General Catalog 2007-2009

Writing

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WRT100  Fundamentals of English

Fall-Spring Semesters

This course emphasizes the fundamentals of English usage, spelling, punctuation, sentence construction, and paragraph and essay writing. Enrollment is at the discretion of the Department. May not be used to fulfill English core requirement, and credits earned will not count towards graduation. Students must receive a grade of 2 or better in WRT100 before enrolling in WRT102. Students who have successfully completed WRT102 and/or WRT202 may not enroll in WRT100.

3 credit hours.

WRT102  Analytical Reading and Writing

Fall-Spring Semesters

This course provides students with guided practice in the types of analytical reading necessary for mature academic writing and for success in upper-division courses in all disciplines.  Students will learn strategies for summarizing and analyzing complex reading materials, and for incorporating reading material into their own writing.  They will also analyze similarities and differences in various academic styles, develop processes for producing thoughtfully revised prose, and practice standard conventions of the academic writing.

3 credit hours.

WRT202  Academic Writing

Fall-Spring Semesters

Building upon the reading skills learned in WRT102, this course provides students with guided practice in writing academic papers.  Students will learn techniques crucial to the writing required in upper division courses:  limiting and focusing a topic and line of inquiry; developing and following a research plan; incorporating researched materials into a scholarly argument; developing a consistent and appropriate style; and revising carefully toward a polished product.  Prerequisite:  WRT102 with a grade of 2 or better.

3 credit hours.

WRT210  Writing in Professional Cultures

This course offers students further expertise beyond that offered in WRT102 and WRT202 in applying rhetorical techniques and problem-solving skills to the types of writing done in professional sites. Students will create professional documents (letters, memos, reports, cover letter/resume, electronic communication) appropriate to each case or scenario. They will also learn about effective document design and presentation used in business and industry and about copyright and other ethical issues associated with professional writing. Prerequisite: WRT102

3 credit hours.

WRT225  Interdisciplinary Writing

Fall semester

This course provides guided experience in reading and writing across a range of academic disciplines, including the natural sciences, the social sciences, the humanities, and business-related fields. Students will analyze the modes of reasoning, rhetorical techniques, and forms of writing that are currently accepted in each of these fields with the goal of becoming more versatile writers. This course is required for Professional Writing majors and minors, but is open to students from all fields who wish to improve their writing skills. Prerequisite: WRT102.

3 credit hours.

WRT275  Playwriting

This course introduces students to the principles of playwriting. Students read a number of monologues and short plays, explore different theories of playwriting, and write a monologue, a short scene, and a one-act play. Prerequisite: WRT102.

3 credit hours.

WRT290  The Teaching and Tutoring of Writing

This course provides students with guided experience in methods for teaching writing in both classroom settings and in tutoring sessions. Students will learn about current methodologies for the teaching and tutoring of writing and will work with experienced teachers and tutors towards practical application of those methods. Students will read and discuss current articles on writing pedagogy, observe composition classrooms, and shadow tutoring sessions with experienced teachers of writing. Students who successfully complete WRT 290 are eligible to become writing tutors in the Learning Resource Center. Prerequisite: WRT102

3 credit hours.

WRT305  Rhetorical Theory

Crucial to the study of professional writing is rhetoric, the art of composing effective discourse. Students will be introduced to significant issues and figures in the academic discipline of rhetoric. Students will be asked to develop a working definition of rhetoric and to study significant texts from the history of rhetoric, including those written by the Sophists, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Quintilian, St. Augustine, and Virginia Woolf. Questions concerning whether or not language shapes/defines reality and creates knowledge will be considered. Students will also be introduced to non-Western rhetorics. Prerequisite: WRT102

3 credit hours.

WRT310  Creative Writing

This course is a writing seminar for students interested in developing their imaginative writing powers. Students will read the work of published authors, write in a number of genres, and critique their own and others’ writing using a workshop method. Prerequisite: WRT102

3 credit hours.

WRT315  Advanced Composition

Fall Semester

This course provides instruction and practice aimed at helping students to further develop their expository writing skills, to examine their writing processes, and to critique their own and others’ papers. This course focuses especially upon the development of advanced stylistic techniques. Prerequisite: WRT102

3 credit hours.

WRT320  Writing for the Web

This course introduces the field of webpage design within the context of professional writing. Students will study online publications such as electronic newsletters and magazines and online help files, and learn to produce documents suitable for electronic publication. The course emphasizes principles in designing, writing, and producing publications using such current authoring tools as the hypertext mark-up language (HTML). Prerequisites: WRT102, WRT210, WRT225, or permission of instructor.

3 credit hours.

WRT360-WRT369, WRT460-WRT469 Special Topics in Professional Writing

Special topics courses in professional writing provide students with a range of opportunities for the intensive study of writing in various occupational or disciplinary fields, as well as in varied approaches to the writing process. Students will learn the preferred styles and conventions used within specific organizations and career fields, both through the study of representative writing samples and through hands-on writing experience. Likely course topics include medical writing, writing for social service organizations, writing for government agencies and NGOs, writing for non-profit organizations, writing for the arts, etc. The focus of each special topics course will be published in advance of course registration, and course level will vary according to the topics covered (either 300 or 400 level). Prerequisites for WRT 360-369: WRT 102; Prerequisites for WRT 460-69: WRT102, WRT210, WRT315 or permission of instructor.

