Indiana University South Bend

Curriculum for entry level writing requirement

W031 - Pre-Composition (3 cr.) - S/F graded.
W130 - Principles of Composition (3 cr.)
W131 - Elementary Composition (3 cr.)
(See Schedule of Classes for times and days.)

In these three courses we study college-level writing as an interpretive activity, using a revision and workshop model. Students read essays and short stories from a number of academic disciplines and cultures, consider the ways the authors account for experience, and compose essays that address some of the complications these texts present. Class members are responsible for reading and rereading, for composing informal responses to texts and to class discussions, for drafting, revising, and editing their own essays, and for responding to the spoken and written words of other class members.

W031- Pre-Composition (3 cr.) S/F graded - PASS/FAIL
PLACEMENT SCORE: 2T

This course prepares students for college writing at the W130 level by focusing on fundamental writing skills in an academic context; in particular, summary, analysis, and synthesis. We will study writing as an interpretive act, organization as the logical progression of ideas, and grammar as the effective conveyance of meaning. Students will learn revision as the thoughtful development of ideas and editing as the direct and accurate presentation of those ideas.

W130- Principles of Composition (3 cr.)
PLACEMENT SCORE: 3
PRE-REQUISITE : pass W031 with a grade of S

In this course, students should become more confident as interpreters of college-level reading and will become well-prepared for W131. Students will also gain a wider range of tools for interpreting academic texts and for developing their ideas in relation to those texts. We will focus on using summary, analysis, and synthesis to produce thoughtful, organized, theory-driven essays, and will continue to work on organizational strategies and effective language use within that context.

W131-Elementary Composition (3 cr.)
PLACEMENT SCORE: 4
PRE-REQUISITE: pass W130 with a grade of C or higher

In this course, students will expand their range of strategies for interpreting academic texts, for developing their ideas in relation to those texts, and for expressing those ideas in thoughtful, organized, theory-driven essays, while continuing to work on the effective organization and presentation of those ideas. W131 addresses these goals at a more challenging level than W130 and also includes an introduction to college-level research writing.

W231 - Professional Writing Skills (3 cr.) (LAS: Second Level Writing)
PRE-REQUISITE: pass W131 with a grade of C or higher.

In this course we study a number of important forms of and approaches to professional writing, using a revision and workshop model. We read examples of professional writing and consider the ways the authors address problems of organization, style, and audience. Class members compose frequently and learn how to evaluate and make improvements to their own drafts by giving detailed feedback for the writing of other class members. Class members are responsible for reading and rereading, for composing informal responses to texts and to class discussions, for drafting and revising documents, and for responding to the spoken and written words of other class members.

By the end of the semester you should be more confident as a writer in professional or business situations. You should have a wider range of tools for shaping a document to meet the particular needs of an audience, persuasively, in a style and form of your own choosing. You will also develop research skills appropriate for professional or business contexts over a series of assignments for a substantial portion of the semester.