
Free-to-Formal Writing — Encouraging Students to Express Original Thought in Academic Writing
If you teach a course that involves academic writing, you’ve read too many paragraphs that look like this: “My claim is ______________ because…” “In the article it states…” “This quote supports my claim because…” I’m an English teacher, and this drives me insane. It shows that students understand the importance of citing evidence to defend themselves, but it is far from good writing. It’s short. Stilted. Formulaic. It shows no voice or depth of thought. My colleagues and I ha