English 111, Composition and Rhetoric, is a writing course focused on principles and practices of rhetoric and composition useful for producing writing that is effective for its purpose, audience, and context. English 111 focuses especially on helping students learn and apply rhetorical knowledge, methods, and strategies; analyze and construct arguments using techniques for rhetorical analysis and inquiry; understand, refine, and improve their composing practices; and develop the intellectual and analytical skills necessary to produce effective writing at the college level. The course emphasizes rhetorical inquiry and invention, promoting critical questioning, exploring, and researching, and teaching skills for planning, analysis, research, and development of ideas for a particular academic or public audience. It also teaches principles of effective organization and style and strategies for revision, editing, and proofreading. A key purpose of the course is to teach students to deliver writing in a variety of contexts, including digitally networked environments.
By the conclusion of ENG 111, students should have met the following outcomes:
Students demonstrate an ability to write effectively for different contexts, audiences, purposes, and genres (particularly academic contexts, audiences, purposes, and genres) and demonstrate their awareness of audiences’ multiple perspectives.
Students engage the composing process using effective strategies for developing ideas; researching topics; producing drafts; revising, peer responding, editing, and proofreading their writing; and delivering their writing via print and electronic media.
Students ask good questions, conduct research-based inquiries, and use invention techniques effectively to explore their own ideas, to engage different perspectives, and to develop findings into sustained arguments or narratives. Students can locate, evaluate, integrate, and cite secondary sources of information effectively and ethically, using appropriate academic citation methods.
Students produce effectively organized writing that is stylistically appropriate and that meets conventional expectations for particular audiences in specific contexts. Student writing shows evidence of careful proofreading and attention to mechanics, appropriate to audience and context.
Students effectively produce, share, and publish their writing using appropriate technologies for production, editing, commenting, delivery, and sharing of files. Students demonstrate critical awareness of the unique affordances and limitations of diverse writing technologies and modalities of communication, both digital and non-digital.
Students apply concepts and terms from the field of rhetoric/composition to reflect critically on their own composing practices and rhetorical decisions, including decisions about the technologies used in the production and reception of their writing.
English 111 is centered around five major writing inquiries — called “inquiries” because of the emphasis in each assignment on critical questioning, rhetorical invention and exploration, and research.
analyzing and reflecting on your beliefs and practices about writing and rhetoric
using rhetorical analysis as a method to analyze a public argument
researching and making a rhetorical argument about a public issue
understanding how the medium affects the message by remediating a previous piece of writing (by changing the medium using digital media and perhaps multi-modality) to present your work to a new audience
exploring how what you learn in English 111 may transfer to other rhetorical contexts
Each inquiry is comprised of a number of components, including class activities, shorter writing assignments, drafts, peer responses, proposals, research notes, reflective writer’s letter, and a major final paper (or the equivalent) for each inquiry. Inquiry #1 might result in a shorter paper (~3-5pages). The other inquiries will result in longer papers (~5-8 pages or the equivalent). At least two of the papers will require that you integrate secondary sources of research. Each of these major projects will require an accompanying Writer’s Letter that asks you to explain your purpose and audience for each assignment; to explain your rhetorical choices and strategies; to reflect on your writing process; to describe what you did in revision, etc. The major assignment for Inquiry #5, the e-portfolio project, asks you to collect, analyze, and reflect on your writing and rhetoric throughout the entire semester.
In English 111 you can expect to produce approximately 50 pages of double-spaced prose or the equivalent (approximate number of words = 12,500). About half of that amount will be the final polished versions of your five major writing assignments; the other half will be inventional and exploratory exercises, short in- and out-of-class writing assignments, blog postings, rough drafts, formal drafts, written peer responses to your classmates’ writing, etc. You should expect to have some written assignment due in every class period over the entire semester — either writing due for class or writing you do in class.
English 104, Writing Studio (Fall, Summer)
English 105, Writing Studio (Spring)
The writing studio course is a one-hour elective that students may take at any point in their academic careers. The purpose of the course is for students to get extra help on their writing in a small group tutoring context. Class size is typically limited to 5-8 students.
In a Writing Studio course, the focus of instruction is the students’ own writings from other courses. The instructor helps students understand writing assignments—e.g., reflect upon specific guidelines, goals, and contexts—and provides advice through the drafting, revision, and editing phases. There are different course section designators for Writing Studio. Although students may enroll in any open sections, “S” sections are intended primarily for students from the Scholastic Enhancement Program, and “I” sections are intended primarily for international students.
For further information about Writing Studio courses, contact the Director of Composition in Bachelor Hall 356A, 513-529-5221.
Students have a range of options to meet the advanced writing requirement. As one option, the composition program offers English 225, an advanced writing course suitable for students from all majors. English 225 (“Advanced” composition) focuses on writing in diverse genres for specific audiences. Students engage in an in-depth research project across the term, integrating sources and methods from multiple academic disciplines. Advanced composition will teach you to analyze how writing strategies and genre conventions differ across academic disciplines and broader communities. Some instructors may choose an interdisciplinary inquiry theme to focus student research and writing while others may guide students in generating their own inquiry questions to spur individual or group research across disciplines.
Committed to excellence in teaching, scholarship, and creative performance, our undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Composition and Rhetoric, Creative Writing, Linguistics, and Literature place this community at the center of liberal arts education at Miami.
