EL500: Writing I (0 credits)
Jinjoo Kwak, Adjunct Instructor in ESL
Fall 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
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.