Common Elements of a Quality Essay
Before discussing the modes and prompts, let's review a few basic aspects of writing. Regardless of the mode you are writing in, all quality essays will share the following common elements:

Formatting
Ideally, all essays submitted for evaluation should be typed or produced on a word processor and then printed. If you do not have access to a typewriter or computer with a word processor, however, it is acceptable to submit a hand-written essay. But do be sure to write legibly and clearly: any writing that cannot be deciphered must be assumed to be incorrect. If you are responding to a timed-writing prompt, you may type or hand-write; it is probably best to write it by hand, however, since you will have to when taking the state of California writing exam. Whether typed, printed, or written by hand, all essays should be double-spaced, with approximately one to one-and-a-half inch margins all the way around.

Title
Following the essay's heading, the first words a reader should find are those of the essay's title. A title should be centered. Most titles serve two common purposes: to inform readers what the essay's subject is, and to interest readers. A good title, then, is both informative and interesting. For examples of good titles, check out those listed in the Table of Contents of the Gorman anthologies available here.

Introduction
Following the title, the introduction provides a first impression, preparing readers for the essay’s content and often suggesting the essay's organization. An introduction will usually include a thesis (discussed below). For some people, writing an introduction is easy, whereas for others crafting an effective introduction is often the hardest part of writing. If writing introductions is difficult for you, one option is just to skip it at first, writing the body of the essay first and adding an introduction later; in this situation, the introduction might just summarize the essay that follows or might just hint at what the essay reveals by its end. While there is no one correct way to write an introduction, one aspect to avoid is writing something like, "I have chosen to write on the prompt about friends"; this should not be stated unless the element of choice is something the essay will address. Instead, just get right into it, writing about friends. Here are a few suggestions for ways to begin, or introduce, an essay:

Begin by establishing the context for the essay, by explaining what subject areas the essay will explore.
Begin by establishing common ground, by telling readers why they should care or be interested in what the essay will discuss.
Begin with a brief story (an anecdote) or description using vivid language.
Begin with a question or a startling fact or statistic.
Sometimes, just begin by stating your thesis, the main idea the essay will demonstrate.
To see examples of strong introductions, check out the introductions of the essays included in the Gorman anthologies, available here.

Thesis
A thesis is the main or controlling idea of an essay. Put another way, a thesis can be thought of as a one-sentence summary of what the entire essay demonstrates or reveals. A good thesis will be clear, specific, and critical. A thesis is developed through paragraphs that are usually organized following a pattern suggested by the introduction and that demonstrate the propositions expressed by the thesis. A thesis should not be too general or be a cliché. A thesis that is too general could apply to too many different situations; rather, a good thesis is specific to the essay demonstrating it. A cliché thesis is unoriginal and, like a too-general thesis, could apply to too many situations, thus making it vague; a good thesis should state an original idea. A thesis is the main idea, however major or minor, that an essay is exploring and demonstrating.

Paragraphs
All body-paragraphs should begin with a transitional word, phrase, or statement to make evident the relationship between paragraphs and a topic sentence that relates to the thesis while preparing readers for the paragraph's content. A topic sentence is to a paragraph what a thesis is to an essay - its main, controlling idea. All paragraphs should be developed. To develop a paragraph means that the paragraph explains and supports with evidence its topic sentence. One way to develop a paragraph is to use the PIE technique. PIE is an acronym standing for point, illustration, and explanation. A paragraph's point expands on the topic sentence, is a statement of what the paragraph will demonstrate or reveal, and prepares readers for what will follow. Next comes illustration, which basically means evidence; evidence can take the form of a quotation or may be an example, anecdote, fact, statistic, analogy, or other form of evidence. Lastly is the explanation, which makes clear - in detail, often referring back to if not quoting from the illustration/evidence - how the evidence relates to the paragraph's point and/or topic sentence. A developed paragraph does not leave readers hanging; a developed paragraph explains what its assertions mean.

