What’s the first thing you’d do if you were asked to write in a new form for an unfamiliar audience? Most of us would want to see a model, something to give us a start on the parameters of the form. An experienced writer uses the model as a starter, examining its style, length, and vocabulary to get an idea of what is needed. But a novice uses it as a template. And writing by numbers, like painting by numbers, will result in mediocrity. Students need to start off as copy cats, but they need to move to a place where models serve as a basis for sound rhetorical decisions.
It’s not sufficient to just provide models for your students. That’s a starting point. Left to their own devices, some will follow the model exactly, perhaps by substituting synonyms for the words in the original, even risking plagiarism. To prevent this, make the model the object of discussion and analysis, and you will inspire—or at least encourage—invention and creativity. A model, at its best, serves as a guide to the conventions of the form and the expectations of the audience.
Selecting the model
The model you select should show how you want students to write, and it should be at least capably written. I’m of the opinion that you are better off showing how to write, rather than how not to, although an occasional negative example won’t hurt. Exclusively negative examples just won’t give students anything to imitate, and while we should discourage slavish imitation, language learning is in many respects a mimetic process.
Ideally, select something close to the genre or type of writing you want students to produce. At the lower-levels, student writing is less intimidating; however, professional writing in the discipline will expose upper-level students to the sort of language they need to know. If you have time, use at least two models, so students can see there is more than one way to approach the task and still be within the bounds of appropriateness.
Using the model for teaching
Start by making sure students have read the model. It can be a useful exercise to ask them to paraphrase it, or at least a section of it. You may have to teach some the process here: read carefully, then paraphrase without looking at the original. Last, go back and be sure the paraphrase accurately represents the original.
After they demonstrate comprehension, they should consider audience. With a little prompting from you, they can figure out who reads this sort of piece, why, and what readers expect. For example, the typical scholarly article makes a contribution to knowledge in a field, uses formal, complex language, and shows knowledge of the literature of the field.
Next, ask students to dissect the form of the piece. They should look at organization, paragraph length, word choice, sentence length and complexity, and the use of formatting such as headings, labels for visuals and such. Examining the documentation style can provide a lesson on academic integrity. Select the most salient features to discuss and note. What is essential about this exercise is that students become sensitive to the way the writing is constructed, not so much that they analyze every single trait. The model can be a means of getting them to look at writing as a craft.
Finally, students should form an opinion about how successfully the piece addresses the audience and gets its message across. The more you point out alternative approaches, the easier it will be for them to see that their own writing can follow a similar but still unique form. Encourage them to use their new mastery of the form and to take it in new directions.
Class time dilemma
If you don’t have much class time to devote to this exercise, you might want to assign some of the analysis to occur as homework. If you don’t want to grade it, though, try a collaborative learning model, which will take one class period, but not more.
Here’s one example: Have small groups each analyze an article that they have been assigned to read the night before. (Take heart. At least one member of the group will have read it.) One group can analyze for message (comprehension), one for audience, one for form, one for sentence and paragraph structure, one for documentation style, etc. Given them about 20 minutes to come up with a few summary observations, then have each group report back to the whole class.
Another example: Divide the article by sections and ask each group to analyze that: introduction, methods, results, discussion, references.
Getting a bit more
If you want the best outcome, do this exercise more than once, with different models, written for different types of audiences. Make explicit comparisons between models. When you discuss in class what students read for content, whether in a textbook, on a web page, or in a journal, refer back to the terms of the model analysis—remind them about how the model handled passive voice or first person “I,” and make the comparison. The whole point is to make students more rhetorically savvy. You might even find it helps you improve your own writing.