College Composition and Communication Dec 2009

Writing Assignments Across the Curriculum: A National Study of College Writing

Dan Melzer

Abstract

In this essay I present the results of a national study of over 2,000 writing assignments from college courses across disciplines. Drawing on James Britton’s multidimensional discourse taxonomy and recent work in genre studies, I analyze the rhetorical features and genres of the assignments and consider the significance of my findings through the multiple lenses of writing-to-learn and writing-in-the-disciplines perspectives. Although my findings indicate limited purposes, audiences, and genres for the majority of the assignments, instructors teaching courses explicitly connected to a Writing Across the Curriculum program or initiative assigned the most writing in the most complex rhetorical situations and the most varied disciplinary genres.

Journal
College Composition and Communication
Published
2009-12-01
DOI
10.58680/ccc20099487
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
Topics
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation context

Cited by in this index (11)

  1. Whitney (2024)
    Instructional Note: Working the Whirlwind: SmartArt and Reflection as Introduct…
    Teaching English in the Two-Year College
  2. Aull (2019)
    Linguistic Markers of Stance and Genre in Upper-Level Student Writing
    Written Communication
  3. Ringler (2018)
    Placing Writing Tasks in Local and Global Contexts: The Case of Argumentative Writing
    Journal of Writing Analytics
  4. Brent (2017)
    Senior Students’ Perceptions of Entering a Research Community
    Written Communication
  5. Kilgore et al. (2017)
    Comparing Student and Instructor Perspectives on Writing: Empirical Results fro…
    Across the Disciplines
Show all 11 →
  1. Aull (2017)
    Corpus Analysis of Argumentative Versus Explanatory Discourse in Writing Task Genres
    Journal of Writing Analytics
  2. Anderson et al. (2016)
    How to Create High-Impact Writing Assignments That Enhance Learning and Develop…
    Across the Disciplines
  3. Remley (2014)
    Writing in Web-based Disciplinary Courses: New Media, New Disciplinary Composin…
    Computers and Composition
  4. Thonney (2013)
    "At first I thought...but then I don't know for sure": The Use of First Person …
    Across the Disciplines
  5. Lancaster (2011)
    Interpersonal Stance in L1 and L2 Students' Argumentative Writing in Economics:…
    Across the Disciplines
  6. Graves et al. (2010)
    Undergraduate Writing Assignments: An Analysis of Syllabi at One Canadian College
    Written Communication

References (0)

No references on file for this article.

CrossRef global citation count: 50 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related articles

  1. Pedagogy Jan 2022
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory discourse analysis african american rhetorics decolonial rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy basic writing writing across the curriculum graduate education teacher development argument collaborative writing transfer assessment portfolios writing program administration writing centers peer tutoring technical communication professional writing archival research digital rhetoric social media grammar and mechanics literacy studies race and writing gender and writing disability studies public rhetoric community literacy literary studies editorial matter
  2. Pedagogy Oct 2025
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy advanced composition creative writing writing across the curriculum graduate education two-year college service learning teacher development technical communication professional writing labor and working conditions archival research multimodality artificial intelligence literacy studies race and writing gender and writing disability studies literary studies editorial matter
  3. Pedagogy Jan 2024
    The Radical Role of Student Writing in Composition ↗
    Jessica Masterson
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory discourse analysis cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy graduate education teacher development argument collaborative writing professional writing grammar and mechanics literacy studies race and writing gender and writing
  4. The WAC Journal Jan 2014
    The Connected Curriculum: Designing a Vertical Transfer Writing Curriculum ↗
    Dan Melzer
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory discourse analysis first-year composition writing pedagogy writing across the curriculum literacy studies
  5. College Composition and Communication Dec 2009
    “Writing in Electronic Environments”: A Concept and a Course for the Writing and Rhetoric Major ↗
    Jeremiah Dyehouse; Michael Pennell; Linda K. Shamoon
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory discourse analysis writing pedagogy writing across the curriculum teacher development