Conclusion
Just like writing introductions, some people find conclusions difficult to write. While there is also no one correct way to write a conclusion, there are a couple things to avoid. Try not to begin a conclusion by writing "In conclusion"; rather, just make it obvious that the paragraph is the essay's last. Also, there are only a few occasions when a conclusion should summarize an essay - namely, when the essay is so long or so complex that it is necessary to remind readers of all they've read. Realize that in many ways an introduction and a conclusion are similar: they both need to be striking, and both need to emphasize the essay's main idea or thesis. As a result of the similarity, the techniques suggested above for writing an introduction can also serve to suggest ways to craft a conclusion. But while the introduction prepares readers by focusing them toward an essay's discussion, the conclusion takes readers away from the essay's discussion, perhaps by suggesting the essay's significance or its implication for the bigger picture or by pointing to what else needs to be explored in future essays. Sometimes in order to achieve a sense of completion a conclusion will "come full circle," which means that the conclusion will reiterate the essay's thesis or echo some theme or image from the introduction. Again, check out the essays included in the Gorman anthologies available here for examples of strong conclusions. It is best to read an essay's introduction and then conclusion, just skipping the body paragraphs for this purpose, to understand how the two work together, complement each other without unduly repeating each other.

Researching and Works Cited (when applicable)
While the discussion that follows is aimed primarily at students in grades 9 through 12, it is applicable to all students at any grade-level; however, special, brief instructions have been created for students in grades 4 through 6, as these students needn't document all sources as fully as students in later grades must be able to in order to avoid plagiarism. Students from grades 7 to 12 should always be documenting sources fully, using in-text citation and a Works Cited page. If you are in grade 4 through 6, then, see Bibliography Guidelines. If you are in grades 7 through 12, then read on.

If you do any research for an essay or add any quotations, facts, or statistics that you've acquired from a source, then you need to provide a Works Cited page (a Works Cited is sometimes also called a Bibliography). This page is a separate page that appears last, after the essay's conclusion. If, for example, you surfed the internet to gather ideas for an essay but don't cite them in text or document them on a Works Cited page, then you are committing plagiarism. Plagiarism is a form of stealing and is considered a grave offense at most schools and at all colleges and universities (it can even lead to expulsion). Rather than risk being caught plagiarizing, just simply cite sources in text and document them on a Works Cited page: after all, an essay with sources cited and documented reveals that the writer took the time to explore many facets of the essay's topic and thus impresses readers.

To cite a researched source in text, create attribution and when possible provide a page number reference. Attribution is a phrase or statement that introduces a quotation, fact, statistic, or whatever piece of information is being used. If the information comes from a book, newspaper, or other paper source, then follow the information with the page number from which it comes in parenthesis (this is called in-text citation); if the information is taken from the internet, then just be sure the attribution explains that, since there will not likely be a page number to cite. Note the differences in the two examples that follow (from the information given, you should be able to tell which comes from a paper source and which from the internet):

In an article entitled "The First Command: Come, Now," Mike Fillon explains, "Before you can start teaching your dog to come on command, you must first get his or her attention" (8).

An article published in an online newsletter entitled "What You Should Know about State Testing" explains that, "If you are anxious about testing, keep in mind that only good things can come from it."

For more examples of effective attribution with in-text citation, see the essays responding to literature and the researched essays included in the Gorman anthologies available here. In an essay that uses sources, always provide the following:

A Works Cited is a separate page attached to the last page of an essay. The words "Works Cited" should be centered on the top of the page. Each source used in an essay should be documented separately on the page, in alphabetical order (use the author's last name, but if the author is not known - such as an anonymous piece or an unsigned source on the internet - then alphabetize it using the piece's title). Although there are many different styles for documenting sources (if you go to college or a university, you will be required to use a style particular to your major), in general an entry on a Works Cited will include the following information (in this order): author's name (if available); title of the writing (if the writing is taken from a larger collection such as an anthology or newspaper or from the internet, then also list the title of where the writing is to be found); the place and publisher of the writing (if available); the year the writing has been published or if it's an internet source the date it was posted (if given); if it is an internet source, then also write out the website's URL (a URL is a website address, which begins: "http://www."); if the piece of writing is a selection from a larger collection, then lastly include the inclusive page numbers of the writing. Note the differences in the three examples that follow (from the information given, you should be able to tell which is a book, which comes from a magazine, and which from the internet):

Fillon, Mike. "The First Command: Come, Now." Your Dog: A Magazine for Caring Dog Owners. April 1999. 8-10.

