Writing an essay is an art. There is a complex totality of considerations in any art form, and to reduce it to component parts is often misleading. However, as with any art, basic skills must first be learned before mastery can be achieved. In GSW we have a very specific conception (both explicitly stated in our guidelines and implicitly demanded by the portfolio) of what those skills should be, with a premium placed on organization. Although I adhere to those prescribed methods in my teaching to ensure that students do not stumble in the portfolio, I also try to emphasize, within those bounds, that the best essays are organized and argued not only by prearranged methods, but also through the combination, manipulation, and defiance of traditional methods—such creativities as are usually seen in the essays from the textbooks but too frequently ignored as models. It is my firm belief that the majority of college freshmen can (and should!) come to understand this, if not practice it, by the 112 level. This is one of the bigger services we can provide for them before we send them on their ways to write in other classes and contexts. It is quickly becoming one of my top priorities in teaching essay writing.

Scott Gallaway
scottag@bgnet.bgsu.edu

William Heath Diehl

Sherri Doust

Steve Edgehouse

Scott Gallaway

Cheryl Hoy

Dawn Hubbell-Staeble

Harland W. Jones III

Ashley Kaine

Cheryl Lachowski