College Writing Program

Reasoning & Writing in the College WRT 105/105E and 245

(formerly CAS 105/105E and 245)

Fall 2010

Each section has a unique content and grows out of the general WRT 105/105E course description developed by the Interdisciplinary College Writing Committee.

Content Areas:
Cultural Studies
English Language and Literature
History
Science & Engineering
Psychology
Philosophy
Political Science
Extended Courses (WRT105E)
WRT 245
ESOL Program Courses

**Courses address issues of diversity

Writing about Cultural Studies

**The Politics of Sport
Tanya Bakhmetyeva, College Writing Program
MW 2:00 - 3:15 CRN 95022

The Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 were held under the slogan “One World, One Dream” that was supposed to “reflect the … universal values of the Olympic spirit – Unity, Friendship, Progress, Harmony, Participation and Dream.” These values suggest that sports rise above political ambitions, goals, and gains. Yet, the history of the Olympic Games – and of sports in general – shows that athletic competitions are often used for political statements and gains. Does such politicization hurt sports? Should sports and politics be separated? Should sports ignore what is happening in the world? Through reading, watching, and writing, we will explore international and national athletic events (such as the US boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, the famous “Miracle on Ice,” the Beijing Olympics, and others) to investigate how sports affect politics and how politics affect sports. In the true Olympic spirit, we will work together (through peer-reviews and self-assessments) to develop our writing and critical skills. Writing assignments include informal papers, three shorter argumentative essays, and a final research paper.

**On Camp and Kitsch
Mathew Bayne, Department of English
MW 2:00 - 3:15 CRN 95310

“…The essence of Camp is its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration. And Camp is esoteric—something of a private code, a badge of identity even, among small urban cliques.”
--Susan Sontag “Notes on Camp.”

What exactly do people mean when they refer to cultural objects (or practices) as camp or kitsch? Like pornography, camp and kitsch defy easy categorization; yet, one knows them when they see them (in high ironic, affected, tongue-in-cheek resplendency)! Initially understood as concepts that distinguished “low” from “high” art, camp and kitsch functioned as benchmarks of society’s progression towards mass consumerism and artificiality. While this standard interpretation still maintains popular support, it will be called into question throughout the term. Additional questions raised by the course may include (but are not limited to): What are the differences between camp and kitsch? Do these phenomena relate to—or differ from—other modes, like drag, “trash,” sentimentality, or satire? How did camp serve as a linguistic code for the construction of various communities? Why are camp and kitsch so uniquely linked to female and gay male subcultures? Might camp and kitsch wield political value?

This course will bring a variety of disciplines and genres into conversation—from art history to political science. Potential texts will range from the trashy to the transcendent, and might include: Susan Sontag’s, “ Notes On Camp,” Oscar Wilde’s Salome, John Waters’s Hairspray, the drawings of Aubrey Beardsley, and Robert Aldrich’s Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. As representation will be integral to the course, class writing will be of utmost importance. Several short papers (a mixture of formal and informal writing projects) will be assigned with the intention of foregrounding peer assessment, revision, and editing. The course will culminate in an 8-10 page research paper, critically engaging the themes and questions generated by the course.

Debt and the Economy of Identity
Sarah Bunker, Department of English
MW 2:00 - 3:15 CRN 95035

Throughout history, people have defined themselves in terms of their obligations to others. We extend and borrow credit, trusting (or not) in our and in others’ ability to repay. Yet what does it mean to be indebted, and how do our debts define us? Until relatively recently, debt could literally make the difference between freedom and forced servitude in the western world; in the U.S. and abroad, significant debts still impede progress on the individual, local, and national levels. How is financial anxiety reflected in works of literature, and what is the social impact of literary depictions of debt, destitution, and sudden reversals of fortune? How are such works as William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and Edith Wharton’s The Custom of the Country relevant to modern economic controversies, including predatory lending practices and the challenges of saving for retirement? In this writing course, students will examine the influence of a person’s financial circumstances upon his or her concept of self. While exploring a number of texts—which may include plays, novels, articles, and films—students will produce a series of short critical papers, which will culminate in an eight to ten page argumentative research paper. Peer review, self-assessment, and consistent revision will be central to the work of this course.

Art and Consumer Culture
Bryce Condit, Department of English
MW 12:30 - 1:45 CRN 95273

How do we define art? While there is no clear answer, we still like to make categories, one of the most prevalent being the division between serious art and commercial art. Yet what happens when the line gets compromised? For instance, would the Mona Lisa mean the same thing when transplanted from the museum to a toothpaste ad? This class will consider the implications of such aesthetic/economic relationships in a cross-disciplinary sampling of works from the 20th century. Throughout the semester we will ask such questions as: What is consumer culture? What is art? What is the relationship between them? Can either influence our perceptions of the other, and if so in what ways?

Students will engage these and other issues as they develop, test, and communicate their ideas through writing a series of short papers and one longer 8-10 page paper on artists and writers such as Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol, Walter Benjamin and Lawrence Wechsler. Class discussions, peer review, and self-assessments will be required to aid students in the invention process and to facilitate ongoing revision. Interdisciplinary perspectives are welcome.

**Dysfunctional American Families
Justin Coyne, Department of English
MW 12:30 - 1:45 CRN 95239

“All unhappy families are unhappy in their own way.” Tolstoy

How do we define ourselves in relation to our families? What does it mean to belong to a family and how do the issues of race, class, gender, nationality, politics, and religion intersect in our experiences of family life? In what ways do we defy, deny, accept, and extend our families throughout the various stages of our life? This class will address these questions by examining how unspoken narratives in both fictional and factual representations of American families shape the identities of fictional characters and reveal the ideological values of creators as well.

Weekly assignments will cover various literary genres and visual mediums and our in-class discussions of these materials will be oriented around close, critical reading practices which will lay the foundation for clear, precise, and persuasive reader-based essays. Students will submit three shorter essays and an 8-10 page research paper. The writing process itself will involve drafting, peer review, self-assessment, and revision.

Off The Wall: The Art of Participation
Amanda Graham, Visual and Cultural Studies
TR 12:30 - 1:45 CRN 95138

Many artists in the 1960s, including Yoko Ono and Joseph Beuys, staged art events that revolutionized the responsibility of the spectator and required art historians and critics to acknowledge the blurred boundaries between artist and audience. These artists challenged how people engaged with art, and their influence has left contemporary theorists as well as the art-going public questioning how we interact with artwork that can’t be displayed on the gallery wall.

