Time Schedule:
Kirin K Wachter-Grene
ENGL 111
Seattle Campus
Study and practice of good writing; topics derived from reading and discussing stories, poems, essays, and plays. Cannot be taken if student has already received a grade of 2.0 or higher in either ENGL 111, ENGL 121, or ENGL 131.
Class description
English 111 engages literature as a method of preparing students for college-level writing. However, to that end, during our class meetings we will engage with your own writing just as much, if not more so, than the literature we read. Our first sequence will focus on close reading both Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and several critical responses to it as a means to carefully consider and practice writing skills such as style, genre awareness, rhetorical devices, analysis, argument, and intertextual conversation. Additionally, we will practice these writing skills by critiquing (and at times producing) satire, stand-up, visual and aural texts, and performance. Our second sequence will be composed of an in-depth research project based upon students' own cultural interests related to themes inspired by Ellison's text. The final project in the course will be an e-portfolio comprising the students' thoroughly revised, best work, and a reflective cover letter in which students will articulate the ways in which they've demonstrated and achieved the course goals. **Please note, Invisible Man will soon be available at the University Bookstore, but if buying ahead, please purchase the 1995 Random House edition**
Student learning goals
Demonstrate an awareness of the strategies that writers use in different contexts.
Read, analyze, and synthesize complex texts and incorporate multiple kinds of evidence purposefully in order to generate and support writing.
Produce complex, analytic, persuasive arguments that matter in academic contexts.
Develop flexible strategies for revising, editing, and proofreading writing.
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
Please be prepared to keep up with the reading and to attend class on time. Please come to class with all readings completed and be ready to engage with the materials and with each other.
Class assignments and grading
You will write 5 Short Assignments (2-3 pp) and 2 Major Assignments (5-7 pp) in addition to low-stakes, in-class writing assignments and homework. Your grade is based on participation and the final portfolio.
30% Class Participation 70% Portfolio