3 credit hours.

WRT370  Special Topics in Creative Writing

This course is a writing seminar for advanced students who wish to concentrate on specific genres and forms. The topic of this course may be suggested by faculty members or by students. In a given semester, this course might emphasize prose fiction; another semester could emphasize script-writing or non-fiction prose. This course may be repeated for different topics. Prerequisite: WRT102.

3 credit hours.

WRT371  Advanced Creative Writing

This course is an advanced writing workshop. Students write poetry, fiction, or both and routinely present copies of work for class discussion and critique. Students revise work towards the development of a portfolio of imaginative writing. Students also present a poet or fiction writer to the class by providing biographical information as well as at least one representative poem or story. Prerequisites: WRT102

3 credit hours.

WRT373  Advanced Non-fiction Prose

This course is designed to improve your ability to write creatively when composing an essay or writing in various journalistic genres. Readings will include a variety of print and Internet sources that reflect the current state of non-fiction prose. Students will be asked to assemble a portfolio of essays, accompanied by brief abstracts and self-critical responses. Prerequisite: WRT102

3 credit hours.

WRT374  Writing Children’s Literature

This course helps students to develop their skills in producing fiction and poetry for children. Students will write and revise at least ten poems and ten pages of fiction for children, and present this writing in a final class portfolio. This course employs the workshop method, with students presenting copies of their work for classroom discussion and constructive critique. Students will also present a children’s author of their choice to the class, providing information about the life, work, and style of the author. Prerequisite: WRT102.

3 credit hours.

WRT 377  Screenwriting

This course is designed to teach students the craft of screenwriting by helping them master, among other things, the format and stylistic conventions followed when writing film scripts, the skill of telling a story with images and sounds, and the ability to render dialogue, characters, and dramatic situations both convincingly and compellingly. Students will learn to become proficient in these areas and others by compiling, over the course of the semester, a screenwriting portfolio comprising one or more short film scripts, as well as the first act of a feature film script. Prerequisite: WRT 102

3 credit hours

WRT380  Freelance Writing for the Marketplace

This class is a practical forum about the submission of manuscripts to magazines and book publishers. This course assumes that students already have produced a body of written work-creative and/or nonfiction-both privately and in prior classes. Students will be required to keep a journal of their experiences studying the marketplace and submitting their writing and a portfolio of work they have revised toward publication. Authors who work in a variety of genres may be invited to speak to (or teach) the class. Prerequisite: WRT102.

3 credit hours.

WRT410  Professional Editing

This course introduces students to the fields of copyediting and comprehensive editing within the context of professional writing. The course will teach students how to become effective editors, giving them the ability to develop objectives for editing, to work with and substantially improve texts and visuals in both print and electronic contexts, and to establish and maintain relationships with authors and others involved in the production of documents. Prerequisites: WRT102, WRT210, or permission of instructor.

3 credit hours.

WRT450, WRT451  Experiential Learning in Writing

This course provides on-the-job experiences in the application of professional writing skills and knowledge. The student spends a minimum of 120 hours per semester in the performance of meaningful tasks required to produce effective professional documents. In addition, regular class and small-group meetings provide for integration of the student’s academic and agency work. The seminar provides an opportunity to explore job possibilities as well as making academic work more meaningful through application of theoretical principles of writing. Prerequisites: An application is required six months prior to intended on-site experience (including a statement of objectives and goals); students must be accepted by an approved site; approval of instructor; GPA of 2.75 or higher and 60 credit hours completed before beginning on-site experience. Students may complete up to six credits of experiential learning. Prerequisites: WRT102,WRT 225 WRT315.

3 credit hours each.

WRT480  Senior Seminar in
Professional Writing

The Senior Seminar in writing provides a capstone academic experience for writing majors and helps to prepare them for the job market. The course will have three facets, mirroring the three main aspects of the professional writing curriculum: (1) reading and responding to essays on rhetoric and composition theory; (2) exploring careers in professional writing by reading case studies of professional writers and hearing from guest speakers, by performing mock interviews, and by investigating professional writers’ organizations and graduate programs in writing; (3) revising writing from other courses (and from their experiential learning seminar) towards the formation of a professional writer’s portfolio and current resume. Prerequisites: WRT102, WRT210, WRT315, and Senior Standing.

3 credit hours.

WRT498, WRT499  Independent Study

This course creates a learning opportunity for the student who wishes to undertake a well-defined research project. While the student conducts work under the guidance of a faculty member of his or her own choosing, the project is carried out in an independent manner without regular class meetings. Effective independent study is characterized by a reduction in formal instruction and an increase in the individual student’s responsibility and initiative in the learning process.

1-3 credit hours.

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