Course Syllabus

ENGL 1005 Expository Composition (Extended)

Course Description

This course emphasizes critical reading, writing, and thinking skills through writing-intensive workshops. It explores writing situations as a complex process focusing specifically on idea generation relative to audience and purpose, working through multiple drafts, peer collaboration, and revision, and it includes rhetorical analysis. ENGL 1005 (formerly 1015) differs from ENGL 1010 by adding extra support for students during a fourth class session per week. ENGL 1005 is recommended for students with ACT scores in English of 11-14, and/or students who have failed ENGL 1010. (previously ENGL 1015).

Justification

This course satisfies the E1 state composition requirement. A student who successfully completes ENGL 1005 (formerly 1015) will be able to write clearly, informatively, and persuasively in a variety of rhetorical situations. This writing-intensive course provides a foundation for all other college wiriting.

General Education Outcomes

1. A student who completes the GE curriculum has a fundamental knowledge of human cultures and the natural world. Students will understand that writing is a complex process that includes idea generation relative to audience and purpose, working through multiple drafts, peer collaboration, revision, and rhetorical analysis. They will demonstrate their ability to effectively use the writing process and to communicate through writing and process assignments.
2. A student who completes the GE curriculum can read and research effectively within disciplines. Students will read critically a substantial number of texts, paying attention to content, structure, and rhetoric. They will demonstrate their critical reading skills in reading and other assignments such as class discussions, group activities, and informal and formal written responses.
3. A student who completes the GE curriculum can draw from multiple disciplines to address complex problems. Students will write well-structured, rhetorically-effective prose and use an effective writing process to do so. They will demonstrate this skill through their formal writing assignments and the planning, drafting, and revising of them.
4. A student who completes the GE curriculum can reason quantitatively.  Students will develop critical thinking and reading skills. They will demonstrate an ability to critically assess and analyze theses, support, audience awareness, and purpose through written and oral responses to readings and/or their own essays.

General Education Knowledge Area Outcomes

1. They will demonstrate their ability to select appropriate modes of discourse and support through various writing assignments.  They will demonstrate their ability to select appropriate modes of discourse and support through various writing assignments.
2. Organize effective arguments that engage readers, provide needed background, present compelling evidence, and respond to opposing viewpoints. They will demonstrate this through writing assignments. They will demonstrate this through their ability to support various theses with appropriate evidence.
3. Write using an effective process that includes planning, drafting, peer workshopping, and revision. This process should be explicit in class activities and assignment design; revision should improve the overall quality of the document. They will demonstrate this through following each step of writing assignments, including responding to instructor feedback on their writing.
4. Carefully and critically read written arguments, identifying the use of rhetorical techniques by the author. They will demonstrate this through written and oral responses to reading and/or their own essays.

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Students will know how to accurately assess a rhetorical situation to determine the context, purpose, and audience for a given document.
2. Students will be able to select a mode of discourse appropriate to the rhetorical situation. These may include exploring, entertaining, informing, and persuading.
3. Students will generate documents through a recursive writing process which involves discovery, drafting, reflection, and revision.
4. Students will be able to explain a concept using levels of abstraction and specific detail appropriate to the rhetorical situation.
5. Students will be able to rhetorically analyze a written argument.
6. Students will develop critical thinking and reading skills.
7. Students will be able to organize a document in a way that helps the intended reader maximize comprehension.

Course Content

ENGL 1005 (formerly 1015) is a process-oriented course that emphasizes the various stages of the writing process--discovery, drafting, reflection, revision, editing--in a workshop environment. Students will be expected to write several revised essays using various methods of development throughout the semester. Students will also be expected to read and respond critically to a variety of essays and perform rhetorical analyses. Students will have one more weekly class meeting than ENGL 1010 students, and this additional day will be designated for activities such as workshops, extra instruction, conferences, sentence-level and mechanics support, practice writing, and/or reading instruction. As is characteristic of writing classes in Snow’s English department, assigned readings will be representative of and reflect a variety of voices and perspectives, and writing assignments will encourage engagement with a variety of perspectives and issues.