“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.” – Martin Luther

Welcome to ENGL 1301: Composition I!

This course provides an intensive study and practice of written communication with an emphasis on the role of writing processes.  It includes an exploration of effective rhetorical choices, including audience, purpose, arrangement, and style as well as an introduction to various genres.

When you have successfully completed this course, you will be able to write college-level academic, organized essays using Edited American English.  The content of your writing will be grounded in your use of critical reading and thinking skills. By the end of the semester, you will produce multiple written works that fit the requirements expected throughout all academic disciplines.  To get to this point, you will need to learn each component of college composition individually through a series of skill-building lessons. Since each concept builds upon the previous one, it is extremely important for you to stay focused throughout the semester.

The following lists provide the outcomes for this course:

General Educational Outcomes (GEO):

1. Critical Thinking: Students will develop habits of mind, allowing them to appreciate the processes by which scholars in various disciplines organize and evaluate data and use the methodologies of each discipline to understand the human experience.
2. Communication Skills: Students will communicate ideas, express feelings and support conclusions effectively in written, oral and visual formats.
3. Teamwork: Students will consider different points of view and work interdependently to achieve a shared purpose or goal.
4. Personal Responsibility: Students will develop habits of intellectual exploration, personal responsibility, and physical well-being.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO):

1. Demonstrate knowledge of individual and collaborative writing processes.
2. Develop ideas with appropriate support and attribution. (i.e. research)
3. Write in a style appropriate to audience and purpose. (i.e. rhetorical choices)
4. Read, reflect, and respond critically to a variety of texts.
5. Use Edited American English in academic essays. (inc. MLA Style)

The course is divided into five units, each culminating in an academic essay. The following list names these units in order with the outcomes for each:

1. Memoir (GEO 1, 2, 4; SLO 1, 3, 4, 5)
2. Profile (GEO 1, 2, 4; SLO 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
3. Literary Analysis (GEO 1, 2, 3, 4; SLO 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
4. Rhetorical Analysis (GEO 1, 2, 3, 4; SLO 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
5. Argument (GEO 1, 2, 4; SLO 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)