 |
 |
|
|
 |
Writing Resources
Guidelines for GUR Writing Courses
Writing 1 - English 101, Writing and Critical Inquiry
(Satisfies Communication - A, to be completed prior to completion
of 45 credits)
The first-year course is a computer-assisted writing course designed
to help students develop and practice critical and reflective habits of
mind that will serve them personally, professionally, and academically.
Emphasizing writing analytically, it focuses on extending students' writing
repertoire beyond the five-paragraph essay. Students gain practice in
generating ideas, revising, and editing. Students receive instruction
on how to construct a perspective on a topic, develop it fully, situate
that perspective in the context of other views, and communicate that situated
perspective clearly to others through several drafts. Students learn critical
reading habits, including re-reading, marking texts, asking questions,
examining rhetorical strategies, making connections between their own
experience and texts, and responding to others' points of view.
Typical assignments include informal writing, such as reading journals
and weekly small group e-mail and common book discussions as well as formal
essays of various types, including in-class, reflective, reader-response,
dialectical, and rhetorical analysis. Students meet with their instructors
for individual conferences three times a quarter. Evaluation includes
a final portfolio worth 50% of the grade.
Current Text: Reading Our Histories, Understanding Our Cultures: A
Sequenced Approach to Thinking, Reading, and Writing. Kathleen McCormick,
ed. Allyn and Bacon, 1999.
Writing 2- Multiple Options, including departmental courses/sequences,
and interdisciplinary links/clusters
(Satisfies Communication - B, to be completed prior to 135 credits;
assumes completion of Eng. 101 or equivalent and sophomore status or minimum
of 25 credits)
The second-level writing course is designed to provide further instruction
and practice for strengthening analytical reading and writing skills with
an emphasis on integrating information from sources. Topics include strategies
for developing a strong thesis; selecting, examining, and integrating
evidence; developing purposeful organizational schemes, revising for clarity
and style; documenting sources; and editing for presentation. The emphasis
at this level is writing in the context of a discipline, so the specific
strategies and assignments will vary depending on the particular disciplinary
area. However, unlike the upper-level writing proficiency courses which
urge students to write like members of a discipline, the Writing II courses
seek to provide writing instruction and practice as students write about
a particular disciplinary content.
Typical assignments include informal writing, such as chronicle entries
and response entries; formal writing might include several related 3-5
page papers and/or a longer (10-12 page) inquiry paper based on a topic
related to the discipline. In some cases, evaluation includes a final
portfolio.
A Recommended Text: Writing Analytically, 1st and 2nd editions,
David Rosenwasser and Jill Stephen, Harcourt College Publishers, 1997
and 1999
- These guidelines are intended to be brief overviews of these courses.Departments/individuals
considering course proposals are invited to request additional materials,
including a Writing II checklist, sample syllabi, assignments, and student
papers.
- To preserve the integrity of these courses as genuine writing courses,
class size should not exceed 25.
Prepared by Donna Qualley and Carmen Werder
|
|