I would like to retract/clarify a quote from the article entitled: “Learning assistance resource center improves students’ skills” in Volume 96, Issue 4 of the Quad. In this article, I am quoted as saying, “Writing effective essays isn’t nearly as difficult as many people think it is.” This remark was made in the context of a broader discussion about the anxiety writing induces in some students when an essay is viewed as one large task. The Essay Writing Workshop I facilitate emphasizes the process of brainstorming, drafting, re-writing and revising. Breaking composition up into a series of smaller tasks, rather than viewing it as one large task, helps to assuage the anxiety writing assignments, especially long ones, can bring. I also pointed out in the discussion that the anxiety students feel about writing is something all writers, even professionals, experience to some degree.
Removed from this context, I’m afraid the remark appears condescending. Please be assured that this was not my intention in any way, and that I humbly apologize if it was taken as such.
Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to clarify.
Adam Wassel