At the completion of this course, the student should be able to:

1. Read analytically to understand and respond to diverse academic texts.
2. Compose thesis-driven academic writing that demonstrates analysis and synthesis of sources as appropriate to the rhetorical situation.
3. Demonstrate strategies for planning, outlining, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading written work.

Writing

1. Formulate an arguable thesis at the essay level and main ideas at the paragraph level, and substantiate them through analysis, logical and systematic organization, supporting evidence, and clarity of expression.
2. Demonstrate an awareness of audience, purpose, and rhetorical strategy through the development of personal voice, and effective choice of diction and tone appropriate to the academic community and/or the purpose of the specific writing task.
3. Proofread for errors in language and mechanics to the degree that the nature and frequency of errors do not become distracting.
4. Use techniques of research, especially textual citations and MLA documentation.

Reading

1. Analyze college-level expository, narrative, and argumentative non-fiction prose written on a level of difficulty equivalent to the public letters of Martin Luther King, Jr. ("Letter from the Birmingham Jail"), the social commentary of Joan Didion ("Slouching Towards Bethlehem"), the essays of Richard Rodriguez ("Toward an American Language").
2. Comprehend and evaluate the author's line of reasoning, the overall main point, and the kind of evidence or development presented.
3. Identify the author's intended audience and rhetorical purpose for addressing that audience.
4. Draw comparisons to other works.
5. Draw reasoned inferences based on careful reading of a text.
6. Recognize differences in value systems based on culture in a given text.

1. Read, analyze, and evaluate diverse texts, primarily non-fiction, for rhetorical strategies and styles.
2. Apply a variety of rhetorical strategies in academic writing, including well-organized essays with effective theses and support.
3. Develop varied and flexible strategies for generating, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading formal writing.
4. Analyze rhetorical choices in students' own and peers' writing and effectively provide and incorporate feedback.
5. Write in various genres and modalities, including low stakes, analytical, argumentative, collaborative, reflective writing, synthesis, literature review, and other forms.
6. Exhibit acceptable college-level control of mechanics, organization, development, and coherence.
7. Identify, evaluate, and effectively integrate material from source texts through paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting using appropriate documentation conventions.
8. Compose a minimum of 5,000 words of formal writing across major assignments.

Writing

1. Focus on writing about course readings
   1. Paraphrasing
   2. Summarizing
   3. Synthesizing
   4. Quoting and documenting (MLA)
2. Focus on writing as process (discovery and synthesis)
   1. Invention, generation, collection of ideas
      1. Discussion, brainstorming, journal-keeping
      2. Mapping, outlining
   2. Organization, development, concession
   3. Formulation of arguable thesis
   4. Drafting, revision, editing
3. Focus on writing as product
   1. Synthesis of texts and student ideas
   2. Rhetorical features (structure, analysis, insight)
   3. Readability
   4. Volume
   5. On-task
4. Focus on writing as purpose
   1. Development of writer's purpose through personal and societal connection to the topic
   2. Understanding cultural context and social relevance of topic
   3. Audience awareness (culture, values, biases)
   4. Development of personal voice
   5. Choice of rhetorical strategies, diction, language, and style to reach audience and achieve purpose
5. Focus on patterns of error and methods of correction
6. Focus on variety of sources (print/non-print/electronic) with evaluation of credibility and relevance of same

Reading

1. Complete a sequence of reading assignments arranged in order of relatively less difficult to more complex, taking into consideration such factors as overall number of words or pages, complexity of syntax, level and range of vocabulary
2. Analyze prose for:
   1. Main idea, support, organizational pattern
   2. Rhetorical form, style, voice, and purpose
   3. Genre and cultural context
      1. Relation to other works
      2. Value systems based on culture
   4. Basic concepts of critical thinking
      1. Assumptions from which arguments are developed
      2. Logical use of evidence
      3. Internal consistency
3. Determine how the author's assumptions on the reader's background knowledge/experience and the author's purpose contribute to the organization of the text
4. Examine connections among resources, e.g., personal experiences, course texts, and other materials
5. Evaluate points of view, development of arguments, and ideas in texts
6. Analyze the effects of culture on written form and content

Not applicable.

Methods of formative and summative evaluation used to observe or measure students' achievement of course outcomes and objectives will include primarily academic writing, which may include timed/in-class writing. Methods of evaluation are at the discretion of local faculty.
Three formal essays (in-class or online)
Two timed, informal essay exams (in-class or online)
Final examination: a composition or other written project to be completed within the allotted two hour period
Tests and quizzes
Journals
Written discussions
Oral or written presentation
Debates
Creative projects
Structured small-group activities
Community engagement projects

Lectures
Discussions
Structured small-group exercises

An anthology, or appropriate Open Educational Resources (OER) containing culturally diverse college-level essays, articles, or other texts.

A college-level handbook on writing and documentation or evidence of similar writing pedagogy.

Course texts may include book-length works.

Texts used by individual institutions and even individual sections will vary. The list of representative texts must include at least one text with a publication date within seven (7) years of the course outline approval date.

The following are suggested rhetorics/anthologies for the course:
1. Behrens and Rosen. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. 2016.
2. Graff and Berkenstein. They Say/I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing with Readings. 2018.

The following are suggested single author non-fiction books for the course:
1. Douglass, Frederick. A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. 2016.
2. Gladwell, Malcolm. David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants. 2015.
3. Mock, Janet. Surpassing Realness: What My Twenties Taught Me. 2017.
4. Noah, Trevor. Born a Crime: Tales from a South African Childhood. 2016.
5. Tufekci, Zeynep. Twitter and Teargas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest. 2018.
6. Yunnus, Muhammad. A World of Three Zeros. 2017.

1. Reading non-fiction essays and book-length non-fiction works
2. Journal and online discussion responses to assigned readings
3. Formal academic written analysis of assigned readings