Time Schedule:
Ariel E Wetzel
ENGL 131
Seattle Campus
Study and practice of good writing: topics derived from a variety of personal, academic, and public subjects. 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 131 is foremost a writing course in which you will practice the writing skills typically valued in academic writing. In this section, you will do a number of readings and write weekly papers about our course theme, public education. We will critically examine public and higher education in an era of budget cuts and privatization. We will engage in questions of academic freedom, the role of democracy in public education (and the role of public education in a democracy), and the interest of the free market in the public university. Because our generation faces more debt and higher unemployment than our parents’ generation, I hope that you will leave this class not only as a smart and skillful writer, but with an understanding of why you have chosen to pursue a degree in higher education.
Student learning goals
1. To demonstrate an awareness of the strategies that writers use in different writing contexts.
2. To read, analyze, and synthesize complex texts and incorporate multiple kinds of evidence purposefully in order to generate and support writing.
3. To produce complex, analytic, persuasive arguments that matter in academic contexts.
4. To develop flexible strategies for revising, editing, and proofreading writing.
General method of instruction
Seminar style discussion, small group work, lecture.
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
Readings, short writing responses, weekly papers, including six 2-3 page papers and two 5-7 page papers. Work will be compiled in a final portfolio including revised essays and reflections.
30% participation, 70% portfolio.
