"I'm not an English major. Why do I have to write papers?"

Students I tutor often complain about having to write essays. They're not English majors, the thinking goes, so why do they have to write so much? It's an understandable complaint. I'm a lit person who will have to take some math classes to get my degree, so I can empathize. There is a point to writing papers, however, even if they're for classes in nursing, geology, or something else equally un-writerly. In fact, understanding the point of writing papers will help you write better ones. Find out how after the jump.

Your instructors don't assign essays to make your life harder (well, that might be part of it, but it isn't the point). Instead, they assign essays so they can evaluate you on two things: your knowledge of the topic, and your understanding of it. Demonstrating your knowledge is easy. Just include relevant facts, and don't get your facts wrong. Demonstrating your understanding is what's challenging.

When I say that teachers assign you papers to evaluate your understanding of a topic, what I mean is that they're looking for more than just a regurgitation of facts from class lectures and texts. What teachers want to see in your papers is your ability to take what you know and use it to come to some well-reasoned conclusion. In other words, it isn't just what you know, but how you use your knowledge.

So how do you write a paper that demonstrates your understanding? First of all, write as if for an intelligent, but uninformed reader. Yes, your teacher already (one hopes) knows about your topic, but that shouldn't be the assumption with which you write. Instead, write as if you're informing your teacher about something new to him or her. Explain the terms and logic you use clearly. Spell out how you get from Point A to Point B, how the facts you use support your argument, and why your argument matters. Secondly, don't write a paper that's just a list of facts. Use those facts to support some argument. And finally, get an outside reader to take a look at your paper. Ideally, get someone who really is unfamiliar with your topic to read it. Ask your reader to tell you whether your paper makes sense. When someone unfamiliar with your topic can read your paper and understand what you're talking about, you know you've done a good job.

If you keep the point of essays in mind while you write them, you'll be less likely to mess up the broad strokes of your paper. Just remember: an essay assignment isn't a punishment, but a chance for you to demonstrate what you know and what you understand.