Analytical Reading & Writing Area Goals
This course should be taken as soon as possible—ideally in the first semester, but certainly in the first year.
Analytical Reading & Writing is intended to teach students how to:
- Read and discuss for the purposes of careful analysis and critique;
- Use rhetorical strategies to take a position, marshal evidence and respond to opposing
- Retrieve, evaluate and synthesize evidence and commentary on a topic;
- Revise drafts for clarity and intellectual sophistication;
- Reflect on the writing and reading processes; and
- Demonstrate both fluency and competence with Standard English in writing and editing personal work.
Analytical Reading & Writing
ENGLISH 0802, 0902
English 0802 is a four-credit course that requires students to explore a single theme from the point of view of more than one discipline. Students spend the early part of the semester learning to define terms and articulate specific positions using evidence to support their claims. By semester’s end, English 0802 students should demonstrate both fluency and competence with Standard English in their finished papers, and they should be able to recognize the shortcomings of their earlier drafts. Most importantly, the papers should show the writer’s ability to take a position and order an argument to support that position. Having students critique each other’s writing enlarges the audience for the writer, fosters students learning from each other, and provides opportunities for critical reading in a venue other than assigned readings. This course also emphasizes research, and the evaluation of source materials from the very first assignment.
English as a Second language (ESL) Analytical Reading & Writing
English 0711 and English 0812 are four-credit courses designed to accommodate the needs of the ESL learner. The guidelines for English 0701 and English 0802 are followed in these courses, and the courses carry equivalent credit and equivalent weight in meeting the needs of the core curriculum. As the basis for reading and writing in the ESL writing classroom we look at cross-cultural implications of what it means to do academic work and to share historical and cultural knowledge. Oral participation is encouraged as a way of promoting fluency and enhancing comfort with participation in American academic settings. Classes are smaller than in English 0711 and 0812. Additionally, teachers spend extended time in tutorial conferences. The new syllabus for English 0812 focuses on international issues and uses a book that examines elements of the United States’ relationship with the world from inside and outside the country.
In English 0812, students:
- Produce papers that represent separate efforts with fewer revisions than in English 0711.
- Establish and support arguments according to the standards of academic discourse.
- Engage complex texts using critical reading skills.
- Possess skills in grammar, mechanics, and usage appropriate to college writing.