King, Jr., Martin Luther. Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? New York: Harper & Row, 1967.

"What You Should Know about State Testing." The Gorman Grapevine. Spring 2005. http://www2.gormanlc.com/glc/pdf/calendar/Gorman%20Grapevine%20Spring%202005.pdf. 2-3.

To see an example of a properly formatted Works Cited page, go to the following link, then scroll down to the bottom of the site to locate the Works Cited page (recall that a Works Cited should follow an essay)--- http://rmmla.wsu.edu/ereview/55.2/articles/grewell.asp. Just like the essay, the Works Cited should also be double-spaced (understand that essays reprinted on the web are often single-spaced, Works Cited pages too, to save space). On a Works Cited page, always record as much as is available of the following information:

Author's full name, last name first - e.g., Mouse, Mickey
Title of publication
If applicable, place publication is found - e.g., Disney Magazine
Publisher of publication
Year of publication
If an internet source, the URL
If the piece of writing is a selection from a larger collection, then lastly include the inclusive page numbers of the writing.

For further information on what plagiarism is, and how to avoid it, see The Plagiarism Page.

The Modes
The term "mode" refers to a type of writing. When one writes in a specific mode - like, for example, exposition - one is expected to follow certain conventions. These conventions relate to reader expectations: readers expect an essay written in a certain mode to fulfill expectations or criteria particular to the mode. In other words, while all essays should share some common elements (as outlined above, a title, an introduction, a thesis, etc.), each mode requires a writer to craft an essay differently. Additionally, a prompt should not be treated like it is a test: when being tested in writing, then one needs to be sure to respond fully to the question, to write a complete response. The prompts aren't tests; rather, they are offering suggestions for how to go about crafting an essay in response to one of them. Note the word "prompt." What the word suggests is that a prompt is prompting your thinking, is meant to inspire your writing. Sometimes the prompts may ask you to do specific things; other times, the prompts are trying to entice you, inspire you to write. What you write will be determined by who you are, by your experiences, and by what you know and are interested in. Nonetheless, each mode requires different conventions. So be sure that your essay at least meets the conventions of a mode's criteria, but beyond that feel free to respond as you see fit. Below, the different criterion for each mode is described:

Exposition
Exposition is one of the more common types of modes, one most writers use all the time. Taken from the word "expository," exposition means to explain. When writing an expository essay, you are expected to create a clear, specific thesis, and then support that thesis with sound evidence. Because the basic expectation is that an expository essay will explain its thesis and premises clearly, then an essay written in this mode will generally be very detailed.

Narrative and Reflective Narrative
A narrative can stand alone or be a reflective narrative. The difference depends on what an essay does. A narrative is essentially a story or an anecdote (an anecdote is an example, usually personal, that is described in detail). The basic criterion for an essay in this mode is that it tells a story in order to show or reveal something to a reader. That something is the narrative's thesis. All stories have a thesis, whether it be didactic (explicitly stated) or implied (only suggested). For example, any one of Aesop's fables concludes with a didactic thesis, which is usually announced with the words, "The moral of the story is..." Although a narrative's thesis probably shouldn't be stated as obviously as an Aesop fable does it, its thesis does need to be clear. In general, a narrative's thesis will identify the point of a story, what the author had learned or realized from the experience. Often in a narrative essay the thesis is arrived at rather than stated outright in the beginning. This is done to create suspense. Nonetheless, a hint or sense of thesis should appear early on even if the thesis isn't stated until the essay's final paragraph.

Because the primary vehicle for a narrative mode is a story, then there are further conventions readers will expect from an essay in this mode - the general components of story-telling. These include: point-of-view (who is telling the story), setting (the time and place of the story), characterization (including both primary and secondary character development), plot (the way the story is told, usually from beginning to end, which also includes pacing or creating suspense), and description and narration. Description in this mode relies on exposition, on explaining events and providing a lot of detail. Narration refers to when characters speak to each other. Most stories involving humans usually include some talking, and so a narrative story should quote its character's dialogue, too.

