Time Schedule:
Sharon E. Crowley
B CUSP 134
Bothell Campus
Offers an interdisciplinary approach to composition, including generating a compelling topic; the articulation of a thesis; the development of supporting evidence; the ability to draw conclusions from the evidence, clear organization of the essay, correct mechanics; awareness of audience, and knowledge of resources for research.
Class description
The primary emphasis of this course is writing, with a focus on using diverse source materials, making connections among different texts, developing arguments through close reading of evidence, and writing those arguments for an academic audience.
Student learning goals
Critical Thinking: You should be able to identify the key ideas, arguments, and stakes of various kinds of texts, to extend and complicate those key ideas/arguments, and to put them into critical conversation with each other. You should also be able to articulate your own position and stakes in relation to what you’re analyzing.
Argumentation: You should be able to present your ideas and arguments in clear, coherent prose form. Your papers should have a claim that is well supported with evidence, and should show sensitivity to the rhetorical situation in which you are writing. You should have a clear sense of what is at stake in your arguments, and your papers should reflect that.
Revision and Collaboration: Academic communities are collaborative spaces. Neither knowledge nor writing emerges fully formed from peoples’ foreheads, but instead must be grappled with, shaped, and honed through a process of active conversation, collaboration, and revision. I focus on research and writing as active processes in which the writer gradually builds knowledge, using writing at every stage to organize and sift through information, do preliminary analyses, and explore ideas.
General method of instruction
Seminar-style class discussions, small group work, and some lectures.
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
Assigned readings; some research tasks; in-class writing assignments; 4 short papers (2-4 pages); 1 midterm and 1 final paper (5-6 pages). All papers will be collected electronically via Catalyst, culminating in a final e-portfolio with cover letter and final revisions of major papers.
Preparation and Participation (includes peer review, a short oral presentation, quizzes, and contributions to class discussions and small group work): 30% of final grade
Final Electronic Portfolio (compilation of work submitted, plus cover letter and fresh revisions of major papers): 70% of final grade
