Chapter 7 to examples of passages written by students (she identified them as such); I hadn't recalled this reference-to-students'-writing from previous chapters and wondered why there was this apparently new reference to students' work.

The book seems very modular to me. I can imagine an instructor effectively assigning portions of the text in a course; or assigning just a single chapter. My favorite chapter of the book, Chapter 9, "Getting the Mechanics Right," is a smart, reassuring, and accessible look at grammar and usage rules in writing; it's comprehensive in itself considering its brevity and would be a great stand-alone reading assignment for any student who might feel that her grasp of writing's mechanics could be better.

For the most part, the organization/structure of Guptill's book works for me. Her approach is organic (a term she defines, in its rhetorical sense, in her text): she starts with broader concepts like understanding the assignment and exploring a thesis, and moves much later into more sentence- or surface-level features of writing like clarity and mechanical correctness. My main reservation about the book's flow is the above-mentioned observation that some of the long, numbered explanatory sections need clearer lead-in statements that readers can refer back to to remind themselves of what is being listed.

From an interface standpoint, the book is inviting and easy to navigate. The live links within chapters take readers to the intended websites (as far as I can tell); and Guptill's chapter titles and subheadings nicely identify what is discussed in the named section.

*Writing in College* is a grammatically great read! I noticed only two very minor grammar elements that could be smoothed out: a subject-verb needing agreement in Chapter 1 ("Neither of these assumptions are true"); and a "than" needing to be a "then" in Chapter 2 ("than the bat would cost"--p. 16). Otherwise, grammatical elements look good to me.

As mentioned, the book is geared toward well-prepared students and makes this clear up front. I appreciate Guptill's comments in Chapter 9 ("Getting the Mechanics Right") about how students with working-class or transnational or multilingual community affiliations will "have to expend more effort than their middle-class English-speaking counterparts to master the standard conventions [of written English]" (76). As suggested above, I did feel that the examples chosen by Guptill for effective paragraphs, introductions, etc., could be more accessible to a general audience. Many students might find academically specialized topics like sociology's balance theory (53) bewildering and would probably be better off with more media-friendly examples.

Amy Guptill's *Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence* is a well-informed, readable textbook geared toward well-prepared first-year college students. The book has an organic arrangement from chapter to chapter and offers clear and engaging explanations of how to develop an interesting thesis, "converse" with sources in one's research-based writing, and create flow and mechanical accuracy in one's essays. The book could be strengthened with more descriptive lead-in passages to numbered explanatory sections; fuller, more descriptive introductions to lengthy quoted examples; and (in some cases) more accessible choices of topics in the quoted examples. On the whole, I found the book informative and well-written, a worthwhile contribution to the composition field.

Reviewed by Christopher Rose, Full-Time Instructor, Portland Community College on 8/21/16

The text, was for the most part, comprehensive, and covers all of the major areas that ideally should be reviewed in a composition course. While some sections could technically use more, such as section on sources and mechanics (I would love if... read more

The text, was for the most part, comprehensive, and covers all of the major areas that ideally should be reviewed in a composition course. While some sections could technically use more, such as section on sources and mechanics (I would love if it covered the use of dashes), I wouldn't expect a text to cover everything and an instructor should be able to make up for any minor gaps in the text.

I found no issues with the accuracy of the text.

The only section that could need revision in the future is the section on sources, as sources are heavily affected by technology and it constant needs updates, but that's not a fault of the text.

I was happy that it included a section on gendered language.

The prose is easy to follow for early composition students and relevant examples.

The terminology of the text is consistent.

The separation of the sections of text makes it very easy for a teacher to assign as needed.

The structure and organization of the text is very close to the same structure of my courses.

While it's easy to switch between chapters on the epub version of the text, this feature isn't present in the pdf version.

The text attempts to avoid any cultural references. However, in the first chapter, the text mentions high school and there's an assumption that everyone reading the text is a traditional student. The high school references can be damaging to nontraditional students, ESOL students, and any student that may have come through something other than the American secondary education system or those that had problems with that same system.

I was pleasantly surprised by this text as it covers the same subjects I teach in my course and most texts from publishers fail to reflect the content of a composition course.

Reviewed by Michael Sutcliffe, Writing Instructor, Portland Community College on 8/21/16

This text is appropriately designed for its audience and purpose. In a brief “About” section, the author explains this text is best-suited “for students who have largely mastered high-school level conventions of formal academic writing and are now... read more

This text is appropriately designed for its audience and purpose. In a brief “About” section, the author explains this text is best-suited “for students who have largely mastered high-school level conventions of formal academic writing and are now moving beyond the five-paragraph essay to more advanced engagement with text.” The author has left out discussions of rhetorical theory or multiple argument structures or modes in favor of establishing a seemingly simple yet nuanced, workable approach to composition. The author has constructed a sequences, modular text based on understanding structures and conventions that define the academic essay genre by relating the writing process to aspects of the writing situation – the author frequently comments on instructors’ attitudes and reasoning leading to a gentle demystification of academic writing in general. As such, this text is quite appropriate for basic writing and first-quarter composition but less so for subsequent writing—research-argumentation courses. The text offers a good treatment of integrating sources but stops short of a question driven research process. The text is, however, conspicuously missing an explicit discussion of pre-writing and revision, but both are embedded and implied in activities related to the development of “an organic college essay.” The brief treatment seems sufficient for this approach, and, since these aspects of process writing have been prolifically written about (both in published texts and on the web), instructors should have no trouble supplementing. Please also see the following section on cultural relevance.

This text seems to take a pedagogical approach inspired by genre analysis, although without explicit use of that term. As such, the text is echoing (and in several instances exceeding) other composition texts on the market today. I found no inaccuracies.

