ENGL 087 - Writing Essentials

Credits: 5
LEC hours per week: 5
This course focuses on the composition of well-developed sentences, paragraphs, short essays, and the writing process. Students will develop critical thinking through the use of expository, narrative, critical, analytical, and persuasive writing techniques. Instructors will use the WWCC writing rubric to evaluate competencies and ensure developmental progression. Formerly: ENG 087.
Prerequisite(s): Appropriate placement score for ENGL 087.
Course Outcomes:

Apply writing process concepts.
Create organized, unified, coherent and well-developed paragraphs and short essays.
Demonstrate clarity in writing through good grammar, punctuation, spelling, and manuscript skills in paragraphs.
Use academic writing style in voice, wording, and sentence construction.
Interpret short, college-level texts for key ideas with assistance.
Analyze short, college-level texts for key ideas with assistance.
Use basic information literacy skills, practicing researching outside sources and avoiding plagiarism.
Manage the academic demands of college classes independently.

Course Topics:

This course will cover the following topics (note: this is a representative, not an inclusive, list):
- The writing process and understanding the WWCC writing rubric
- Establishing academic tone in writing
- Reading for the main idea, annotating texts, creating evidence-based claims and summaries
- Finding and employing outside sources as well as simple formatting of in-text citations
- Structuring both the paragraph and the essay as well as employing patterns of organization
- Review of grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation
- Working with writing modes (narrative, expository/argumentative, persuasive)