A narrative is a story, and when it becomes personal it involves reflection. The main difference between a narrative and a reflective narrative is that the latter will generally concern your experience, not someone else's. In a reflective narrative, then, the writer is telling a story, fulfilling the conventions of narrative, in order to reflect on that experience, to explain or reveal why that experience had been significant, what the writer has learned (or perhaps has not yet learned) from the experience related in the narrative. If, for example, you are asked to write about a turning point in your life, then you would be writing an essay in the reflective narrative mode. You'd describe the experience that served as a turning point - the narrative - and then you'd explain why that experience affected you so - that is, reflect on the experience. Whether just a narrative or a reflective narrative, an essay written in this mode needs a thesis. The thesis will usually be a statement about what the story reveals or shows or about what a writer learned from reflecting on experience. When a narrative is personal is when it involves reflection - an author is reflecting on experience, telling about in the form of a story or narrative. While both need a thesis, a reflective narrative builds upon a narrative.

Response to Literature
An essay that responds to literature generally relies on exposition and analysis. In this sense, exposition is summary, a matter of telling what happens in a piece of literature. But all of the GLC prompts under the category "Response to literature" require you to go beyond merely summarizing a story: the prompts ask you also to analyze a story, to explain why or how what happens in the story happens. This requires close reading on your part: you have to search for clues, trying to understand what motivates a character to act as he or she does or what events cause other events to occur. If an essay only explains what a character does or what happened in an event, then the essay is only summarizing. When analyzing, the essay is explaining why the character did what he or she did or what caused the event to happen. What a response to literature essay does, then, is explain how you arrived at the idea you did when analyzing a story. That is, the essay is retracing your thought processes, explaining how you arrived at an idea, making visible your thinking. This means you'll need to quote a lot to reveal the evidence that lead you to the idea you arrived at through analysis (so be sure to use the conventions for quoting as described above, including documenting the story on a Works Cited page). The thesis of an essay in this mode is usually a statement of the main idea you arrived at through analysis. A response to literature essay also needs to identify early on, in the introductory paragraph, the full name of the author and the title of the piece of literature being analyzed.

Persuasion
A persuasive essay is an argumentative essay. Although the term "argument" often has negative connotations (in this case, often involving yelling and unreasonable statements), an effective argumentative essay will avoid both being unreasonable and using offensive or hurtful language. The goal of an argumentative or persuasive essay is to convince readers to agree with an essay's thesis or position. The thesis of an argumentative essay is usually referred to as a position because the thesis becomes a statement of the author's position in an argument. That is, for every argument or disagreement, there are many positions one could take. For example, whether an argument is debating whether children should be allowed access to violent video games or over the best way to cook chicken, over a national energy policy or who the best person is to nominate to the Supreme Court, there could be an unlimited number of positions one could take. So while stating a clear position is key in an essay of this mode, the essay's position in the end is only as good as the evidence used to support it. An effective argumentative essay relies on a lot of evidence and reasons why one should agree to the position the essay takes. But that's not all. As suggested above, an effective argumentative essay cannot force readers to agree to its position: it has to persuade them, nicely if possible. Think about it: are you more likely to agree to something if forced or if asked nicely? This means treating people who have different views from yours with respect (after all, isn't that how you prefer to be treated?). It also means trying to anticipate their objections to your position, which means that you need to think about why someone might disagree with what you believe and try to explain why that objection is not valid. As should be obvious from the number of times the word "explain" appears above, a persuasive essay involves exposition, but it is different than exposition, too: in an exposition essay an author only has to explain a position, but in an argumentative persuasive essay an author needs to explain as well as defend a position, along the way trying to persuade readers to agree to its position also. In order to achieve this goal, an argumentative persuasive essay must always treat competing views fairly and respectfully, anticipating objections along the way, and should also provide as much evidence as possible to support its position.

Research
An essay in the research mode can be written in any one of the modes described here. But what makes the research mode unique is that it will use outside sources and therefore must cite the sources in-text and document them on a Works Cited page. Most research essays rely on one of two modes: exposition or persuasion. An expository research essay is one that is informational: it is explaining something to readers, drawing on sources for its information. A persuasive research essay is also informational but the focus isn't just on presenting the information but using it strategically to persuade readers to agree to its position. Research usually happens one of two ways (an exception is discussed below): in a library or on the internet. Either way, as you research you are looking for useful information to add to your essay, but because you must cite and document the information to avoid plagiarism, then you also need to keep track or keep a record of your sources. Otherwise, you won't be able to prepare a Works Cited page.

