From digital to
visuals, from web pages to blogs, from tweeting to texting, it’s hard to
specify how many ways people “write” these days. And for university students faced with a required writing
course, it’s hard to imagine what their future classes and careers will require
of them. In this section of
Composition I, we will acknowledge the fact that writing and reading have been
influenced by technology in ways we can’t ignore. However, we can probably assume that most of your college
writing will still require you to write some form of academic essay. Your professors will usually want you
to write in readable, grammatical prose.
And they will also expect you know how to do research, making good use
of the library, the internet and other valid sources. The trick will be folding
some of the writing and reading skills you have already mastered into the task
of learning to write at the university level. In this course we’ll attempt to do that.
The focus of
this section of English 100 will, consequently, be identifying students’
existing writing talents and reading skills, and honing them for
university-appropriate writing. In
the process, we will rediscover traditional “texts” (books, for instance, and “papers”)
and see how the genres of conventional academics can be acceptably tweaked to
accommodate what we know, letting you bring your voices and messages to the
essays you foresee writing in your university future.
Students who
register for this course should be ready to commit to it in terms of
attendance, production and participation.
The semester’s grade will be based primarily on four essays and one
research paper. When readings are
assigned, they should be ready for discussion, and students should submit
assigned work on time.
Texts (readings,
most likely online) and a Grammar Handbook tba.
Any text to be
purchased will be ordered through Revolution books.