Just as artists ask for reactions from their spectators, writers expect their readers to react to their arguments. Through a consideration of images, videos, criticism, and journalistic texts, we will analytically explore the function of the observer in contemporary participatory art. We will use research and writing as a means of recording our own interactions with art, in and outside of the gallery space. Like the most effective of artists, we will experiment with form and style in order to communicate ideas and design cohesive interpretations. Course requirements include class involvement, self-assessments, peer review, a series of short review and reflection papers, and a final 8-10 page research paper.

Wilderness and the Wild
Scott MacPhail, College Writing Program
TR 4:50 - 6:05 CRN 95019

There are 680 federally designated wilderness areas in the United States. The U.S. was the first nation to set aside national parks and then wilderness areas to preserve wild landscapes. The continuing, imaginative importance of wilderness can be seen in recent films such as Grizzly Man and Into the Wild, and the success of the PBS documentary The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. But instead of being a “best idea,” could wilderness be a problem? Exactly what is a wilderness? Is wilderness inclusive or exclusive, hierarchical or democratic? Could it be that how we define and set aside wilderness actually confuses or hinders our political, environmental, spiritual, and social goals? How much do our assumptions about gender, class, and ethnicity shape how we define and value the wild?

This section of WRT 105 will consider classic encounters with wilderness by such writers and artists as Thoreau, Albee and the Hudson River School, as well as recent popular, critical, and theoretical takes on the value and function of wilderness in today’s United States. We will attempt to understand the evolution of this complex idea, and evaluate its ethical and practical consequences. Students will situate their own arguments in dialogue with varied sources by completing a series of linked writing assignments of increasing length and complexity, ending in an 8-10 page researched argument or analysis. Reading, discussing and writing about the problem of wilderness will offer substantial opportunities to develop core skills necessary for successful college writing, including critical reading, logical thinking, and effective drafting and revision skills.

More than Making Pictures: Understanding Art Practices after 1945
Lucy Mulroney, Visual and Cultural Studies
TR 9:40 - 10:55 CRN 95169

What is contemporary art? How is it different from other forms of visual culture or entertainment? How do we understand what it is artists even do nowadays? And where is the art object, exactly? Art has always challenged norms, but since the middle of the 20th century the tactics employed by artists to disrupt audiences and redefine the “art object” have increasingly left viewers confused, irritated, and perplexed. Examples range from artists like Chris Burden whose art includes shouting at people or getting shot; Allan Kaprow who in the 1960s contended that walking or brushing your teeth could be art if you simply thought about it that way; and Andy Warhol who made replicas of mass produced consumer packages and called them sculpture. Structured around a series of key topics in contemporary art—the changing meanings of “authorship,” practices of appropriation, idea art, feminism, and the appearance of the “neo-avant-garde”—this course will expose students to artwork produced in the United States and Western Europe from the 1940s up to the contemporary moment. In this course students will produce clear, cogent, and thoughtfully written arguments that tackle the analytical challenges offered by contemporary art. We will be discussing and writing about art, but the skills necessary to do this well are crucial to all disciplines, not just visual studies.

Several short writing assignments, multiple draft revisions, and intensive peer workshops will guide students through the process of learning to identify and craft persuasive and elegant arguments. Our in-class discussions will focus on attentive viewing and critical responses to visual presentations and assigned readings. The course will culminate with a polished research paper (8-10 pages).

**Reforming America's Schools
Burke Scarbrough, Warner School
TR 2:00 - 3:15 CRN 95268

It is nearly impossible to open a newspaper without reading a critique of America’s schools. Headlines, editorials, and famous school tragedies raise a host of complaints: schools are dangerous, students are undisciplined, public education is a failure, teachers are apathetic and undertrained, applying to college is overly stressful, standardized tests receive undue emphasis, American students won’t be able to compete with students from other countries, and a decent education is only available to the rich. Even as a growing number of reform initiatives attempt to revolutionize American schools, success stories appear few and far between.

As a student in “Reforming America’s Schools,” you will have one overall semester project: to design your own school. From the first day of class, you will shape and revise a proposal for a new elementary, middle, or high school to be opened somewhere in America. As a class, our goals throughout the semester will be to read a range of perspectives on school reform, discuss some of the most controversial issues about the nature and purpose of education, and use various genres of writing to develop your proposed schools. Our ongoing discussions will be informed by the diverse work of educators, social scientists, journalists, activists, parents, and other students. Though the class is organized around a particular project, the skills you develop as writers and thinkers will be crucial in any discipline. You will learn to self-assess your writing for clarity, sound argument, and rich research, knowing that your goal all semester is to design the most effective school possible and to build support for it. Your short response papers, formal analysis papers and final research paper will help you elaborate your school proposal more fully. Meanwhile, you will bring your expertise as longtime students to each other’s work through discussion and peer review. Above all, we will challenge some of our most basic assumptions about school and allow ourselves to “think outside the box” as you propose your own answer to the constant calls for reform in American education.

Disease and Society
Katherine Schaefer, College Writing Program
MW 3:25 - 4:40 CRN 95127
MW 4:50 - 6:05 CRN 95304
TR 9:40 - 10:55 CRN 95195

In 2008, total health care spending represented 17 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ¹, and current projections suggest that this fraction will rise rapidly in the years to come. As a society, we have to make choices about how to spend on health care, balancing the desire to achieve the best possible health for everyone with the reality of limited resources. Underlying these decisions are both ethical and practical concerns, and a coherent national health care plan requires clear answers to a number of questions. For instance, which diseases get the most attention and why? Are contagious diseases in a different class from heart disease, cancer, and diabetes? What about diseases that are devastating but that affect only a few people? How do we divide scarce resources between prevention and cure? In this class, we will explore these issues using readings, class discussions and written assignments.

Students will read and analyze a variety of sources, including books aimed at general audiences, opinion articles from medical journals, health care policy journals, and the popular press, and scientific articles detailing costs and outcomes of various approaches. Drawing from these sources, students will write three shorter argumentative papers and one comprehensive 8-10 page end of term paper. Peer feedback, self-assessment, and revision of multiple drafts will allow the student to develop the skills necessary to construct logical arguments and write persuasive essays in the academic style.

¹ Hellander I. The deepening crisis in U.S. health care: a review of data, Spring 2008. Int J Health Serv 2008;38:607-23.

