Night Elf Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 What is the content of the first year English courses? Ds is beginning to have questions about college. He still has another year at home. He hates creative writing and doesn't work well under pressure. Are the English courses all creative writing? Is it likely that long essays may be assigned to be written during the class period? My first English courses were 26 years ago and I don't remember much except writing an essay on my disastrous honeymoon and the teacher giving me an A and writing 'I'm sorry' on my paper. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 My first year were all composition, no creative writing, no grammar, no lit. First semester was rhetoric, second was research writing. My teacher didn't use a specific text. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Our first required English course in the sequence is Exposition and Argumentation - Practice in college level essay writing. The second required course is Writing And Research - Practice in techniques of analytical writing and in methods of research. In addition, at least one literature course is required for all majors. Creative writing can be an elective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 What is the content of the first year English courses? Ds is beginning to have questions about college. He still has another year at home. He hates creative writing and doesn't work well under pressure. Are the English courses all creative writing? Is it likely that long essays may be assigned to be written during the class period? My first English courses were 26 years ago and I don't remember much except writing an essay on my disastrous honeymoon and the teacher giving me an A and writing 'I'm sorry' on my paper. :) I'm off my tablet now, so I'll add more. I would look up colleges and specific teachers. My teacher did not use the text for the rhetoric that everyone else did (everything's an argument is the default text for our university). I picked my instructor simply because he was the only online section for the semester. It worked out good for me because he seems to do things differently. He eased people into writing essays, not as slowly as a remedial class, but it didn't have to be perfect off the bat. Grammar was expected. You had to really read what he was asking for, read his feedback, and seek additional help if necessary. I would look for a teacher that can provide consistent feedback and not just a letter grade. Average essays were 500 to 750 words minimum. Learning to cite is important, how to cite different kinds of sources, how to paraphrase correctly, how to use attribution with source material correctly. These were all things we had to do. We did a lot with source material for the second semester. Knowing how to structure a sentence well helps. Knowing where to make paragraph breaks helps. Knowing what is plagiarism, even unintentional stuff helps. Something like The Little Brown Handbook came in very handy. Knowing how to use transition words to make your sentences flow well. Knowing grammar enough to recognize subject and verb in long complex sentences. Another issue is knowing how to write what the teacher wants - in any class not just English. I had a hard time writing for my history teacher this year, I always seemed to miss the mark on what he wanted. After a meeting with my English teacher, I found part of my error and ended up with my highest essay grade of the year on my final. The bottom line is I read my syllabus carefully, I read and highlighted every assignment for the specifics the teacher wanted at that time. I read feedback carefully and then went back to the assignment so I understood what he was writing about. I asked for clarification in necessary. My freshman history class required a 10 page research paper with footnotes, we didn't cover those in English and you know how long it's been since I did footnotes? We hand wrote reports last time I had done footnotes. Knowing how to do those would be good, because it might not be the English writing that throws him, it could be another class. So, formatting is important to know too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Requirements and quality will vary WIDELY from school to school -- and even from teacher to teacher within the same school (we have seen that first hand here). ETA -- I see I cross-posted with Elegant Lion's second post, which is VERY helpful -- DO look at syllabi for specific instructors to see what is required. EL brings up some great tips on how to be successful with writing, not only in the standard 101 and 102 type of classes -- but solid essay and research writing with citations which will be required for lots of other classes -- any of the gen. ed. classes in the Humanities and Social/Behavioral Sciences, and others as well, so it's critical to get a good handle on understanding exactly what the instructor is looking for in the paper; supporting your points; and use of citations and format -- just as EL said. Also check www.ratemyprofessors.com for student reviews for a very general idea if the instructor will be helpful or not. -- END of ETA I assume you are talking about the required "Writing 101 and 102" type of English class? At both the CC and University in our area, it was similar to previous posters' experiences: 1st semester - reading of