English 1004

Placement and Enrollment

ENGL 1004 (Introduction to Academic Writing)  is open to all students who would like to write in a course with more individualized attention as preparation for the required First-Year Writing requirement. We also require some students to enroll in the course automatically. This includes students who score lower than 440 in the “Critical Reading” (aka “verbal”) section of the SAT or lower than 470 on the “Critical Writing” sections of that test. Students with ACT Reading scores of between 12 and 19, and students whose ENGL 1003 instructors have advised them to enroll in ENGL 1004 must also do so. All those enrolled in ENGL 1004 must pass the course before moving on to ENGL 1010 or 1011 in subsequent terms. To verify placement that is best for students, writing samples are required on the first day of ENGL 1010 or 1011. Upon review of those samples, instructors may direct students to enroll in ENGL 1004 for the term. See more information about course placement.

The course carries four credits, and the class limit is 17 students (on the Storrs campus; 15 at other campuses). The four credits granted for passing the course do count toward graduation.

Course Description

The course is designed to guide students in developing their writing practices and to introduce them to meaningful participation in critical conversations. To that end, the work of the class includes learning and improving strategies for taking stock of one’s ideas; becoming aware of their own and others' rhetorical situations, and the way we respond to those situations; unpacking writers’ critical assumptions; situating oneself in conversation with writers; developing critical approaches to issues, problems, and texts; forming new ideas rather than reporting on the ideas of others; and making new contributions.

Course Goals

In English 1004, students prepare for the composition practices required in the First-Year Writing seminars (either English 1010 or 1011), future coursework, as well as public and professional writing. The course immerses students in a variety of composition practices by primarily spending the work of the class on composing in a variety of modes, including written/textual, visual, and audio. In English 1004, then, students practice developing writing projects, drafting and revising work, listening to and acting on other readers’ responses to their writing, experimenting with the progression of their ideas to engage readers, engaging in ethical scholarship, and presenting their work in a way that is clearly compelling to their audience, thereby achieving their goals as writers and composers. Thinking about writing in a variety of modes and media further allows students to consider the complex ways we communicate, engage in conversations, and participate in the world around us.

Learning Goals for English 1004

The goals for ENGL 1004 are to invite students to engage in the kind of work we do as thinkers and as members of a variety of communities; to prepare students to participate successfully in the First-Year Writing seminars and all other university courses, including but not limited to those where writing is featured. We hope then to help students begin to understand through practice certain features of critical literacy, rhetoric, and an awareness of and response to a variety of conventions while also developing a consciousness of their own practices, assumptions, strengths, and weaknesses as writers.

 

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

Possible Assessment

While instructors align the objectives to the specific assessments for their courses, the student’s achievement of the learning objectives may be assessed according to their performance on the following:

Practice composing and writing as acts of inquiry and discovery through written, aural, visual, and video texts. Essays

Presentation

Mini-Podcast

Essay with Video component

Portfolio

Identify yourself as a writer who can contribute to others’ knowledge and understanding. Essays

Presentation

Mini-Podcast

Essay with Video component

Portfolio

Analyze the context and technology/mode you are composing (video, audio, and infographics); respond to the situation with productive choices in approach and execution to deliver meaningful texts. Reading assignments, annotation assignments, reading questions and passage-based responses in the discussion forum.
Discover, analyze, and engage with others’ ideas in productive ways through readings of complex texts. Reading assignments, annotation assignments, reading questions and passage-based responses in the discussion forum.
Use others’ work in a variety of ways, including as motivation for writing, as context to your own ideas, as a frame or method for analysis, as a way of moving your ideas forward, and as exhibits for analysis and interpretation. Incorporating the work of others in drafts and revisions of compositions for

Essays

Presentation

Mini-Podcast

Essay with Video component

Portfolio

.

Extend your ideas to new ground in the context of others’ work. Contributing your own concepts, accounts, and theories in

Essays

Presentation

Mini-Podcast

Essay with Video component

Portfolio

Develop methods and strategies for the conceptual, practical, and reflective work of writing. Participate fully, regularly, and conscientiously in course activities, including the discussion forums, drafting and revising activities and workshops, and reflective vlogs.
Determine and analyze conventions of the discipline; decide how to address the genre expectations of a discipline’s work, including how knowledge is created and how evidence is used to forward work in the discipline; includes the functional components of format, organization, document design, and citation Through all….

-Essays

-Presentation

-Mini-Podcast

-Essay with Video component

Particular attention will be paid to this for the final portfolio

Employ the principles of universal design to make work accessible to the widest possible audience. Caption audio, tag visuals, and provide translations (in some cases; see individual modules) and transcripts of audio-video work.

For more information on the goals of the First-Year Writing program and the principles and practices of teaching English 1004 and the First-Year Writing seminars, please see the Course Description for English 1010 and 1011 and the materials on this website.