ENG 201. College Writing and Reading II (3)
Prerequisite: ENG 101 or 100 and sophomore standing. College-level writing and reading, including continued practice in the composing process, with emphasis on argumentation and research. Projects will employ a rhetorical approach to identifying, evaluating, analyzing, synthesizing, and documenting information from print and online sources.
One goal of English 201 is to facilitate the transition from writing and reading based on personal experience (ENG 101 or 100) to writing and reading for the variety of academic purposes students will encounter at UNCW and beyond. Involved in that transition is the gradual acquisition of the conventions of academic writing, such as inquiry-based research and attaining a balanced, informed voice and a tolerant, intellectual, persuasive stance. More specifically, research writing normally demands the following:
- familiarizing oneself with the definition and applications of rhetorical principles;
- familiarizing oneself with a body of facts, interpretations, or opinions about a given topic (understanding the chosen topic);
- articulating questions that can be examined productively through research (thesis statements or main points);
- surveying and assessing conflicting facts, interpretations, or opinions (entering the conversation and understanding opposing positions);
- adopting and supporting a position, while also remaining tolerant toward conflicting points-of-view and acknowledging their appeal (understanding their position and why they have/hold it).
Formal Writing
While the above proficiencies cannot be taught and mastered over a single semester of study-indeed they require attention in all courses at all levels of instruction-the following sequence of assignments is designed to initiate the long-term process of learning to write and read for academic purposes and beyond.
- Two analyses of texts, which will encourage students to explore the techniques writers employ to present information to specific audiences and for specific purposes (analyses should be rhetorical in nature).
- Two extended essays integrating research, at least one of which should be persuasive or argumentative and ask students to take a position on a particular topic.
Informal Writing
- Instructors should include a series of on-going exercises involving the various elements of writing (voice, tone, audience, purpose, context, rhetoric, research, etc.) to give students experience with the composing process.
- Various types of journals can be helpful in allowing students to practice writing (such as Blackboard, blogs, wikis, or other types of free online formats for journal exercises). Ask students to be critical consumers of the world around them.
All essays should be completed over a series of drafts (so students will understand the composing process), giving students the opportunity to receive input from the instructor and from peers at some point in the process. These are only core assignments, to be supplemented with such appropriate exercises as writing summaries and paraphrases, or writing additional research-based essays. All students in ENG 201 should have at least one library instruction session. Instructors are urged to have at least one required conference-either one-to-one or group conferences-with students over the course of the term. Instructors also should encourage students to visit the Writing Center regularly. Finally, instructors should follow the common textbook policy.
Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)
- Students will identify the structural components, including thesis, supporting evidence, and various rhetorical strategies, for all essays read and written. Students will articulate in a variety of venues how audience expectation shapes purpose in their own writing and in the essays they read. [CMP1]
- Through a variety of writing and speaking opportunities, students will demonstrate how multiple assigned readings are 'in conversation' with one another. Students will conduct research based upon the questions that develop through their own analyses of assigned texts, thereby furthering their own learning processes and developing their own information literacies. [CMP2]
- Students will conduct research, thereby familiarizing themselves with online databases, web-based materials, and print-based sources. Students will summarize an array of viewpoints they have read on a given topic. Students will synthesize these viewpoints as a means of 'mapping' a field of perspectives. Students will analyze these viewpoints in order to assess how and where their own views and experiences relate to those they've encountered in their reading. [CMP3]
- Students will demonstrate a familiarity with the stages of the composing process. Students will engage in rubric-guided peer review. Students will demonstrate through proofreading and editing an awareness of the difference between a working draft and a polished version of an essay. Students will enact a revision of their writing, thereby demonstrating an awareness of the ongoing nature of the writing process. [CMP4]
- Students will develop the ability to identify key issues/questions that require additional information. For each topic discussed, students will be able to answer the question 'what's at stake here?' [IL1]
- Students will become proficient at identifying appropriate sources for various research questions. [IL2]
- Students will be able to discern reliable sources from unreliable ones. [IL3]
- Students will identify specific research topics and will develop a sound knowledge base through their own research to analyze and/or argue a chosen issue or position. [IL4]
- Students will learn and practice MLA documentation. Students will know what plagiarism is. [IL5]
