EL500: Writing I
(0 credits)
Jinjoo
Kwak, Adjunct Instructor in ESL
Spring 2004 Pasadena
DESCRIPTION:
This course is a
practical workshop on how to write one of the most important types of writing
in an American seminary: the academic essay. Students develop basic skills in
the writing process--from prewriting, organization, development, to revision
and editing. In addition, students learn how to construct the three most common
essay formats: expository essay, summary-analysis essay, and persuasive-argumentative
essay. Step by step, students write and read and rewrite to gain the confidence
to do competent academic work, the skills to write well, and the eye to refine
writing. Ultimately, students learn and practice principles of producing good
writing that meet the expectations of an academic audience in terms of content,
form, and language. This 10-week course prepares students to advance their
writing skills from essay formats to longer (research) papers.
LEARNING
OUTCOMES:
• Demonstrate the process and skills of academic writing:
prewriting, organization, development, revision, and editing
• Write and revise paragraphs and essays that explain a topic, evaluate written
material, and argue an opinion about a controversy
• Demonstrate skills in writing essays under timed “exam” conditions
• Become an informed, independent reader of one’s own writing, with an ability
to improve one’s own writing proficiency
COURSE
FORMAT:
This class adopts a
workshop approach to learning. Thus, students learn through lectures, class
discussion, small group work, mini-conferences between teacher and student,
peer activities, and individual “hands-on” practice in writing. Reading and
grammar are addressed in the context of writing; that is, reading and grammar
exercises focus only on those issues that are directly related to the
production of written English. Both “timed” first drafts and revised, final
papers reflect the kinds of writing tasks common in seminary.
REQUIRED
READING:
Reid, Joy M. The
Process of Composition. (2nd edition) Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall
Regents, 1988.
RECOMMENDED
READING:
Fuchs, Marjorie, and Margaret Bonner. Grammar Express. White Plains, NY:
Longman, 2001.
Reinhart, Susan. Test Your Grammar. Ann
Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1985.
Core, Deborah. The Seminary Student
Writes. St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2000.
An English or bilingual college dictionary.
An English thesaurus.
ASSIGNMENTS:
This noncredit course
is “Satisfactory” or “Not Satisfactory.” Students sharpen their writing skills
in paragraphs, essays, and timed writing. Students in EL500 complete the course
goals and assignments listed in the syllabus.
PREREQUISITES:
None.
RELATIONSHIP
TO CURRICULUM: Meets partial requirements to advance within the ESL Program
FINAL
EXAMINATION: ESL Exit Exam.