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​​​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.

The First-Year Writing requirements in the Liberal Studies Program comprises the following courses:

Course Title Quarter Hours
WRD 103COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC I4
or WRD 103X COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC I (FOR NON-NATIVE SPEAKERS)
WRD 104COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC II4
or WRD 104X COMPOSITION & RHETORIC II (FOR NON-NATIVE SPEAKERS)

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 AP scores or transfer credit.​​

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.