Course Objectives:

The Core Writing Program aims to initiate students into the world of college literacy. We hope in our courses to demonstrate that reading and writing are connected activities, that literate people shape and create meaning in the acts of reading and writing, and that the act of making meaning through reading and writing gives people power over their own learning. All three courses--English 1, 101, and 102 --focus on the essay with a good deal of attention to how writers write and what constitutes good writing. Each course emphasizes the importance of a worthwhile topic, a supportable claim, strong evidence, clear structure, and mechanics, usage and spelling. Students practice the processes of writing: prewriting and drafting, revision with attention to global concerns (e.g., development), and copyediting with focus on local concerns (e.g., punctuation). We use informal writing as a means of exploration and discovery; we value self-analysis, reflection, and critical response from readers. We teach formal and informal strategies for inquiry--the gathering of information and ideas--and we introduce approaches to academic research. In addition, all three courses concern themselves with critical reading, and instructors ask students to summarize, analyze, and evaluate what they read.