NOTE: The resources listed below will go “live” as we progress through the class. For reading assignments in the course text, please visit Writing for Success and look up the assigned passage.
Week 1: August 29-September 4
Resource 1: “What is Academic Writing?”-Writing Spaces, Vol. 2
Resource 2: “Tips for Writing in North American Colleges: The Basics”-Purdue University Online Writing Lab (Purdue OWL)
Resource 3: “Ten Ways to Whip the Freshman Composition Requirement”–U.S. News /Higher Education
Resource 4: “Essay Writing,” “Expository Essays,” “Descriptive Essays,” “Narrative Essays,” and “Argumentative/Persuasive Essays”– Purdue OWL
Course Textbook: Writing for Success,1.1, “Reading and Writing in College” and 1.2 “Developing Study Skills,”
Course Textbook: Writing for Success, 2.1, “Sentence Writing” and 2.2 “Subject Verb Agreement”
The Companion for the First Year at City Tech: “Writing to Learn”
Week 2: September 5-11
Resource 5: “Tip Sheet: How to Succeed in College” (The New York Times)
Resource 6: “Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarizing“-Purdue OWL
Course Textbook: Writing for Success: Chapter 6, “Writing Paragraphs”
Resource 7: Q&A: “First Generation Students” The New York Times
Course Textbook: Writing for Success:,10.1, “Rhetorical Modes: Narration”
Resource 8: “Why College Freshmen Need to Take Emotions 101”–The Washington Post
Resource 9: “One Student’s Story: A Climb Out of Depression, Doubt, and Academic Failure”–The New York Times
Summary Assignment: DUE Sept. 7 (See Assignments Page)
Course Textbook: Writing for Success, 8.1-8.3, “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?”
Week 3: September 12-18
Resource 10: “Preparing ‘Emerging Adults’ for College and Beyond” The New York Times
Resource 11: “Colleges Get Proactive in Addressing Depression on Campus” The New York Times
Course Textbook: Writing for Success, 8.1-8.3, “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?”
Additional Resource: “How to Be Emotionally Intelligent” The New York Times
In Class Essay 1: DUE Sept. 14 (See Assignments Page)
Week 4: September 19-27
The Companion for the First Year at City Tech (text provided in class)
SIGI3 Online Career Planning Resource provided through City Tech
Course Textbook: Writing for Success, 8.4 “Revising and Editing” and 9.1-9.4, “Writing an Essay from Start to Finish”
Course Textbook: Writing for Success, 7.1, 7.2, “Refining Your Writing”
The Companion for the First Year at City Tech: Using college resources and goal setting exercises
Additional Resource: “Still Questioning Whether College is Worth It? Read This” Washington Post
Week 5: September 28-October 4
Course Textbook: Writing for Success, 10.2-3, “Rhetorical Modes: Description and Illustration.”
Resource 12: “The Gentrification of Gotham” –City Lab
Course Textbook: Writing for Success, 10.9, “Rhetorical Modes: Persuasion”
Resource 13: “Comptroller Examines Uneven Economic Growth in Gentrifying Neighborhoods” –Gotham Gazette
Resource 14: “Five Myths about Gentrification” by Lance Freeman-The Washington Post
Resource 15: “Stacey Sutton: What We Don’t Understand About Gentrification”- Tedx New York
Resource 16: “Will Gentrification Ever End?” and “The Slippery Ethics of Gentrifying” by Sharon Zukin-The Big Think
Course Textbook: Writing for Success, 5.5, “Verb Tenses”
Week 6: October 5-11
Resource 17: “Argument Papers” (includes “Organizing an Argument”) -Purdue OWL
OER 18: Argument Papers: Rebuttal Sections-Purdue OWL
Week 7: October 12-18
Resource 12-18 (See above) as you need to write Essay 3
The Companion for the First Year at City Tech: Self Assessments (Activities 7-12)
Week 8: October 19-25
Resource 19: “MLA Works Cited Page: The Basics”-Purdue OWL
Resource 20: “MLA Works Cited Page: Sample Paper”-Purdue OWL
Week 9: October 26-November 1
Course Textbook: Writing for Success, 11.1 “What Will I Learn from Research Writing” and 11.5, “Critical Thinking and Research Applications”
Course Textbook: Writing for Success, 13.4, “Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Style.”
Week 10: November 2-8
Resource 21: “Conducting Primary Research: Interviewing”-Purdue OWL
Resource 22: “Introduction to Primary Research: Observations, Surveys, and Interviews”–Writing Spaces, Vol. 2
Resource 23: Tim Urban: “Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator” -TedTalk
Week 11: November 9-15
Resource 24: “Introduction” and “General Information about Parenthetical Citations”-The Writer’s Handbook MLA Documentation Guide-University of Wisconsin Writing Center
Resource Textbook: Writing for Success, 13.2, “Citing and Referencing Techniques”
Resource 25: “Creating an MLA Works Cited Page” The Writer’s Handbook MLA Documentation Guide-University of Wisconsin Writing Center
Resource 26: “Sample MLA Research Paper”-Purdue OWL
Week 12: November 16-29
Course Textbook: Writing for Success: 12.2: “Developing a Final Draft of a Research Paper”
Resource 27: “Growing Up in Baltimore” –The Big Think
Resource 28: “The Case for Reparations” Ta-Nehisi Coates Interview with Chris Hayes
Resource 29: Ta-Nehisi Coates reads from “Letter to My Son” –The Atlantic
Resource 30: Jay Smooth “How I Learned to Stop Worrying an Love Discussing Race”-TEDxHampshire College
Week 13: November 30-December 6
Resource 31: “Letter to My Son” by Ta-Nehisi Coates-The Atlantic
Course Textbook: Writing for Success, 10.8, “Rhetorical Modes: Cause and Effect”
Week 14: December 7-13
Resource 32: Ta-Nehisi Coates Interview on NPR’s Fresh Air