Often, students (and some faculty) think of rhetorical structures as timeless or constant. Unfortunately, this misassumption is the source of many ineffective assignment drafts. The explosion of technology has impacted academic genres and changed the expectations of audiences in subtle (and sometimes invisible) ways. This text makes no mention of online writing as a rhetorical situation and seems to suggest essays as a genre that does not change across disciplines and modalities. However, the analytical tools and questions that subtend this text’s pedagogy do suggest a means of unpacking these changes, so students would be blindsided by merely memorizing a template that is later found to be outmoded. The text uses hyperlinks to reinforce and validate some claims, and each chapter concludes with a list of “other resources.” While this does create a liability as web addresses often change, it does connect the approach to its surrounding context and some ongoing conversations about writing.

This author’s pedagogical approach works to demystify academic genre conventions and clarify the writing situation itself. In early chapters, significant attention is paid to explanations of why composition courses are required for college students and how instructors tend to view their relationships with students. Most students are oblivious to the sight-unseen financial investment that the voting public has made in their education, and this text reminds them of their place in a larger community. Conversely, the text uses accessible language appropriate for most undergraduates and advanced English language learners.

Use of consistent font sizes and weights and linear dividers effectively separate sections of the text, and titled section breaks mark chapters into easily consumable bites – each is roughly 10 pages making the text easy to align with homework reading-writing assignments. Bolded “bubble” sections in each chapter bring other scholars’ voices into concert with the author, but the consistency of their integration makes them fit seamlessly without the interrupted feeling common to textbooks. There is a consistent absence of graphic and visual media that is detrimental to the currency of the text for many students, but, again, this is an aspect that is easily supplemented or amended.

Writing textbooks are tricky to think of as modules, as this suggests a writing process that is divorced from its social-political-economic context. Nevertheless, this text does create divisions between chapters and ideas that allow for portability and adoption of a section without the entire text. Common terms and a genre analysis pedagogy link the sections but without necessitating one to understand the next.

Most scholars think of the rhetorical situation and the writing process as a triangle and a recursive cycle respectively. This forces linear composition textbooks into a somewhat artificial arrangement that reinforces the erroneous belief in writing as a linear event. Like most others, this text introduces students to writing as they enter a new class and progresses through aspects of essay development with corresponding chapters. Unfortunately, this works only until students write their first essay, usually in week 2-4. At this point, students need information from each chapter. This text does, however, make this needed information easy to find. Instructors could reference sections while responding to student writing directing students to read ahead as needed.

As previously mentioned, this textbook is all text (understandably so as most images and graphics require permission from for-profit copyright holders). As a result, it could be tedious to some learners. Still, the arrangement of mini-lessons followed by activities does offer instructors a ready-made way to diverge from reading/lecture into collaborative activity.

The author has chosen an academic voice that is reminiscent of an introductory course. Terms are accessibly colloquial without impeaching the academic ethos, and the author’s sentence structure and variety makes for easy reading. While not a handbook, this brief rhetoric does give students some interesting, useful mini-lessons on academic style and grammar expectations like comma use. Thankfully, the author maintains her approach contextualizing choices as stylistic, rhetorical decisions rather than as “right” or “proper” use.

Because the text takes a genre-driven, structural approach to essay writing, I do feel that it would benefit from a discussion of discourse as a means of distributing power and its role in distributing power unequally. First year composition courses are often the only place where students are introduced to the idea that their work conveys inherited biases and assumptions associated with and about race, gender, age, classes, etc. Learning academic literacies (like essay writing) is very much a process of learning to be accountable for those biases and responsible for the implications of our work. For a text that is specifically oriented towards unpacking the college essay and its academic context, it is conspicuously quiet on the ways that formal education and the essay often replicate systems of straight, white, male privilege. Nevertheless, the genre structure does allow for easy supplementation.

My thanks to the author for making this text available! All too often, the pressures of tenure push scholars to limit their work to the for-profit publishing industry making it virtually unavailable to most of us who would build upon their expertise.

Reviewed by Eleanor Latham, Professor of Humanities/Developmental Literacy Coordinator, Central Oregon Community College on 8/21/16

This depends largely on audience: for a student coming from a high school that teaches the "5 paragraph theme," who placed out of college composition, attending a university, who is taking a social science class, the book provides useful, if... read more

This depends largely on audience: for a student coming from a high school that teaches the "5 paragraph theme," who placed out of college composition, attending a university, who is taking a social science class, the book provides useful, if general, information. On the one hand, the book covers essential elements of college level writing: the writing process, using sources, and sentence mechanics. On the other hand, I'm not sure why a student who placed out of college comprehension would need information on sentence mechanics, and I am sure that a student with the kind of problems addressed in that chapter would not be able to apply the general advice in previous chapters or understand what the examples are intended to show (to say nothing of not being able to understand many of the examples). The book is not at all comprehensive in terms of being a composition or rhetoric text.

The author is a sociologist writing about writing; the accuracy is about the same as one might expect from a rhetorician writing about sociology. Some material is simply wrong (most current documentation systems do not include URLs) and in others it fails to identify something as specific to social sciences (such as using APA documentation without any hint that science writing usually prefers CSE (Council of Science Editors), Humanities (undergraduate) classes want MLA, Anthropology wants a version of APA (AAA) and so on.

Where the author specifically draws on a composition text (They Say/I Say, for example), she does so accurately. General information about such things as the writing process are accurate (by which term I mean consistent with how professors specializing in composition and/or rhetoric teach those things). The use of "key sentences" rather than "topic sentences" reflects current composition practice. (On the other hand, having a "topic outline"--set up as if it were a formal outline--seems misleading.)

I was surprised to see advice on gender-based language issues as promoting one way of avoiding gender stereotyping: using the plural pronoun exclusively. I was even more surprised to see that approach billed as something modern/progressive professors would accept while the stodgy, old-fashioned professors would not. Of course, modern/progressive professors often prefer "new" pronouns such as ze and zir; professors valuing concision prefer s/he over "he or she"; professors who want "they/their" often insist that students make the general antecedent plural (not "A doctor must keep their knowledge up to date" but "Doctors must keep their. . .")

