The "Three Credibilities"

by Cherie Murray
WPE specialist, Online Writing Lab Tutor Coordinator, and Assistant Director of the Oregon Writing Project at Eastern

As Eastern students enter the classroom to take the Writing Proficiency Exam (WPE), they are given a packet which includes three or four texts--each with its own prompt (question). The students must choose one text from which to write a spontaneous, 500- to 750-word essay. An important point any academic reader looks for is "credibility" -- that a written response is believable, exhibits plausible evidence to support the writer's thesis. Students, whether they know it or not, have three resources available to them; it is in these sources they will be find credible information:

(1) the text and the prompt (or question)

(2) general knowledge, and information or data

(3) personal experience and the experience of others

What should be obvious to the student-writer is the wealth of useable information within the text itself. Many "writing" exams are like the WPE--they are "source-based. " The WPE provides varied texts (paraphrased readings from anthologies, magazines or newspaper articles, and so forth), followed by a "prompt" (question). The prompt may provide a short summary of the reading as well—certainly, this is the best place to begin a search for ideas. Further, the prompt directs the reader/writer to a particular type of writing. For example, it may ask the question, "Do you agree or disagree with the view of the text?" Following a question or two, there may be a directive such as, "Write an essay explaining your position with examples from your own experience." If the reader understands the type of writing that is expected from these keyword prompts, he or she should know exactly how to address the topics found in a text. If a direct question is asked in a prompt, it is important to a writer's credibility to ANSWER THE QUESTION! "Do you agree or disagree with..." Failing to answer the question, either directly or indirectly, may be evidence to an academic reader that the writer failed to "respond to the text."

The academic reader also looks to a second area of credibility: the student's intellectual "well" of stored knowledge, information, and data. Students should be able to make connections to the text by referring to outside sources such as readings, classroom lectures and discussions, and general conversations. This information may not necessarily be exact, but it still has credibility in its approximate and paraphrased forms.

The final focus for essay credibility is the personal experiences of the writer, either direct or indirect. In fact, to the professor reading the essay, this might be the most welcome component. Too often students attempt to inflate their prose with broad, universal (and usually abstract) ideas and big words (often thanks to a thesaurus!), when what is really needed is sincerity. (I do not choose to use "honesty" here because writers are free to "make up" experiences that prove their point.) Personal experience adds credible support to a writer's main ideas and supportive points; but, more importantly, it offers a fresh view on what might be for the professor/grader a redundant, repetitive, and tiresome reading experience. For the EFL student, this is a particularly powerful tool; however, this may be difficult to convince EFL students of because they tend to believe that their cultural experiences are of little value--certainly, the reverse is true. Then there's the young high school graduate college freshmen (and remember quite often there are only three or four months between the two) who believe they have no valuable experiences because of their age. This is also not true, and a wise tutor helps them discover these experiences without reservations, but with credible clarity.

As tutors, it is, therefore, our job to guide the WPE students to use every tool available to them. If they know it is as important to understand the prompt as it is the text; if they are given tangible methods for recovering "evidence"; if they are encouraged to use supportive personal experiences; then the students will be prepared to succeed.