Writing That Makes Sense

Book excerpt: Description: Students often face a daunting dilemma in academia when it comes to writing. In their composition courses they are encouraged to express their emotions, find themselves, construct their own meanings, discover their voices, and own their identities through writing. But when they are asked to write lab reports, history papers, sociological studies, or to write discipline specific documents for their majors, their professors aren't much interested in self-expression, self-esteem, identity politics, or endlessly open-ended non-answers in search of a question. Their professors want clear writing that makes sense and that evidences critical thinking. What are students to do? Writing That Makes Sense takes students through the basics of the writing process and critical thinking, and it teaches them how to write various types of academic essays they are likely to encounter in their academic careers. Drawing on nearly twenty years of experience in teaching college composition and professional writing, David S. Hogsette combines relevant writing pedagogy and practical assignments with the basics of critical thinking and logical thought to provide students with step-by-step guides for successful writing in academia. Writing That Makes Sense includes many professional essays and articles from a variety of voices often underrepresented in academia today, thus introducing students to a wider intellectual diversity. Students will also benefit from a chapter on information literacy that provides practical tips on engaging the research process and writing research papers. About the Contributor(s): David S. Hogsette is Associate Professor of English and Writing Coordinator at the Old Westbury campus of the New York Institute of Technology, where he teaches composition, professional writing, and various upper-level literature courses. His teaching directly impacts his scholarship, and he has published articles and delivered lectures at national and international conferences on literary topics related to English Romanticism, Gothic literature, fantasy literature, science fiction, and theocentric approaches to literary studies.