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Clarifying Writing Assignment Parameters

Students often struggle with writing assignments because they do not understand key parameters such as the intended audience, appropriate tone, and expected length. Without clear guidance on these aspects from instructors, students may write for the wrong goal or audience. Instructors should explicitly state parameters like the intended reader, appropriate level of background provided, and desired tone. Sharing examples of successful student work can also help illustrate expectations for depth, style, and addressing the intended audience.

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Jesssel Marian Abraham
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74 views2 pages

Clarifying Writing Assignment Parameters

Students often struggle with writing assignments because they do not understand key parameters such as the intended audience, appropriate tone, and expected length. Without clear guidance on these aspects from instructors, students may write for the wrong goal or audience. Instructors should explicitly state parameters like the intended reader, appropriate level of background provided, and desired tone. Sharing examples of successful student work can also help illustrate expectations for depth, style, and addressing the intended audience.

Uploaded by

Jesssel Marian Abraham
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Students are unclear about certain parameters of the

assignment or do not know how to meet them


Without a clear description of the purpose of the writing assignment (e.g., whom they
are trying to convince of what, what style or tone is appropriate to the given audience),
students may be writing for a vague or inappropriate goal. They may not know, for
example, what audience they should be writing for and thus may be unclear about how
much background information to include or how to “pitch” their argument. Although
these aspects of writing (and planning) may seem trivial to instructors, students often
have trouble gauging how much information to include when they write. For example, a
natural assumption students often make is that you the instructor are their sole reader.
Because they know you already know the material, they underestimate the degree to
which they need to define terms and explain complex concepts and ideas. To further
complicate matters, many students do not even consider asking themselves questions
such as who is the intended audience or what tone or style is appropriate for this piece
when planning a piece of writing. So, they do not ask their instructors for extra details
about these aspects of the writing assignment even when doing so could greatly help
them. Finally, students may struggle with the length requirements of an assignment
because they have not yet learned how much depth or breadth is reasonable in the
number of pages you expect them to write.

Strategies:
Explicitly communicate to students the parameters of the assignment.
Share good examples.
Explicitly communicate to students the parameters of the assignment.
Explain to students what kind of reader they are writing for. For example, if you want
your students to include explanations and descriptions of the texts, works of art, or
principles about which they are writing, they need to be told not to assume the reader is
familiar with this material. In terms of tone or style, be clear about the purpose of the
writing assignment by indicating, for example, what kind of reader they are trying to
persuade about what. It is particularly helpful to specify the intended audience for an
assignment in concrete terms, as in, “For this paper, imagine that you are writing to
convince a friend (who has not taken this course) of X” or “For this paper, you are
writing a news article for young adults interested in learning about Y.” By varying the
audience and tone you specify for different writing assignments—even those dealing
with the same or similar topics—you highlight to students how much these parameters
can and should influence the style of writing they produce.

Share good examples.


Give students examples of good student responses for a particular assignment. This
provides students with a better sense of how much depth or breadth is reasonable for
an assignment of a particular length. It can also serve as a springboard for discussing
how the (student) author was able to convey the desired style or tone through writing.
As beginning writers, students do not necessarily see the choices that authors must
make in conveying information, and they will benefit from hearing your analysis of how a
piece of writing effectively deals with issues of audience, tone, and style. This is
especially useful if you will be using similar criteria when grading their papers.
This

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