enl 131
   

ENL 131-07
T/R 9:55 - 11:10 am
Briggs 247
Class page

ENL 131 is a course designed to introduce first year students to college writing. By college writing, I mean that in this course you will work on developing an argument, supporting the argument with details, organizing the argument, and presenting the argument in a way as to convince your readers to believe what you claim.

The "theme" of this course will be literacy and identity. Since writing is directly tied to how we typically think of literacy (often understood as the ability to read and write), we'll think about what literacy means (or might mean) in our current culture dominated by high-tech gadgetry, electronic know-how, and the Internet.
But literacy also affects how we perceive ourselves. We don't just learn to read or write. The tools we communicate with affect how we name ourselves, see ourselves in relation to our culture, and consider ourselves members of a given society.
To this end, we'll use the semester to explore literacy and identity by working on an autobiography project through which we will define our own notions of literacy. Malcolm X's The Autobiography of Malcolm X will serve as a model for how literacy shapes identity.

This class will be treated as a writing workshop. That means we'll do a lot of writing (even if we only have three major assignments) and we'll do a lot of reading of each other's work. Be prepared to participate in a workshop environment.

  • Come to class ready to talk and engage in conversation
  • Be open to critique of your work
  • Be open to critiquing others' work
  • Always come prepared

    To do well in this class, you have to come with a willingness to spend time working through ideas. In the past, you may have approached writing assignments as "last-minute" things to do. You sit down before the computer the night before, type up whatever comes to mind, and hit "print." In this class, you'll be asked to change that way of thinking. We'll look at writing as a process which involves a great deal of thinking, discussion with other writers, many setbacks, many bright moments, and many revisions. Our focus will be the workshop, which means we will spend a good deal of time sitting together and going over what we have written.

    Consequently, we'll spend a considerable amount of time workshopping ideas, getting feedback from each other, and discussing why and how we are approaching a given assignment. We'll use electronic resources like e-mail and the Web in order to work on our writing. Even though you will work with computers in this class, you don't need any prior knowledge of the computing resources we will use. Everything you need to know, you will learn in class.

    For some of you, these resources will present new ways to write. You should not, however, let the "newness" of anything we do in this class discourage you or frustrate you. Everything I ask you to do (and I hope you ask each other to do) is meant to help you work on your writing.

    Remember, part of taking a course in the university is to study content (what the course is about).
    In this course that is true. But the other thing we will work on is method: how to do something. No doubt this method will be new to you. I ask that you allow yourself to work with the method. Be as open to a different way of writing as you would be to the writing itself.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    		•