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Research Writing at Wheaton

Writing in the Disciplines: What Is (and Isn’t) Writing About Religion and Literature?

If you’ve ever taken a literature class at Wheaton, chances are you’ve been asked to interpret a novel or a poem through a religious lens. Or maybe you’re in a BITH class and your professor has assigned you a non-theological text to analyze in light of your theological studies, perhaps a work of fiction. If you’ve never written something in the genre of Religion and Literature Studies, it can be confusing to understand what to write about, especially because this discipline has some similarities and differences with other genres.

In this post, I’ll break down what writing in Religion and Literature Studies looks like. What does a literary analysis look like when it considers a religious focus? And how does this genre differ from others?

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Writing at Wheaton Writing Center

So Your Professor Sent You to the Writing Center…

First Year Seminar (CORE 101), First Year Writing, and AIS professors often include Writing Center appointments as a portion of their course. You might meet this with a feeling of dread or stress; life is hectic and having yet another required meeting or appointment can feel like an added weight. You may feel like you don’t “need” to go to the Writing Center or the idea of sharing your work with an unfamiliar face may feel daunting. So, how do you make the best of it? 

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Writing at Wheaton Writing Center

A Journey of Hospitality: Interview with Dr. Gibson

I have an adage in my life: when one has an excuse to chat with Dr. Alison Gibson, one should not pass on the opportunity! Thankfully, I recently had the wonderful chance to interview Dr. Gibson, Director of the Writing Center, about her history with writing centers, her experiences expanding the one at Wheaton, and her vision moving forward. 

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Writing Process

Songwriting: A Loose How-To

Think of your favorite song—what do you like most about it? The lyrics? The melody? The baseline hidden beneath the final mix? 

A song is much like a poem written to the movement of a melody—imagery, harmony, and simile merge to relate creator to consumer in a way that transcends the use of words alone. 

Simply put, a song is a combination of thoughtfully constructed parts that, once put together, amplify one another. 

Let us begin with the cornerstone.

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Writing Process

I Can’t Believe I Wrote That!

If we are being completely honest, as students, we tend to write papers for classes with no intention of ever opening the document after we hit the “Submit Assignment” button. We set it aside in our pile of completed tasks and just move on to the next one. For me, there’s the added difficulty that nearly every time I look back on my old writing, I can’t help but think to myself, “I can’t believe I wrote that!” 

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Writing at Wheaton

Where Do I Publish My…?

From the school newspaper to club-run coffeehouses, Wheaton writers have options when it comes to sharing our work. But sometimes those options can be overwhelming, and we’re at a loss for where to submit. This post will explain the differences between the various campus publications, what kind of work they accept, and how to get published in them.

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Professional Development

“Desperate for Writers”: Why Writing Matters for Your Career

Sarah Laribee, Career Coach and Student Staff Manager at Wheaton College’s Center for Vocation and Career (CVC), offers insight into how writing can open up post-grad opportunities. Having studied English in college and used writing in various jobs, she shares some of her writing journey in hopes of encouraging others in theirs. 

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Writing Center

I Worked Three Years in the Writing Center, and Here’s What I Learned

Before my first Writing Center consultation ever, I was quaking in my boots. After spending a week going over the best practices and principles for consultations, I felt as ready as I could theoretically. However, as soon as I received the inaugural email–an automated copy of my first client’s appointment confirmation–I promptly did what any healthy, self-regulating individual would do: I called my older sister to fix my problems. Thankfully, Lindsay was a fellow Writing Center Consultant and knew what to do to assuage my fears. Two years older than me, she was the Writing Center Manager that year and the holder of all wisdom in my eyes. I frantically picked up the phone, waiting for her wisdom to flow over me, for all my fears to be alleviated. 

Three years later, it is my senior year, and I would like to pass on what I learned much as she did. My roommate and fellow senior Writing Center Consultant, Meghan Kwong, has helped me accrue a list of insights for newer consultants. This list is not exhaustive, nor is it to be followed in every case. Every client is unique, which is part of the beauty of working at the Writing Center–each session will bring someone and something different!

So, what are some things I’ve learned in my time at the Writing Center and how has that shaped the way I hold appointments?

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Book Reviews

Loving Our Culture through Writing

At the Writing Center, we see writing as a way of cultivating charity toward others, a written reflection of the love of Christ. Through the written word, we are able to extend Christ’s loving embrace to others–both the audience we address and the people we engage with through our citations. Makoto Fujimura, an internationally-renowned painter and essayist, describes this kind of writing as “culture care.”

Fujimura introduces the concept of Culture Care in his 2017 book by that name. In the book, the author calls artists–particularly those operating within a Christian worldview–to become stewards of culture through their creative work. So how might we apply the ideas of Culture Care to our writing? Let’s explore it together.

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Book Reviews

The Value of Fiction

The value placed on fiction, and in particular fantasy, can vary in different circles within society: oftentimes Christians–particularly in an academic setting–can see fiction as inconsequential and even, at its worst, escapist. There is sometimes a desire to place fiction and fantasy in a category of frivolousness when it is not being read for class, only to be indulged in when one has the time and needs a break from the heavier, more “important” reading. As college students, we can become so besieged by the constant challenge to perform well, to write the phenomenal paper, to craft the perfect argument, that we forget that we can in fact read and write for our own enjoyment. As I have read through Alan Jacob’s book Reading for Pleasure in an Age of Distraction, I have come to believe that we can read and write for the enjoyment of it, especially when it comes to fiction, and it is intrinsically good for us to do so.   

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