ENGL 1101/13

Welcome to ENGL 1101/13, College Composition I! This website contains information on College Composition I learning outcomes, policies, textbooks and more.

College Composition I focuses on skills required for effective reading, writing and research in a variety of contexts with particular emphasis on exposition, analysis, argumentation and research skills. While ENGL 1102/14 provides more extensive instruction in library research in a disciplinary context (including the use of databases), ENGL 1101/13 will introduce you to college-level researched argument.

Course overview

College Composition I consists of several important parts, which include the following:

• College-level reading: Analysis, evaluation and synthesis. As a college student, you will do more than soak up information passively. You will learn to analyze, evaluate and write about the many readings assigned by your instructor and relate them to your developing understanding of yourself and the world.
• College-level writing: Learning composing processes. In many college courses, you will find that writing is an integral part of the learning process. Your first step toward writing on a college level is to learn the series of steps writers take when working from an initial idea or question toward a finished essay. To learn these processes, you will be writing at least two revised multiple-draft essays. Also, because college students often find it necessary to go through these steps quite quickly (for example, in essay questions on exams), you will learn to write timed in-class essays (these are essays written entirely within the 50 minutes of a regular class period).
• College-level thinking: Mastering logic and language. Good logic is fundamental to all college-level reading and writing. You will study strategies that published writers have used to make their points, and you will analyze their logic. You will also explore ways to analyze and improve the logic of your own essays. Finally, you will develop your vocabulary and heighten your sensitivity to the complex ways that people use language to express themselves.
• College-level research: Learning how to conduct field, library and electronic research. At least one of the essays you write will require research. By using research, you will be able to support your ideas with more authority, data and examples. You will have special instruction and support in doing online research, and in some classes, you may publish your own documents on the World Wide Web or participate in web chats with your classmates about the essays you are reading. Many of the supplementary resources for this course are located online as well, and your instructor will show you how to access this information.

College Composition I is based upon nationally approved learning outcomes. These outcomes describe the rhetorical, critical thinking, reading, writing and research skills you should possess upon completing the course. Check elsewhere on this site for specific course policies and requirements.

College Composition resources

To help you succeed in this course, Georgia Regents University provides tutorial help at the Writing Center in University Hall 235. The Writing Center provides one-on-one consultation sessions with experienced tutors. Confer with your instructor about which aspects of your writing might benefit from extra attention in Writing Center consultations. Whether you are having difficulties or doing well in this course, we recommend that you take advantage of the Writing Center’s services.

The Supplemental Instruction Program offers workshops and tutorials for students in College Composition; this instruction is meant to add to the instruction you receive in the course. Please visit the SIP website for more details.

If you have a disability that requires accommodation in this course, please contact Testing and Disability Services in Galloway Hall as soon as possible for information on the documentation procedure. Call (706) 737-1469 or visit their website.

If you write an essay in this course that you consider particularly strong, please ask your instructor about Choice Voice, our online journal of student writing. This website features essays judged as the best examples of student writing produced in College Composition courses. Both process-written and timed essays are published in Choice Voice.

Finally, we want to emphasize a very important point: we are genuinely committed to providing you with the best possible instruction and practice with writing. College Composition I is not an easy course, but your instructors and the College Composition Program will support you to the best of our ability. If you have any questions about the course, please feel free to contact Mike Garcia, the Director of the College Composition Program, at mgarcia7@aug.edu.