Math and Writing Part 2: If You Can Write A Paper, You Can Do Math

If you can write a paper, you can do math. That is what I said to my quantitative literacy classes when I taught them. So what does this mean? Well, when I first used it, it was an analogy, begging to be explored. Then over time, it expanded to more than that.

When you write a paper, let’s say in an English class, you are given a topic to discuss, or some point(s) to argue. You have a starting point for your argument, you have an introduction, a thesis. You then progress and you have the main body of work. This body elaborates on your thesis, it supports your argument and you eventually reach a conclusion.

There is a logic to this, you are going from step to step, using evidence, sources, and arguing techniques. There is a lot of logic when you write a paper. Furthermore, in order to write an effective paper, you must also know the mechanics of the language that you are writing in, in this case, English.

With a math problem, we are being asked to solve a problem, to show something, to paint a picture, or sometimes prove a claim. We have a starting point, and we are demonstrating what we know and showing how we get to a solution through logical steps. In order to do this, we need to speak the language of math, we must know its mechanics as well.

When you solve a math problem, everything you do is a statement, I mean that literally. I can take that math on the page and translate it into English. I could also express things visually through a graph, or chart. I can also express things numerically through a table. I can do so many things, I can explore so many ideas. I can extract, use, and convey so much information.