RHET 0310

Composition Fundamentals is a preparatory course within the first-year writing program sequence. Students do not receive credit toward their degree plan hours. The goal of the course is to help students attain the same level of proficiency that is characteristic of students in 1311. Thus, enrolling students in Composition Fundamentals and Composition One during the same semester is designed to ensure their success out of the developmental course.

The course offers intensive writing experiences, including expressive writing, writing from observation, and writing about reading. It also introduces students to the following process-based activities: invention work, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading.

In Composition Fundamentals, students are encouraged to write with a sense of focus and a clearly articulated thesis. Attention is given to the organization and development of writing and also to editing and proofreading for clarity and correctness, given the rhetorical situation for writing.

Small class sizes enable students to benefit from more direct interaction with the instructor. Ideally, students will leave Composition Fundamentals with greater confidence and fluency, with heightened rhetorical awareness, and with process-based strategies that will help them as they write in the future.

Objectives Organized According to WPA Outcomes

Students in Composition Fundamentals should work toward attaining the following objective, which are organized by the WPA Outcomes:

Rhetorical Knowledge

• Learn and use key rhetorical concepts through analyzing and composing a variety of texts
• Match the capacities of different environments (e.g., print and electronic) to varying rhetorical situations

Critical Reading, Thinking and Writing

• Use composing and reading for inquiry, learning, critical thinking, and communicating in various rhetorical contexts

Processes

• Use composing processes and tools as a means to discover and reconsider ideas
• Learn to give and to act on productive feedback to works in progress
• Reflect on the development of composing practices and how those practices influence their work

Knowledge of Conventions

• Develop knowledge of linguistic structures, including grammar, punctuation, and spelling, through practice in composing and revising

Use these outcomes to plan the development of both mini assignments and major writing tasks. Think; what are the outcomes; ask; what objectives (goals) can I create to meet the outcomes, and finally, develop artifacts (assignments) that will enable students to demonstrate their learning.