This course is designed to introduce you to the demands of academic writing. You will learn how to evaluate sources, conduct and document original research, organize a paper around a clear and concise thesis, and identify rhetorical strategies that writers use to address and inform their audiences. Throughout the semester, you will review grammar, usage, mechanics, and punctuation in order to add clarity and authority to your writing. You will learn and improve these skills, in part, by working collaboratively with your peers on a number of informal and formal writing assignments and presentations.
Assignments include presenting on an aspect of English grammar, composing formal essays, developing a research project, proofreading peers’ papers, and discussing a range of readings in groups. Because writing is a process, you will submit drafts for each major writing assignment, and you will have the opportunity to rewrite or revise your papers after they have been graded and returned to you.
- Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. “They Say, I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. 3rd. ed. New York: Norton, 2014. Print.
- Hacker, Diana, and Nancy I. Sommers. A Pocket Style Manual. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. Print.