Top

Writing about English Language and Literature

What Would Sherlock Holmes do? Murder, Mystery and Method
Laura Bell, Department of English
TR 12:30 - 1:45 CRN 95140

Much more than a guilty pleasure, reading crime fiction teaches us to think logically, to examine facts and to decipher puzzles; it shows us how to read clues and signals and to deal with questions of knowledge and identity as we try to work out “whodunnit” and why. In giving us tools to convey ideas, organize an argument and resolve problems, the skills we learn from reading crime fiction teach us to communicate in a clear, more compelling way.

This course will focus on a range of materials including examples from American, British and French noir. Through analysis of the texts, students will examine different problem-solving techniques and learn how to apply them, for instance when writing an academic essay or drafting an email or presentation in a professional setting. The latter part of the course will focus on how pacing operates in the genre and we will look closely at examples such as television shows that take place in almost real time, comparing them to the slower yet satisfying unfolding of a psychological thriller. Students will be assessed through writing projects and an 8-10 page research paper. Peer review, self-assessment, revision and class discussion will all be an integral part of the course.

**Autobiography and Self-Invention
Heidi Bollinger, Department of English
MW 12:30 - 1:45 CRN 95393

Published memoirs, Facebook pages, self-portraits, legal testimonies, and private diaries: these are all common examples of autobiography. Autobiographical writing allows us to construct our identities through language, and even reinvent ourselves by omitting, emphasizing, and inventing certain details. Autobiographical writing blurs the boundaries between fact and fiction, memory and imagination. How do we judge "the truth" in autobiography? What authority does the autobiographical form carry? How do writers use personal experience to comment on social and political issues? To explore these questions and more, we will examine readings by authors such as Frederick Douglass, Maxine Hong Kingston, Samuel R. Delany, and Marjane Satrapi. Part of the autobiographer's project is self-examination, and as we work on formal analytical essays about these readings, we will reflect on our own writing practices and practice new techniques for more effective interpretation and evaluation. Our formal writing projects will include several short argumentative papers and an 8-10 page argumentative research paper. This class will emphasize peer review, self-assessment, and revision as strategies for becoming more confident, effective writers in an academic and professional setting.

**Locating Identity: Travel and Transformation in Medieval Literature
Kristi Castleberry, Department of English
TR 9:40 - 10:55 CRN 03062

Anyone who has traveled to another country, another state, or even another home knows that people can learn a great deal about their own way of living by coming into contact with something different. In the Middle Ages, as now, people craved new surroundings and new experiences, or at least good tales about them. People looked to foreign lands and customs to learn about themselves, but they often attached moral value to location. Monsters were on the edges of the world, and the Holy Land in the center. Travel was not just for recreation, but also for pilgrimage, and those who could not go were meant to contemplate the journey. Travel and location were, therefore, important for soul as well as mind and body. But what can new surroundings teach people about themselves? In what ways do people’s cultures and experiences color the way in which they approach different places and people? Is personal transformation through travel an individual process, or does mutual transformation occur? What can assumptions about geographical and cultural connections to identity tell us about the nature of identity itself? In this class, we will attempt to grapple with such questions through formal and informal writings and group discussions of a variety works, such as travel narratives, pilgrimage narratives, conquest narratives like those of King Arthur and Alexander the Great, and romances like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The main goal of the course is to engage in critical inquiry and to write organized and thoughtful essays using peer review, self-assessment, and revision. Students will practice various kinds of writing, and will ultimately produce an 8-10 page research paper.

**Risky Business: Risk-Taking in Twentieth-Century American Literature and Film
Carly Chasin, Department of English
TR 11:05- 12:20 CRN 94990

America is obsessed with risk-taking. From gambling to extreme sports to Fear Factor, dangerous behavior pervades our society. Why are we fascinated with risk-taking, and what do the risks we take say about us? In this course, we will address these questions by exploring the theme of risk-taking in twentieth-century American literature and film. We will consider obvious forms of personal risk-taking, such as backpacking through the Alaskan wilderness, as well as more nuanced types of social risk-taking, like rebelling against traditional racial and gender norms. Using works such as Into the Wild, Passing, and Thelma and Louise, we will explore individuals’ motives for risk-taking, and will consider what our fixation with risk-taking says about our society. Students will engage these topics through group discussions, formal writing assignments, and an 8-10 page final research paper. This course will also emphasize peer review, self-assessment, and revision as integral parts of the writing process.

Translating Mediums: Adapting Drama from Page to Stage to Screen
Dianne Evanochko, Department of English
MW 6:15 - 7:30 CRN 95116

It is often said that when we translate a work into another language, we are in fact creating something entirely new. Translation doesn’t just change the language; it fundamentally alters the text, its significance, and the way it is interpreted. Dramatic works, whether for stage or screen, always involve some form of translation. A script must first be written before it can be interpreted by directors and later adapted to fit a new medium. The questions we ask in this course are: How do we read these adapted works? How does this adaption affect interpretation, audience, and genre? And can the medium itself change the meaning of the work?

We will investigate these questions through the interpretive lenses of performance theory, theories of adaption, and audience reception theory, and examine dramatic works from a variety of mediums: from Shakespeare to YouTube videos. The goal of this exploration is to build thoughtful arguments through discussion and writing, and develop strong compositional skills in order to better express these arguments. The class work will consist of informal responses, in-class discussion, peer-assessment and self-assessment, two short analytical papers, one 8-10 page research paper, and an annotated bibliography.

**Adolescence in Comics
Elizabeth Goodfellow, Department of English
MW 4:50 - 6:05 CRN 95328

Comics, including longer works like graphic novels, have long played a part in popular and academic characterizations of adolescence. Long-standing debates continue to address whether or not comics make children and teenagers lazy readers, whether or not the themes depicted in these works are corrupting, and whether pop genres merely distract young adults from more serious works of literature. In our writing, we will weigh in on these controversies by examining various works of comics art together and consider what features of comics, particularly graphic novels, make them so appealing to both teenagers and authors/illustrators who address teenagers’ experiences. Comics theorist Scott McCloud writes that "the format [is] at once both and neither: a language all its own” (17). In what ways do comics and adolescence both straddle boundaries? How are these authors using text and image to construct their narratives? What do the preoccupations of these narratives tell us about adolescence, and have these themes remained consistent over time?

In addition to recent graphic novels such as Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, and Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese, we will look at older comic books like Burne Hogarth's adaptation of Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan, and a variety of online works. This critical work will provide the basis for students’ own argumentation and analysis: a final 8-10 page research paper and several shorter essays. Peer review, self-assessment, and revision will be major elements of our work, as well.

McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: Harper, 1994.

