EN101 and EN102 are courses in composition and rhetoric which have the goal of helping students become capable college-level writers and readers, better able to meet the demands of their college courses and better equipped to see relationships among writing, reading, thinking, learning, and functioning as human beings.

To work towards this goal, students must read, write and analyze a variety of texts. EN101 and EN102 emphasize expository writing because that is the kind most used in college and at jobs; but they also include narratives, personal essays, arguments, research papers, responses to literary works, and informal writing such as journals.

In these courses, students should learn to develop their own processes as writers, to perceive relationships between reading and writing, to use information from others honestly and effectively to respect format requirements, to see the importance of audience and context, and to become more aware of the powers of language.

ENGLISH 101 emphasizes the processes through which good writing is produced; characteristics of different kinds of writing; elements of organization~ and the importance of specific, relevant examples in expository writing; summarizing; and the responsible use of sources.

ENGLISH 102 emphasizes writing based on research; research processes; gathering, evaluating, and presenting evidence; academic formats; analysis; and principles of argument, logic, persuasion, and semantics.

ENGLISH 101 Students:

In order to pass EN101, you must be able:

1. to write finished short essays with time both in and out of class to develop, draft, revise, edit, and proofread. These papers will be completed in the manuscript form designated on the English Composition Folder.

2. to write acceptable short essays in class and in testing situations with limited time for planning and revising.

3. to read college-level material: summarize articles, essays or chapters to show comprehension; and outline articles, essays, or chapters to show structure.

4. to incorporate source material into your essays to give them substance and context.

5. to avoid plagiarism when using information from sources other than yourself, by introducing and citing appropriately.

6. to understand these important patterns of thought and organization: narration, description, comparison, analogy, contrast, division, classification, cause, effect, process, definition, induction, and deduction. Your instructor will assign a variety of reading and writing assignments dealing with all of these patterns.

English 102 Students:

In order to pass EN102, you must be able:

1. to complete an undergraduate-level research project from the formulation of a research question to the submission of a paper dealing with the question, well-finished in MLA, APA or other specified, current academic format.

2. to integrate ideas from others with your own thinking in research papers and in other kinds of writing, using various acceptable methods of attribution and always avoiding plagiarism.

3. to use sound strategies of argument and good logic in our writing.

4. to analyze some uses of argumentive, persuasive, logical, and literary techniques so that you can see how others try to affect you and so you can better communicate in writing by using effective strategies.

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GUIDELINES FOR GRADING EXPOSITORY ESSAYS

The grades given papers will reflect the writer's control over language in a given developmental, rhetorical, or analytical process is. Grades on finished expository papers will reflect the following elements:

a. Clear control of the subject stated in a thesis or major inference statement.

b. Control of ideas through a logically formulated and well developed outline.

c. Logical arrangement of ideas; effective paragraph division and structure.

d. Adequately,, developed paragraphs; substantial and appropriate evidence.

e. Effective sentence variety in length, type, and beginnings; thoughtful subordination and coordination within sentences; and accurate predication.

f. Appropriateness and accuracy of diction.

g. Manuscript form, mechanics, and use of standard written English.

h. Appropriate length (within the guidelines set by the instructor.)

Although judging a paper is bound to be a somewhat individual matter depending on the emphasis given in the assignment. certain commonly held standards can be set forth:

o An 'A' paper is substantial, well developed, and effectively organized and presented. It usually demonstrates substantial or original Ideas; thoughtful engagement with content; and sensitivity to diction, tone, and style. Sentences are well-structured, clear, and precise. An 'A' paper is well-formatted and virtually error-free.

o A 'B' paper contains a number of the strengths of an A paper, but it often lacks the thoughtfulness, originality, sensitivity, and full development of the superior paper. In some instances, a 'B' grade is given to a potential 'A' paper marred by minor errors in mechanics.

o A 'C' paper shows an understanding of the assignment and is reasonably well organized. The writer communicates ideas and is fairly successful in developing a thesis. There is no evidence of habitually-made, serious mechanical problems. The thought and expression, however, are usually undistinguished. In some instances, a 'C' grade might be given to a potential paper marred by errors in mechanics.

o A 'D' paper usually contains such weal weaknesses as poor organization, lack of development, or failure to focus on a thesis. In some instances, a 'D' grade may be given to a potential 'C' paper marred by some serious errors in mechanics.

o An 'F' paper usually shows some of the following weaknesses: failure to deal with the assignment, lack of thesis, lack of organization, failure to develop ideas, or failure to conform to the assigned length. An 'F' paper often contains numerous problems with one or more of the following:

a. sentence structure: garbled or non-English syntax, run-on or fused sentences, fragments, comma splices, shifted constructions, faulty predication, dangling or misplaced modifiers

b. verb forms

c. agreement: subject-verb, pronoun-antecedent d. punctuation e. spelling f. manuscript form

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