ENG 021 English as a Second Language

This course, for students for whom English is not a native language, develops vocabulary, reading, and writing skills. It does not satisfy the English composition requirement. Grade: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory.

ENG 022 Introduction to College Composition

This is an introductory writing course designed to increase students’ writing proficiency to the level required in ENG 023 which fulfills the General Education writing requirement. ENG 022 focuses on the writing process and provides an introduction to critical thinking and analytical writing. A variety of genres are covered in this course, including letters, proposals, reviews, personal narratives, persuasive essays, reports, and critical analysis essays. Instructors assign some but not all of the above genres, and there is a possibility of other writing forms being included. Readings are assigned to provoke discussions, provide opportunities for the analysis and synthesis of arguments, and finally to generate essay topics. Particular attention is paid to the improvement of essential composition skills, including the ability to generate ideas, create a focus and argument in an essay, and develop paragraphs. In addition, the mechanics of writing, which may include diction, grammar, syntax, usage, and structure, are reviewed as deemed necessary. This course meets for three hours per week and carries 3 units of credit.

ENG 023 College Composition

A review of the basic English language skills, together with extensive experience in reading and writing expository essays. ENG 023 is a prerequisite for all upper-division English courses. Unless the high school record indicates unusual proficiency in writing, students are to take ENG 023 during their freshman year. (The University Writing Center, staffed by trained peer tutors and faculty volunteers, is open daily to any students desiring assistance in developing their writing skills.)

ENG 025 Honors Composition

A first course within the Honors Program that focuses on critical reading, writing, and thinking within the arts and sciences. Satisfactory completion of this course fulfills the university requirement in composition and the prerequisite for all other upper-division writing courses. This course does not replace ENG 230. (Note: students who have successfully completed ENG 023 should not enroll in this course.)

ENG 230 Advanced Composition

Advanced experience in writing provided through the preparation of articles, reviews, digests, and critical papers employing narrative, expository, descriptive, and argumentative techniques. PREREQUSITE: ENG 023 or its equivalent.

ENG 260 – Issues in Composition and Rhetoric Studies

This course provides undergraduate students an introduction to the history, traditions, issues, problems, and debates of Composition and Rhetoric Studies. Despite its long history and growing influence in academia, many students of English are unfamiliar with the depth and breadth of the field of Composition and Rhetoric. It is the goal of this course to familiarize undergraduate students with the historical development of Composition and Rhetoric Studies and the shape of the filed today. This course will include inquiry into the major theoretical, professional and disciplinary issues and challenges of the field. The course also provides an introduction to research methods and resources in Composition and Rhetoric, as well as experience writing academically in and about Comp / Rhet Studies.
Prerequisites: English 023 or 025.

ENG 274 – Women, Writing and Rhetoric

While the spoken and written word have long been studied for their rhetorical intent and success, this study has been conducted primarily through a male lens. As such, women’s contributions to rhetoric throughout history, like so many other aspects of women’s experience, have yet to be fully explored. Women, Writing, and Rhetoric seeks to expand the study of rhetoric with a multi-layered consideration of how rhetoric has been informed by, and informs, a female consciousness. This is an elective course for English majors, Women’s Studies minors, and those seeking a concentration in Composition, Rhetoric, and Literacy Studies.
Prerequisites: ENG 023, 025, or equivalent.

ENG 316 Rhetoric, Democracy, Advocacy

The connection between rhetoric and democracy is an old one dating back to the origins of both concepts in Western traditions.  Simply put rhetoric—the skilled use of argument and persuasive discourse—and democracy were seen as ways to replace violence as the primary means of governing and resolving conflict. This course argues that the intimate connections between rhetoric and democracy are critical to retain and reclaim for the health of democratic society and culture. American democracy has been defined not only by its institutions and Constitutional frameworks, but also by vibrant traditions of citizenship advocacy that have relentlessly stretched the boundaries of democratic freedoms, identities, and protections. A healthy democracy requires citizen advocates who are skilled in the analysis of public discourse and the rhetoric of advocacy. This course will be a sustained study of the theory and practice of advocacy rhetoric, primarily in the American context. In addition, this course will raise practical questions about what citizenship advocacy means in a context of increasing globalization and new media. PREREQUSITE: ENG 023 or its equivalent.

ENG/SPE 335 – The Rhetoric of Literature

Cooperative investigation of the relationships between literature and rhetoric. Selected works of major literary figures will be examined with reference to their persuasive power and their ability to produce attitude change. PREREQUSITE: ENG 023 or its equivalent.

ENG 430 – Rhetorical Traditions/Contemporary Renditions

This course studies the histories of rhetoric as well as contemporary intersections and applications across disciplines. Depending on the particular interests of the professor, one or more specific area(s) such as media, popular culture, sciences, feminisms and gender studies, composition studies, literary theories, literacies, global issues, pedagogy, arts, and political discourse, will be chosen for a more detailed study. Critical to the course are the writing assignments that allow students to examine issues in more depth and explore alternative rhetorical stances and situations.

ENU 405 – Teaching Writing

This course focuses on the roots of composition in classical rhetoric, research into composition problems and devices and techniques that lead to effective instruction in composition.