Teaching Essay Writing When ChatGPT Exists

ChatGPT can write a competent five-paragraph essay in seconds. So why should we still teach essay writing? And if we do, how do we do it in a world where students have access to instant essay generation?

I’ve been rethinking my approach to writing instruction, and here’s where I’ve landed.

We should still teach essay writing because the skill we’re actually teaching isn’t “produce a document.” It’s critical thinking, argument construction, evidence evaluation, and communication. Those cognitive skills matter regardless of what tools exist.

But the how needs to change. Here are some shifts I’ve made:

I’ve moved away from take-home essays as major assessments. If students can generate them at home with AI, they’re not assessing what I think they’re assessing. Instead, I use in-class writing for summative grades and take-home writing for practice and formative feedback.

I focus more on the process than the product. Students submit outlines, annotated bibliographies, rough drafts with comments, and reflection journals. The final essay is just one piece of a larger portfolio that demonstrates their thinking journey.

I’ve started doing oral defenses for major papers. Students present their arguments verbally and answer questions about their choices. This confirms understanding in a way that no written submission can.

I assign topics that require personal experience or highly specific class discussions. “Analyze a theme in the novel we read this semester, using examples from our class discussion on March 12th” is much harder to outsource to AI than “Discuss the American Dream in The Great Gatsby.”

I also explicitly teach students how to use AI as a writing tool rather than a writing replacement. Draft with AI, then rewrite. Use AI to generate counterarguments, then address them yourself. These are legitimate skills.

How have you adapted your writing instruction?