University
WRT 105, Practices of Academic Writing
Fall 2015
Instructor: Amber Desimony Course Credits: 3
Key Topics of Study
Academic writing: Writing, revising, editing, and reflecting with your peers is essential to becoming an academic writer. Engaging with your teacher and fellow classmates will help you understand how you affect others with your writing. You will have regular opportunities not just to write, but also to reflect on writing situations and your own development as a writer.
Analysis: Similar to what a detective would do, analysis finds questions where there seemed not to be any, and it makes connections that might not have been evident at first. Analysis is a frame of mind, an attitude toward experience.
You analyze when you talk to a friend to get another perspective on why Spain performed so poorly in World Cup 2014, when you read up on the recent conflict in Iraq in order to discuss it more confidently in your global politics class, when you watch and rewatch a film in order to discern how it works on a visual level, or when you review a sampling of your own writing in order to see and make sense of the patterns in your work.
Argument: Inquiry, analysis and engaging others in conversation are core aspects to argument. The evidence for your arguments comes from analysis, from discussion with others, from your personal experience, and from research. Arguments are also situationally specific: that is, they look, sound, and persuade differently depending on audience, purpose, genre, and context.
Writing as Situated Process
You will practice a range of invention and revision strategies that are appropriate to various writing situations.
Writing with Sources
You will be introduced to primary and secondary research, which involves utilizing various library resources, evaluating sources, and synthesizing and applying research in accordance with citation, genre conventions, and ethical standards.
Writing as Rhetorical Action
You will gain knowledge of rhetorical principles and practice addressing different audiences and situations.
Writing as Academic Practice
You will become familiar with values, strategies, and conventions related to a range of academic contexts and disciplinary conversations.
Writing as Social Practice
You will analyze, reflect on, and practice the dynamic use of language in diverse contexts and recognize issues of power, difference, and materiality.
