To find well-written essays to use as models, we turned to the Opinion pages of the local newspaper and read several of the syndicated columns. Most of these columns are written as position papers (another name for an essay), and you can often find two articles on the same topic that support opposing viewpoints. These can be excellent examples of the argumentative or persuasive essay.

As Justin and his mom read each of the model essays, I asked them to notice the tone, structure, and style of each essay, and to note how these elements contributed to the author’s position. At this point, they were both getting excited as they realized that essays were more than just pointless writing exercises. They had a purpose, and the way in which they were written was an important part of communicating that purpose.

Create an Essay Prompt That Does Its Job

After analyzing the different elements of our sample essays and how they worked together to communicate an idea, we turned to Justin’s essay assignments. Immediately, it became apparent that his writing assignments were a major part of the difficulty. For one history assignment, Justin was instructed to write a three-page paper on the causes of the Civil War. Another assignment instructed him to write a 1000-word essay evaluating Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. All the assignments given were far too broad and unfocused to be addressed at the assigned length.

For a student, it’s frustrating to receive an assignment so broad that that it leaves him with many decisions to make before he can start writing. Many encyclopedia-length books have been written on the causes of the Civil War, and among scholars, there are at least four major schools of thought as to the primary cause. Addressing the issue in only three pages (approximately 750 words) almost ensures that the paper will read just like a paraphrased encyclopedia entry. In addition, the prompt fails to ask for a position on the issue, so it’s an assignment for a report, rather than an essay.

A far better assignment would provide the student with a narrow, focused topic that would require a certain amount of in-depth research to develop a position. The research ensures that the student will have a wealth of detail at his fingertips so that the essay will be both interesting and informative. Chances are, if the student does the reading required to develop and support a position, he will become engaged in the topic. An interested, passionate writer tends to write interesting, readable prose, so this is certainly a worthy goal. If an essay prompt can be answered by a quick visit to the encyclopedia, it’s not a true essay prompt—it’s a question of fact or a report prompt, and will inevitably generate a bland, boring, thought-free paper.

Meaningful Evaluations Complete the Process

Finally, we discussed evaluations. One of the most intimidating parts of teaching writing is knowing how to provide useful feedback on written work. Not only is writing evaluation more time-consuming than checking answers for a math page, it also takes skill and practice to know what to look for and how to communicate clearly with a student so that he’ll know how to improve his work.