As mentioned above, the examples of source documentation are already out of date. Most of the rest of the book is sufficiently general that, unless process-writing goes out of fashion, it will remain current.

This section is complicated by the audience issue: for a Junior or Senior university student, the prose is accessible; for a Freshman or Sophomore student, some of it is accessible (and would be to an adult student at pre-college level) and some of it is not. The text is about composition, and it almost entirely avoids technical terminology related to composition or rhetoric. The exception is in the "grammar" section.

Consistency rating: 3

So, the book has quite a bit about how professors work and think, and the kind of expertise they have (and do not have). Those materials are clearly aimed at university students (as opposed to community college students), who "placed out of" freshman composition. Materials on paragraphing and grammar are more appropriate for freshman students who did not place out of freshman composition--but they would then, presumably, be taking freshman composition. Although universities do use first year Masters students as teaching assistants in freshman composition classes, most universities now provide and require such TAs to complete workshops on composition theory. In any case, students taking a freshman composition course would likely have access to a composition textbook. I was surprised to see advice on ignoring traditional punctuation conventions to distinguish restrictive from non-restrictive clauses, followed later in that chapter for how to punctuate restrictive versus non-restrictive clauses.

I honestly cannot imagine this text being used for a composition course. I can see a social science instructor having it as an optional text, something to recommend to those students whose first paper was especially benighted. In that case, a student could certainly read only part of it, or read it in any order.

The text follows a standard organization for composition texts, starting with general information (what your professor wants) and ending with grammar (typically an appendix in a composition text).

Most of the chapter footnotes had at least a couple and in some cases most of the footnotes with the red underlining to show a link running through the footnote, making it look like those items had been crossed out. Incidentally, blue is a more typical color to show links, and red is especially problematic in terms of disability access. The drop down menu on each page that provided a link to other chapters was very helpful.

Grammatical accuracy, of course, depends on whether the text is supposed to be formal or informal and on which grammatical conventions the author has deemed outdated. In terms of the author's section on grammar, the book has no grammatical errors.

In terms of avoiding racism or sexism, the book is fine. In terms of "backgrounds" the book is suitable only for university students (and not "non-traditional students" such as first generation university students). I thought the suggestion that a student who was not willing to follow the author's advice should abandon academia and learn a trade, maybe even become a plumber was particularly hurtful--of course, I'm sure that students who are interested in a trade would never see this book.

This is NOT a college composition textbook. It is a somewhat idiosyncratic discussion about how university students (who placed out of college composition or perhaps who believe that what they learned in a college composition course is irrelevant outside of that course) should write in their social science classes.

Reviewed by Tim Krause, Adjunct ESOL Instructor, Portland Community College on 8/21/16

The strength of this book is that it is not intended to be an all-encompassing reference overloaded with details concerning every potential writing dilemma, nor a step-by-step essay generator. Rather, it offers a bird’s eye view of best practices... read more

The strength of this book is that it is not intended to be an all-encompassing reference overloaded with details concerning every potential writing dilemma, nor a step-by-step essay generator. Rather, it offers a bird’s eye view of best practices that introduce students to academic scholarship. As such, it’s a bridge between the prescriptive nature of high-school-level writing and the independent thought of college-level work. The nine chapters focus on elevating the core elements of written academic inquiry -- expectations of scholarly work, constructing theses and arguments, interacting with secondary sources, organization, style, and mechanics -- but limiting its focus to broad strokes that offer the biggest bang for the buck. This is less about teaching new skills, but all about polishing what students already know. As an ESOL instructor, I can imagine using this textbook as a framework to guide critical thinking and reflection while supplementing it with the nuts-and-bolts specific to my situation, namely grammar, research, and citation. There is a basic table of contents, but no index. Terminology is typically explained in context, but it would be helpful to highlight it and include it in a glossary. There is little or no discussion of different rhetorical styles, vocabulary (e.g., transition words), citation styles, or instruction in common skills such as brainstorming, outlining, summarizing and paraphrasing, etc. -- that is all assumed to have been covered in previous courses. There are example passages, but no full-length model essays or papers. One important area that I wish the book addressed at length is topic selection and topic narrowing.

The information seems to be accurate. I did not notice any unintentional errors or typos. The author has distinct expectations of college students and expresses opinions on some familiar grammar and style arguments (e.g., that vs. which), but provides appropriate explanation for both.

The tone feels fresh, and the content seems relevant, including, for example, the current shift in thinking regarding the use of “they” and “their” as a single, non-gender-specific third person. That small section likely will need to be updated sooner rather than later as the usage quickly becomes more widely accepted. The larger issue in terms of longevity has to do with the many links to external sources that may need to be updated and replaced over time. Several are unnecessary and distracting links to publishers of books that are mentioned as resources. I think these references would be better served with basic bibliographic information so that students could then choose to find the books in the library or from a retailer, if they choose. Other links, however, point to valuable content on third-party sites. They all seem active at the moment, but they may not exist a year or two from now. Updates, however, should be relatively easy and straightforward to implement. In terms of relevancy, I find that this book is extremely relevant in shifting students from using information to write toward using writing to inform.

Although academic vocabulary -- especially in the sample texts -- may slow some readers, its otherwise conversational tone makes this book a quick and easy read. Concepts are demonstrated through examples and exercises. Furthermore, the book attempts to paraphrase key points through testimonial pull quotes by real-life students who share authentic observations in everyday language. Ironically, I think the chapter on clarity and concision happens to be the least clear and direct. More simplified examples might be more quickly understood.

Yes, the book provides a consistent presentation.

