ENG 102: Composition II
Introduction
In this class students will accomplish the major goals of any composition course: a lot of reading, writing, and editing. Some class work, like reading, research, and much of the draft writing, will take place offline. So students won't always be glued to their computer, or at least not online. While students won't have to attend any formally scheduled class sessions, they will have to make their presence known by actively participating in a number of activities and online discussions. This class is designed to help students generate ideas for assignments, research and draft those ideas, as well as formally document any and all of the research involved. The skills acquired in English 102 are invaluable for future courses, especially those that require research and the production of research papers.
Description
UW Colleges Catalog Course Description for ENG 102 - Composition II - 3 credits. A composition course focusing on researched academic writing that presents information, ideas, and arguments. Emphasis will be on the writing process, critical thinking, and critical reading. This course fulfills the UWC English core requirement.
Prerequisites: A grade of C or better in Composition I or exemption through a sufficiently high placement assessment.
Students will be asked to complete several full-length essays, some of which will require active research.
The university faculty believes that students need good reading and writing skills to succeed in college and that writing effectively is a skill that will serve them well throughout their professional life after college. One goal of English 102 is to increase the ability to do the kind of writing frequently required in college and professional life--persuasive essays that present information and ideas clearly and effectively with appropriate documentation of sources. Another goal of the course is to help students develop reading and thinking skills, essential for a student and a writer.
Proficiencies
Upon completion of this course, the student should be able to:
Rhetorical Knowledge
- Audience
- Understand and use formal academic tone with a clear understanding of audience and purpose
- Independently adapt a self-generated text’s content, form, and style to a particular writing task defined by audience and purpose
- Rhetorical Situation and Purpose
- Respond appropriately to different kinds of reading and writing situations
- Use conventions of format and structure appropriate to different kinds of reading and writing situations
- Form
- Articulate how disciplinary and generic conventions shape the form of a text
- Read and write different kinds of texts
Knowledge of Conventions
- Demonstrate a command of standard written English, academic writing conventions, and make appropriate decisions about grammar, language usage, punctuation, word choice, and style
- Understand and avoid plagiarism or the appearance of plagiarism
- Cite research in an established documentation style
Critical Thinking, Reading, Writing, and Research
- Thinking
- Use writing and reading for inquiry, learning, thinking, and communicating
- Understand the relationships among language, knowledge, and power
- Consider multiple perspectives and identify bias
- Understand and evaluate logical reasoning and evidence
- Reading
- Understand data, its origins, and its inferences
- Identify the controlling idea of a text
- Grapple with and analyze complex, nuanced arguments and texts
- Paraphrase and summarize complex, sophisticated source material
- Analyze and evaluate the content, organization, and rhetorical appeals of an argument
- Writing
- Identify, narrow, and develop a topic appropriate to an assignment
- Construct a logical, well-supported argument
- Identify, generate, and refute counterarguments
- Distinguish between "reporting on" or regurgitating information and taking a position and supporting it using source material
- Synthesize and integrate source material
- Support a thesis using credible, appropriate, accurate, and sufficient source material
- Research
- Demonstrate a command of the research process including but not limited to:
- Generate and develop a research question and thesis
- Locate, evaluate, and synthesize secondary source material
- Distinguish between primary and secondary sources and primary and secondary research
- Effectively use the scholarly online databases, online library catalog, and other library resources
Processes
- Demonstrate a command of multiple drafts to create and complete a successful text
- Develop successful strategies for generating, revising, editing, and proofreading
- Demonstrate the recursive writing process that permits writers to use later invention and rethinking to revise their work
- Understand the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes
- Critique their own and others' works
- Learn to balance the advantages of relying on others with the responsibility of doing their part
Requirements
Software
- Microsoft Word
The most current edition of MS Office (containing MS Word, Excel and other valuable programs) is available to University of Wisconsin students at discounted prices through the Wisconsin Integrated Software Catalog.
About the Instructors
Heather Benson
Associate Lecturer, English
BA, UW-Oshkosh
MA, University of Toronto
Joel Friederich
Assistant Professor, English
BA, St John's College, NM
MFA, University of Montana
Jennifer Heinert
Assistant Professor of English
BA, Marquette University
MA, Marquette University
PhD, Marquette University
Beth Horikawa
Associate Lecturer, English
BS, UW-Madison
MA, University of Alaska-Fairbanks
Stephanie Johnson
Lecturer, English
BA, Middlebury College
MFA, Emerson College
Richard Krupnow
Lecturer, English
BS, UW-Stevens Point
MA, Ball State University
Janet Labrie
Senior Lecturer
BA, UW-Whitewater
MA, UW-Madison
PhD, UW- Madison
Chuck Rybak
Associate Professor, English
BA, State University of New York at Buffalo
MA, Iowa State University
PhD, University of Cincinnati
