Although certain features have been identified as most indicative of "syntactic maturity," these only partially answer the question, "What is mature writing?" Mature thought on the part of the author is reflected in writing in the following ways: recognizing that the audience is different from himself or herself; providing an appropriate context for his or her statements; basing his or her arguments on values the audience is likely to share; trying to anticipate and respond to objections or questions the audience is likely to have; recognizing the legitimacy as well as the limitations of other points of view on a given subject; acknowledging, where appropriate, the limitations of his or her own point of view; indicating what the viewpoint cannot explain; taking note of apparently contradictory evidence; and recognizing the complexity of the subject at hand by attending to more than one feature of an experience. Suggestions for evaluating writing include the following: conclusions from single pieces of writing must be made with care; nonegocentric writing must not be equated with impersonal, bland prose; recognizing egocentrism in writing is not straightforwardly simple; and definitions of mature writing may vary with the type of writing one is doing. (DF)