Each chapter seems to work independently so that individual parts could be reorganized or omitted. Internal sections are clearly delineated, though that could be improved by starting major sections within chapters on a new page, especially since this is a PDF and there isn’t as much need to save space/paper as a printed version may require. That would facilitate using or omitting individual sections.

Unlike writing books that build from sentence to paragraph to essay, this book works from the top down, starting with academic expectations and the philosophical shift away from a five-paragraph essay through the big idea of good theses and organization of information toward the details of specific types of commas that plague student writers. I believe this is a useful process because it reflects how we write, examining audience and purpose first, then editing and revising for the finer details, such as punctuation.

Overall, the PDF seems fine. The links to external materials all work at this time. The layout is simple and easy to read. I remain ambivalent about the book’s pull quotes featuring comments from actual students. I like them in concept, but I’m not sure how much they help student readers in their current format. This might be just a matter of layout rather than content. There is almost no graphic relief. While this book does not have to be laden with illustrations, perhaps some additional way of offsetting the example texts and pull quotes might provide for easier reading and navigation.

I did not observe any unintentional grammatical errors.

While I did not observe anything culturally insensitive or offensive, neither did I observe any conscious effort by the text to be inclusive or diverse. Some of the references or examples may, in fact, be from a variety of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds, but it is not obvious. This may be partially due to the fact that this book focuses on academic research writing rather than creative or personal writing. Instructors may wish to supplement examples and resources that clearly reflect diversity.

One thing I really appreciate about this book is its respect for students and teachers. It honors the students where they are now and leads them to a new level in academic scholarship. It introduces big ideas, but leaves room for instructors to supplement with specifics. It provides expectations as much as instructions. It helps students learn how to learn. Its tone is collegial and realistic, not pedantic or contrived. I also appreciate that the exercises are interesting and open-ended investigations rather than right-or-wrong answers or trite prompts. I am excited about incorporating it in my advanced ESOL writing course this fall.

Reviewed by Jarrod Dunham, Instructor - English Composition, Portland Community College on 8/21/16

This book provides a comprehensive, demystifying guide to academic writing - its purposes, conventions, and many of the most common errors that even well-prepared students commit. For students who are prepared, committed, and interested in... read more

This book provides a comprehensive, demystifying guide to academic writing - its purposes, conventions, and many of the most common errors that even well-prepared students commit. For students who are prepared, committed, and interested in improving their academic writing, this book is incredibly useful. All of the things that I recall having to learn as an undergraduate through trial and error and by scrutinizing professor's feedback are concisely covered here.

The content of the book is accurate and up-to-date with the most current research and practices in the field.

This book was crafted with current students in mind, and as such does an excellent job taking into consideration very recent issues (such as text message abbreviations) that have emerged in student writing. On questions like this, the book is both highly relevant and can be kept up-to-date.

One of the book's great strengths is that it takes advantage of the electronic format to provide useful links to outside sources that corroborate information in the book, provide examples, or offer additional instruction. However, this is also something of a weakness: while most of the links appear to be stable, a couple are obsolete already. It is a small task to substitute a fresh link for a broken one, but even with regular updates, some of the links probably will not be functional. That said, the linked material is best understood as supplementary rather than integral to the text, so the occasional non-functionality of a link or two hardly compromises the value of the text as a whole.

Clarity rating: 3

The book is well written and clear, but may be long-winded for many undergraduate students. The text seems to assume a relatively sophisticated undergraduate reader, and it is well-suited to that audience. However, it may be a bit dense for a freshman composition course, particularly in an institution where incoming students demonstrate varying degrees of preparedness.

The text is commendably consistent, each chapter building on work done in previous chapters, and frequently referring back to content covered in previous chapters in order to reinforce the internal pedagogical structure.

In terms of assigning this text in a classroom, it's biggest weakness might be a lack of modularity. Chapters tend to be short and as such can easily be assigned for out-of-class reading, but I struggled to come up with complementary readings to assign alongside it, and the book is really best read in its entirety.

I appreciate the structure of this book. As I recalled my own experiences as a novice scholar, I found that this text mirrored the course of my own questions. It's certainly the case that the text will be most effective for students who already have some experience (and maybe accumulated frustration) with writing college papers, but for those students, this book provides a highly systematic guide to improving on their work and identifying and avoiding the mistakes they may have committed on past efforts.

The interface of the text is broadly good, though there are a couple problems. The book uses text boxes to highlight input from student contributors, and these occasionally sit awkwardly on the "page." Some of the longer student comments spilled below the margins, with the result that the end of the comment simply couldn't be read. Links were occasionally difficult to select (or selected on accident), and while having the option to immediately navigate to endnotes by clicking on the supertext number is excellent, I found it difficult to navigate back to the text after reading the endnote. These are mostly annoyance rather than significant issues, however, and for the most part there are offsetting upsides in terms of the convenience with which additional information can be incorporated.

There are a handful of minor errors in the text, mostly on the order of typos, but they are rare and do not interfere with comprehending the content. Most readers will likely not notice them at all. I'd suggest, in any case, that there is some merit in the occasional typo, as it makes the case that obsession with "correctness" at the expense of content really isn't necessary or productive.

I was pleased with the way the book handled culturally sensitive issues that emerge in writing classroom. For instance, it specifically deals with the difficulty of gendered pronouns (e.g., resisting the old practice of rendering every hypothetical student or scholar as male), and with concerns about the accessibility of formal academic English to speakers of non-dominant varieties of English. Many texts ignore these issues, perhaps considering them off-topic. I consider it a virtue of this book that it addresses them, insofar as it answers questions that students may have and provides an introduction to issues that students may perceive but lack a vocabulary with which to confront or explore.

