ASU students and faculty pulled out their pens and pencils to celebrate the National Day on Writing on Wednesday at the Tempe campus.
Although the official National Day on Writing is Sunday, the event was organized by the ASU Writing Programs in the English department to include three things: a write-in, a “digital booth” showing student-made videos about writing and the “Behind-the-Scenes Writer” award.
Brent Chappelow, a graduate student of rhetoric and composition and the assistant director of Writing Programs, said the National Day on Writing is a way to go beyond the English people are taught in school.
"It's a fun way to celebrate writing that gets people out of the classroom," he said.
Paulette Zillmer, a Writing Programs instructor, said she hoped students would see writing beyond research papers and five-paragraph essays for assignments, as well as realize Writing Programs consists of more than just basic English courses.
“We hope students gain versatility, or a sense of versatility, in writing,” she said.
Zillmer said one of the main goals of the event is to foster communication.
Students at the event was to write prompts, including asking questions about favorite foods, dream vacations, or minerals, with colored markers on notecards for elementary school students in third through sixth grades.
Aerospace engineering sophomore Bridget Russell said the writing prompts that come with standardized tests were not great, but prompts would hopefully change that.
"Kids would be more likely to write if the prompts were creative," she said.
Business management freshman Austin Sanders said creating prompts for students allowed for collaboration between people.
"It's a good opportunity for people to share ideas," he said.
Another aspect of celebrating the National Day on Writing at ASU was to have a “digital booth” of videos students had made about writing.
Valerie Bandura Finn, a Writing Programs and composition instructor, said the key goal of the student videos was interaction because the videos seemed applicable to students who passed by the booth.
The “digital booth” also had an interactive component in social media. Students can post about writing on their social media by using the hashtag #ASU4NDoW.
Finn said using social media could help students think about what writing means to them.
“If they respond to the hashtag, even for a brief moment, they’re thinking about writing in their lives,” she said.
The final aspect of this event was the Behind-the-Scenes Writer Award.
Chappelow said different departments nominate someone who does a lot of writing for their department, but may not get the recognition for it.
This year’s winner, who was announced at noon on Wednesday, was Iris Krondorff from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Reach the reporter at ldjarvis@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @misslorijarvis
