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ENG 101

I. TITLE: Composition

II. CATALOG DESCRIPTION: Instruction and practice in writing expository prose. Students use word -processing software to write and revise essays.

III.  PURPOSE: The course is designed to help students improve their writing processes, to improve students’ critical thinking skills, to increase the organizational effectiveness of students’ writing, and to develop students’ awareness of the importance of context in writing. This course cultivates the following Characteristics of an MSU Graduate:
Characteristic 1: Engage in mature, independent thought and express that thought effectively in oral and written communication. ENG 101 helps students write clearer, better-organized prose and respond to the written discourse they will encounter in academia and in the world beyond the classroom.

Characteristic 5: Demonstrate a critical understanding of the world’s historical, literary, philosophical and artistic traditions. Students will discover the longstanding rhetorical traditions in Western culture that govern appropriate organization and presentation of writing for a given context, and students will begin to develop a critical perspective as they evaluate these features in the writing of others.

IV. COURSE OBJECTIVES: ENG 101 focuses much attention on helping students learn and foster the process of writing for academia. The course goals include helping students develop
*critical thinking skills, as reflected in substantive discussion of reading and writing;
*an awareness of audience and purpose in their writing and in the writing of others;
*effective organization and idea development skills;
*appropriate style, diction, and voice in their writing;
*skillful argumentation, including use of detail and supporting evidence;
*the ability to thoughtfully evaluate and productively revise their own work;
*the ability to judiciously read and analyze works by professional writers and peers; and
*connnand of usage and mechanics of the English language.

V. CONTENT OUTLINE: The course attempts to meet the above objectives by helping students do the following, arranged in order of minimum competence to full competence:
1. Know the appropriate usage, mechanics, diction, voice, and style to use in a given text.
2. Comprehend the benefits of adopting a recursive writing process and thereby of benefiting from multiple revisions.
3. Apply the evaluative strategies acquired through class discussion of readings to their own writings and to the texts they will incorporate as support for their writing.
4. Synthesize the interconnected issues of audience and purpose--of ethos, logos, and pathos--which have been handed down via Western rhetorical tradition, as they read and write arguments.
5. Analyze the rhetorical strategies used by other writers in class readings and in the writing of other students.
6. Evaluate the effectiveness of an argument and reflect that newfound knowledge in effective arguments written by the student.
7. Write assignments that move sequentially toward more sophisticated, rhetorically challenging requirements, including Narrative, Analytical, and Argumentative Writing.

VI. INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES: In this class, students will regularly write in class and write out-of-class multiple drafts for a total of 4-6 papers, each normally 3-5 double spaced pages (750-1250 words) long; paper revisions and/or portfolios help encourage student participation in a recursive writing process, so that students will complete one or more preliminary drafts for each formal paper. The course also includes word processing in computer labs, readings, and critical thinking through group discussion of those readings and of otherjtudents’ texts. Instructors will incorporate a variety of active learning methodologies such as group discussion, peer reviews of writing, conferences, role-playing, debates, presentations, or on-line discussion lists.

VII. FIELD AND CLINICAL EXPERIENCES: Not applicable.

VIII. RESOURCES: Computer lab including word-processing software, Internet research tools, library research including database and text holdings, and multiple text requirements.

IX. GRADING PROCEDURES: Instructors will devote the bulk of the course grading to student writing (80-95%), with some attention devoted to class participation and attendance (5-20%).
Within these limits, student writing will be evaluated on its adherence to assignment and on a demonstration of students’ writing ability in the following areas as reflected in their texts (presented in order from lower order to higher order concerns):
(10-20%): Knowledge of usage and mechanics; knowledge of appropriate diction, voice, and style.

(20-30%): Comprehension of appropriate organizational features, including overall logical arrangement and development of ideas, appropriate pattern and development of paragraphs, and coherence and transitions.

(65-70%): Analysis of the topic by reflecting a mastery both of subject matter and of the assignment and by clearly presenting the purpose and controlling idea of their writing;
Application of the evaluative strategies acquired through class discussion of readings to their writing and to the texts they incorporated as support;
Synthesis of the interconnected issues of audience and purpose—of ethos, logos, and pathos— as evident in their citing of appropriate outside sources and in their understanding of appropriate logical principles and consequent avoidance of fallacious reasoning;
Analysis of effective rhetorical strategies as evident in the appropriate selection of quotations, details, and examples;
Evaluation of an argument’s overall effectiveness as reflected in the originality and sophistication of students’ ideas and approach to the topic.

X. ATTENDANCE POLICY: Regular class attendance is vital to academic success. Except in truly extraordinary circumstances, missing more than 10% of scheduled class sessions (generally 4 MV/F classes, 3 TTH classes) will result in a lowering of the course grade; missing more than 25% of scheduled class sessions (generally 10 MV/F, 7 TH) will result in automatic failure of the course.

XI. ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY: See attached policy from the Division of Humanistic Studies.

XII. TEXTS AND REFERENCES:
All students will be required to purchase the following handbook, which incorporates rhetorical instruction, as well as information for source citation and for stylistic and mechanical concerns:
Raimes, Ann. Keys for Writers: A Brief Handbook. Boston: Houghton Muffin Co., 1996.

Instructors will give multiple reading assignments from one text chosen from a departmentally approved list of readers; the current list follows. Students will then discuss those readings in class and/or will write papers based on those readings. These readers contain essays which can be used as examples and/or models for the rhetorical categories above (N~i~ative, Analysis, and Argument):
laGuardia, Dolores and Hans P. Guth. American Voices: Multicultural Literacy and Critical Thinking. 2nd ed. Mountain View, CA: Mayfleld, 1996.
OR
Maasik, Sofia and Jack Solomoa Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford, 1997.
OR
Eschholz, Paul, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark Language Awareness: Essays for College Writers. 7th ed. New York: St. Martin’s, 1997.

XIII. PREREQUISITES: All students who do not have credit for ENG 101 or the equivalent must enroll in this course upon entering MSU or upon completing ENG 100, unless they qualify for ENG 104.

Last updated February 14, 2000. Designed and maintained by Kyosung Koo