Writing and the Seminary Experience

Learner is desperately trying to work through a set of papers he is to grade for the seminary's Spiritual and Ministry Formation summer class. While the occasional paper stands out, in general, the writing overall is somewhat lacking.

When I ask him to clarify, his list is as follows:

- poor spelling and missing words

- typos and inconsistent spacing

- lack of structure and logical flow of thought

- little to no documentation of sources quoted

- little to no practical or personal application

In the midst of reading the papers, Learner said there is one positive aspect he can think of: "It's a safe bet nobody's plagiarizing," he said.