Successful College Writing Anne Lamott's Research Paper

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This is helpful advice for college students who wish for their work to stand out from that of their peers, for by choosing descriptive words over the general, writers can discover stronger and more vibrant ways in which to present their ideas in a thoughtful and critical way.

Goldberg's essay touches on the vital importance of paying attention to the world around us as we seek to learn the names of everything that we encounter. This is a practical tool that Cheryl L. Dozier cites as an effective way to encourage students to make the connection between what they read in books and what they see in the world around them. In such a way, a greater appreciation of words is created, along with an educational foundation which encourages strong literacy skills. In her essay "Literacy Coaching: Engaging and Learning with Teachers," Dozier writes that "noticing and naming involves an explicitness, an intentionality, and an opportunity for teachers and children to articulate developing understandings" (Dozier 16). In the course of her discussion on the various approaches to take when building a child's literacy skills, she references Goldberg's "Be Specific," stating that the act of naming both things and practices allows for children and teachers to develop relationships with the written word.

Steve Sherwood, an instructor at a college writing center, continues this theme of creating strong personal relationships between words, the act of writing, and the novice writer in his essay "Apprenticed to Failure: Learning from Students We Can't Help." Although this title seems to suggest that some students are incapable of learning solid writing skills, he argues just the opposite. Instead, he states that our failures as writers actually offer an opportunity to learn coping skills and resilience.

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Referencing Lamott's "Shitty First Drafts," he encourages those who work with student writers to help them "accept failures that come during the early stages of writing" (Sherwood 53). Good educators, Sherwood suggests, are those individuals who become emotionally invested in their students' success, but are also able to see the potential opportunities for change in their students' failures by understanding that "if we ignore our shortcomings, we risk perpetuating them" (52). Lamott's acceptance of her own limitations as a writer, and her acknowledgement that good writing takes time, effort, and the willingness to make mistakes, underscores Sherwood's argument as he demonstrates the importance, in both students and educators alike, of seeing writing difficulties as learning obstacles rather than impassable obstacles to academic success.

The line dividing creative writing from academic writing is a fine one, as illustrated by Dozier and Sherwood's ability to apply information from the essays of Natalie Goldberg and Anne Lamott in concrete and practical ways. This illustrates that the foundation of all writing lies in a basic skill-set that has less to do with one's creativity than with the determination and desire to clearly communicate one's ideas in written form. By learning to become aware of the world around them, find names for the objects and people one encounters, and write freely and without fear in the early stages of the writing process, college students can find their own unique voices and personal approaches to both academic and creative writing. This will contribute to their success as students, increase their confidence, and enable them to eventually "trust the process -- sort of, more or less" (Lamott 25).

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