Bienvenidos, Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Bem Vinda, Welcome to English 1101!!
Course Description and Objectives
English Composition I is a course in effective essay writing and basic research techniques including the use of the library. A diverse range of readings are assigned as the basis for in-class discussion and for essay writing. CUNY certification in reading and writing is the prerequisite for this course. Students should expect to spend at least six hours per week on work for this class in addition to class time. Through discussion, reading, writing in drafts, collaborating, revising, and presenting work, students will learn to:
Read and listen critically and analytically, including identifying an argument’s major assumptions and assertions and evaluating its supporting evidence.
Write clearly and coherently in varied, academic formats (such as formal essays, research papers, and reports) using standard English and appropriate technology to critique and improve one’s own and others’ texts.
Demonstrate research skills using appropriate technology including gathering, evaluating, and synthesizing primary and secondary sources.
Support a thesis with well-reasoned arguments and communicate persuasively across a variety of contexts, purposes, audiences, and media.
Draft, revise, and proofread essays of various modes of writing, including narration, description, comparison, argumentation, analysis, and reflection.
Use writing as a process of discovery and build habits of critical thinking.
Develop a personal writing style.
Read actively, carefully, and thoroughly, looking at details and at the piece as a whole.
Formulate questions as part of the reading process in anticipation of class or online discussions.
Demonstrate the ability to summarize, paraphrase, quote from, and argue with assigned readings.
Gain familiarity with online tools such as blogs, collaborative documents, online writing centers, and library research tools.
Communicate professionally via e-mail and other online media.
Formulate original ideas and relate them to the ideas of others by employing the conventions of ethical attribution and citation.
Course Objectives:
Students will be expected to:
Draft and revise a range of formal and informal writing assignments and writing projects both inside the classroom and outside of class in a variety of genres and modes to meet appropriate rhetorical purposes related to academic inquiry, totaling, at minimum, 2500 words. Two or more of these assignments or projects must include the use of thesis statements and incorporate the ideas and words of other writers as exhibited through the use of textual evidence, summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting.
Draft and revise a researched writing assignment or project that includes the incorporation of material from library resources and databases and includes the use of methods of citation and attribution appropriate to specific discipline.
Read, analyze, and interpret essays and texts across a variety of genres, disciplines, and media for the purposes of academic inquiry, rhetorical and textual analysis, and understanding, improving, and critiquing writing processes and reading strategies.
Submit drafts of work for instructor and peer review so students can be introduced to the various stages of writing and revising as a process, as well as be assessed on their ability to develop and revise formal writing assignments.
Understand how to apply and use the basic structure and conventions of Standard Written English (SWE) and exhibit basic competency in SWE.
Pass a departmental final exam.
AND: Have fun exploring new ideas and sharing our experiences and insights with each other!
