English 101 Course Description

Catalog Description:

The 2001-2002 Calvin College Catalog describes English 101 as one of three core courses that "assure a skill in a basic competency" (32). The English Department provides this catalog description of English 101:

Written Rhetoric (3). F and S, core.

Students write several expository essays in which they practice rhetorical strategies, research-based argumentation, and methods of composing effective prose. In the process of writing these essays, students consider language as a means of discovering truth about God, the world, and themselves; and they explore its potential to communicate truth and, thereby, to transform culture.

Expanded Course Description:

This course serves as an introduction to a liberal arts education and as a foundation for the college's Academic Writing Program. In this course, students complete five to seven essays, at least one of which involves a significant research component; numerous reading and informal writing assignments; a grammar exam; and a final exam. By reading their own writing and the writing of others critically, students learn that effective reading provides the foundation for effective writing, they practice adapting rhetorical strategies to a variety of audiences and purposes, and they recognize that language can serve as a powerful tool for redeeming creation. In short, students are challenged to celebrate God's gift of literacy, to think critically about their world, to respond thoughtfully to the work of others, and to communicate clearly and ethically in their own writing.

Outline of the course:

Instructors of English 101 organize the sequence of writing assignments to match their pedagogy. However, each section of English 101 includes the following:

1. Christian perspective on written rhetoric: Because English 101 instructors value the ways that writing helps us learn and enables us to participate in God's on-going redemptive work, instructors encourage students to respect the power of writing and its potential to foster evil as well as good. Instructors challenge students to equip themselves for lives of Christian service by helping them develop a keen eye for analyzing the written texts of others and a trustworthy voice for communicating effectively in their own writing.
2. Rhetorical principles: Students learn the rhetorical principles that shape their writing. They explore the relationship of author, audience, and text such as the elements of the rhetorical situation, the rhetorical appeals, methods of logical argumentation, organizational patterns, and stylistic devices.
3. Expository essays (5-7): In writing essays, students apply rhetorical principles to writing tasks, learning to refine a thesis; to develop supporting points, introductions, and conclusions; and to choose an effective format. Students develop reliable composing processes, the invention and revision strategies that will help them write efficiently and effectively. And they learn editing skills that produce clarity, grace, and correctness in their writing.
4. Informal writing assignments: In informal writing assignments, students develop ideas by writing about them. Examples of informal writing assignments include journals, extemporaneous essays, reading summaries, research annotations, and web-based discussion groups.
5. Argumentation: Students learn rhetorical principles that govern argumentation in written texts, analyze the arguments in the written texts of others, and produce their own written arguments. Students learn to respect the power of written argumentation, its capacity to communicate truth (to promote peace and to encourage justice, for example) as well as to corrupt truth (to defile and to lie, for example).
6. Research-based writing: Students develop their research skills in the context of complex writing tasks: They learn to integrate the rhetorical demands of the argument and the available data, they assess the validity and truthfulness of data, and they learn to use the words and ideas of others ethically and effectively.
7. Reading assignments: By analyzing the written words of others, students learn to value writing as an effective means of conveying information and as a powerfully persuasive tool. When reading in English 101, students consider the rhetorical consequences of such features as an author's argumentative strategies, genre selection, and stylistic choices.
8. Language study: By exploring issues such as diction, usage, and sentence structure, students come to understand the importance of fitting thought to expression. Recognizing that familiarity with the conventions of written English will improve their writing, students review grammar and usage, paying special attention to issues that affect their ability to communicate clearly in formal written texts. Students demonstrate their comprehension of grammar, punctuation, and usage in a 100-item exam.

Place in the Curriculum/Rationale

This course will help students think of written rhetoric as part of a creation that was created good, that was utterly corrupted by sin, and that is redeemed in Christ. When analyzing written texts, students will experience the sin-saturated nature of unredeemed use of written language; that is, they will see first-hand how writers can abuse the beauty of language to disguise its message and how writers can muddle written language to mask truth. As well, students will read texts that respect the truth about a subject, that honor the need of their readers, and that value elegance of expression. In English 101, students use these characteristics of excellent writing as a standard by which to judge their own written efforts. Additionally, in English 101, students learn to write in ways that encourage both writer and readers to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with their God, and they learn writing skills that will equip them for lives of service to their creator. Students will apply the skills of written rhetoric to the writing they do in the rest of their academic careers and after they graduate. We hope that on the job and as leaders in the community our students will write honoring God's on-going work in our world.

In this course, students will gain knowledge of the rhetorical principles that shape both perception and production of written texts. These students learn the philosophical perspectives that govern scholarly analysis of writing, such as the pervasiveness of persuasive aims, definitions of the audience role, and the goals of argumentation. In this way, students recognize the intellectual traditions that inform their use of written texts. Some instructors include additional content in theme-driven or linked courses so that students can apply this rhetorical knowledge to other knowledge areas and, through this application, can experience the ways that rhetorical knowledge and other knowledge areas influence each other.

In this course, students also develop several core skills. Analyzing the written texts of others, they build a discipline of reading. They develop knowledge of and experience in the rhetoric of the written word through text analysis and their own production of the expository essays, informal writing assignments, argumentation, and language study. In discussing theories of argumentation, in analyzing the arguments of others, and in developing their own arguments, students develop the general art of reasoning. In exploring the words and ideas of others to support research-based writing students develop the art of executing a research project.

English 101 directly encourages the core virtues in three ways: by promoting creativity, by demanding excellence, and by fostering a sense of service. First, promoting creativity, English 101 instructors guide students as they craft written texts that please as well as persuade and as they invent novel logical connections such as analogies and metaphors. Second, building on the message of Malachi 1, English 101 instructors encourage students to bring their best efforts before the Lord. The conjunction of this encouragement, a process-based pedagogy, and the inherent difficulty of writing well promotes the virtues of diligence, patience, and humility. As students work and rework essays to clarify their thesis, to better integrate their research, or to enhance the loveliness of a passage, they learn to persevere. Furthermore, in researching and in representing the words and ideas of others, students learn to write in a way that honors the virtue of honesty. Third, English 101 prepares students to use their skills in written rhetoric to restore our fallen creation. Working through the challenges of writing redemptively, students practice the virtues of empathy and charity. Students must recognize that the challenges of writing redemptively will draw them into potentially uncomfortable situations, situations that require stewardly use of their writing skills. And we must encourage them that the virtues of courage and hope will enable them meet these challenges.

Calvin's Writing Program:

Overview of the academic program

English 101 at Calvin College:

History

Current Practice:

Course Description

Course Philosophy

Course Goals

Faculty Statements

Characteristics of Good Writing