From High School to University: Essay Style

For students pursuing a university education after high school, you have much to look forward to and even more to learn. Depending on your university program, you will need to know how to write well. Some may say that the first thing you'll be told on your first day of a university class is to forget about the traditional 5 paragraph essay you learned to write in high school: a fancy-pantsy introduction that catches the readers' attention, a meaty middle part where you support your 3 main arguments, and a feel-good conclusion that is little more than a reiteration of your introduction.

When you write a 750, 1,000, or 2,500 word essay in university, there is no room for extra words. I would suggest taking an Orwellian approach and say what you need to say in as few words as possible. You have no room for catching a readers' attention with a smug story in your introduction. If you are writing an English literature essay, you need to start talking about the poem or story you are analyzing immediately.

Be Confident

What you are writing matters to you and your reader. Take sides of a debate and trust your argument. Leave nothing for the reader to guess. Let me know what your thesis is right away. And most of all be assertive. If you are arguing the legitimacy of stem cell research, don't second guess yourself. Purporting a new paradigm for adoptive children in Canadian society? Say so and believe that your views have weight; then give your argument credence by supporting it with fact-based information.

What grade?

In university you will not receive a marking rubric for writing assignments like you have in high school. There is no set of guidelines for grading essays in university. A professor or TA may have some idea of what a "B" or "A" paper looks like, but don't expect to receive a handout that lists specific criteria as such. Sometimes the closest staircase may suffice when grading essays by:
1) stacking the essays at the top of the stairs;
2) kicking the essays down the stairs;
3) receiving a mark based on which step your essay lands: the lower the step down the stairs, the lower the grade that you receive. Everything is relative.

At Nipissing University, there are many tools at your disposal to help you write well. A great resource is an older woman who works at the school, known as the "Grammar Granny," is not only pushing retirement age, but will push you to write better, to scrutinize every sentence, to avoid unnecessary words, and to reduce comma splices. Upper year students are available as tutors and some as mentors too.

But, the best resource available is your professor. He/she is able (and indirectly required) to meet with students and to hold office hours. These folks have written many essays during their time and many are more than happy to help you. Take advantage of them and heed their advice. It will help you make the leap from high school to university level essay writing.

Reading Week vs. Sleeping Week

At Nipissing University, there are few things that students look forward to. Most of them surround holidays, when there are no classes, and times when exams will be over such as Christmas break and the end of the year in April. In between these times, we still get to experience March Break as it is known to our high school inferiors. However, this break is known as Reading Week or Study Week in unispeak (definition of unispeak: noun. an Orwellian developed term that encompasses the language used at post-secondary levels of education, specifically universities).

Reading Week is one of those breaks from the normal routine of classes where students do the complete opposite of what the break suggests. That is right; I doubt that much reading gets accomplished during this so called Reading Week. But for those of us who actually do take advantage of the time, there are numerous things that you could be doing such as 1) actually reading; 2) highlighting material in your textbook to make it look like you are actually reading; 3) write essays and work on other assignments; 4) study for mid-term exams; or 5) wallow in self-pity knowing that you completely bombed the mid-term exams that you wrote BEFORE the break started.

So, my fellow university students, take advantage of this break. Sleep in! Stay up late! Visit with friends from highschool who you occasionally chat with and meet up with thrice a year. And do not forget to bring back some home backed goods and other supplies that will be the envy of your other roommates and friends.

The good thing about Nipissing University: you get two Reading Weeks. One in the fall. One in the winter. That is double the sleeping time. Happy reading!