But how do you know when and when not to cite a source? The general rule is to cite what is not common knowledge; this means if the information is common knowledge then it doesn't have to be cited, but if you're not sure then it's best to be safe by citing it anyway. When is information considered common knowledge? Generally, when most people know about it then it is considered common knowledge. For example, it is common knowledge that George Washington was the first President. But much about President Washington's life is not common knowledge. For example, what was his educational background? What was his work experience? What did he grow on his plantation? What did he do with the produce? Who worked the plantation? How many slaves did he own? What was his attitude about slavery? What did he think of the other men who along with him signed the Declaration of Independence? Clearly there is much about Washington's life that is not common knowledge, that is known mostly only to historians. So if you were to research Washington's life, reading a couple biographies and maybe glancing at some webpages about him, then when writing your research paper you'd want to cite the information about him that is not common knowledge in order to show where you got it.

When researching, you're generally looking for information to use as evidence to support your essay's thesis. The types of information most research essays rely on are: facts, expert opinions, and studies. Other useful types of information include statistics and analogies. Additionally, as discussed in the next paragraph, are interviews, polls, and questionnaires. In a research paper it is a good idea to try to vary where you find your sources - in the library or on the internet - and the types of information you use. Reliance on one source or one type only will make an essay seem narrow, whereas an essay that uses a range will appear better balanced.

Note what the word "research" implies: the prefix "re" is asking that you go over or repeat the "search" done by another. When you are re-searching, you are searching out what other people have already done, studied, revealed, or proven. Now, what would be the difference if the word was I-search? If re-searching is seeking out what others have done, then I-searching would be what you would do in terms of studying or demonstrating something. Research, then, is valuable when exploring what experts have done (experts research the work of other experts in their fields, too). But sometimes you'll find that experts have not studied everything, especially local or particular to your neighborhood or community phenomena. For example, what if tomorrow something unusual occurred in your neighborhood that you were interested in writing about - like, say, a comet smashed into the dwelling next door to you? Something similar may have occurred elsewhere that has been studied by experts, in which case you'd be researching for a precedent or analogy, but if no one else has written about the occurrence, then what could you do? You could perform I-search. This would mean gathering the information, doing the research, yourself. I-search generally takes the form of interviews or of taking polls or giving out questionnaires. Newspaper and magazine articles often use both research and I-search. In contrast, researching would mean finding out the results of other people's interviews, polls, or questionnaires. So when you set about to write a research paper, think about it: is there something original that through I-search you could contribute to the subject? If so, go for it! But also research to make sure you're not going over already covered ground.

Revision
Revision is arguably the most important step in the writing process. The writing process includes prewriting, writing, and rewriting. Prewriting refers to the activities one does while preparing to write: taking notes, freewriting, brainstorming, clustering, listing, making outlines, etc. Once one has generated ideas, then it's time to write, to draft an essay. The first draft of an essay is usually incomplete, needing additional work, which is why it is often called a rough draft. What a rough draft needs is polishing. If only the rough draft's errors are fixed, then that's only editing. Editing refers to fixing errors, like correcting a misspelling. Although editing is a part of revising, there is much more to revising than just editing. Revising can take several different forms - from adding more to an essay to cutting out unrelated ramblings; from reorganizing paragraphs to ensuring an essay follows up on its thesis; from creating a more effective introduction to playing with word choice and sentence types to affect better tone or style. Whatever form it takes, one thing remains clear: to revise an essay means to improve it, to make it better. While all essays should go through revision as part of the writing process, this mode exists because sometimes a writer is unclear how to improve a piece of writing. So now you have an opportunity to improve an essay under the revision mode after you have submitted it for assessment and have had it returned. Consider an evaluator's advice, but remember in the end it is your essay, your ideas. If you only follow an evaluator's advice, you're not really revising your essay. Remember that it is your essay, that you are in control, in command of the language and its ideas. An evaluator's role in the process is only to give advice; it is up to you whether to take the advice or not. For a more detailed explanation of the revision process, see the description of revision in the Portfolio and Checklist page of this site.

