Richard Marius - Writing Teacher

Writing Teacher

Marius served as director of Harvard's Expository Writing Program for 16 years. The only class that all undergraduates are required to take, Expos introduces Harvard freshmen to college-level writing. Marius developed the program's curriculum, hired much of its teaching staff, and wrote two books about writing. A Writer's Companion, now in its fifth edition, and A Short Guide to Writing About History, now in its fourth edition, are both widely used as textbooks for instructional writing programs. With Harvey Wiener, Marius also co-wrote the McGraw-Hill College Handbook.

As a teacher of writing, Marius emphasized clarity and directness. He asked his students to revise their drafts repeatedly, each time trying to communicate more simply and with fewer and shorter words. He advised making a rough outline before beginning to write and getting to the point quickly by setting up in the opening paragraph tensions that will be resolved by the end.

In his introduction to the third edition of A Writer's Companion, Marius wrote: "I don't care much for sappy personal writing, where writers tell me what they feel about things rather than what they know about things.