This book would have been immensely beneficial to me as an undergraduate. Virtually everything it covers is something I had to learn by experience, and the quality of my earliest scholarship would have been much improved with the benefit of these lessons. I do not think I would require it as a primary text in a freshman comp class, but it has a lot of value as a supplementary or recommended text, particularly for students whose plans include graduate school or writing-intensive professions. It might also be valuable in a research writing or advanced composition class. Students who are most prepared will get the most out of it, but the book also offers excellent exercises at the end of each chapter that will be of value to all students.

Table of Contents

• Chapter 1: Really? Writing? Again?
• Chapter 2: What Does the Professor Want? Understanding the Assignment
• Chapter 3: Constructing the Thesis and Argument—From the Ground Up
• Chapter 4: Secondary Sources in Their Natural Habitats
• Chapter 5: Listening to Sources, Talking to Sources
• Chapter 6: Back to Basics: The Perfect Paragraph
• Chapter 7: Intros and Outros
• Chapter 8: Clarity and Concision
• Chapter 9: Getting the Mechanics Right

Ancillary Material

About the book.

Writing in College is designed for students who have largely mastered high-school level conventions of formal academic writing and are now moving beyond the five-paragraph essay to more advanced engagement with text. It is well suited to composition courses or first-year seminars and valuable as a supplemental or recommended text in other writing-intensive classes. It provides a friendly, down-to-earth introduction to professors' goals and expectations, demystifying the norms of the academy and how they shape college writing assignments. Each of the nine chapters can be read separately, and each includes suggested exercises to bring the main messages to life.

Students will find in Writing in College a warm invitation to join the academic community as novice scholars and to approach writing as a meaningful medium of thought and communication. With concise discussions, clear multidisciplinary examples, and empathy for the challenges of student life, Guptill conveys a welcoming tone. In addition, each chapter includes Student Voices: peer-to-peer wisdom from real SUNY Brockport students about their strategies for and experiences with college writing.

While there are many affordable writing guides available, most focus only on sentence-level issues or, conversely, a broad introduction to making the transition. Writing In College , in contrast, provides both a coherent frame for approaching writing assignments and indispensable advice for effective organization and expression.

About the Contributors

Amy Guptill is an Associate Professor of Sociology at The College at Brockport, SUNY where she has a joint appointment with the Delta College Program, an alternative interdisciplinary General Education option. Her research focuses on spatial and structural shifts in agriculture and food systems with recent work on innovative agricultural marketing. She teaches courses in the sociology of food, development and globalization, community and social change, social statistics and college writing. In addition to Writing In College: From Competence to Excellence, she is the coauthor of a recent college textbook entitled Food & Society: Principles and Paradoxes (Malden, MA: Polity, 2012).

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• How to Paraphrase | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples

How to Paraphrase | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples

Published on April 8, 2022 by Courtney Gahan and Jack Caulfield. Revised on June 1, 2023.

Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s ideas into your own words. Paraphrasing a source involves changing the wording while preserving the original meaning.

Paraphrasing is an alternative to  quoting (copying someone’s exact words and putting them in quotation marks ). In academic writing, it’s usually better to integrate sources by paraphrasing instead of quoting. It shows that you have understood the source, reads more smoothly, and keeps your own voice front and center.

Every time you paraphrase, it’s important to cite the source . Also take care not to use wording that is too similar to the original. Otherwise, you could be at risk of committing plagiarism .

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Table of contents

How to paraphrase in five easy steps, how to paraphrase correctly, examples of paraphrasing, how to cite a paraphrase, paraphrasing vs. quoting, paraphrasing vs. summarizing, avoiding plagiarism when you paraphrase, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about paraphrasing.

If you’re struggling to get to grips with the process of paraphrasing, check out our easy step-by-step guide in the video below.

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Putting an idea into your own words can be easier said than done. Let’s say you want to paraphrase the text below, about population decline in a particular species of sea snails.

Incorrect paraphrasing

You might make a first attempt to paraphrase it by swapping out a few words for  synonyms .

Like other sea creatures inhabiting the vicinity of highly populated coasts, horse conchs have lost substantial territory to advancement and contamination , including preferred breeding grounds along mud flats and seagrass beds. Their Gulf home is also heating up due to global warming , which scientists think further puts pressure on the creatures , predicated upon the harmful effects extra warmth has on other large mollusks (Barnett, 2022).

This attempt at paraphrasing doesn’t change the sentence structure or order of information, only some of the word choices. And the synonyms chosen are poor:

• “Advancement and contamination” doesn’t really convey the same meaning as “development and pollution.”
• Sometimes the changes make the tone less academic: “home” for “habitat” and “sea creatures” for “marine animals.”
• Adding phrases like “inhabiting the vicinity of” and “puts pressure on” makes the text needlessly long-winded.
• Global warming is related to climate change, but they don’t mean exactly the same thing.

Because of this, the text reads awkwardly, is longer than it needs to be, and remains too close to the original phrasing. This means you risk being accused of plagiarism .

Correct paraphrasing

Let’s look at a more effective way of paraphrasing the same text.

Here, we’ve:

• Only included the information that’s relevant to our argument (note that the paraphrase is shorter than the original)
• Introduced the information with the signal phrase “Scientists believe that …”
• Retained key terms like “development and pollution,” since changing them could alter the meaning
• Structured sentences in our own way instead of copying the structure of the original
• Started from a different point, presenting information in a different order

Because of this, we’re able to clearly convey the relevant information from the source without sticking too close to the original phrasing.

Explore the tabs below to see examples of paraphrasing in action.

• Journal article
• Newspaper article
• Magazine article

Once you have your perfectly paraphrased text, you need to ensure you credit the original author. You’ll always paraphrase sources in the same way, but you’ll have to use a different type of in-text citation depending on what citation style you follow.

