ENG 1040: Composition & Rhetoric

Course Description

English 1040 (3 credits) is designed to provide students with greater breadth of composing experiences across modes and genres. This course specifically focuses on knowledge creation through primary and secondary research appropriate to first-year students. Therefore, the work of the class is a series of student-directed research-based projects. Each project is student-directed, based in their interests, research questions, and experiences. The outcomes of the course focus on student-directed composing, learning, and design goals. Sustained practice across this section includes the following: diverse information gathering strategies, organization, and analysis; inquiry, attention to rhetorical situations, language, peer review practices, and critical thinking, listening, and reflection.

Course Learning Outcomes

Students in Composition and Rhetoric will engage the following learning outcomes across each of the course units, major assignments, and low-stakes work:

Develop awareness of rhetorical situations as connected to audience, community, mode, genre, culture, purpose, and power.
Evaluate and compose texts that address academic, professional, and/or civic and community concerns.
Apply responsive and ethical strategies for researching (collecting and interpreting multiple forms of data, artifacts, texts), developing lines of inquiry, listening, reading, drafting, attributing, reviewing, collaborating, revising, rewriting, rereading, and editing.
Engage a continuum of research practices, both primary and secondary, including reflection and integration of multiple voices and perspectives into their writing.
Design specific goals for projects that identify, negotiate, and enact decisions related to content, style, usage, tone, and documentation while paying explicit attention to languages of power, practices of assimilation and domination, and identity.