Matthew Parfitt's Writing In Response

Writing in Response: Assignment #1
A student that is transitioning from high school to college is not truly prepared for what is to come. One of the most common misconceptions for first-year students is that the writing tactics previously used in high school will transfer over to college, when in reality, professors are desiring higher-quality content. In Matthew Parfitt’s Writing in Response, he addresses the challenges that students new to the academy can expect in regard to writing. To clearly show the changes one can expect, he uses an example email of a first-year student complaining to his sister about his confusions concerning a paper for which he received a “C.” In the example, the student explains how he approached and wrote the paper which in turn, shows the incompetence of the academic discourse. Without understanding the consequences of this lack of knowledge, one might never grow,

and this does happen to many undergraduates who end up spending four years at a university and finish still unsure how to write properly. For the student to become properly acclimated, they must first learn the proper concepts and strategies.
Due to the lower standards, English and writing classes offered at high schools do not require a great deal of effort for the average student.

If the student desires to grow in knowledge, they must be willing to adopt a new style of writing as they prepare for higher education. The purpose of a college is not to just feed facts to a student, but rather use the professor to teach the students to develop critical thinking habits so that new knowledge flourishes in the student. These habits are necessary for the new writer if they desire to further improve their writing potential. This requires the writer to focus on writing to communicate ideas that engage and persuade the reader. Clear, precise, and factual writing will assist in this process by teaching the student methods to avoid developing weak or unclear arguments through the elimination of opinions from the essay. It is to be noted that one should be aware not to create excessive claims. These draw away from the culture of the academy and may result in errors that take away from the argument of the

writer.
A student who is confused or new to the college atmosphere should keep in consideration their style of writing. The expectation of the student’s writing style does not reflect that which was learned in high school. Though it is easy for one to fall into the trap of procrastination or poor writing habits, it is important not to. Factual, entertaining, and well-thought-out papers that express and pursue the thesis of the essay will show that a student has a fine grasp of the strategies required to succeed in the academic culture.