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It’s a good idea to paraphrase instead of quoting in most cases because:

• Paraphrasing shows that you fully understand the meaning of a text
• Your own voice remains dominant throughout your paper
• Quotes reduce the readability of your text

But that doesn’t mean you should never quote. Quotes are appropriate when:

• Giving a precise definition
• Saying something about the author’s language or style (e.g., in a literary analysis paper)
• Providing evidence in support of an argument
• Critiquing or analyzing a specific claim

A paraphrase puts a specific passage into your own words. It’s typically a similar length to the original text, or slightly shorter.

When you boil a longer piece of writing down to the key points, so that the result is a lot shorter than the original, this is called summarizing .

Paraphrasing and quoting are important tools for presenting specific information from sources. But if the information you want to include is more general (e.g., the overarching argument of a whole article), summarizing is more appropriate.

When paraphrasing, you have to be careful to avoid accidental plagiarism .

This can happen if the paraphrase is too similar to the original quote, with phrases or whole sentences that are identical (and should therefore be in quotation marks). It can also happen if you fail to properly cite the source.

Paraphrasing tools are widely used by students, and can be especially useful for non-native speakers who may find academic writing particularly challenging. While these can be helpful for a bit of extra inspiration, use these tools sparingly, keeping academic integrity in mind.

To make sure you’ve properly paraphrased and cited all your sources, you could elect to run a plagiarism check before submitting your paper. And of course, always be sure to read your source material yourself and take the first stab at paraphrasing on your own.

If you want to know more about ChatGPT, AI tools , citation , and plagiarism , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• ChatGPT vs human editor
• ChatGPT citations
• Is ChatGPT trustworthy?
• Using ChatGPT for your studies
• What is ChatGPT?
• Chicago style
• Critical thinking

 Plagiarism

• Types of plagiarism
• Self-plagiarism
• Avoiding plagiarism
• Academic integrity
• Consequences of plagiarism
• Common knowledge

To paraphrase effectively, don’t just take the original sentence and swap out some of the words for synonyms. Instead, try:

• Reformulating the sentence (e.g., change active to passive , or start from a different point)
• Combining information from multiple sentences into one
• Leaving out information from the original that isn’t relevant to your point
• Using synonyms where they don’t distort the meaning

The main point is to ensure you don’t just copy the structure of the original text, but instead reformulate the idea in your own words.

Paraphrasing without crediting the original author is a form of plagiarism , because you’re presenting someone else’s ideas as if they were your own.

However, paraphrasing is not plagiarism if you correctly cite the source . This means including an in-text citation and a full reference, formatted according to your required citation style .

As well as citing, make sure that any paraphrased text is completely rewritten in your own words.

Plagiarism means using someone else’s words or ideas and passing them off as your own. Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s ideas in your own words.

So when does paraphrasing count as plagiarism?

• Paraphrasing is plagiarism if you don’t properly credit the original author.
• Paraphrasing is plagiarism if your text is too close to the original wording (even if you cite the source). If you directly copy a sentence or phrase, you should quote it instead.
• Paraphrasing  is not plagiarism if you put the author’s ideas completely in your own words and properly cite the source .

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To present information from other sources in academic writing , it’s best to paraphrase in most cases. This shows that you’ve understood the ideas you’re discussing and incorporates them into your text smoothly.

It’s appropriate to quote when:

• Changing the phrasing would distort the meaning of the original text
• You want to discuss the author’s language choices (e.g., in literary analysis )
• You’re presenting a precise definition
• You’re looking in depth at a specific claim

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If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Gahan, C. & Caulfield, J. (2023, June 01). How to Paraphrase | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved April 9, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/working-with-sources/how-to-paraphrase/

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What is Hedging in Academic Writing?  

In academic writing, researchers and scholars need to consider the tonality and sweep of their statements and claims. They need to ask themselves if they are being too aggressive in trying to prove a point or too weak. If you’ve ever struggled to ensure your academic writing sounds confident yet acknowledges the inherent complexities of research, Hedging is a technique that can help you achieve just that.  

Hedging is a linguistic strategy that helps soften the claims and express the degree of uncertainty or certainty that an author wants to convey based on their research and available evidence. In this blog post, we’ll explore what hedging is and why it’s important in academic writing. We’ll also provide practical tips on how to use hedging effectively, including avoiding common mistakes and recognizing the role of context.   

Table of Contents

• What is the importance of hedging in academic writing?  
• How to use hedging in academic writing?  
• Understand context and appropriate usage 
• Use precise and accurate language 
• Provide supporting evidence and justification 
• Seek feedback and peer review 

What is the importance of hedging in academic writing?

The element or degree of uncertainty in academic knowledge and science cannot be overlooked. Hence, making absolute claims in educational and research writing can run counter to the traditional understandings of science as tentative. By employing hedging, academic writers and researchers acknowledge the possibilities for alternative perspectives and interpretations. In doing so, researchers and scholars accept the fact that their statements are open to discussions and debates. Hedging also lends credibility to their claims.  

Consider the following statements:  

‘Eating more than four eggs a day causes heart disease’ or  

‘People who rise early remain alert throughout the day.’  

These statements sow seeds of doubt or lead to many questions among readers. However, they can be made more flexible and open to discussion by adding words like ‘probably’ and ‘could.’  

Let’s review the modified sentences again:  

‘Eating more than four eggs a day could cause heart disease’ or  

‘People who rise early probably remain alert throughout the day.’ 1         

How to use hedging in academic writing?

While hedging in academic writing is inevitable, it should not be overused. Researchers must know how to hedge and develop this skill to deliver credible research. The writer can utilize specific hedging devices to make a well-reasoned statement.   

