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 28-Sept. 5

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”
The Companion for the First Year at City Tech: “Writing to Learn”

Week 2: September 6-12

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
Course Textbook: Writing for Success, 8.1-8.3, “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?”

Week 3: September 13-24

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?”

Week 4: September 25-Oct. 1
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


Week 5: Oct. 2-10

The Companion for the First Year at City Tech 
SIGI3 Online Career Planning Resource provided through City Tech

Added Resource: “Still Questioning if College is Worth It? Read This.” The New York Times
Course Textbook: Writing for Success, 10.9, “Rhetorical Modes: Persuasion”
Resource 12: “The Gentrification of Gotham” -City Lab
Resource 13: “Comptroller Examines Uneven Economic Growth in Gentrifying Neighborhoods” –Gotham Gazette
Course Textbook: 
Resource 14: “Five Myths about Gentrification” by Lance Freeman-The Washington Post

Week 6: October 11-17

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
Resource 17: “Argument Papers” (includes “Organizing an Argument”) –Purdue OWL

Week 7: October 18-24

Resource 18: Argument Papers: Rebuttal Sections-Purdue OWL
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 25-31
Resource 19: “MLA Works Cited Page: The Basics”-Purdue OWL
Resource 20: “MLA Works Cited Page: Sample Paper”-Purdue OWL

Week 9: November 1-7

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 8-14

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 15-21

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 22-28

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 29-December 5

Resource 31: “Letter to My Son” by Ta-Nehisi Coates-The Atlantic
Resource 32: Ta-Nehisi Coates Interview on NPR’s Fresh Air

Week 14: December 7-13

Course Textbook: Writing for Success, 10.8, “Rhetorical Modes: Cause and Effect”