Formal
prompts are writing occasions that require writers to think
before they respond.
A good prompt calls for the same level of care from the person
making the assignment as the assigner expects from the writer.
In school situations,
prompts that call for a formal response appear in the guise of
essay topics, essay exams, term papers, research
papers, or written projects.
In workplace situations,
prompts that ask for memos, papers, reports,
recommendations, or proposals are formal.
Formality means accuracy of content
When writers have a formal assignment, they are supposed to come
up with a “correct” response, that is, one that’s
logical and supported by evidence.
Except in exam situations, if writers don't have information they
need to respond, they are expected to dig out the missing material
before they turn in their work. (Typically, a student who attempts
to remedy his information deficits during an exam is not applauded
for initiative.)
Moreover, writers responding to a formal prompt are expected to
take care with their spelling,
wording, grammar and punctuation, and the appearance of their finished
documents.
Focus on Essential Concepts
The topics around which you should develop formal writing prompts
are the major concepts and ideas
in your course. Writing is too hard — and developing good
writing assignments is too hard — to waste time on trivia.
The National Council of Teachers of English points out that many
state standards fail to say what is essential for students to learn.
Because a topic is appropriate for ninth graders doesn’t
necessarily mean that topic is required for your ninth grade
ELA classes.
What is used is essential
Decide what’s important for students to know about
— the topics likely to show up on standardized tests,
for example — and which are important for students to
do in written and oral communication.
The essentials include . . .
1) Skills ordinary people have to use on
the job.
Summarizing oral or
written material fits this category. Writing
in complete sentences is also an essential skill.
2) Concepts people must understand in order to improve their communications
skills.
The concept of a sentence is one example of a foundational
concept. People will have difficulty improving their grammar and
punctuation without recognizing sentences.
3) Patterns people have to recognize in order to perform typical
daily tasks.
Identifying the main idea in a paragraph is a pattern recognition
skill people must be able to do in order to perform many routine
tasks every day.
Once is enough
You need to do this analysis only once. Methods and strategies
change, but the essential concepts and ideas of a discipline
don’t change.
If you’ve unearthed the basics all your students must master
by the end of high school, you have a good start toward teaching
writing.
You still need to know how
to make the essential course material into good, formal writing
prompts. It’s not hard, but it may be unfamiliar territory
for you.
We’ll take it in short chunks.
created 12-Mar-2008; updated: 18-Sep-2008
