Reaching Beyond the University: Writing the Op-Ed

Sep 9, 2019

BY GLENN MICHAEL GORDON

Students in University Writing (UW) put a lot of effort and passion into the four essays they write over the course of the semester. They read sophisticated essays and deeply consider the authors’ ideas, pound out a first essay draft full of ideas of their own, revise it several times, workshop it with their peers, and finally, turn in a polished piece. Throughout the process, they hone an argument about a topic that is important—and, not infrequently befuddling—not only to them, but to the larger world. So why should the audience of their final essays be limited to their instructors?