Course Information

Recommended for Transfer Students - 01:355:201 Equivalent

COURSE DESCRIPTION.

College Writing and Research (01:355:301) is designed to meet the needs of transfer students who have received credit for Expository Writing 101 at another institution but who need to take an upper level writing course at Rutgers University. Most transfer students enter the University with credit for at least one, if not two, semesters of composition. Their previous courses, however, may have emphasized different skills from those we emphasize at Rutgers. The first half of the course covers the skills necessary to compose expository essays that define a project and that demonstrate thoughtful engagement with complex readings, which are the goals of 101. The second half of the course, comparable to 201, develops these skills further through research and writing on a specific project related to issues discussed in the first half of the semester. In three successively longer and more complex drafts of a research paper, students use independent research to analyze their topics and to revise their arguments to produce an analytical essay that engages with the text and involves substantial research.

TEXTS.

• A course packet available for purchase at Pequod.

• Prentice Hall Reference Guide to Grammar and Usage, Muriel Harris.

 COURSE REQUIREMENTS.

• A reading requirement of a minimum of four selections from the course reader and at least five additional texts from the student’s own research.
• Two five-page papers in the first half of the course, for a minimum of ten typed pages of graded work.
• A formal research proposal with an accompanying research log and/or annotated bibliography, for a minimum of five pages of graded work.
• A research essay of eight to ten pages (2000-2500 words), using a minimum of six substantive sources. These include a maximum of two in-class texts and a minimum of four sources found through independent research.
• Two drafts and a final revision of the research essay, all typed.
• A folder for all rough and final drafts, proposal, and annotated bibliography or research log, which teachers will collect at mid-term and at the end of the term for folder review.
• Active participation in class discussion and peer group work.

STANDARD POLICIES.

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

• The final grade for the course will reflect the level of achievement the student can sustain at the end of the term. It will not be based on an average of all the grades.
• Attendance at all classes is expected. After four absences, which include absences for sickness and documented emergencies, the student risks failing the course.
• Students must review and abide by the University’s code on plagiarism. Teachers should report cases of suspected plagiarism to a Writing Program director.
• 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.

Topics:

• Autobiography

• The Culture of Work

• The Environment

• Gender in American Society

• Internet Cultures

• Media and Society

• Women and Autobiography

Course Coordinator:

• Skiles Howard, Lucy Stone Hall, Room B104E

• Phone: 732-445-5657

• email: skiles.howard@rutgers.edu