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Rhetoric & Writing Studies San Diego State University

Why the Minor?

Why Should You Get a Minor in Writing?

". . . in today’s workplace writing is a ‘threshold skill’ for hiring and promotion . . ."

--Writing: A Ticket to Work . . . or a Ticket Out

A Survey of Business Leaders Conducted by the College Board

  • Writing is the primary basis upon which your work, your learning, and your intellect will be judged—in college, in the workplace, and in the community.
  • Writing is an essential job skill. Many jobs will require you to articulate your thoughts clearly in writing, whether you need to correspond with clients, apply for grants, or compose emails.
  • Writing equips you with the communication and thinking skills you need to participate effectively in a democracy.
  • Writing helps you move easily among facts, inferences, and opinions without getting confused--and without confusing your reader.
  • Writing promotes your ability to pose worthwhile questions, and it fosters your ability to explain a complex position to readers, and to yourself.
  • Writing ideas down preserves them so that you can reflect upon them later.
  • Writing requires that you anticipate your readers' needs. Your ability to do so demonstrates your intellectual flexibility and maturity.
  • Writing out your ideas permits you to evaluate the adequacy of your argument.
  • Writing is portable and permanent. It makes your thinking visible.
  • Writing expresses who you are as a person.

--Based upon brochures at Marquette University, Brown University, and the University of Missouri