English 1101/02

[Note: This document contains word and page count amendments approved by faculty vote on 14 September 2012. The official but outdated version of this document is located here.]

 

The following documents are faculty guides for designing and teaching ENGL 1101 and ENGL 1102.  They contain the goals for these courses and some suggested approaches for teaching them.

AIM AND SCOPE STATEMENT COMPOSITION 1101

As part of the Core Curriculum at Georgia College & State University, English Composition 1101 introduces students to the strategies and methods writers employ in writing effective essays and gives students opportunities to practice these strategies and methods in their writing.  The course includes a research project and a component of in-class writing to prepare students for the Regents' Test.  Part of the course provides for practice in standard grammar and punctuation usage.  All syllabi for Composition 1101 must include information about the Regents' Test so that students know how to prepare for the test. [Note: As of Fall 2010, GCSU students no longer take the Regents' Test; therefore, 1101 syllabi do not have to include such information.]

GOALS

Because Composition 1101 is part of the core and because it is a student's introduction to college-level writing demands, the syllabus for the course reflects the following goals:

  1. Students are expected to write at least three formal essays totaling a minimum of 15 pages during the semester, one research project (a minimum of 6-8 pages), and a minimum of 10 pages of informal writing.
  2. The course gives students a sense of the processes involved in creating meaningful, clear, and effective writing, including continual practice in brainstorming, pre-writing, drafting, and focusing for length and purpose.
  3. Instruction in the strategies and processes of revision as a way to achieve strong organization, sharp focus, effective specifics, meaningful detail, and clear purpose is a systematic and continuing part of the course.
  4. Students must experience public presentation and public reaction to finished work.
  5. Instructors should promote an awareness among students that writing methods, strategies, and processes acquired in Composition 1101 will transfer to other writing arenas, such as other courses and other disciplines.
  6. Instructors may require grammar and punctuation exercises according to their perception of class or individual need.
  7. All students must participate in the library skills unit offered by the library and must write a short researched and documented essay.

TEXTS

The following texts are required for all sections of Composition 1101:

  1. Hacker, Diana.  A Writer's Reference.  4th ed.  Boston: Bedford-St. Martin's 1998. [Note: As this book is out-of-print, Teaching Fellows should to the Aim & Scope Supplement for current handbook selections.]
  2. Individual instructors may use the following workbook for A Writer's Reference (either the large or compact format) for grammar and punctuation instruction: Hacker, Diana.  Exercises to Accompany A Writer's Reference.  4th ed.  Boston: Bedford-St. Martin's, 1998.
  3. A reader of essays to use as models for student writing, such as the following: Hall, Donald and D.L. Emblen.  A Writer's Reader.  8th ed.  New York: Longman, 1997. [Note: Teaching Fellows should refer to the Aim & Scope Supplement for textbook adoption policies.]

TEACHING MODELS

WORKSHOP MODEL

 

The workshop model encourages students to view writing as a process that leads to effective and complete pieces of writing.  It involves students in prewriting activities like brainstorming and drafting, sharing their work with peers, and in revision.  In-class activities are designed to give students practice in finding a suitable topic, focusing the topic, finding a purpose, using specifics and details, and revising their drafts.  Revision is treated as a required step in the writing process, and includes scrutiny of initial drafts for organization, focus, purpose, and the use of specifics and detail.  The final draft requires additional scrutiny for grammatical clarity, standard spelling and punctuation, and wordiness.  Some in-class writing is included to prepare students for the Regents' Test. [Note: As of Fall 2010, GCSU students do not take the Regents' Test.]

 

TEXTS

 

Readers required for the workshop model may be used to illustrate particular characteristics of effective writing, such as the use of details and specifics.  Readings may be used to generate in-class exercises.

 

UNGRADED WRITING

 

Ungraded writing promotes writing as a means of learning and discovery. It may consist of journals, letters between the instructor and the student, reactions to readings, and other means devised by the instructor.  Written responses by the instructor to in-class writing are important.

 

GRADED WRITING

 

The research project and the essays are considered polished and complete when they are submitted for grading.  Normally, all revisions and preliminary work are completed prior to the submission of work for a grade.

 

GRAMMAR & PUNCTUATION

 

Instruction in grammar and punctuation is based on need as perceived by the instructor.  This approach allows class time for writing practice and discussion of writing strategies.  Needs may be ascertained through ungraded testing or through student writing. Workbooks may be used for individual practice and improvement.

 

PEER REVIEW

 

The workshop model includes public reading of written work and peer reaction to it.  Written peer assessment of writing may be included.  For example, a class may be divided into groups of four or five students so that when students read their work to their group they receive responses from at least three people.

PORTFOLIO MODEL

The portfolio model introduces students to writing as a process that involves substantial revision.  Students are encouraged to keep all essays together in a portfolio that is graded twice during the semester: once in the middle of the semester and once at the end.  Essays in progress are discussed periodically with the instructor and focus on the following: the writer's purpose, organization, focus, and the use of specifics and details.  Class time is used for introducing writing as a process, discussion of revision techniques and requirements, discussion of readings used to model parts of the writing process or the characteristics of effective writing (e.g., the use of details).  Some in-class writing is included in order to give students practice with the demands of the Regent's Test. [Note: As of Fall 2010, GCSU students do not take the Regents' Test.]

