The First-Year Writing Program, a unit within the department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse, provides courses to nearly all university students. The goal of First-Year Writing is to help students learn to read and write critically within the context of the university and to prepare them for reading and writing in the world beyond.
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Identify and use key rhetorical concepts, including purpose, audience, and context, through analyzing and composing a variety of texts.
- Integrate critical thinking, reading, and writing.
- Reflect on and develop their own writing processes.
- Appropriately apply knowledge of linguistic structures, genre, and citation.
Writing Expectations
Each section of WRD 103 is expected to meet the following minimum requirements for student work:
- Amount of Writing: students will write at least four finished papers, each of which will be approximately 750 to 1000 words long.
- Drafting and Revising: students will submit preliminary drafts of at least two of their papers for the instructor's review and comment, so that some weight in the final grade is given to the student's skill in developing and revising his or her writing.
- Basic Standards: students will not receive a grade of C- or better if their finished work repeatedly fails to conform to certain basic standards (see Part V: Grading)
Each section of WRD 104 is expected to meet the following minimum expectations for student work:
- Amount of Writing: students will write at least twelve to fifteen pages of finished material for the course, including at least one formal documented research paper at least six pages (1500 words) long.
- Summarizing and Paraphrasing: students will learn and practice strategies of summarizing and paraphrasing other texts as part of or in the context of preparing the research paper.
- Library Resources: students will complete an exercise in using the resources and technology of the library.
- Drafting and Revising: students will submit preliminary drafts of at least part of their work for the instructor's review and comment, so that some weight in the final grade is given to the student's skill in developing and revising his or her writing.
- Basic Standards: students will not receive a grade of C- or better if their finished work repeatedly fails to conform to certain basic standards (see Part V: Grading).
The First-Year Writing requirements in the Liberal Studies Program comprises the following courses:
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| WRD 103 | COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC I | 4 |
| or WRD 103X | COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC I (FOR MULTILINGUAL WRITERS) | |
| WRD 104 | COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC II | 4 |
| or WRD 104X | COMPOSITION & RHETORIC II (FOR MULTILINGUAL WRITERS) | |
Students must earn a C- or better in WRD 103 and WRD 104 (or WRD 103X and WRD 104X). Some students may be required to take preparatory writing classes before being eligible to enroll in WRD 103 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC I, while other students may have one or both FYW courses met by test scores or transfer credit.