The Rhetoric of College Application Essays: Removing Obstacles for Low Income and Minority Students

Autor/in	Warren, James
Titel	The Rhetoric of College Application Essays: Removing Obstacles for Low Income and Minority Students
Quelle	In: American Secondary Education, 42 (2013) 1, S.43-56 (14 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0003-1003
Schlagwörter	College Applicants; College Admission; Essays; Urban Schools; Disadvantaged Schools; Persuasive Discourse; Writing Instruction; Writing Evaluation; Admissions Officers; Control Groups; Expectation; High School Seniors; Low Income Groups; Minority Group Students; Comparative Analysis; Writing Skills; Rhetoric; Texas + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? College applications; Studienbewerber; Hochschulzugang; Hochschulzulassung; Zulassung; Essay; Aufsatzunterricht; Urban area; Urban areas; School; Schools; Stadtregion; Stadt; Schule; Persuasion; Persuasive Kommunikation; Schreibunterricht; Expectancy; Erwartung; Writing skill; Schreibfertigkeit; Rhetorik
Abstract	Recent research on the college application essay has shown that essay prompts are misleading, and that the expectations of admissions officers remain largely implicit. These studies have not, however, examined how essays written by low-income, ethnic minority students are scored by admissions officers. For this study, forty-two seniors at a low-performing, urban high school received instruction in persuasive argument and the concept of the rhetorical situation and were informed of the implicit expectations of admissions officers. Students who received instruction wrote college essays rated significantly higher by admissions officers than essays written by students in a control group. These results suggest that students who are unfamiliar with postsecondary culture may be at a particular disadvantage when it comes to inferring the expectations of admissions officers unless these expectations are made explicit. Implications for the college admissions process are considered. (Contains 2 tables.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Ashland University Dwight Schar College of Education. 229 Dwight Schar Building, 401 College Avenue, Ashland, OH 44805. Tel: 419-289-5273; Web site: http://www.ashland.edu/ase
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10