1. Building a Bridge from High School Writing to First-Year Writing to Writing in the Major
Noreen Lape
Associate Provost of academic Affairs/ Director of the writing program
Dickinson College

2. Habits of Novice First-Year Writers
The Bridge between First-Year Writing and Writing in the Major
Discourse Conventions: Two Exercises

3. The habits of novice writers
Looking Back

4. The Frame Method

5. Writing Process Habits of Novice Writers
They may spend more time organizing ideas and correcting grammar than developing ideas and crafting an argument.
They may have a linear, rather than recursive, view of the writing process that causes them to revise locally rather than globally.
They may use “revise” and “edit” as synonyms.

6. Analytical habits of novice writers
“They may reduce complex subject matter to a single, overly general, usually unqualified claim that they repeatedly attach to a set of examples” (Rosenwasser and Stephen).
“They may put evidence next to claims without explaining how they derived the claim from the evidence” (Rosenwasser and Stephen).
“They may plug in quotations from readings as answers—leaving the quotes to speak for themselves” (Rosenwasser and Stephen).
They may make a one-sided argument that fails to take into account antithetical perspectives.

7. Reading habits of novice writers
They may read with the intent of soaking up ideas (what) rather than analyzing them (why).
The read to find quotes that back up what they have to say.
“They may substitute a familiar, pre-conceived point—usually some kind of culture cliché—for what is actually in a reading” (Rosenwasser and Stephen).
“They may offer a general impression of a reading without reference to specific words and details” (Rosenwasser and Stephen).
“They may offer judgments/evaluations of a reading rather than analyzing” (Rosenwasser and Stephen).

8. Organizing habits of novice writers
They may create the descriptive thesis that states the topics, usually three, that they will discuss rather than a thesis that is contestable and built on a tension (Sommers).
They may fall back on the “one-size-fits-all” five-paragraph essay, reducing writing to known quantities: three ideas in a thesis, three body paragraphs, three ideas repeated in a conclusion.

9. Citation habits of novice writers
They may not consistently cite their sources because they do not understand why they have to cite other peoples’ words, ideas, or both.

10. Some Goals of FYS for making the transition from high school to college
Students will be able to
develop a recursive writing process;
plan thoroughly, revise globally, and edit locally;
derive claims from evidence;
integrate antithetical positions into an argument;
read closely and attentively, asking “why” and “how”;
relinquish the five-paragraph essay and choose forms appropriate for the task;
cite their sources ethically and understand the ethics of citation.
Would any of you object to any of these goals – that is, would any of you argue that they are not goals for your particular discourse community?

11. The problem of Transfer
Low-road transfer refers to situations in which skills are readily transferable because they are automatic (Salomon and Perkins).
High-road transfer refers to situations in which a writer must abstract a principle from previous experience and apply it to a new context (Salomon and Perkins).
To prompt transfer, teachers need to engage students in metacognitive reflection (Beaufort).
What skill is needed here?
How do I apply it to this situation?

12. The Connection between First-Year Writing and Writing in the major
Looking Forward
Joanna Wolfe, Barrie Olson, and Laura Wilder, “Knowing What We Know about Writing in the Disciplines: A New Approach to Teaching for Transfer in FYC, ” The WAC Journal 25, 2014,

13. Topoi
Writers of academic discourse identify patterns and make interpretations.
What is the central issue in your discipline?
How do you demonstrate the pattern?
Do you foreground the pattern or the interpretation? (Wolfe et al.).

14. Conceptual Lens
Conceptual lens refers to when a writer uses “a theory as a lens for analyzing primary works” (Wolfe et al. 52). The writer
summarizes the concept,
applies it to the primary source,
uses what they learned to reflect on the concept.

15. Macrostructure
(Joanna Wolfe et al 55)

16. Naming and Citation What does the discourse community emphasize?
Date vs. name in the citation
Direct disagreement after naming scholar or disagreement about “knowledge claims” without naming the scholar
Direct quotation vs. paraphrase
Passive vs active voice (Wolfe et al. 59)

17. Guides to Writing in the Disciplines Exercise
What are the commonalities across disciplines?
What differences exist within common categories? How do you account for the differences?
What conventions seem unique to a discipline?

18. Essay Wheel
All academic writers consider these concerns when crafting a piece of writing in the discipline. Focusing on the Essay Wheel, provide one discipline-specific guideline for each area.

19. Works Cited
Beaufort, Anne. College Writing and Beyond. Logan, Utah: Utah State UP, Print. Colomb, Greg. “Some Characteristics of Novice Writers.” teachers/characteristics-of-novice-writers/. Rosenwasser, David and Jill Stephen. Personal correspondence. Salomon, Gavriel, and David N. Perkins. “Rock Roads to Transfer: Rethinking Mechanisms of a Neglected Phenomenon.” Educational Psychologist 24.2, 1989, Sommers, Nancy and Laura Saltz. “The Novice as Expert: Writing the Freshman Year,” College Composition and Communication. 56.1, 2004, Wolfe, Joanna, Barrie Olson, and Laura Wilder, “Knowing What We Know about Writing in the Disciplines: A New Approach to Teaching for Transfer in FYC, ” The WAC Journal 25, 2014,