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English Composition · Chapter 4

The Purpose Switchboard

Assignments hide their purpose in one or two verbs, and those verbs are contractual. Hold the source still and flip the verb: the same material demands a completely different governing sentence, and the sentence that was perfect a second ago becomes an answer to a question nobody asked. Then work the drift detector at the bottom — the same draft section is the body of one paper and a two-line footnote in another.

Set the assignment

The source (hold this still)
The prompt’s verb (flip this)
Informative
Analytical
Argumentative
Reflective
Why this matters: a student who writes the wrong one of these is rarely accused of poor writing. They are accused, more damagingly, of not answering the question.

Drift detector: which sections still serve the purpose?

You have drafted five sections about telehealth reimbursement. Nothing in them is wrong. Choose the purpose, then decide what each section becomes under it.
Matched: 0 of 5

The governing sentence this verb makes possible

Informative
The thesis must
This verb forbids
You have drifted when
The misfire students hand in