Writing Minor Coursework
Syllabi and writing samples from various writing courses
Writ 2000: THEORIES OF WRITING
This course introduces a number of theories of writing, providing an overview of complex issues and research into the state and status of writing and writers. It takes up such questions as these: What is writing? Where did it come from? How did it develop – and did it do so the same or differently in other cultures? How do writers develop – and what accounts for differences? What are different types of
writing, different situations for writing, different tools and practices – and how do these interconnect? What does it mean to study writing? How have major figures theorized writing, and what tensions emerge among their theories? What are relationships among thought, speech, and writing – and among imagine, film/video, and sound? How do such theories change our notions of what texts are and what texts do? Students will learn how various theorists, historians, and researchers answer these questions, and they will apply that knowledge to their own projects.
Writ 2050: STYLE AND RHETORICAL GRAMMAR
Be concise. Don't split infinitives. Write with flow. Don't end a sentence with a preposition. Avoid the passive voice. Never use "I" in academic writing." Everyone has these maxims about writing and grammar. This course will interrogate those maxims, and provide systematic ways to draft, revise, and polish prose based on the needs and demands of the audience. More specifically, students consider matters of sentence structure and sentence rhythm, cohesion and concision, as well as voice and point of view. Through a series of shorter and longer writing assignments, in-class exercises and activities, and course readings, students hone their writing and grammar skills, all with the goal of writing with improved clarity and grace. The course is open to all students who want to take their writing to a next level of sophistication, clarity, and range.
WRIT 2500: TOPICS IN WRITING THEORY AND RESEARCH
This course provides curricular space for various subjects and foci related to theories about writing, histories of writing and its status and development, or research about writing. Specific offerings of the course will vary according to professor or student needs, interests, and opportunities, and to developing knowledge and research in the field. Examples of possible topics might include multimodality and writing, relationships between visual and verbal rhetoric, the development of specific genres over time, the relationships between academic and civic writing, the history of writing in specific schools or settings, research into the acquisition of writing skills, social policies and practices that affect writing, ethical issues in writing practices, the affects of technologies on writing, and so on. The preceding list is illustrative, not exclusive
WRIT 2701: TOPICS IN APPLIED WRITING
Individual offerings of this topics course teach skills and strategies for writing in a specific professional or public context or for improving in a specific type of writing. The focus is on the texts, genres, conventions, habits, and critical questions salient to writers in a given situation. Each offering will focus on a topic not available in existing courses. Possible examples include: “Writing for the Public Good”; “Publications Editing”; “Writing, Curation, and the Archive”; “Writing (in) the Workplace”; “Writing Profiles and Biographies”; “Nature Writing”; and so on. (The previous list is merely suggestive.) Befitting the course, the primary writing focus will be on producing texts for/within the topical focus, with emphasis on drafting, revision, and design. Students will also write responses to and analyses of assigned readings (including the work of other students).
WRIT 3500: CAPSTONE: WRITING DESIGN AND CIRCULATION
The primary goal of this capstone course for the Minor in Writing Practices is to create and present a professional electronic/web-based portfolio synthesizing university writing experiences. The portfolio showcases and offers reflective insight into a student’s writings, demonstrating the writer’s ability to navigate diverse rhetorical situations. Students will learn theories and practices for selecting, arranging, and circulating/publishing written work, culminating in a required portfolio that synthesizes their university writing experiences. In addition to practicing principles of editing and design, students will produce a substantive revision of a previous piece of their own writing and compose a theory of writing that synthesizes analyses of their practices with published scholarship and research. The course covers design considerations and strategies and offers studio time for peer and instructor feedback. It culminates with a public showcase.
ENGL 1000: INTRO TO CREATIVE WRITING
In this Intro to Creative Writing course, we will consider how our individual and collective curiosities influence how we read and write. Is curiosity how we approach finding information, is it a system of believing? When and where does curiosity meet an end? When did our curiosity begin? Ultimately, how do our unique curiosities form our ways of reading, writing, and processing our world? We will use various approaches to curiosity as a lens for learning techniques in world building, developing voice and tone, and trying new genres. The required readings will expose beginning and interested writers in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, hybrid, and collaboratively written texts. This course includes a space for sharing your writing in workshops, and is reading and writing intensive.