My background: I am currently in my mid thirties, and just started on an engineering degree. I have been working as a mechanic for the last 15 years and am looking for move to engineering, and my employer is paying my tuition. I did well in high school (AP/honors classes, high test scores). This are going well so far. Math is style math, chemistry is still chemistry. However I have noticed a stark change in the way communication is taught. When I was taught to write essays (all the way through AP English), the default essay style was expository, now it is argumentative. They are similar in that you find information to support an overarching message or idea, but the are different in that an argumentative essay focuses a bit more on the writer's voice, and (at least he way I'm being graded) representing counterarguments fairly "weaken's your voice." An argumentative essay is what I used to consider a persuasive essay.…