Self-assessment
The self-assessment mode is a hodge-podge, asking for a combination of several modes. On the one hand, it is asking you to assess your writing strengths and weaknesses and then explain what they are, a form of exposition. On the other hand, it is asking you to reflect on what your writing process is and ways to improve it. The main reason that this prompt exists is because all writers need to be aware and conscious of their strengths and weaknesses as well as the processes they engage in if they are going to be able to improve. As you assess and reflect on these, then, you want to be doing so with an eye on improvement, on what you can do to improve as a writer. This of course means taking stock of where you have been as a writer in years past; and it also means projecting on where you want to be as a writer in the future. Once you have a goal, then you need to figure out how to achieve it. That's what this prompt wants you to do: figure out what is and is not effective concerning your writing, and then figure out how to make it more effective. So although the prompt suggests you examine various facets of your writing - from strengths and weaknesses to the writing process, from correcting plagiarism to revision - you need only respond to what applies to your writing.

One-draft-writing
One-draft-writing is not so much an individual mode as it is a special writing situation, one affected by time. An essay written in response to a one-draft-writing prompt can be in any mode, though usually the prompt will imply which mode to use. This is why it is important to read a one-draft-writing prompt very carefully, looking for key words that signal which mode to use. When writing an essay in response to a one-draft-writing prompt, two of the most important aspects are strategizing before you write the essay and pacing your writing along the way. Because you have only one sitting or a limited amount of time in which to write, you need to plan out or strategize what you will write before you do the actual drafting of the essay and also pace yourself so that you can complete the essay in the time allotted.

Creative Writing
Creative writing is an open book. That is, if a writing is creative, you are pretty much free to do what you want with it. Still, there are some conventions. If you are writing a play or a short story, for example, readers or an audience will probably expect characters, even if the characters are not human (characters could be animals, a house, aspects of nature, aliens from outer-space, etc.). If you are writing a poem, for example, some readers will expect it to rhyme. Some poetry relies on end-rhyme (when the ends of lines rhyme), whereas some poetry uses internal rhymes (note where the rhyming sounds are in the following: "Hey, diddle-diddle, the cat and the fiddle, / The cow jumped over the moon"). But not all poetry rhymes. This type of poetry, often called free verse, may instead concentrate on developing images or making metaphor. Or a poem could be a narrative poem, a poem that is relating someone's speaking. While a creative writing may want to rely on some conventions, it does not have to: it can pretty much do whatever it wants, as long as it effectively gets its point across. After all, the operative word here is "creative" - how creative are you?

More on Writing in the Modes
While each mode has different expectations and requirements, note that there is some general overlap among modes. A narrative essay, for example, will tell a story, but at times in the story some exposition will be needed to explain clearly what is going on in the story. Likewise, a response to literature essay is generally a combination of exposition and analysis, while a research essay will likely also include exposition and analysis, maybe even persuasion, with perhaps some reflection tossed in to the mix. The point is that, while each mode expects you to write in a certain way, you have some freedom to draw on and use conventions from the various modes, provided you have at first met the basic criteria for the mode in which you are assigned to write.

Let's take this a bit further. When you are being asked to write in a certain mode, you are really being asked to show or demonstrate that you know how to write an essay in that mode. It doesn't really matter what the essay's subject or thesis is, then, so long as the essay meets the basic conventions of a given mode. For example, we'll take a common subject - let's say, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich - and then shape that subject to each mode. An exposition essay, then, might describe or explain how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. A narrative essay might tell about a particular experience making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, perhaps reflecting on the importance of that type of sandwich to your life experience. A persuasive essay might argue for the best way to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or it might argue that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is more nutritional and healthy for a person to eat than a salami and cheese sandwich. A research essay might look into the history of the sandwich or of peanut butter, trying to figure out when the first peanut butter and jelly sandwich came into existence, who invented it. Or, how about a poem entitled, "Ode to the Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich"? Again, the point is that despite an essay's subject, what is most important when assigned to write in a given mode is that the essay meets the criteria or conventions of the mode. This is especially key when being tested in a mode: readers of essay-tests aren't always interested in what you write of; rather, they are reading to assess whether you are able to write in the mode assigned.

