Course Description

Intro, Required Texts, Basic Requirements, Standard Policies |Hybrid Expository Writing Classes | Goals & Assumptions, Points of Emphasis | Reading, Writing, Revision

Expository Writing (355:101) is the required writing course for all students at Rutgers University in New Brunswick and is usually taken in the first semester. The course is designed to help you learn to work with complex texts that approximate the scholarly approaches and the levels of difficulty that you will encounter in your college studies. To help you test your voice within the various discourses of the academy, English 101 asks you to engage in conversations with essays that are resistant, complex, and sometimes elusive. The course will encourage you to recognize that a text's meaning, in any discipline, is not simply contained in the words on the page but exists through your active participation in the making of knowledge.  By the end of the semester, you will be able to compose an expository essay that reflects your own point of view and demonstrates thoughtful engagement with complex readings of some length.  It is our experience that students who succeed in Expository Writing (even after initial struggles) go on to succeed in all of their courses that require writing.

Required Texts
Because teachers of Expository Writing can now choose between two main texts, you should first go to your class before buying your books (which are available at all University bookstores).

• Miller and Spellmeyer, The New Humanities Reader

• Ruszkiewicz, Friend, and Hairston, Handbook for Writers

• The Writing Program's "Proofreading Guide" (available in Word or PDF) and the Writing Program's "Citation Guide" (also available in Word or PDF)

Basic Requirements
All sections of Expository Writing require the following work of all students:

• Students read a minimum of seven selections from The New Humanities Reader.

• Students write 6 out-of-class essays, including a rough and final draft for each essay. By the term's end, a student's final drafts should total at least 30 typed pages.

• Students make three brief oral presentations in class (see Public Speaking).

• Students take an in-class Final Exam (essay format, graded pass or fail), which they must pass in order to pass the course.

• The lowest passing grade for any essay, and for the course, is a C.

• Students must keep all rough and final drafts in a folder, which teachers will collect for "folder review" twice during the semester.

• Students must demonstrate competence in the development of an argument, in the organization of that argument, in the conventions of citation, and in the writing of clear, correct Standard English.
  

Standard Policies
While individual instructors are free to set course policies, all Writing Program teachers must follow some standard rules:

• Your final grade for the course will reflect on the level of achievement you can sustain (over at least two papers) at the end of the term.  It will not be based on an average of all your grades.

• Attendance at all classes is expected.  After four absences you risk failing the course.  These four absences should cover sickness and documented emergencies.

• Although it is possible to move from one section of 101 to another during the add/drop period, students may not drop Expository Writing.  This is a required course.  If you have any questions about registration policies, you should see the Writing Program Director on your campus or the dean of your college.

• Students must review and abide by the University's code on plagiarism.

• Teachers may penalize late drafts and late papers.

• The lowest passing grade for any essay, and for the course, is a C.

• ALL GRADES ARE SUBJECT TO DEPARTMENTAL REVIEW.