Section outline

  • Welcome to English Composition I!


    Image: Welcome! by Jimmy_Joe, courtesy of Flickr. CC-BY 2.0.


    Course Introduction
    This course is the first of a two-course sequence designed to introduce entry-level undergraduate students to the basic skills and practices of writing necessary to writing successfully at the college level. The course covers numerous rhetorical modes common to academic writing in order to cultivate productive habits of ind, teach fundamental analytical moves, and establish a process-oriented approach to writing.

    The course covers key intellectual techniques as well as the building blocks of critical thinking. The skills that students learn in this course will serve to help them complete their baccalaureate degrees and, beyond that, to succeed in their lives beyond college. The ability to articulate thoughts in a clear and orderly manner as well as the ability to think analytically and critically are crucial for individuals to thrive in all segments of the contemporary workplace. These skills are also essential capacities for discerning, self-determining members of a functioning democracy.

    Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

    • Use a flexible, multi-step, and recursive writing process that includes prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading, while making use of written and oral feedback.
    • Identify different rhetorical situations in order to respond with a clear purpose and with language appropriate for the intended audience and situation.
    • Write academic essays through multiple drafts that consist of logically-sequenced paragraphs including an engaging introduction, a supportive body, and a conclusion that effectively ends the composition.
    • Identify the use of persuasive strategies in written and visual arguments, use persuasive strategies in written arguments of their own, and construct effective thesis statements in multi-paragraph essays using specific rhetorical patterns of development and standard, edited English.
    • Write essays demonstrating effective use of evidence in support of assertions and use rhetorically appropriate strategies to evaluate, represent, and respond to the ideas and research of others
    • Use rules and conventions of grammar, word choice, punctuation, and spelling in a variety of sentence structures.

    Navigating the Course
    Adopting institution should provide learners information on how to navigate the course. Consider adding an introductory navigation video. Text description could include, for example:
    This course is set up in modules covering various topics which may be accessed from the course navigation menu on the left or by scrolling below. Modules may be collapsed in the menu and it the body of the course to minimize scrolling. Each module includes the relevant chapters followed by various activities, which may include discussion forums, listening activities and quizzes, practice quizzes, module tests, and other relevant activities as appropriate for each module. Many items are required and may be marked as completed automatically when the activity has been submitted (the broken check box), but others will marked as done by the student (the solid check box). 

    Please move through the items below and continue through the Learner Support and Getting Started modules before moving on to Module 1. Be sure to check for announcements and due dates to stay on track.

    Creative Commons attribution license This course and its contents are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network, except where otherwise noted. 
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