Learning Outcomes

Through the First-year Writing Course, students should. . .

Be introduced to:

• conventions of formal academic writing in contrast to informal writing
• some types of writing assignments in the discipline, e.g. a public policy paper, close literary analysis, a primary research paper analyzing data, or analysis of empirical research

Gain guided practice in:

• critical reading
• analyzing student writing
• writing as a process
• incorporating feedback and revision
• writing appropriately for a given audience

Know:

About writing

• that conventions of good writing are different from spoken language and are dependent on discipline, audience, subject and media
• that writing is an iterative process
• the distinction between topic and thesis (thesis=assertion)
• the distinction between primary and secondary sources

About writing as a process

• that pre-writing, composing, and revising are distinct intellectual activities
• the value of varied pre-writing activities (brainstorming, critical reading, etc.)
• the distinction between revising and editing/correcting
• some useful roles readers can play in the revising process

About academic honesty

• when to document sources
• ethical, legal, and professional reasons for documenting sources
• that citation styles vary among disciplines

Be able to do the following at the basic level:

Literacy

• read critically
• identify a thesis
• identify and paraphrase argument

Writing

• limit scope of argument appropriately
• develop a clear, arguable thesis
• introduce and conclude a topic
• develop and sustain an argument
• target claims to specific text/data
• judiciously select and effectively integrate evidence/supporting details
• follow conventions of formal academic writing
• make appropriate stylistic choices
• cite and document sources properly
• write grammatically
• strive to write with clarity, coherence, and unity, whether writing narrative, argument, or summary