Sequence of First-Year Writing Courses

English 100: Introduction to College Writing and Reading (4 units; U)

This course is designed to ground students in the reading, writing, and rhetorical demands necessary for success in college and beyond. Rhetoric is foundational for this course because it allows students, on the one hand, to understand how other people’s texts affect readers and attempt persuasion, and on the other, to compose effective and purposeful texts themselves. Rhetoric prepares students to participate in and respond to nearly any conceivable writing situation, whether it be another college course, certain professional demands, or personal needs. Major projects include a summary response, a rhetorical analysis, an exploratory project, and a reflective essay. This course also emphasizes the processes of writing, revision, and academic conventions and requires weekly Writing Center visits.

English 101: Introduction to College Writing (3 units; U, fee)

This course is designed to ground students in the reading, writing, and rhetorical demands necessary for success in college and beyond. Rhetoric is foundational for this course because it allows students, on the one hand, to understand how other people’s texts affect readers and attempt persuasion, and on the other, to compose effective and purposeful texts themselves. Rhetoric prepares students to participate in and respond to nearly any conceivable writing situation, whether it be another college course, certain professional demands, or personal needs. At its most basic—but most profound—level, writing is about making choices, and this course teaches students how to understand other writers’ choices and how to make their own effective choices across a variety of writing situations. Major projects include a summary response, a rhetorical analysis, an exploratory project, and a reflective essay.

English 102: College Writing and Research (3 units; U, fee)

This course focuses primarily on foundational concepts in information literacy to address the challenges of researching in the digital age. Students engage with the complexity of ideas and problems through rounds of research, heuristics that engage critical thinking, and writing with genre awareness.

English 102 is further designed to develop students’ reading, writing, and rhetorical abilities by applying them to new research experiences and concepts. The overarching aim of the course is to help students understand and put into practice the idea that research is a thoroughly rhetorical endeavor. As is the case with reading and writing, research is not a linear, rule-driven, or predictable activity. Instead, rhetoric teaches us that all reading, writing, and researching involve making choices based on audiences, purposes, contexts, and needs. Projects include a mediation analysis, a white paper, and a public-facing research project