 

TEXTS

 

Instructors requiring a reader for the workshop model use it to illustrate particular characteristics of effective writing, such as the use of detail and specifics or how writers organize their essays.  Readings may be used to generate in-class exercises.

 

UNGRADED WRITING

 

Ungraded writing promotes writing as a means of learning and discovery. It may consist of journals, letters between the instructor and the student, reactions to readings, and so on.  Written responses by the instructor are important.

 

GRAMMAR & PUNCTUATION

 

Instruction in grammar and punctuation is based on need as perceived by the instructor.  This approach allows more class time for writing practice and discussion of writing strategies.  Needs may be ascertained through ungraded testing or through student writing.  Workbooks may be used for individual practice and improvement.

 

PEER REVIEW

 

The portfolio model should also include public reading of written work and peer reaction to it.  Instructors may include ways for students to react in writing to the work of their peers.  One way to achieve peer review would be to have students choose their best essay to read twice a semester to the entire class.

 

SUGGESTED READING

 

Berlin, James A.  "Contemporary Composition: the Major Pedagogical Theories."  College English 44 (1982): 765-77.

Berlin's influential article delineates the four major pedagogical approaches to teaching composition today and gives the philosophical perspective from which each emerged.

 

Berthoff, Ann.  Forming, Thinking, Writing: the Composing Imagination.  Montclair, NJ: Boynton-Cook, 1982.

This book has become required reading in many composition theory courses.  Berthoff explores the imaginative nature of composition and alludes to Coleridge's discussion of fancy and imagination in chapter 13 of Biographia Literaria.

 

Brooke, Robert.  "Control in Writing: Flower, Derrida, and Images of the Writer."   College English 51 (1989) 405-17.

Dr. Brooke's analysis of conscious control over the writing process as a flawed idea of how the human mind engages in composition is important as an indicator of the complexities of the writing process.

 

Goldberg, Natalie.  Writing down the Bones.  Boston: Shambala, 1996.

This book has become a valuable resource in composition classes across the country.  Goldberg suggests that restrictions on creative thinking created by enforced over-consciousness of the possibility of errors in grammar, punctuation, and form causes people to "freeze up" when asked to write.  The difficulty in overcoming these restrictions in order to write freely is explained, and ways of overcoming it are explored.

 

Murray, Donald.  Write to Learn.  2nd ed.  New York: Holt, 1987 and  A Writer Teaches Writing.  2nd ed.  Boston: Houghton, 1985.

Murray's books, especially the editions listed here, suggest a practical approach to teaching stages and processes and strategies involved in creating effective written work.  Later editions have diluted the original thinking.  More than just a praxis approach to composition, the books offer cognitive insights along the way--for example, that all writing is recursive rather than sequential.

AIM AND SCOPE STATEMENT COMPOSITION 1102

As part of the Core Curriculum at Georgia College & State University, English Composition 1102 builds on the fundamental writing strategies introduced to students in Composition 1101 by focusing on the academic rather than the personal essay and includes a literature component. The course gives students opportunities to practice the strategies and methods of effective academic writing and provides for practice in standard grammar and punctuation usage. The course includes a researched essay and a component of in-class writing to prepare students for the Regents' Test. [Note: As of Fall 2010, GCSU students do not take the Regents' Test.]

GOALS

Because Composition 1102 is the second composition course in the core, and because it builds upon the goals introduced in Composition 1101 by focusing on the academic essay, the syllabus for the course reflects the following goals:

  1. Students are expected to write at least three formal essays totaling a minimum of 15 pages during the semester, one research project (a minimum of 6-8 pages), and a minimum of 10 pages of informal writing.
  2. The course reinforces in students a sense of the processes involved in creating meaningful, clear, and effective writing, including continual practice in brainstorming, prewriting, drafting, revising, and focusing for length and purpose.
  3. Instruction in the strategies and processes of revision as a way to achieve strong organization, sharp focus, effective specifics, meaningful detail, and clear purpose in the academic essay is a systematic and continuing part of the course.
  4. Students must experience public presentation and public reaction to finished work..
  5. Instructors should promote an awareness among students that writing methods, strategies, and processes acquired in Composition II  will transfer to other writing arenas, such as other courses.
  6. The course should promote, through literature, student awareness of writing as an important part of artistic experience.
  7. Instructors may require grammar and punctuation exercises according to their perception of class or individual need.