These include the use of grammatical tools like:   

• Verbs such as suggest, tend to seem to indicate. For example, ‘Earlier studies indicate…’  
• Modal auxiliaries such as may, might, can, and could. For example, ‘Industries can make use of …’  
• Adjectives such as much, many, some, perhaps. For example, ‘within some micro-credit groups.’  
• Adverbs such as probably, likely, often, seldom, sometimes.  
• ‘That’ clauses: for example, ‘It is evident that…’  
• Distance – it is helpful to distance oneself from the claims made. For example, you present it in the following ways: ‘Based on the preliminary study…’, ‘On the limited data available…’.  

A combination of such devices may be used to balance the strength of your claims. For example, in double hedging, the statement can be: ‘It seems almost certain that…’.  

However, overuse of hedging can dilute the impact of your arguments. Ideally, hedging should enhance clarity and foster a space for discussion, not create unnecessary ambiguity. 

Edgar Allan Poe, the renowned American writer, encapsulated the essence of doubt with his insightful words: ‘The believer is happy, the doubter is wise.’ This sentiment aptly captures the advantages of employing hedging in academic writing. While robust evidence and data may be the basis of an argument, the practice of hedging ensures that ideas are presented not as overconfident assertions but as credible and considerate viewpoints. Through cautious language, academic writers create an atmosphere of respect and openness. This approach not only acknowledges varied perspectives but also signals to readers that the author is receptive to counterthoughts and alternative viewpoints. It promotes a more prosperous and more inclusive scholarly discourse. Here are some tips for the effective use of hedging in academic writing.   

Tips to leverage hedging in academic writing

Hedging in academic writing isn’t just about softening claims; it’s about strategically conveying the strength of your evidence and fostering a nuanced discussion. Here are some key tips to help you leverage hedging effectively: 

Understand context and appropriate usage

Employing hedging solely for the sake of it can disrupt the flow and result in counterproductive outcomes, potentially inviting unnecessary critique and doubts regarding the credibility of the work. 2 The very purpose of hedging is to balance the tone of your claims such that it does not appear overconfident or too weak, so you need to be conscious of the context and hedge appropriately. So, how do you use a cautious tone through hedging? To express a balanced tone in the claims, you need to use a mix of hedging devices to convey low to high certainty about your claims. For example, for low certainty, words used can be ‘may, could, might’; for medium certainty, words such as ‘likely, appears to, generally’; and high certainty words such as ‘must, should, undoubtedly.’ It all depends on the evidence you have at hand.  

Use precise and accurate language

The use of precise and accurate language is critical, particularly the use of the right strength of the hedging device based on the evidence you have. Be careful that the claims are not presented as too weak such that they defeat your main argument and idea. It is important to remember that hedging requires refined linguistic skills. For instance, when employing hedging words such as ‘possibly’ and ‘probably,’ it is crucial to understand their subtle distinctions. ‘Possibly’ should be reserved for situations where an outcome is within the realm of feasibility – ‘The weather data shows that it will likely rain tomorrow.’ On the other hand, ‘probably’ indicates a higher likelihood, albeit without absolute certainty – ‘The latest weather data shows it will probably rain next week.’   

Provide supporting evidence and justification

When you provide supporting evidence and justification, you will be able to express the degree of certainty more clearly and also recognize what is less specific. Be careful not to generalize or make categorical statements without any supporting evidence. Neglecting the responsibility to substantiate statements with information dilutes their impact. Embracing data not only imparts accuracy and precision to claims but also bolsters their credibility. Further, the use of hedging in academic writing helps communicate the claim clearly based on evidence at the time of doing research and writing. It acknowledges that situations can change, and discoveries may be made at a later date.   

Seek feedback and peer review

It is always recommended to have your work read thoroughly by a third person or a colleague/faculty member. Outside feedback and a peer review process can highlight specific areas in your work that may require a certain degree of improvement or refinement. By actively seeking feedback, a distinct message is conveyed – the willingness to expose ideas to the crucible of critical assessment. This proactive approach not only signals a receptivity to constructive insights but also exemplifies scholarly integrity that places value on the collective pursuit of knowledge. In embracing this feedback loop, the practice of hedging not only upholds the ethos of academic rigour but also creates an ecosystem of continuous improvement and growth.  

Hedging is a linguistic tool that reflects a willingness to embrace diverse perspectives in the pursuit of knowledge. As academicians navigate their respective fields, hedging emerges as an ally, facilitating a nuanced discourse that pushes the boundaries of scholarship forward.  

References:   

• IELTS Task 2 essays: formal writing (hedging) – https://ieltsetc.com/2020/12/hedging-in-academic-writing/   
• Hedging in academic writing: Some theoretical problems, Peter Crompton (1997) – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S088949069700007   

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Film set in Schwartz Center: A pop-up laboratory for building worlds

Performing and Media Arts

By | Kate Blackwood , A&S Communications

The room on the Kiplinger Theatre stage is paneled in wood and faded yellow-green floral wallpaper. The lamps, beige and dim, barely disturb the shadows dominating every corner. Old family photos march up the wall. A taxidermy deer head gazes down upon a mustard yellow couch draped with a crocheted color-block throw. The stairs, carpeted in gray shag, look as though they might creak under the weight of the tragedy haunting the house.

The shiver-inducing story of the old couple living in that house and a young man who stumbles upon it took root in student filmmaker Peter Levine’s ’24 imagination two years ago. The resulting short film, “Remembering Colin Stall,” came to life this semester on a set installed on the stage.

Designed by  Jason Simms , assistant professor of performing and media arts (PMA) in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) and built by PMA crew and students, the film set was the busy heart of the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts for the first half of the spring 2024 semester.

It was an all-hands-on-deck experience for PMA this spring, said Simms, with many hands-on learning opportunities. Students got involved building, painting, decorating (or “dressing”) the set. In mid-February Levine directed a crew of students and industry professionals in shooting the film, which is Levine’s thesis project in the Robert S. Harrison College Scholars Program . After that, the set became an experimental zone for film and theater technology classes.

