ENGL 1101 Composition I

Description

Composition I reviews and reinforces basic essay writing principles. Emphasis is on rhetorical modes of development and writing as process. Assignments include several essays and a short research paper.

Credits

3

Prerequisite

ENGL 0095 or placement by multiple measures

Topics to be Covered

1. Rhetorical Awareness

2. Process

3. Focus/Structure/Organization

4. Essay Construction

5. Development and Support

6. Critical Thinking

7. Clarity

8. Research

Learning Outcomes

1. Apply rhetorical situation (MnTC 1d, 1e, 1f). This may include, but is not limited to: • Understanding the most effective approach to writing in any given specific situation; • Adapting voice, tone, format, genre, and vocabulary for specific audiences and contexts; • Writing for a range of purposes that may include writing to narrate, entertain, inform, summarize, persuade, or argue. 2. Employ a writing process involving invention, organization, drafting, revision, editing, and presentation (MnTC 1a, 1b, 1c). This may include, but is not limited to: • Recognizing the importance of prewriting for invention; • Receiving and responding to feedback from a variety of sources, which may include instructors, workgroups, tutors, and peers; • Adapting the writing process for varying contexts, which may include multi-modal formats to reflect the needs of an increasingly digitally literate society. 3. Support controlling ideas with relevant and specific evidence (details) and explanations (MnTC 1c, 1e). This may include, but is not limited to: • Creating and identifying controlling ideas: Thesis, Topic Sentences, Main ideas; • Developing and supporting the controlling idea with details, examples, quotes, summaries, or other types of evidence; • Explaining how the selected evidence supports the controlling idea and overall purpose of the text. 4. Create and identify the basic components of an essay: introduction, body, conclusion. This may include, but is not limited to (MnTC 1e): • Organizing essays using appropriate rhetorical modes of development, which may include Narrative, Descriptive, Classification-Division, Cause & Effect, Definition, Process, Argument & Persuasion. 5. Apply focus, structure, and organization to written work. This may include, but is not limited to: • Applying coherence, unity, rhetorical situation, audience, and focus; • Analyzing the role of an individual paragraph within a larger text; • Organizing paragraphs to support a text’s main idea; • Aiding reader comprehension by employing effective transitions. 6. Analyze and integrate the ideas of others. This may include, but is not limited to: • Analyzing and synthesizing, which is understanding and responding to the ideas of others, moving beyond summary; • Breaking down a text to better comprehend how the pieces relate to the overall meaning of a text; • Differentiating between the student’s ideas and the ideas of others; • Responding to the ideas of others. 7. Revise and edit texts to make them comprehensible for specific audiences and writing contexts (MnTC 1f, 1g). This may include, but is not limited to: • Identifying and applying the grammatical conventions of a particular rhetorical situation; • Writing clear, effective, and varied sentences; • Revising content for accuracy and effectiveness individually and in collaboration with others; • Revising and editing for grammar and mechanics, including the conventions of Standard American English, independently and in response to feedback; • Revising and editing to control tone, style, voice, and word choice. 8. emonstrate appropriate methods of conducting research, presenting the information they discover in an appropriate style (MnTC 1c, 1d). This may include, but is not limited to: • Finding and identifying primary, secondary, and tertiary sources; • Summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting material and providing appropriate context; • Citing academic resources; • Presenting written work in proper MLA or other academically sanctioned citation styles, apply the use of source bibliography, intext citation, citation, and document formatting; • Avoiding plagiarism.

Credit Details

Lecture: 3

Lab: 0

OJT: 0

MnTC Goal Area(s): Goal Area 01 - Communication

Minnesota Transfer Curriculum Goal Area(s) and Competencies

Goal Area 01: Communication

1. Understand/demonstrate the writing and speaking processes through invention, organization, drafting, revision, editing, and presentation.

2. Participate effectively in groups with emphasis on listening, critical and reflective thinking, and responding.

3. Locate, evaluate, and synthesize in a responsible manner material from diverse sources and points of view.

4. Select appropriate communication choices for specific audiences.

5. Construct logical and coherent arguments.

6. Use authority, point-of-view, and individual voice and style in their writing and speaking.

7. Employ syntax and usage appropriate to academic disciplines and the professional world.