Welcome to this college-level second-semester introductory writing course. In this course, you’ll develop confidence in your ability to write academically and publicly. Throughout the term, you’ll complete three major assignments: analysis, argument, and the argument remix.
Please note that the course is systematically structured and each major assignment has a similar setup that builds the Writing Process into the assignment. The Writing Process is arguably the single most important discovery of scholars of first-year writing. Thus, the process is built into the course curriculum at the inter- and intra-assignment levels. You are asked to regularly consult the Course Schedule & Deadlines to help you follow the course structure. You’ll be able to find an explanation of the structure below:
For each major assignment, you’ll have a Planning Day in class to learn about your assignment requirements and the concepts you need to complete it. You’ll have a First Draft Review Day, when your instructor and peers will help you understand how to improve the content and organization aspects of your writing. After that, you’ll have a Second Draft Review Day, when you’ll learn how to revise your writing for clarity, appropriate vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure. Finally, you’ll have small Group Conferences after each First Draft Review Day to go over content and organization, and Individual Conferences after each Second Draft Review Day with your instructor to go over language-level issues and citation conventions (i.e. clarity, appropriate vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure). Peer review is scheduled regularly during each draft review day, focusing on a variety of areas. Google Docs is used regularly throughout the drafting and revision process, which are highly emphasized in this course. Everything you need to complete each assignment is on this website.
Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 4:45 am – 5:45 pm and by appointment; Email: [email protected]; Office: VC 7-278 Phone: (646) 312-3908; Classroom Location: Available on CUNY First
Course Readings: You are required to choose one of the following books, purchase it, read it, present it in class, and use it to help you complete course assignments: Book 1; Book 2; Book 3; Book 4; Book 5; Book 6; Book 7; Book 8; Book 9; Book 10;
Acknowledgments: This website is available thanks to support from CUNY’s Baruch College Center for Teaching and Learning, English Department, and Student Academic Consulting Center. Further thanks to course materials’ developers and writing fellows who have developed and updated content, and maintained the website. Finally, thanks to Purdue University and The University of Toledo for inspiring materials on the site.