The Art of Writing

The art of writing is one of the greatest blessings we enjoy. To cultivate it is our duty, and to use it is our privelege.--Joseph Smith

I went to a Humanities Departement lecture today entitled "Is Writing Worth It? A Dollars and Sense Analysis" by Kristine Hansen, a professor in the BYU English Departement. It was really interresting to hear what she had to say about the worth of writing in the job market. She said that something like 40% of employee's time in industries that I did not expect to have a lot of writing was indeed spent writing. Furthermore, $3.1 million is spent anually on increasing employees writing skills. Writing in the job market has become a commodity!

Then Dr. Hansen talked about writing at BYU. She showed the results of a study that her and some colleagues did about the writing skills of students who had not taken freshman writing because they had AP credit, students who had AP credit and still took freshman writing, and students who took freshman writing because they had to. Students who took freshman writing and did not have AP credit scored an average of about 5.10, students who had AP credit scored an average of 5.42, and students who took freshman writing and had AP credit scored significantly higher, 6.47. She used this to argue that students should still have to take freshman writing even if they have AP credit.

I did not take freshman English because I had AP credit. The univeristy has seen the results of Dr. Hansen's study, but does not have the resources to add more freshman writing classes, so they do not require that everyone takes freshman writing, but they do strongly recommend it. Consequently, I considered taking freshman writing, but my roommate took it and told me it was a waste of time. I am personally happy with my decision not to take the writing class because I feel that my time was better spent elsewhere, even if I did see a small increase in my writing skills. I think there are other factors that influence a person's writing than merely taking or not taking a class. I don't think I am at a disadvatage because I did not take the class.