Courses offered by the Department
Applied Composition
Applied composition courses teach students how to write better expository papers.
100-level applied courses, all of which meet the writing requirement, are introductory courses designed for students who do not consider themselves prepared for college writing. These courses are for first and second year students only.
200-level applied courses, all of which meet the writing requirement, are intermediate courses designed for students who consider themselves adequately prepared for college writing but who wish to improve their writing skills.
300-level and 400-level applied courses are designed for students who want to pursue specialized interests in expository writing. They do not meet the writing requirement. Normally, these courses are not open to first-year students and are open to second-year students by instructor permission only.
103 Writing Across the Disciplines121 Conventions of Grammar
130 Introduction to Writing in the Natural Sciences
131 Introduction to Writing in the Humanities
132 Introduction to Writing in the Social Sciences
203 Argumentation
210 Options in Sentence Structure
231 The Personal Essay
331 Writing in the Humanities
332 Writing in the Social Sciences
453 Writing in the Natural Sciences
Theory of Language and Composition
Although the following courses use expository writing skills as an
important way to develop thought, their primary emphasis is the relationship between language and culture.
244 Sociolinguistics
346 Language, Race and Ethnicity in the United States
347 Language and Gender
291,391,491 Independent Study
Courses offered by the Department
103 Writing Across the Disciplines
K. Campbell, B. Opipari, Staff
This course teaches the basic elements of college writing: strategies for reading and
effective note-taking, the discovery and development of ideas, thesis development, organization and coherence, and editing skills.
First and
second year students only.
121 Conventions of Grammar
V. McMillan
An understanding of English syntax is essential to developing clear, effective prose. This course focuses on sentence structure, grammar, punctuation and mechanics.
By learning the vocabulary of grammatical analysis, students address the full range of prescriptive grammar
including parts of speech, inflection, conjugation, syntactical structures
and the essential and subordinate elements of sentences. The purpose of the
course is to help students learn how to apply these concepts to their
writing.
First and
second year students only.Back to Top
130 Introduction to Writing in the Natural Sciences
V.McMillan, D. Huerta
This course, designed for students with an interest in the natural or health sciences, examines the nature and scope of scientific writing at the introductory college level. Topics include reading textbooks and journal articles; writing laboratory reports; taking notes and compiling useful study guides; writing successful essay examinations; and locating scientific literature. The course also covers fundamental issues applicable to writing in all disciplines, such as the generations and organization of ideas, effective methods for drafting and revising, and selected aspects of punctuation and grammar. Students practice various forms of scientific writing, both formal and informal. First- and second-year students only.
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131 Introduction to Writing in the Humanities
M. Darby
Intended for students with an interest in the humanities, this course provides an introduction to writing interpretive essays that demonstrate close reading and
critical analysis. With its companion upper-level writing course for
Humanities concentrators, COMP 331, this course considers the role of
writing in exploring the imagination, the spirit, and the metaphoric basis
of language. Personal response to verbal and nonverbal texts in the
classics, linguistics, literature, drama and film enables the consideration
of the kinds of evidence and documentation characteristic of the Humanities. First- and second-year students only. This course counts for humanities distribution credit.
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132 Introduction to Writing in the Social Sciences
K. Campbell
This course is designed for students with an interest in the social sciences. It begins with a general discussion of essay design and organization, then focuses on reading in the social sciences, generation ideas for papers, summarizing and critiquing readings, conducting library and internet research, and constructing a bibliography. Some attention is paid to the various forms of notation that are used in the social sciences, as well as to selected aspects of grammar and punctuation. Students write several types of papers
that are frequently assigned in social science classes; summaries (annotated bibliography and abstracts); a book review; and ethnography (based on local field research); and a research paper (based on media sources). First- and second-year students only.
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203 Argumentation
Staff
This course assumes knowledge of the basic skills addressed in COMP 103: pre-writing , thesis generation and the organization of ideas. Building on these skills, students in this course learn critical techniques for argumentation by analyzing the arguments of other writers and applying these techniques to their own writing, especially at the revision stage. Both academic and popular sources are analyzed for their use of evidence, the presence of logical errors and their use of rhetorical devices. Special attention is paid to problems arising from more complex critical analysis, such as appropriate ways to treat conflicting sources; detecting biases in both primary and secondary source material; and examining the biases in the students' own arguments.
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210 Options in Sentence Structure
Staff
Designed for students at the Intermediate level who wish to improve their writing style, this course teaches rhetorical techniques from across the disciplines for developing coherence flexibility and grace. The student learns to recognize, analyze and execute a variety of sentence structures. Knowledge of the basic prescriptive grammar covered in COMP 121 is assumed.
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231 The Personal Essay
M. Darby
By exploring the boundary between private and public writing, this course examines how personal reflection intersects with critical reading and analyses to develop a disciplined expository essay. Drawing on examples from a variety of
fields, it develops skills in autobiographical and biographical writing, journal writing, narration, description, synthesis and peer response, and then shows how these skills can enrich the expository essay without sacrificing its academic tone and structure. This course assumes familiarity with the principles of expositions introduced with the principles of exposition introduced in COMP 103.
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331 Writing in the Humanities
M. Darby
Designed for Humanities concentrators, this course explores the role of writing in humanistic inquiry, with its characteristic focus on the imagination, on the relationship of the temporal to the eternal, and on personal response to the verbal and visual texts expressive of the human spirit in literature and in art. The course considers language as a whole, its origin and evolution; and in part, the style and structure of the critical essay. Topics include a review of English grammar and the techniques of advanced undergraduate library research, especially with primary and rare printed sources.
Familiarity with the principles of exposition introduced in COMP 131 or 103 is assumed, as is knowledge of the basic prescriptive grammar introduced in COMP 121. First and second-year students by permission, although normally all students will have completed at least two courses in the Humanities Division.
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332 Writing in the Social Sciences
K. Campbell
This course, designed for social science concentrators and those considering careers in the social sciences, examines the aims , formats and stylistic challenges of social science writing research papers. Topics include research papers. Topics include research techniques, the appropriate use of primary and secondary sources, construction of an argument from multiple sources, and appropriate methods for annotating advances material, including manuscripts , archival material and oral and electronic sources. Each student writes a major research paper based on a topic of interest or specialization.
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453 Writing in the Natural Sciences
D. Huerta, V. McMillan
This course (formerly COMP 330), designed for all natural science concentrators and those considering careers in the health sciences, examines the aims, formats and stylistic challenges of professional scientific writing. Topics include the role of writing in scientific inquiry. The structure and function of research and review papers; popular science writing; standard documentation methods; and advanced techniques for accessing scientific literature. Assignments include a popular science article, a major review paper, and a research proposal relating to the students interests or area of specialization. Writing as it applies to oral and poster presentations is also discussed. This course presumes knowledge of the basic skills addressed in COMP 130 Prerequisite: Successful completion of the Natural Sciences and Mathematics distribution requirement, including at least one laboratory science course. No first-year students; second-year students by permission only. Students with credit for COMP 330 may not receive credit for this course. This course is also listed as BIOL 453.
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244 Sociolinguistics
Staff
For students who so not have a background in linguistics, this course introduces the fundamental issues of the relationship between language and society. Topics include an introduction to linguistics; language variation and change; the ways language affects and reflects gender, race, class, ethnicity and power; Sapir-Whorf debate; cognitive anthropology /ethnoscience; and semiotics and culture. No first-year students are admitted. This course is also listed as SOAN 244
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346 Language, Race and Ethnicity in the United States
K. Campbell
This course examines the ways in which language has reinforced racial and ethnic identities and divisions in American history. It explores the conceptual origins of race, ethnicity, and other categories of difference, and journalistic discourse. Recognizing that the United States is not just a multicultural society but a multilingual society, the course investigates how ethnic Americans have talked back to power and seized the power to name. It focuses on the vernacular speech, humor, and literature of Native Americans, and European Americans. The course also traces the causes and consequences of historical silences, as suggested by Martin Luther King's dictum: "A riot is the language of the unheard." No first-year students are admitted. This course counts toward the Africana and Latin American Studies concentration programs.
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347 Language and Gender
M. Darby
This course explores the intersection of linguistic theory and feminist
theory, defining gender as essentially cultural, but without assuming beforehand that women and men do, in fact, use different language. It considers the following questions in depth: To what extent does English have a sexist, or patriarchal bias? Do women and men speak differently in our culture? Do they think differently? To what extent should writing avoid gender-specific forms, and to what extent should classrooms honor gender differences in language use? What is "political correctness" in language ad what is its value? The course looks at English from theoretical, political and social viewpoints, with readings taken from a wide range of fields, but with a particular focus on linguistics and feminist theory. No prerequisite.
First-year students by permission. This course counts toward the Women's Studies concentration and meets its theory requirement.
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291, 391, 491 Independent Study
Staff
The department offers intensive study to qualified students. Appropriate background, plus permission of instructor, is required.| HOME | FACULTY | INFO | LINKS | EVENTS | SEARCH |
