Writing Tools for the College Admissions Essay: Write Your Way Into the School of Your Dreams by Roy Peter Clark
Many thanks to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for
providing me with an advanced copy of Roy Peter Clark’s excellent new book Writing Tools for the College Admissions Essay: Write Your Way Into the School of Your Dreams. This was a book I wish I had when I was teaching seniors. We ended
up making the college admissions essay a part of our fall semester writing
assignments, and provided multiple prompts for students to examine their
experiences and explore how these experiences shaped their understanding and
intellectual curiosity, and why those characteristics would enable them to
contribute to the college community. Roy Peter Clark provides a comprehensive
overview of the different parts and purposes of the admissions essay but also provides
some amazing sample essays from the students he has coached. While I appreciated
his analysis of the essay and examining writing as a process, the sample essays
and Clark’s (and his colleague Michelle Hiskey’s) analysis of the essays. Their
review and suggestions help readers, teachers, and applicants understand the
process of writing this important essay, as well as the key components that
make these samples stand out as important.
I also appreciated the variety of the samples that Clark and
Hiskey provide. The variety helps to show how this essay is so challenging
because it is highly personal and individualized, but also relies on developing
one’s own voice, something that more academic and formulaic writing in many
schools may not value or promote. Furthermore, Clark and Hiskey’s analysis of
the samples help to explain how the students developed reflection in their
writing by showing rather than telling, often sharing subtle details or using a
brief closing sentence or phrase to highlight the lesson learned. I was amazed
at how these students delved deep for their reflections, yet also kept their
narratives brief, often between 500-800 words. It was great to see.
Michelle Hiskey has a chapter towards the end of the book
where she presents initial and later drafts from the same students. This was
also a great process to show the differences and editorial decisions that
students (and coaches as well) make to emphasize their voice and ideas. In my
experience teaching writing, this also seems to be one of the more challenging parts
of the process for students. While students may be able to develop reflective
practices, they may not always know which parts to select and emphasize and
which to possibly omit to improve their drafts. Although it was helpful to see
the differences between the two drafts and read about the process from Hiskey’s
point of view, I found the kinds of guiding questions she offered in between
drafts to be helpful in prompting students to become more self-sufficient in
the revision process.
I really appreciated the practical application of the tools,
tips and strategies that Clark presents as well. I found that while specifically
aimed at the college admissions essay, these could also be applied to other
writing projects, and that teachers (or parents and coaches) could adapt some
of the practices for other writing assignments. In particular, Chapter II focuses
on starting the essay with a lead or an attention grabber. Clark also presents
some drafts of these hooks to show how students can move from something declarative
to something more engaging, personal,
and captivating. Chapter III looks at choosing the right prompt or topic to focus
on, while Chapter IV examines the writing process. I felt like this was such an
important chapter as well, since it emphasized not only the steps of writing
process, but also how to manage the feeling of being stuck, whether it is due
to procrastination or writer’s block. As Clark notes, it is just important to
start with ideas and collecting them, so even if there are many different
ideas, just sitting down to write about them can be an important first step. By
providing samples of drafts and writing in different stages in the process, students
(and parents and coaches) can see that good writing takes time and never comes
out as a finished product. There is a process of focus and selection that help
to further refine ideas and points in the essay. In addition, Clark emphasizes
the importance of “honest writing”, noting how there are many shortcuts
available (like paper mills, AI, and plagiarism), but also noting the
consequences and ethics of these practices. As he notes, good writers often
borrow, but in an honest way. Clark mentions that making references, allusions,
and other points of reference for readers is a great way to engage readers, but
it is also important to acknowledge these sources. Relying on outside sources like
AI or ghost writers will not allow readers to know who the writer really is,
and may set the writer up for future failures. The other chapters present
important details about finding voice, the important difference between
revision (seeing the draft differently) and editing (making technical
corrections), and providing over 100 writing tools and tips for the process.
Chapter VIII, the 100 Writing Tools chapter, was helpful and
will be a great resource for students (and parents, teachers, and coaches). I
appreciated how it was organized into different sections and that Clark
provides examples throughout. I could imagine using this as a reference when
working with students and pulling some of these tips and tools when they are
struggling or facing some challenges to their writing process. The book ends
with a useful rubric and some additional tips and tools to support writers once
they have finished. I appreciated how Clark created this book to support
students to become more self-sufficient in their writing, but also to support
others working with students. This is a useful and practical guide with some
great example essays to prompt students’ thinking and provide some useful ideas
for where their college essay could go.
This is a great book that can be used by many different
people—not only students, but also coaches, teachers, and parents. There are
many useful strategies and practices to follow in the book, and Clark presents
writing as a process, emphasizing how these great essays require considerable
time, thought, and effort. Highly recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment