Course Description
Reading ⬤ Writing ⬤ Analysis
In this class, we will explore the connections between reading, writing, rhetoric, and critical thinking. You will practice writing for different purposes and audiences, as well as developing tools for analyzing and evaluating pieces of writing in various genres from scholarly, research-based works to popular and opinion pieces– and, importantly, the work of your peers. You will give and receive substantial feedback on others’ and your own writing in this class; learning from each other will be a large part of what we do and you are expected to be an active participant in the classroom community.
As a FIQWS course (Freshman Inquiry Writing Seminar), our class will work in tandem with the topic section, Fairy Tales and Re-Writings taught by Professor Anna Voisard, giving you the opportunity to develop your writing skills in relation to ideas and readings that you are already exploring together. Between both the topic and composition course, you will complete a variety of written assignments throughout the semester including: a narrative essay, an exploratory paper, a critical research analysis, and a final portfolio and self-assessment.
First-Year Composition Mission Statement
First-year composition courses at CCNY teach writing as a recursive and frequently collaborative process of invention, drafting, and revising. Writing is both personal and social, and students should learn how to write for different purposes and audiences. Since writing is a process of making meaning and communicating, FYC teachers respond mainly to the content of students’ writing as well as to recurring surface errors. Students should expect frequent written and oral responses on the content of their writing from their teachers and peers. Classes rely heavily on a workshop format. Instruction emphasizes the connection between writing, reading, and critical thinking; students should give thoughtful, reasoned responses to the readings. Both reading and writing are the subjects of class discussions and workshops, and students are expected to be active participants in the classroom community. Learning from each other will be a large part of the classroom experience.
Course Learning Outcomes
- Examine how attitudes towards linguistic standards empower and oppress language users.
- Explore and analyze, in writing and reading, a variety of genres and rhetorical situations.
- Develop strategies for reading, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing.
- Recognize and practice key rhetorical terms and strategies when engaged in writing situations.
- Engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes.
- Understand and use print and digital technologies to address a range of audiences.
- Locate research sources (including academic journal articles, magazine and newspaper articles) in the library’s databases or archives and on the Internet and evaluate them for credibility, accuracy, timeliness, and bias.
- Compose texts that integrate your stance with appropriate sources using strategies such as summary, critical analysis, interpretation, synthesis, and argumentation.
- Practice systematic application of citation conventions.
Required Text
This is a Zero Textbook Cost course. There are links to reading assignments that live online, and I have uploaded assigned articles in portable document format (.pdf).
