• Course Description

• Objectives

ENG 100 students will complete four formal writing assignments in addition to other graded and ungraded work that will vary among instructors. In these assignments, students will move from personal writing to writing in response to others' ideas and texts. Students will learn how to integrate outside sources into their work by reading and responding to course texts and other materials gathered through research. Final drafts of all formal writing assignments must be word-processed. All students are expected to be prepared for class and participate in class discussions related to reading and writing assignments. In addition, students will keep complete portfolios of all their writings.

ENG 100 students will also attend a Writer's Workshop in addition to their ENG 100 class. The Writer's Workshops are an important segment of our ENG 100 program. Twice a week, students meet in small groups of four to seven students with a trained student assistant ("SA" for short). The material for these sessions is created to complement the ENG 100 class.

Before any grade appeal will be processed for a student in ENG 100, 104, or 108, the complete portfolio of writings will have to be submitted to the Department Review Committee. In order for an ENG 100 student to be admitted into ENG 104, he or she must earn at least a C in ENG 100.

Learning to write for different audiences and purposes
Students will…

• do some private writing for themselves;
• make journal entries to explore their thoughts and to enrich their personal lives;
• write essays to communicate ideas and impose order on their thoughts and
• experiences;
• structure their writing to fit the assignment, purpose, and audience.

Learning to use active reading and critical thinking
Students will…

• identify the main concepts and locate supporting details in written works;
• read actively for greater understanding;
• use reading to improve their writing by drawing ideas and information from written material;
• use texts to understand their own and others' experiences;
• recognize good writing by actively reading good prose;
• develop their ideas and concepts with specific details, examples, and explanations.

Learning to use writing processes
Students will…

• practice various invention techniques;
• use prewriting to recreate and reflect on their experiences;
• use prewriting to generate information and discover ideas;
• move easily from writing for self-expression to writing for readers;
• write at greater length more easily, more quickly, and more usefully;
• reread early drafts to rethink what they want to write;
• revise for clearer presentation of their ideas;
• identify and correct their own spelling, grammatical, and mechanical errors, especially in the final stage of the writing process.

Learning written conventions
Students will…

• use thesis statements, topic sentences, and transitions;
• use common ordering and organizational ideas like narration, classification, and causal analysis;
• identify the main qualities of effective sentences;
• practice active sentence style and rich, efficient modification;
• practice systematic approaches to editing sentences;
• craft more effective and polished sentences and paragraphs.