TEXTS

The following texts are required for all sections of Composition 1102:

  1. Meyer, Michael, ed. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 5th ed.  Boston: Bedford-St.  Martin's, 1996. [Note: Teaching Fellows should refer to the Aim & Scope Supplement for textbook adoption policies.]
  2. Hacker, Diana.  A Writer's Reference. 4th ed.  Boston: Bedford-St. Martin's, 1998. [Note: As this book is out-of-print, Teaching Fellows should to the Aim & Scope Supplement for current handbook selections.]
  3. Individual instructors may use the workbook for A Writer's Reference (either the large or compact format) for grammar and punctuation instruction: Hacker, Diana.  Exercises to Accompany A Writer's Reference. 4th ed. Boston:  Bedford-St. Martin's, 1998.

TEACHING MODELS

WORKSHOP MODEL

The workshop model encourages students to view composition as a process that leads to effective and complete writing.  Students are involved in activities like brainstorming, mapping, drafting, sharing their work with peers, and revision.  Discussions of literature as a starting point for student writing are a prominent feature of the course.  In-class activities may give students practice in finding suitable topics, focusing topics, finding a purpose, and using specifics and details.  Revision is included as a required step in the writing process and includes scrutiny of initial drafts for organization, focus, purpose, and the use of specifics and details.  Revision of the final draft includes scrutiny for grammatical clarity, standard spelling and punctuation, and wordiness.

 

UNGRADED WRITING

 

Ungraded writing promotes composition as a means of learning and discovery.  It may consist of journals, letters between the instructor and the student, reactions to readings, and discussions of literary elements.  On ungraded writing, written comments by the instructor are important.

 

GRAMMAR & PUNCTUATION

 

Instruction in grammar and punctuation is based on need as perceived by the instructor.  This approach allows class time for writing practice and discussion of writing strategies.  Needs may be ascertained through ungraded testing or through student writing.  Workbooks may be used for individual practice and improvement.

 

PEER REVIEW

 

The workshop model includes public reading of written work and peer reaction to it.  Instructors may include ways for students to react in writing to the work of their peers.  For example, a class may be divided into groups of four or five students so that when students read their work to their group they receive responses from at least three people.

PORTFOLIO MODEL

The portfolio model reinforces the idea of writing as a process that involves substantial revision.  Students are encouraged to keep all essays together in a portfolio that is graded twice during the semester: once in the middle of the semester and once at the end.  Essays in progress are discussed periodically with the instructor.  These discussions typically focus on the following: the writer's purpose, organization, focus, and the use of specifics and detail.  Class time is used for writing practice, discussion of the processes of writing, including revision techniques and requirements, and discussion of literature as a starting point for student writing.  Some in-class writing may be included.

 

UNGRADED WRITING

 

Ungraded writing promotes composition as a means of learning and discovery.  It may consist of journals, letters between the instructor and the student, reactions to readings, and discussions of literary elements.  On ungraded writing, instructor comments are important.

 

GRAMMAR & PUNCTUATION

 

Instruction in grammar and punctuation is based on need as perceived by the instructor.  This approach allows class time for writing practice and discussion of writing strategies and literature.  Needs may be ascertained through ungraded testing or through student writing.  Workbooks may be used for individual practice and improvement.

 

PEER REVIEW

 

The portfolio model should also include public reading of written work and peer reaction to it.  Instructors may include ways for students to react in writing to the work of their peers.  For example, a class may be divided into groups of four or five students so that when students read their work to their group they receive responses from at least three people.

 

SUGGESTED READING

 

Berlin, James A.  "Contemporary Composition: the Major Pedagogical Theories."  College English 44 (1982): 765-77.

Berlin's influential article delineates the four major pedagogical approaches to teaching composition today and gives the philosophical perspective from which each emerged.

 

Berthoff, Ann.  Forming, Thinking, Writing: the Composing Imagination.  Montclair, NJ: Boynton-Cook, 1982.

This book has become required reading in many composition theory courses.  Berthoff explores the imaginative nature of composition and alludes to Coleridge's discussion of fancy and imagination in chapter 13 of Biographia Literaria.

 

Brooke, Robert.  "Control in Writing: Flower, Derrida, and Images of the Writer."   College English 51 (1989) 405-17.

Dr. Brooke's analysis of conscious control over the writing process as a flawed idea of how the human mind engages in composition is important as an indicator of the complexities of the writing process.

 

Goldberg, Natalie.  Writing down the Bones.  Boston: Shambala, 1996.

This book has become a valuable resource in composition classes across the country.  Goldberg suggests that restrictions on creative thinking created by enforced over-consciousness of the possibility of errors in grammar, punctuation, and form causes people to "freeze up" when asked to write.  The difficulty in overcoming these restrictions in order to write freely is explained, and ways of overcoming it are explored.

 

Murray, Donald.  Write to Learn.  2nd ed.  New York: Holt, 1987 and A Writer Teaches Writing.  2nd ed.  Boston: Houghton, 1985.

Murray's books, especially the editions listed here, suggest a practical approach to teaching stages and processes and strategies involved in creating effective written work.  Later editions have diluted the original thinking.  More than just a praxis approach to composition, the books offer cognitive insights along the way--for example, that all writing is recursive rather than sequential.

 

© Alex E. Blazer 2024