How do you know what you know? How is academic knowledge created? Using such questions as the basis for formulating knowledge, we begin our work continuing to develop your ability, working from your previous academic preparation, to comprehend academic discourse, write academic arguments, and approach research as a form of personal and academic inquiry through written assignments, PowerPoint lectures, and student-led weekly reading discussions.
In this course, students will be introduced to the rhetorical, conceptual, and stylistic demands of writing at the college level and instructed in composing processes, search strategies, and composing from sources. This course also provides students with experiences in the library and on the Internet and enhances their skills in accessing and using various types of primary and secondary materials.
Course Requirements:
Class Participation and Preparation
More specifically, you will write informally in class, analyze short texts for rhetorical, theoretical, and linguistic features, discuss what you read and write, listen to and show respect for everyone in our learning community, and use relevant feedback to improve all aspects of your written work.
Assessed Writing
You will write five formal pieces of polished prose including a resume and cover letter, literary response, a definitional argument, a rhetorical analysis, and a research-based argumentative essay. You will also complete a one-draft research justification and annotated bibliography. As you gain proficiency in selecting sources and using and citing them appropriately, you will be expected to incorporate a greater number and variety of academic sources into your work. You may resubmit any of these papers within a reasonable time frame for a higher score provided the quality of the piece is sufficiently improved.
Required Texts
This is a Laulima based course. All texts can be accessed from Laulima.