Writing Prompts for Adult Students

Note: Rhetorical mode is in parentheses.

1. Write a story about a time in your life when you successfully worked hard at doing something you loved but when there were many obstacles that might have prevented you from doing it. Be as specific as possible about whom or what helped you to by-pass these obstacles. (personal narrative)
2. Write a story about something you learned from someone who was quite different from you. It might have been an older person, a much younger person, a person from a different part of the country or world, a person of a different race or ethnicity, a person with a different career path, or any other difference you noticed at the time. (personal narrative)
3. Think about a person, place, or event that moved you in a new direction, or changed you in some significant way. Put the person, place or event into a scene in a movie. Show us the character, the setting, the situation, perhaps some dialogue to illustrate the powerful effect on you of the person, place, or event. (personal narrative)
4. Write an essay about an action you took that seemed to have an effect on a child (your own or someone else’s.) The effect could have been positive or negative. Show your action and then show the way in which your child responded. Discuss why you think the action resulted in this effect. (cause and effect)
5. Write an essay in which a particular behavior by your own child  (or someone else’s) developed from some action by you or your friend. Show the behavior and then trace the behavior to a cause. Discuss why you think the cause you have described contributed to the child’s behavior.      (cause and effect)
6. Compare and contrast two different work supervisors you’ve had. Look for similarities and differences in such areas as ability to communicate, clarity, positive/negative reinforcement, mentoring, flexibility, expectations, accessibility, fairness, honesty, leadership, and any other categories that focus on relationships between supervisors and employees. Organize your essay into either the block method or point-by-point method of comparison. Try to draw some conclusions about what makes some supervisors more effective than others. (comparison and contrast) 
7. Think of a job you have had and the various types of people who worked in that environment. Then develop a list of categories of co-workers you might have known. Ex. the optimist; the pessimist; the complainer; the helper;  the pass-the-buck worker, etc. Write an essay that classifies the kinds of co-workers found in a particular industry or type of work environment and describes each type. 
8. Write about a problem based on a difference of opinion between your self and a parent, spouse,  child, friend, neighbor, or co-worker. If the difference was resolved, explain how it was resolved. If it was not resolved, explain what obstacles prevented a resolution. Think about whether the resolution was short-term or long-term and whether it was satisfactory. Then write about strategies you use or could use to resolve problems that develop from a difference of opinion. (problem and solution)
9. All terms have a dictionary meaning, but the working meaning of that term for you derives from your past experiences, values, and personal understanding of the word or phrase. Choose a word or phrase that you might need to explain to a non-native speaker and develop a working definition. You might choose a broad term or phrase, such as “parenting,” “violence,” or “addiction,” or you might choose a narrow term or phrase, such as “children’s illnesses,” “domestic abuse,” or “the ten-step recovery program.” Remember that a definition should include the class to which the word or phrase belongs and set it off from other items in the same class. For example, a working dog is a canine (class) bred to drive, tend, work, or protect stock animals (the difference within that class.) It is different than a dog bred for hunting or guarding. Promiscuity is a type of sexual behavior (class) that disregards choice of sexual partners or consequence of sexual actions (not all sexual behaviors disregard partner choice; that is the difference within the class “sexual behavior.”) (definition)
10. Spend an hour or two watching television and taking notes. Decide if there is a clear distinction between information and entertainment. Give a series of examples or illustrations to make your point clear. (illustration)
11. Look at three advertisements for the same type of product: one on television, another on the web, and a third in print. Then write a letter to your boss recommending on which media you think the company should spend its advertising budget. (persuasive writing)
12. Look at any issue that affects your community: an educational/ environmental/ justice/ transportation/ economic/ or racial issue would be a good starting point. Then take a position on this issue that you would develop into a letter to the editor of the local paper. If you have lived in that community for a long time, draw on your personal experience. If you have only lived in that community for a short time, compare your experience here with your experience in other parts of the country. Make sure you define the issue as narrowly and clearly as possible, that your reasoning is sound and your evidence is solid. Consider the counter-arguments to your point of view and answer them based on your experience and reasoned thinking. (position paper)
13. Adult learners often have life experiences that are valuable learning experiences. Some institutions even provide credit for non-collegiate prior learning, which might include job-related training courses, travel, completed projects, etc. Make a list of such experiences you have had that might qualify for credit. Then develop an argument for how such prior learning could be assessed. Consider whether your learning actually relates to your college courses? Does it relate to your educational goals and career goals? How would you know if the learning is equivalent to college-level learning (consider textbooks, statements of objective, and syllabi as reference sources.) How could you document that you have actually learned what you want to get credit for? Who do you think should decide if you get academic credit? Develop your ideas into an argument for prior learning academic credit. (argumentative essay)
14. Your company or work place has asked you to create material that could be used on their web site. Often the home page, or opening web page, is a profile of the company, accompanied by a logo and animations or graphic illustrations that convey something about the company’s identity and purpose. Usually there is a navigation bar that will lead to other parts of the web site. Spend time thinking about the purpose of your company and how it is organized for the general public to find more information on the web site. Then create the navigation bar and the content about your company for their home page. (writing for the web)
15. Interview someone from whom you have learned something valuable for your own lifelong learning. It could be someone at work, a friend, a relative, a teacher or trainer, a clergy person, or anyone whose wisdom or insight has been shared with you in the past. Develop a series of open-ended questions that address how that person arrived at that understanding, any hardships or challenges that were faced, and how others might benefit from their experience. Then interview the person, using your questions. Create a summary report that features the main categories of information developed during your interview. You decide what should be included or excluded in the summary report, but the report will be used for leadership development training for young college students. (interview report)