Name: Paul Cook
Date published: 2021
Course level: First year
Course title: ENG-W 131: Reading, Writing, & Inquiry I
Course description: ENG-W 131 is your introduction to college writing. In this course, which is also one of your general education (or “GenEd”) requirements, we will learn about an ancient area of study known as “rhetoric,” or the art of using words, images, voice, and other tools to shape persuasive, effective language in any situation, written or oral (i.e., spoken). You will also read provocative essays and be exposed to ideas that challenge you—likely in more ways than one. With your colleagues in class, in Canvas, and in Zoom, we will discuss challenging ideas and how to respond to them in writing and in class discussions. Each of you will build and collaborate on “media projects”—there are three in all—in which you will put to use your developing skills in crafting effective messages in a variety of media. You will also learn about revision, not merely as a superficial practice of cleaning up typos, but as a holistic practice of “re-seeing” your own work in ways that will help you not only produce a better product, whether a research proposal, a PowerPoint, or a podcast, but also develop as a writer over the long haul. This is what it’s all about. Learning to write, like any other skill, requires regular, repeated practice in order to improve; in this regard, it is not unlike developing as an athlete or musician.
Course philosophy/motivation: https://paulgcook.org/2021/06/11/the-new-eng-w-131-fall-2020/