College Writing Program
Criteria for satisfying the primary writing requirement
with a course other than WRT 105
Please note: WRT 105 was formerly CAS 105.
(A) Essay Features
- The essay includes
- a clear question or problem,
- a clear thesis,
- successful organization, including an effective introduction and conclusion, well- structured paragraphs, topic clarity, logical flow, transitions within and between paragraphs,
- a balance of summary and critical analysis, and
- appropriate attribution and citation of source material.
(B) Strength of Argument
- The essay
- identifies an interesting question or problem,
- engages a debatable thesis,
- evaluates sources and supports an argument with appropriate evidence,
- engages sources in a dialogue and differentiates between the writer’s and sources’ ideas,
- demonstrates awareness of other perspectives and engages those perspectives, while ensuring the writer’s perspective guides the text,
- uses paragraphs to advance the argument (as opposed to reiterating ideas).
(C) Language Use
-
The essay
- uses standard American edited English appropriate to the genre of academic writing,
- and makes sentence-level choices appropriate for the essay's audience and purpose: this would include, for example, choices about vocabulary, sentence structure, sentence length, and degree of concision.
(D) Critical Awareness of One’s Own Writing
- The student demonstrates awareness of his/her strengths and weaknesses as a writer.
- The student articulates and provides a rationale for writing choices and/or revision.