University of Chicago Writing Program - Top-Down Approach

Overview of the Program

• One of the few programs taking a top-down approach to writing.
• No freshman composition courses; writing program focuses on helping faculty, particularly those in medical school.
• Aspired to address the writing problems of faculty rather than students.
• Writing not deemed a basic skill like reading or arithmetic; no remedial component.
• Emphasis on professional-level writing challenges, rather than rule-governed training.

Key Concepts Introduced

Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Approach

• Bottom-up: Focuses on teaching freshmen and using standardized rules, e.g., memos, basic writing tasks.
• Top-down: Focuses on expert writers who need to think and write at high levels of complexity.

Challenges of Expert Writers

• Writing used as a tool for thinking due to the complexity of the subject matter.
• Expert writers often interferes with the reader's understanding due to their complex writing styles.
• Goal: Stop thinking about rules and start considering the reader's perspective.

Misconceptions Addressed

Writing Misunderstood as Conveying Ideas

• Professional writing’s goal is not just to convey ideas but to change the reader's understanding.
• Emphasis on value and argument rather than mere explanation.

Explaining vs. Arguing

• Explanation often fails in professional contexts where the goal is to challenge and change existing beliefs.
• Readers look for instability, inconsistency, and value in professional writing, not just clear, rule-followed content.

Practical Tips for Better Writing

Identifying and Creating Value

• Use specific words that indicate importance and value (e.g., nonetheless, however, although, inconsistent, anomaly).
• Practice identifying value-creating words in professional articles.
• Make lists of these words and integrate them into your own writing.

Focus on Readers and Their Community

• Understand the specific community of readers you are writing for.
• Highlight inconsistencies and tensions that matter to them.
• Make arguments that address their doubts, not just convey information.
• Avoid perceived neutrality; learn the code of conveying value and contradictions in your field.

Importance of Being Valuable

• Writing should always aim to be valuable to its readers; clear but useless writing is still useless.
• Transform explanations into arguments that demonstrate the value of addressing identified inconsistencies.

Problems and Their Solutions

Common Writing Pitfalls

• Treating writing and thinking as separate processes.
• Writing background information that doesn’t establish a problem relevant to the readers.
• Following outdated models like the ‘martini glass’ of generalizations to specifics and back to generalizations.

Constructing Problems

• Effective writing identifies specific problems that readers care about, not just gaps in knowledge.
• Combine existing scholarly conflicts and tensions to create a compelling problem space.
• Use problem language to set up the importance and relevance of your solution or thesis.

Example Analysis

Problem Construction in Texts

• Provided examples of effective problem construction in scientific texts.
• Highlighted strategies for creating instability and drawing attention to unresolved issues relevant to the academic community.
• Explained the need for constructing more layered, complex problems instead of just listing gaps or background information.

Annotated Texts for Practice

• Suggested exercises like annotating professional articles to identify value-creating words.
• Advised reviewing and revising personal work using identified value codes to ensure it meets professional standards beforehand.

Concluding Tips

• Understand that professional writing is a means to influence reader perspectives and not just a portrayal of your thought process.
• Engage deeply with your readers’ community and their specific interests and concerns.
• Seek practical feedback and continuously refine your ability to create value through writing.