**Manning Up: Constructions of Masculinity in 20th Century America
Julianne Heck, Department of English
MW 3:25 - 4:40 CRN 95332

Drawing from the intellectual claims of the feminist movement of the 1960s and 70s, scholars in the 1980s began examining the social constructiveness of masculinity. Through these examinations, they looked at the often subtle ways in which masculinity is perceived as something natural and inescapable. Analyzing texts ranging from the literary to the psychoanalytical to the cinematic, we will explore the different ways in which American masculinity has been constructed over the past century. Some of the selected texts we will look at include works by Judith Butler, Ernest Hemingway, and director Spike Lee. In addition, we will pursue a number of questions about these constructions, such as: How do accepted notions of masculinity affect and mold the psyches of men? How have the characteristics of masculinity changed over time? What happens to masculinity when it comes into contact with other identifying categories like race, class, and sexuality? In what ways has the instability of masculinity been exposed and interrogated? What were the consequences? Together, we will work on finding potential answers to these questions through group discussions and writing assignments, which will include peer-reviews and self-assessments. In our discussions and writing, we will focus on developing original questions and answers in response to the texts we will be studying and will hone our skills in critical essay writing. Class assignments will include several short papers and a final 8-10 page essay.

"It takes us to find that funny": Dark Humor in Literature and Film
Daniel Helm, Department of English
TR 3:25 - 4:40 CRN 95097

What do we make of comedy in situations that seem to deserve seriousness instead? In literature this happens when Hamlet jokes with the gruesome prop of Yorick's skull, and in Waiting for Godot, when a character tries to hang himself with his belt and his pants fall down. Combining humor and seriousness can seem relieving or cruel, poignant or tedious. Just how funny is Charlie Chaplin when his character has a mental breakdown in Modern Times, for example, or how serious is Kafka's story about a man who turns into a dung-beetle? We will use class discussion, critical readings, and primarily writing to help us think about instances of dark comedy in literature and film (which may include the examples mentioned above). The purpose is to practice constructing clear and convincing argumentative papers. The course will utilize peer review, self-assessment, and revision. Course requirements are regular reading and writing assignments, and an 8-10 page research paper.

Adapt or Die: The Modern Middle Ages
Valerie Johnson, Department of English
TR 2:00 - 3:15 CRN 95250

American popular culture is obsessed with the Middle Ages. From Robin Hood and King Arthur, to Beowulf and Prince Valiant, the medieval world has been transformed into the modern setting for fantasy games, novels, films, short stories, even music. The market for pseudo-medieval settings is massive, and growing larger by the day. The course will, through discussion and writing, examine the multi-media and popular culture implications of adaptation from medieval origins; that is, we will examine how medieval texts, songs, and art are transformed when modern audiences remake and reuse traditionally medieval materials for thoroughly modern purposes. Class discussions and informal writing assignments will be used to examine the structures and contents of individual texts, medieval and modern, to study the changes required for adaptation across different media and different time periods. We will use excerpts from medieval texts (in modern English translation) to study how, why, and by whom these medieval texts are adapted for modern tastes and cultural needs, in an effort to understand why modern American culture is so connected to a medieval European past. Formal writing assignments will include several short papers and one longer argumentative research paper of approximately 8-10 pages. All formal assignments will incorporate a revision process, which will include drafts, revisions, peer feedback, and self-assessments.

Fairy Tales and Their Revelations for Modern Culture
Martha Johnson-Olin, Department of English
MWF 11:00 - 11:50 CRN 95221

With over 700 versions of Cinderella in the world today and with Cinderella motifs appearing in present day novels, films, and song lyrics, we shall consider why this fairy tale remains popular and how it and other fairy tales are represented in our culture. In this class, we will use Cinderella as a lens to study our society. We will examine how the stories have changed across cultures and times, how fairy tale archetypes appear in popular films, such as The Matrix, and how fairy tale motifs operate in society. Through writing several smaller assignments and through class discussion, we will explore numerous questions regarding Cinderella and fairy tales in general. We should ask ourselves why so many little girls dream about fairy godmothers and grand weddings and whether boys dream of becoming Prince Charming. We will also use drafting and revision to determine how the stories affect their audience. Do the stories merely entertain, or do they present a more complex model of gender and agency? If so, how do these representations affect young audiences? Students will read several versions of Cinderella and Gregory Maguire’s novel Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister while using peer feedback, the writing process, and self-assessment to develop ideas. The course will culminate in the creation of an 8-10 page argumentative research paper.

**Food, Family, and the Nation
Sayaka Kanade, Department of English
TR 12:30 - 1:45 CRN 95152

An old truism tells us that we are what we eat, but what does the food we eat really tell us about who we are? Familial and national traditions often shape our culinary rituals, and food in turn marks our daily lives. By examining representations of food and eating in literature and film, we will explore the cultural discourses embedded in food and its relationship to gender, class, race, and nationality. For example, what does the gingerbread house in Hansel and Gretel say about family and the home? In what ways does food shape national identities in films such as Tampopo, Babette’s Feast, and Big Night? And what does it mean that Jonathan Swift, in his 1729 satirical essay A Modest Proposal, suggests eating children as a way to solve the ills of Ireland’s poor? Our inquiry will focus on conceptions of the domestic home and the nation through a range of subjects including women and the kitchen, culinary traditions, and food in the post-apocalypse. Students will be expected to submit regular writing assignments and an 8-10 page research paper. The writing process—drafting, peer review, and revision—will be a critical component of this course.

The Urban Unreal: Phantasmagoric Cityscapes in Literature and Film
Joseph Lamperez, Department of English
TR 3:25 - 4:40 CRN 95041

We assume that we know what a city is, and what it can be. What is it? Why, it’s a center of commercial and cultural activity; a contact zone allowing peoples of diverse lifestyles and origins to brush up against one another; a site of faded grandeur, recalling vanished imperial power and influence. But the city in its representational history has been so much more. The biblical first city is founded, in defiance of God’s command, as a “fallen” alternative to the lost, paradisiacal Garden of Eden, but does the city ever successfully recoup this fateful loss, or does it serve, rather, as a sign of mankind’s state of exile? A literally “un-natural” creation, built as a defensive reaction to the hostility of the natural world, how effectively does the city keep the chaos of the wilderness at bay, and if this chaos ever makes its way in to the city, how would we identify it? The city after the industrial revolution becomes a place of dehumanization, as mankind is enslaved to the machines of its own creation and trapped within the walls of an infernal labyrinth. Did Dante, in his creation of the hellish city of Dis, anticipate this development? Has the city always presented itself to the mind as a hell, as a maze, and if so why? And how is it that the city can also have continued to represent a state of mind or way of being, as a consideration of Augustine’s City of God, Arthur’s Camelot, or the lost city of Atlantis soon begins to show? In this course we will come to terms with the power of the city as an idea, explore the relationship of historical developments to changing conceptualizations of the city, develop a sense of the uncanny inherent in the very existence of the city itself, and much more. Our continuing exploration of these ideas will occur through a sustained regimen of diverse compositions, including peer reviews, self-assessments, three formal papers, and a final research paper due at the end of class.

