If all goes well, gradually over the weeks, the identity of the critic will change so that by the end of the term, the student will have learned to be their own best (severest) critic. Writing regularly on demand for an exacting critic is, thus, perhaps one of the most important aspects of Expos. The demand may sometimes feel relentless, but as one teacher wrote about her course and about Expos generally: Expos provides a framework for writing, an audience of peers, and a sympathetic and experienced teacher, but the final responsibility for learning lies in each student’s motivation to write well. The improvement comes from sustained effort. But in the end nearly all Expos students identify some particular areas where their writing improved. And while some students enter the course as weak writers and make dramatic progress by the end of the term, others come with greater strength and work just as hard to move from good to excellent. At times all writers imagine that they have done badly when others think they have done well, and at other times suppose they have produced immortal prose when in fact others cannot understand what they have tried to say. That progress, however, may not be measured by how a person feels about their writing, and it does not come in orderly and regular increments. Expos presents an opportunity for students of all abilities to make progress. But others have trouble arriving at a concept or a worthwhile thesis, and many have difficulty in organizing a paper that makes what they want to say clear and cogent. Some students in Expos are skilled and knowledgeable. Students enter Expos with varied writing abilities. Although your instructor will critique the style of your papers in Expos, you will spend most of your time in class on strategies of argument-discovering and arranging persuasive ideas and evidence through a process of drafting and revising. The Expos philosophy is that writing and thinking are inseparably related and that good thinking requires good writing. In no other class will you get to concentrate directly on the craft of composing and revising your ideas, and rarely will you receive as much personal attention from an instructor as you do in Expos. You will also be embarking on one of the most intensive classes you will take at Harvard. When you enter your Expos classroom this fall or spring, you will be participating in one of Harvard's oldest traditions a one-term course in expository writing has been the one academic experience required of every Harvard student since the writing program was founded in 1872. Expos 20 is the cornerstone course offering by the Harvard College Writing Program and fulfills the College's expository writing requirement.

Expo 20