literature (short stories) with class discussion and reader response essays - going over the different types of writing (descriptive, narrative, expository, persuasive) - focus on the basics of solid paragraph and essay writing and some proof editing - everything in MLA format - 1 to 3 peer reviews (you take home copies of several other students assignments, make comments, and return them in class, and in your small groups, go over your comments) 2nd semester - more reading of literature with class discussion and reader response essays - focus on the research paper with citations - everything in MLA format - 1 to 3 peer reviews re: in-class writing: One DS had a number of short quizzes that required short answers to comprehension questions, and then an essay-answer final (if you've practiced timed persuasive essays you'd be fine). re: creative writing: One DS had some online exercises each week, as the class was a hybrid (one day week in class, rest of class online). One DS had one creative writing assignment (2000 words towards a short story), but that seems to be atypical, compared to other instructors at the same school. I'd say that the main things to do in senior year to prepare for college WRT 101 & 102 classes: - learn how to do "close reading" (annotation) of literature, with the understanding it is for the purposes of developing your opinion and supporting examples for class discussion and reader responses - learn how to support your points with examples from the Lit., or facts, details, examples, etc. from cited sources - learn how to write those sentences of "commentary" that explain how/why your facts / examples / details actually support your point - get comfortable with writing 500-word, 1000-word, 1500-word, 3000-word papers (i.e. multi-page papers of different types) - learn how to write a process paper (describes the steps and "process" of how to do something) - learn how to write a reader response - learn how to write essays (persuasive; compare/contrast; cause/effect; literary analysis) - learn how to write a 5-8 page research paper with citations in MLA and APA formats (or APA format -- the social science gen ed. classes seem to favor APA, while the English classes seem to favor MLA) FREE resources that could be of help next year: - "Writing in College" -- article by University of Chicago professors Williams & McEnerney on writing expectations, moving from high school to college level - OWL at Purdue (free Online Writing Lab at Purdue; articles on writing, and esp. as a guide to MLA format) - Online Math Learning website (SAT Test Prep section) -- to practice writing a lot, and esp. writing persuasive essays, we did a weekly timed essay from a past SAT prompt - "Tackling the Research Paper" -- 4 part article by SWB Past threads - "Why does my DD have lots to say…" -- past thread started by 5littlemonkeys on annotation and beginning literary analysis - "Can we discuss apathetic writers and college prep" -- past thread started by elegant lion - two past threads by Tullia on reader response papers: "If you're frustrated with discussing history…", "More about reader response papers…" - "Reader response paper vs. literary analysis essay" -- past thread started by lewelma FOR A FEE Curriculum/Class ideas: - Windows to the World (Christian) -- teaches annotation, how to write a literary analysis essay using your annotations, major literary elements and how to find them/write about them - Laurel Tree Tutorials: High School Composition (online class) - Brave Writer: Expository Essay; Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliette; SAT/ACT Essay; High School Writing Projects (short online classes) - Elegant Essay (Christian) - Lively Art of Writing - How to Take an Essay Exam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted May 8, 2014 Author Share Posted May 8, 2014 Thank you for all the helpful responses. I'll be a busy bee getting through those links. Ds has written one 7 page paper with citations, and the rest have been 2 to 3 pages. So he's aware of how to do various essays and papers. He just can't do them quickly. It's going to be a struggle for him, that's for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmgirl70 Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 My son was a very reluctant writer. I hoped he would come out of Freshman Composition with a C. However, he surprised both himself and me by pulling an A-. He has gotten good grades on papers for other classes, too. It takes him some time, but he writes better than we thought he did. It sounds like yours is on the right track. He can do it! Also, the longest paper he's had to write for an English class so far is 5 pages. Lots of 3 page papers. He did write a lengthy research paper for World History (12 pages), but he did very well on it. A few reflections from my son: 1. He was more motivated by a deadline from the outside. 2. Seeing the writing of other students encouraged him that he could do this (his older sister is a very gifted writer and he compared himself to her) and 3. Doing many papers in a shorter time is helping him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Night Elf, it sounds like he's in fine shape, further along than what I guessed from your original post. :) Farm Girl's 3 points are gold. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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