**Poetry from the Women’s Movement
Hilarie Lloyd, Department of English
MW 4:50 - 6:05 CRN 95088

In 2009, Honor Moore wrote:

“On a recent evening, I had supper with a friend, a television executive. Like me, she was born in the era of World War II; like mine, her life was altered by feminism. ‘Tell me,’ I asked, ‘what you remember about poetry and the women’s movement?’ I saw memory cross her face, and then she said something remarkable: ‘The women’s movement was poetry.’”

What is the relationship between literature and political movements? This course will explore how poetry written during the 1960s and 70s relates to increasing activism and demands for civil rights during that time. We will examine a range of poets, including Sylvia Plath, Diane DiPrima, Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Anne Sexton, Robin Morgan, and Gwendolyn Brooks alongside historical accounts of the women’s movement and the cultural changes the poets were witnessing. The poets wrote about formerly “taboo” subjects such as madness, sexuality, divorce, depression, and abortion. How do these topics relate to the political events occurring during the 1960s and 70s? Through discussion, close reading, weekly reading and writing assignments, and a final research paper of 8-10 pages, we will think critically and write argumentatively about the nexus between poetry and the women’s movement. The paper-writing process will involve several revisions, self-assessments, and peer reviews to develop our writing and critical thinking skills.

Popular Images of Mental Illness
Kara McShane, Department of English
TR 9:40 - 10:55 CRN 95006

This course invites students to consider how popular culture – literature, film, news, and other media – portrays mental illness. In this course, we will think critically together about literary texts that depict mental illness, including but not limited to writing by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Sigmund Freud, and Edgar Allen Poe and films such as A Beautiful Mind and The Soloist. These literary descriptions will be supplemented by contemporary news articles and extracts from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). Questions to consider include the following: how have literary portrayals of mental illness changed over time? How do portrayals of mental illness in literature compare with scientific and medical accounts? How do these varied portrayals shape our understanding of mental illness in society? Students will explore these questions and develop their own through informal writing assignments, short papers, and class discussion. Each student will be expected to refine his or her thinking and writing through peer review, self-assessment, and revision. The class will culminate with an eight to ten page research paper, designed by the student according to his or her specific questions or interests.

Although this course is analytical in nature, some students may find some material for this class potentially unsettling. Please do not hesitate to contact the instructor with any questions you may have about the course content.

Intelligence, Common Sense, and Criticism: The Life and Times of the New York Intellectuals
Wesley Mills, Department of English
TR 9:40 - 10:55 CRN 95064

Do we, as university attendees have, as Lionel Trilling claimed, “a moral obligation to be intelligent”? As students, do we owe something to the larger conversation of the academy, and is it incumbent on us to leave the academy a little better off than we found it? This class will explore the writings, ideas, ideals, and critical comments of one of the most prolific groups of writers and critics from the mid-20th Century, the New York Intellectuals. We will be reading selections from Lionel Trilling, Alfred Kazin, Mary McCarthy, Philip Rahv, Susan Sontag, and others who belonged to this group. We will also be reading selections from their literary journal, The Partisan Review. Our goal will be to explore and discover what it means to be intelligent and what it means to be part of a larger community of thinkers and scholars. In this course, students will be required to write four papers: a summary/reaction paper, an essay of claim, a literary analysis, and a larger research paper. Students will also be required to take part in peer review of those papers and self-assessment of their work. Students will also keep a journal and assemble all of their work into a final portfolio.

Romantics and Rock Stars: Re-Imagining Identity Through Poetry and Music
Joe Vogel, Department of English
TR 4:50 - 6:05 CRN 95053

In a time of great social and political upheaval - including the French and American Revolutions, changing views towards religion and government, and profound transformations in commerce, technology, and science — the British poets known as the Romantics offered radical re-conceptions of society, art, and the self. In this course, we will begin by discussing and writing in response to these influential Romantic visions (made roughly 200 years ago), exploring what questions, conflicts, and insights they open up, before shifting these issues to our own time. In the "Postmodern era" (a term we will scrutinize and compare to the Romantic era) we will work with some of today's most influential and interesting multi-media "poets" — including The Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Radiohead — to re-investigate Romantic queries in contemporary culture. These queries will include what it means to be a poet/artist, what role art should play in society, and how it is affected by and affects individual and cultural identity.

In addition to writing about these subjects, we will also explore our own respective roles as writers: Why do we write? For whom do we write? How do these questions impact what we say and how we say it? Writing assignments will include informal, exploratory writing, two formal papers, and a research proposal/bibliography, all of which will prepare students for the final, 8-10 page argumentative research paper. Instructor feedback, peer feedback and self-assessment will play a significant role in the writing and revising of each paper.

Searching for Whales: Myth, Science, and Ecological Sustainability
Stella Wang, Department of English
MW 3:25 - 4:40 CRN 95559

Although the majority of us have never been in direct contact with the legendary “big fish,” whales move in the deep blue of human imagination. From ancient whalebone tools and artifacts, to literature such as Beowulf, Moby Dick, and Maori myths of the whale rider, to the recent, never before recorded song of the blue whales just off the New York harbor, the elusive cetaceans continue to roam large on the horizon, evoking complex emotions towards the identity and placement of humans in the interconnected natural world. How have whales come to be associated with hero-making and to shape distinct cultural memories of marine communities around the globe? While feared, revered, and surely totemized, whales have also been intensely pursued from the Arctic to the Antarctic, consumed as a major food source, and harvested for lucrative trades involving virtually every part of the whale’s body. What topics are key to the current debates concerning historical and modern whaling? In what ways, for example, might concepts such as sustenance vs. industrial whaling complicate the discussions? Where do cultural differences, economic considerations, political agency, scientific research, and ethics stand in the pro- and anti-whaling arguments? In this course we will read, watch, and consider materials that cut through genres and media in search of the monstrous fish that are neither fish nor particularly monstrous but, for all we know, of deep psychological, cultural, and ecological significance to humans. We invite writers from the humanities, social sciences, and sciences to join our interdisciplinary conversations and research-based investigations. Along the way, all are expected to develop their critical reading, thinking, and writing skills by actively participating in the class work, including small-group and whole-class discussions, informal and formal writings, revision workshops, peer reviews, self-assessments, and individual student-initiated final research projects.

Media Frontiers 1900/2000
Nikolaus Wasmoen, Department of English
TR 12:30 - 1:45 CRN 95101

In the first decades of the twentieth century, film, radio, phonographs, and other media opened new channels through which artists and writers could connect to their audiences. Later in the same century, the public gained access to television, digital computing, and, most recently, the World Wide Web. How did twentieth-century writers and artists use new media to reimagine their relationship to their audience? How did these broad changes in the media environment affect literary genres? To explore these questions we will discuss works from the first and last decades of the twentieth century, from early films of the 1900s to Flash poems of the 2000s. We will ground our exploration of the writing process in the multimedia world of publication, film, broadcast, and recording. We will analyze works by media and genre pioneers including the Lumières, Winsor McCay, F.T. Marinetti, Mina Loy, William Gibson, Stuart Moulthrop, Shelley Jackson, and others.

This course prepares students for writing in the college by developing clear, effective academic prose through a process of peer feedback, self-assessment, and revision. In three short essays and an 8-10 page argumentative research paper, students will respond to questions raised in the course and discovered in their individual research.

Rewriting Race, Gender, and National Identity in the Western
Peter Zogas, Department of English
TR 6:15 - 7:30 CRN 95174

Western films have traditionally portrayed an isolated character whose internalized sense of justice is brought to bear—through cunning, violence, or some combination of the two—on a developing frontier town. Consequently, film scholars have understood the genre as the celebration of an archetypal American hero. But is the image of an ideal hero that the genre presents entirely coherent? In this course we will consider how certain films might uphold, challenge, or subvert that ideal. We will pay close attention to the representation of social positions on the frontier, the question of how generically marginalized characters gain agency, and how such considerations affect our understanding of the genre as a whole. Films are likely to include John Ford's The Searchers (1956), Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man (1995), and Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain (2005), among others. Students will engage in peer-review and self-assessment, and they will complete three short essays and one longer (8-10 page) research paper.

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Writing about History

Ancient Myth and Modern Life
Shane Butterfield, Department of History
MW 12:30 - 1:45 CRN 95562

This class will examine the relationship between ancient myths and modern life. Among the questions we will work to answer are: What are myths? Why are myths important to civilizations? What are the deeper meanings of ancient myths, and what can they reveal about modern society and human nature, more generally? Also, what are symbols, and how do they function in this context? In the course of our investigation, we will study a variety of genres of ancient myth, including hero, flood, and afterlife myths from across the globe. Because this is a writing class, however, our focus will be on composition. Through classroom discussion, the drafting of short essays, revision, self-assessment, peer review, and an 8-10 page argumentative research paper, students will gain experience making inferences and presenting written arguments.

**Seeing in Color: Writing about Race
Kathleen Casey, Department of History
TR 12:30 - 1:45 CRN 95590

In everything from college applications to the census, we are asked to identify our race and ethnicity. Since the last national census was conducted ten years ago, new multi-racial categories continue to be added. These options provide all of us with more nuanced ways of identifying and articulating our sense of selves and they appear to reflect the dynamic but enduring nature of racial ideologies. Yet many experts still disagree as to whether or not race is a social construction or scientific fact. What is race and does it differ from ethnicity? In this interdisciplinary writing seminar, students will examine how definitions of race and racial categories have changed in history. We will investigate and formulate answers to complex questions about the nature of ethnicity and the significance of race by reading, discussing and writing about primary sources, autobiographical essays and scholarly texts about race in America and the transatlantic world at large. A series of short formal papers will ask students to evaluate the origins, fluidity and salience of racial constructions at critical periods in history. As a capstone to the seminar, students will write an 8-10 page research paper exploring contemporary understandings of race in a region of their choosing. The objective of this course will be to develop critical reading, researching, writing and revising skills that will prepare students for thinking and writing in the college and beyond.

The Individual and American Culture
Michael Fisher, Department of History
TR 2:00 - 3:15 CRN 95183

It is often assumed that American culture is highly individualistic. But what do we mean by this? How do we value individualism in American society, and what makes our culture more individualistic than others? In this class we will explore these questions by examining our own attitudes and assumptions. Through focused readings of American writers ranging from poet Walt Whitman to social critic Paul Goodman, students will join the debate over American individualism and develop their own ideas in writing. The goal of this course will be to acquaint students with argumentative writing through multiple stages. Class meetings will include discussion of reading material, weekly writing assignments, and peer-review editing designed to help students write an 8-10 page research paper. To chronicle their own process of invention and discovery, students will also maintain shorter journal entries in individual portfolios to be due at the end of the semester.

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Writing about Science & Engineering

Translation as a Window into the Mind
Whitney Gegg-Harrison, Department of Brain & Cognitive Science
TR 9:40 - 10:55 CRN 95215

Language gives us the ability to express our ideas in a way that can be understood by others who speak the same language. In an increasingly interconnected world, being able to communicate our ideas across language boundaries is incredibly important, and companies like Google are working to create automatic systems for translation to keep up with the demand. But the problem of translation raises fascinating questions about the relationship between language, meaning, and the mind. How do we know what someone means by what they have said or written in a particular language? And how can we translate that meaning into another language? Can we really create machines capable of producing translations? Would this amount to creating a machine capable of human thought? In this course, we will use the topic of translation as our launching pad for exploring these questions through writing, drawing from a variety of perspectives, including science fiction, philosophical essays, and modern work in AI and cognitive science.

In the course of learning to think critically about language and the mind, students will work to develop their ability to clearly present their own ideas in writing. Through class discussion, peer-review, self-assessment, and draft revision, students will learn to extract and evaluate arguments from texts, and construct and defend arguments of their own. There will be several short papers and an 8-10 page research paper.

Writing about Psychology

Adolescence: War or Peace
Jessamy Comer, Department of Clinical & Social Sciences in Psychology
TR 9:40 - 10:55 CRN 95070

Generations of adults have deplored adolescence as a time of rebellion, moodiness, peer conformity, antisocial behavior, and lack of morality. In a recent Public Agenda survey, only 37% of American adults believed that today’s youth would make America a better place in the future. In fact, the most common adjectives used to describe teens were rude, irresponsible, and wild. Are adolescents really undermining the moral fabric of America? Is there truth to this “storm and stress” hypothesis? Why does society continue to believe that teens are problematic despite research evidence to the contrary? Through writing, students will be able to critically evaluate the validity of these stereotypes by comparing literature promoting the “storm and stress” hypothesis with contemporary research on adolescents.

Students will read various sources of literature on adolescence, such as empirical journal articles, contemporary parenting books, opinion pieces from popular media, and novels. These sources will provide a background for class discussion and written exploration of the role of adolescents in society. Students will develop their ideas through several short papers (both formal and informal) utilizing a process of peer review, self-assessment, and revision. Students’ ideas will culminate in a formal 8-10 page research paper.

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Writing about Philosophy

The Metaphysics of Christian Belief
Brandon Carey, Department of Philosophy
TR 4:50 - 6:05 CRN 95296

Christian belief raises several independently interesting metaphysical questions. Some arise from claims about the nature of God: Could a being be both all-powerful and all-knowing? Would an all-powerful being have the power to destroy itself? Is it possible for there to be three persons who are nevertheless one being? Others arise from claims about human beings and our relationship to God: Do human beings possess immaterial souls? If there is an omniscient being who knows everything that we will do, are we truly free? Could one being be both human and divine?

In this class, we will consider several of these questions through discussion, group-work, lectures, and writing assignments. Students will learn to extract and evaluate arguments from the text, as well as construct and defend arguments of their own. Through the processes of peer review, self-assessment, and draft revision, students will master the skills necessary for academic writing and put them to use in the writing of several short papers, a research proposal, and an 8-10 page research paper.

Life and Death Moral Issues
Kevin McCain, Department of Philosophy
TR 11:05 - 12:20 CRN 95242

Moral theory is concerned with how we should live our lives. Arguably, the two most momentous moments of one’s life are birth and death. As might be expected there are many significant moral issues concerning these events. This class will investigate some of the central moral issues surrounding life and death. Through writing, we will explore questions such as: Is there a right to life? If so, who has this right? Does the existence or non-existence of this right make abortion morally wrong/morally right? If there is/isn’t a right to life, does this mean there is/isn’t a right to die? If there is a right to die, do physicians have the right to assist a patient in dying? Is the death penalty morally permissible?

During the course of our examination of these moral issues, students will learn to extract and evaluate arguments from various moral philosophy texts, as well as write clear argumentative essays of their own. This will be accomplished through class discussion, peer review, self-assessment, and revision of the student's written work. Writing assignments will include several short papers and an 8-10 page research paper.

Knowledge and Skeptical Puzzles
William Rowley, Department of Philosophy
TR 11:05 - 12:20 CRN 95284

Seeing is believing. But is seeing knowing? Our senses are subject to trickery, illusion, and error. Do we really know that we are not in the Matrix? Can we be certain that our memories were not implanted moments ago by a computer? Skeptics argue both that we cannot answer these questions affirmatively and that our inability to do so undermines all (or many) of our claims to know. In this course we will explore arguments for and arguments against skepticism. In the process we will better understand the nature of knowledge. Arguments for skepticism span the history of philosophy: as early as the debates between the Skeptics and Stoics, through Descartes' Meditations, to the debate between Hume and Reid, and through contemporary philosophy. Drawing texts from this tradition, students will extract and critique arguments, discuss them critically, and learn to craft arguments of their own.

This course will focus on developing critical thinking and academic writing skills through assigned readings, class discussion, several short papers, and one 8-10 page research paper. This process will be supported by peer feedback, self-assessment, and revision.

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Writing about Political Science

Mythology of the Founders
Hardeep Sidhu, Department of English
MW 4:50 - 6:05 CRN 95207

Mark Twain’s definition of a literary classic—“a book which people praise and don’t read”—may well apply to the United States Constitution and the writings of America’s Founding Fathers. Still, politicians, pundits, and the general populace alike often base arguments on the Founders’ supposed intentions. But how accurate are these claims when compared with the actual primary documents? How recognizable are the ideas of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, or Thomas Jefferson in America’s current political discourse? In this course, students will read, discuss, and form arguments about the writings of America’s most prominent revolutionaries and the national mythology that has grown around them in contemporary political rhetoric. By both analyzing and practicing writing, we will consider how and why these figures have been represented, idealized, and even manipulated politically. Some potential topics include the separation of church and state, federal vs. state laws, and immigration policy. Students are expected to work out ideas in class, to articulate their own arguments effectively in formal writing assignments (including an 8-10 page research paper), and to hone revisions using peer feedback and critical self-assessment.

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Extended Courses (105E)

**The Politics of Sport
Tanya Bakhmetyeva, College Writing Program
MW 12:30 - 1:45 CRN 95349
**Students must register for recitation section R 12:30 -1:45 (CRN 95376) when registering for this course**

**Autobiography and Self-Invention
Heidi Bollinger, Department of English
TR 11:05 - 12:20 CRN 95508
**Students must register for recitation section M 11:00 - 11:50 (CRN 95446) when registering for this course**

Ancient Myth and Modern Life
Shane Butterfield, Department of History
MW 3:25 - 4:40 CRN 95387
**Students must register for recitation section F 12:00 - 12:50 (CRN 95577) when registering for this course**

**Seeing in Color: Writing about Race
Kathleen Casey, Department of History
TR 9:40 - 10:55 CRN 95531
**Students must register for recitation section F 12:00 - 12:50 (CRN 95460) when registering for this course**

**Conceptualizing U. S. National Identity from the Revolution to Barack Obama
John Havard, Department of English
TR 9:40 - 10:55 CRN 95471
**Students must register for recitation section M 12:00 - 12:50 (CRN 95513) when registering for this course**

Many have attempted to define a singular U. S. national identity, often invoking the ideals of government by consent of the governed and individual self-determination that inspired the Revolutionary War. Others, though, have argued that such attempts are misguided because the evolving presence of heterogeneous sub-cultural, regional, ethnic, and racial identities in the nation resists assimilation to a cultural norm. This debate has occupied many compelling U. S. intellectuals since the early national period, among them Thomas Jefferson, Frederick Douglass, and Randolph Bourne. It still challenges us today. How are we to understand the implications for the nation of Barack Obama’s election when it seemingly signifies both national solidarity while becoming a lightning rod for national divisiveness along faultlines of race and class? What of globalization, which seemingly marks an end to the nation as traditionally conceived while inspiring intense nationalism in many? In this course, students will develop expository, analytic, and argumentative skills as we test ideas and relate discoveries as we read and write about these and related questions. Our queries will guide discussions and initiate a revision-focused writing process through which students will produce written responses, short writing exercises, peer reviews, self-assessments, three formal essays, and a final eight- to ten-page argumentative research paper.

