All readings must be printed and brought to class. Please consult the “Class Notes/Homework” section for more directions on when each reading is due.
UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION TO COLLEGE WRITING
- Rhetoric/Rhetorical Modes, Audience, and Writing as a Process
- “Active Reading” by Brogan Sullivan
- Guidelines on Writing a Summary
UNIT 2: PERSONAL NARRATIVE
- Narration (Writing for Success)
- Description (Writing for Success)
- Descriptive Writing: Figurative Language Terms
- “The Way We Live Now: 11-11-01; Lost and Found” by Colson Whitehead
- “Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie
- “Hers; The Ignominy of Being Pregnant in New York City” by Anna Quindlen
Additional Resources (Optional):
- VIDEO: Introduction to Personal Narratives
- How to Format Dialogue: Example 1: First Manuscript or Example 2: Ursinus College
UNIT 3: EXPOSITORY ESSAYS
- 5-Paragraph Essay Structure for Midterm/Final
- Sentence Structures for Incorporating Sources (In Conversation)
- Thesis Statements
UNIT 4: OPEN-LETTER
- Philip Roth “An Open Letter to Wikipedia”
- Jennifer Aniston “For the Record”
- Andy Ostroy “An Open Letter From Donald Trump to His Supporters”
- Sophia-Chua-Rubenfeld “Why I Love My Strict Chinese Mom”
Additional Readings (Optional):
UNIT 5 (Part 1): ARGUMENT/PERSUASION
- Persuasion (Writing for Success)
- Writing an Argumentative Essay (In Conversation)
- Claim, Reasons, and Evidence (In Conversation)
- Modes of Persuasion (Writing Through Rhetorical Modes)
- Logical Argumentation (In Conversation)
- Errors in Logic (In Conversation)
- How to build argument with support in body paragraphs (In Conversation)
UNIT 5 (Part 2): RESEARCH
- Introduction to College Research (In Conversation)
- MLA Style & Ethical Citation
- Writing a Research Paper in Steps (In Conversation)
- Guide to Conducting Research (In Conversation)
- MLA Documentation (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Additional Resources (Optional):
- In-text Citations & Works Cited Entries (About Writing)
- Works Cited Pages: Sample 1: IRSC Libraries or Sample 2: In Conversation
- A General Guide to Understanding Written Plagiarism (City Tech Library)
- Avoiding Plagiarism (City Tech Library)
- CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity