Writing Seminars To Become Even More Robotic

Whether you love them or you hate them, writing seminars are at the core of the Penn experience. After churning out endless drafts and descriptive outlines, students often debate whether they got value out of the experience. Many say they've learned nothing that they can apply to their future college writing, while others find the skills they've learned to be extremely valuable.

That debate is about to get a little more complex. Last week the DP reported that the writing seminars will start to include a research component. Sounds helpful, right? Now we'll finally be able to apply all of those skills! Well, maybe. It's intended to "provide a more cohesive, uniform approach across all critical writing courses." Because those five forms and outlines simply provide too much leeway. Thanks, Writing Program!