The Art of Writing

Writing and Thought

I like to think of writing as a kind of time-lapse photography. Over a defined period of time, a photograph is compiled--a depiction of the writer's evolving state of mind. Like a radiological camera probing the brain, the act of writing captures and portrays how a mind understands, organizes, and expresses complex concepts in language.

In his seminal article, "Writing: An Act of Cognition," Toby Fulweiler underscores the connection between language and thought: "We think things through by talking to ourselves, carrying on 'inner' conversations in which we consider, debate, and rationalize. The key to knowing and understanding [just about everything] lies in our ability to manipulate internally information and ideas received piecemeal from external sources and to give them coherent verbal shape" (17).

This unique function of writing as a conduit for thought makes it an essential tool in every academic discipline. However, to harness writing's potential most fully, educators must design insightful rubrics, relevant to their specific disciplines, that sequence writing activities in the service of course learning objectives.

Teaching Writing in All Disciplines. Ed. C. Williams Griffin. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc.,

1982. 15-26.

Writing Across the Curriculum Assignment Design*

* An assignment rubric, such as the one shown below, can be adapted to any academic content area. Using the rubric, the instructor, selecting from the various learning levels depicted, can design writing assignments that contribute toward the achievement of course learning objectives.

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Learning Level Typical Assignment

1. Expressive a. Describe your difficulties in solving quadratic equations.

(Personal) b. How do you think learning chemistry will help make you a good nurse?

(Elicit the writer's personal connection to the subject matter.)

2. Explanatory a. Describe how photosynthesis works.

(Literal) b. Explain the stages of Bloom's educational taxonomy.

(Paraphrase or summarize a difficult concept or process.)

3. Analytical a.