“It was a pop-up laboratory,” Simms said. “It definitely took on a life outside ‘Colin Stall,’ which was always part of our intention.”

Laboratory for a story

Levine laughs when he remembers the very first seed of “Remembering Colin Stall.” In a Cornell film writing course, he was trying to create a heart-felt tale about an old couple helping a kid who got lost near their home in the countryside.

“This couple that lives here, their life took place between the 1960s and the 1980s. Then their son died, and they got stunted. They haven’t moved forward in time,” said Levine. “When Jude, a young man running away from home, breaks down outside their house, the elderly couple takes him in.

“I presented it to the class and every single person said ‘this is terrifying,’” he said. “Out in the middle of nowhere, an old couple in their farmhouse. As nice as you want to make it feel, that’s horror. It’s what we expect.”

Levine decided to run with it and grew the script into his thesis project, using GoFundMe and a grant from the Lynne S. Abel ’62 College Scholar Endowment Fund to hire professional film crew and actors. Cinematographer Indeana Underhill signed on as director of photography gratis and Simms agreed to design the production.

In addition to being a professor, Simms is an award-winning scenographer, with more than 150 productions to his credit . His portfolio is full of theater, dance, opera and virtual reality credits at regional and New York City theater, including “Murder on the Orient Express” for the Pioneer Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, Utah; “A Raisin in the Sun” for Bristol Riverside Theatre in Bristol, Pennsylvania; and “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” for George St. Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Simms is also the production designer for “Fish,” a new play by Kia Corthron , which began previews March 21 at Keen Company in New York City. He’s designed recent shows in Ithaca , and others for Cornell PMA. But the expressive vision he shares with his students extends far beyond the walls of any set.

“I’m not a set design teacher, I’m a world-building teacher,” Simms said.

He started planning the “Colin Stall” set by collecting images: wood-paneled country houses with dark lighting and fireplaces; vintage 1960s living room photos with family portraits and plaid armchair upholstery.

He also made a 3D computer model, a useful device for visualizing the space. “This will be a world,” he said, scrolling through the model back in January. “It’s country chic horror. Grandma’s attic meets Norman Bates.”

“Jason has a database in his head of architectural knowledge and period knowledge,” Levine said. “He knew exactly what I was going for.”

Simms made plans, then handed them over to Savannah Relos, assistant technical director in PMA (A&S) to actualize, in a collaboration much like an architect and an engineer.

“Jason is aware of the aesthetic of the world, the final picture. It’s my job to take it and make sure it’s going to hold weight, it’s going to support whoever it needs to support,” Relos said. “I’m the reality check.”

Relos said the “Colin Stall” set was much like theatrical sets she builds routinely on the Kiplinger stage, but with some key differences. Unlike a theater set, the film set didn’t have to be open on an audience side, which made bracing the walls simpler. But details were more important, making the finishing touches more laborious. Like the wallpaper, for example.

“If I’m building a theater set, I will paint, I will stencil, I will even use fabric because it’s just an easier medium to work with than wallpaper – all the paste and the tearing,” Relos said. “But for this film set, because the camera is right there, actors are going to be up against the walls. You’re going to be able to tell if the wallpaper’s not real and it will be distracting for the story.”

Extreme makeover home edition redress

Levine and his crew filmed “Remembering Colin Stall” in one long weekend. They wrapped around Feb. 20, and the set’s role as an experimental zone began.

Simms’ production design students teamed up with film classes taught by Jeffrey Palmer , associate professor of performing and media arts (A&S) and Doorim Kim , lecturer in PMA, to transform the set for another project.

“The film class came up with a short script and my production design students did sort of an extreme makeover home edition redress of the set so it could serve the script the students in the film class wrote,” Simms said. The students were challenged to create a whole new look and feel on the set—without bringing in any new props or elements. “That was a lot of fun.”

Simm’s course, Project: Terrarium Imagined; World Building through Allegory, in which students design a fictional society from the ground up, spent time on the set, too.

“I used that opportunity to talk about character because when you actually dress a set you’re thinking about the people who live there and what they have and what their world is,” Simms said. “It was a great opportunity again to use this physical laboratory as an example of why this is important.”

As a member of Simms’ production design course, Sid Martis ’25, an architecture student in the College of Art, Architecture and Planning, helped to paint and dress the film set, taking away lasting lessons for his future profession.

“The most important skill in my mind is the actualization process in the creation of any occupiable space,” Martis said. “In architecture, that has also been a challenging jump. It's easy to create a space that's pretty, but it's much harder to create a space that can be occupied by a cast. I feel like on a deeper level, the class is informing me on how to create spaces for others rather than for myself.”

On the precipice of something new

The film set went up, a world appeared and transformed into other worlds and inspired still more. And then it all vanished. By mid-March, Relos and her crew struck the film set to make way for rehearsal and performance of an April 25-27 dance event, the culmination of this year's Choreographing Justice Series , for which Simms will transform the space yet again, a totally different look.

Meanwhile, “Remembering Colin Stall” is in editing. Levine will have a cut of the film ready for the early May student film show and will discuss his project at the Harrison College Scholar Program senior thesis presentations on May 4. And of course, the experience will live on in the minds of the students who participated.

Simms said he’s excited about the many directions students can take skills they learn in PMA: “I think we’re on the precipice of something new in media/performing arts, where they’re going to have to develop a wholistic skill set that could encompass game design, design for film, virtual reality worlds, virtual worlds, immersive – actual in person immersive experiences, high-quality theater and anything else that could possibly fit under that umbrella. It’s a wide umbrella, and I’m excited about the future of it. I recognize that innovation is about to happen.”

In the near future, PMA is considering another film set for the Kiplinger stage next year.

“It was exciting to have something of that scale in our building, in the Schwartz Center. It opens the door for more projects of that scale to happen within PMA,” Simms said. “I think we will see more of this.”

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