"Me and My Shadow”: Doublings, Doppelgӓngers, and Uncanny Self-Reflections
Ali McGhee, Department of English
TR 11:05 - 12:20 CRN 95437

**Students must register for recitation section F 12:00 - 12:50 (CRN 95524) when registering for this course**

The doppelgӓnger, or ghostly double, has long had multiple functions in literature and art: it can be a harbinger of ill tidings, a darker reflection of one's true self, or even, with the development of photographic techniques and increasingly sophisticated media, a seductive means of breaking away from traditional space/time boundaries. Our critical conversation will interrogate the doppelgӓnger in all of these guises, beginning with Freud's concept of the uncanny and the story that influenced him so greatly, E.T.A. Hoffman's hallucinatory “The Sandman,” then moving into the explosion of the double as a figure in literature and art. We will read works by authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jorge Luis Borges, and China Mieville. We will also explore how themes of doubling have evolved and manifested in contemporary films, such as Sean Ellis's philosophical horror film, The Broken, and Mamoru Oshii's groundbreaking anime, Ghost in the Shell, and how electronic environments like Second Life are changing our perceptions of identity and our potential for self-transformation. Some of the questions we will explore through our writing include: How do we understand and delimit our individual identities? What makes us unique? Is the double a threatening figure that destabilizes the borders of our selves, or is it a sign of our technological future? Why is this figure so prevalent across genres and cultures? Working with the course material, we will write three short papers and a longer (8-10 page) research paper. The paper-writing process will be revision-intensive, and you will be expected to utilize both self-assessments and peer reviews to further develop your writing and critical thinking skills.

Literacy, Language, and Identity: The Social and Cultural Influences of New Technologies
Liz Tinelli, Warner School of Education
MW 2:00 - 3:15 CRN 95414
**Students must register for recitation section F 12:00 - 12:50 (CRN 95423) when registering for this course**

What are New Literacies? How do new technologies such as gaming software, online social communities, and search engines impact our conceptions of literacy? How do social networking sites use language to influence our perceptions of identity and self? How do they change the ways we engage in socialization and education? This course will examine how different modalities, such as blogs, wikis, and other new technologies have social, cultural, and educational implications. Potential readings may include, for example, James Gee’s Discourse Analysis and Colin Lankshear & Michele Knobel’s New Literacies. In addition to several formal essays and informal papers, the final paper (8-10 pages) will provide a structured experience for students to develop and construct an argument in academic writing, capitalize on all aspects of peer feedback, and learn to become confident in their role as academic writers.

Searching for Whales: Myth, Science, and Ecological Sustainability
Stella Wang, Department of English
TR 12:30 - 1:45 CRN 95409
**Students must register for recitation section M 11:00 - 11:50 (CRN 95361) when registering for this course**
TR 3:25 - 4:40 CRN 95458
**Students must register for recitation section M 10:00 - 10:50 (CRN 95545) when registering for this course**

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WRT 245/ENG 285

Advanced Writing and Peer Tutoring (WRT 245/ENG 285 CRN 49150)
Deborah Rossen-Knill, College Writing Program
TR 9:40 - 10:55 CRN 95605

***permission of department required***

ESOL Speaking & Listening II
Ben Duncan, College Writing Program
TR 9:40 - 10:55 CRN 01273
TR 2:00 - 3:15 CRN 03640

This course builds on WRT 101: ESOL Speaking & Listening I and is designed to help undergraduate non-native speakers of English improve their English oral communication and listening skills in preparation for academic and social interactions at the University. Students will practice taking notes, summarizing, repeating, and critiquing key information from recorded lectures and presentations – with a focus on the discourse most prevalent in undergraduate university courses. Class work will take place both in and out of the classroom, with the collaboration of both native and non-native speakers of English, in both formal and informal settings. Some class time will be devoted to English pronunciation. This class is designed for students with a high-intermediate to advanced level of English speaking and listening skills. Placement by the ESOL Program is required to register for this course.

ESOL Reading & Writing I
Georgianna Sloan, College Writing Program
MW 2:00 - 3:15 CRN 01948
**Students must register for recitation section M 1:00 - 1:50 (CRN 02579) when registering for this course**

MW 4:50 - 6:05 CRN 01284
**Students must register for recitation section M 3:25 - 4:40 (CRN 02598) when registering for this course**

This course is designed to improve undergraduate ESOL students’ English reading and writing competencies. Students will increase comprehension of main and supporting ideas when reading intermediate, factual texts in English. Students will also learn and practice new vocabulary and sentence patterns in written exercises and assignments, as well as build writing fluency by writing frequently in journals and during class. Since critical reading and writing go hand-in-hand, class lessons will center upon the critical analysis and deconstruction of numerous and varied readings. Through these readings, students will be exposed to common linguistic structures and writing techniques, which they will then apply to their own writing. This class is designed for students with a low- to high-intermediate level of English reading and writing skills. Placement by the College Writing Program is required to register for this course. Students must earn a C or better in WRT 103 to register for WRT 104, ESOL Reading and Writing II.

ESOL Reading & Writing II
Catherine Chervenak, College Writing Program
MW 2:00 - 3:15 CRN 03728
**Students must register for recitation section W 1:00 - 1:50 (CRN 03732) when registering for this course**

MW 3:25 - 4:40 CRN 01296
**Students must register for recitation section M 4:50 - 6:05 (CRN 02582) when registering for this course**

This course, which builds on WRT 103: ESOL Reading & Writing I, aims to improve undergraduate ESOL students’ English written communication skills for academic settings. The primary focus of the course is writing, wherein students will improve their knowledge, ability, and comfort in the use of formal disciplinary styles. Students will be introduced to summary, paraphrase, quotation, plagiarism, and the proper integration of their ideas with other texts. Since critical reading and writing go hand-in-hand, class lessons will center upon the critical analysis of numerous selected essays and readings. Through these readings, students will be exposed to common linguistic structures and writing techniques, which they will then apply to their own writing. This class is designed for students with a high-intermediate to advanced level of reading and writing skills. Placement by the College Writing Program is required to register for this course. Students must earn a C or better in WRT 104 to register for WRT 105, Reasoning and Writing in the College.

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