Research was conducted into the specific characteristics of brief, impromptu essay writing. A random sample of 806 essays was taken from the more than 80,000 written for the College Board's English Composition Achievement Test (ECT) in 1979. Using a special taxonomy of 20 writing characteristics, these essays were subjected to a second reading in…

The decline in writing ability among students entering college can be attributed to such factors as the absence of verbal precision in television, advertising, and political language, the lack of writing practice in high school English classes, overloaded and unprepared English teachers, and the difficulties involved in evaluating student writing.…