Time Schedule:
Christian G Ravela
ENGL 111
Seattle Campus
Study and practice of good writing; topics derived from reading and discussing stories, poems, essays, and plays.
Class description
Welcome to English 111! As students of the University of Washington, you will be challenged by and expected to participate in “academic” writing. By itself, “academic” writing is a deceptive name insofar as it is an exceedingly diverse field of writing, composed of different methods, epistemologies, politics, and cultures. And yet, “academic” writing has not been and will not be the only writing that will challenge you and expect your participation since being a student is but one aspect of a multiplicity of distinct and diverse activities that make up the world and your identity. With all of that in mind, this course has been designed to aide you in navigating this exciting and challenging terrain by fostering the necessary meta-cognitive skills for “successful” writing. To do so, we will work on developing both an awareness of rhetorical styles and conventions as well as an attention to modes of inquiry through an examination of reading and perceptual habits and, from that, the production of meaningful and persuasive arguments. These skills, regardless of your major, will not only be instrumental in your “success” at the University but also invaluable in your encounters as social and political agents.
To that end, the course will explore how reading and writing through genre is a profound paradigm and practice through which we socially engage and are socially engaged by the world. Normatively, genres are assumed to be a neutral system of classification but, by looking at theories of rhetorical genre, we will see how genres are dynamic social and cultural structures of communication. With that knowledge at hand, we will turn to films and narratives to analyze how their genres enable and maintain ideological formations.
Student learning goals
To demonstrate an awareness of the strategies that writers use in different writing contexts.
To read, analyze, and synthesize complex texts and incorporate multiple kinds of evidence purposefully in order to generate and support writing.
To produce complex, analytic, persuasive arguments that matter in academic contexts.
To develop flexible strategies for revising, editing, and proofreading writing.
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
