The Idea of an Essay, Volume 2

182 variant of this method, using a wide and pre-selected list of topics that relate to students and give them confidence at the beginning of the course, then narrowing the options and introducing new and unfamiliar assignment subjects over the course of the semester to further challenge the students and alert them of their ability to write about foreign topics with the same level of mastery in composition as with well-known subjects. Allowing students to compose papers on topics that relate to them helps to decrease freshmen student’s feelings of incompetence and isolation, yet challenges the pupils to strive for excellence within the writing field. Sarah Lewis’ feelings of incompetence and isolation no longer existed as she sat in her usual place in the Freshman Composition class with the desire to pursue excellence in her writing. Over the course of the semester, Sarah’s professor had guided the students through in-class peer review sessions, provided opportunities for individualized conferences with the students, and broadened the list of assignment topics to include matters that related to Sarah and her peers in the class. Sarah had lost her self- appraisal of an outsider to the field of composition. She viewed herself a member of the writing profession and would approach each of her academic writing tasks with feelings of confidence. Works Cited Evans, Rick. “Learning ‘Schooled Literacy’: The Literate Life Histories of Mainstream Student Readers and Writers.” Discourse Processes 16.3 (1993): 317-340. Class Moodle. Web. 28 Nov. 2013. Guillory, Margo. Personal interview. 4 Dec. 2013. Hafer, Gary R. “Ideas in Practice: Supplemental Instruction in Freshman Composition.” Journal of Developmental Education 24.3 (2001): pars. 1-41. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. McCarthy, Lucille P. “A Stranger in Strange Lands: A College Student Writing Across the Curriculum.” Research in the Teaching of English 21.3 (1987): 233-265. JSTOR. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.