Writing and Reading - Learning to Know the Modes
Is there a correlation between good reading skills and good writing skills? Yes, there is. Good writers tend to be good readers. A good reader is not just someone who reads a lot. A good reader is a careful reader. A good reader is not just reading for information: a good reader also pays attention to form and structure, to the way a writing is set up and organized. After all, it's not the information contained therein that necessarily makes a particular writing good: it's the way the information is delivered and used that usually sets one writing apart from another. Good writers are aware of this and thus go to great lengths to set up their writings in a way that will affect readers positively. But what if you are an adequate writer trying to become a good writer, trying to level-up? This is when it's important to develop good reading skills. The better able you are to understand how any writing achieves its effect, the more likely you'll be able to shape your writing to achieve an intended effect.

So begin to pay close attention to the way a writing is set up and organized. Practice the art of "reading as a writer." If you read something and find that it is effective, ask why, then figure out how it was able to affect you. This is a useful skill to develop particularly as it relates to learning how to write in the modes. When reading an essay, ask yourself, What mode is the writer using here? If you are able to detect it, chances are you will also be able to write effectively in that mode. It may be useful to review some of the essays in the GLC anthologies. Read an essay while trying to figure out its mode. Once you think you've got it, then check: after each essay the mode is listed. Should you have got it wrong, then go back through the essay, determining what makes it one mode and not the other. Once you've developed an ability to identify an essay's mode, then you have become aware of the conventions and criteria of a mode. And once you know those, then you will be able to write effectively in those modes.

Final Words - Write On!
What makes writing good? What makes good writing? As this document has tried to stress, there is no one magical formula. There are many ways to make writing good or make good writing, just as there are many ways to arrange words to express a similar idea. Why use two similar questions to begin this paragraph? Why not! Let the point be clear: there is no one right way, no one correct way to write anything. There are only more and less effective ways. And your goal, of course, should be to write effectively.

While no one right way to write exists, there are some obviously wrong and ineffective ways to write. For sure, any word misspelled is clearly just wrong. Matters of correctness and incorrectness pretty much only apply to grammatical and mechanical aspects of writing - you know, the rules. The rules also include meeting conventions of a specific mode when assigned to write in a mode. Beyond conforming to rules of correctness and meeting the conventions of a given mode, writing is like a blank slate, free for you to fill up as you see fit. For example, there is no one correct way to craft an introduction, no one formula that a thesis must follow, or no one right way to conclude an essay. These are all matters of choice. Most importantly, choose to write effectively. What does that mean? It means that whatever purpose a writing has, be sure to fulfill it. If a writing is to explain something, be sure it's clearly explained. If a writing is to be a narrative, well then make it a suspenseful, intriguing story, one that has a point. If a writing is to argue something, then be sure to argue it well, providing lots of evidence to support your position while treating competing positions fairly and anticipating objections. In short, be sure the writing is fulfilling the expectations of a given mode.

But that's not all there is to it. Writing, after all, is expression of the self. One's writing, to put it another way, reveals more about the writer than the clothes the writer wears ever will. So your writing should just not fulfill the expectations of a mode; it should also fulfill your needs and expectations. Writing is you making your thought processes visible. It is you engaging with language, with every word choice a free choice, a creative possibility. Writing is an activity of possibility. Anything is possible in writing, as long as you are willing to put the time and effort, passion and care into it to achieve whatever you possibly want to achieve. No one is a born writer. Writers are made. A person becomes a writer because that person cared to, because that person practiced, developed skills, read a lot to learn from other writers, figured out unique ways to express common ideas, combined words in intriguing ways, interested others to want to read that person's writing. Writers are made, just as writing is made. And since you are going to write anyway, you might as well enjoy the process. If you are angry when you write something, readers can tell; if you are sad, they can tell that also; if you are bored, your readers will more than likely be bored by what you write; but if you are enjoying the process of writing, your writing will likely be enjoyable, a pleasure to read. The choice is yours.