University
Writing Skills
Course Description
and Resources
General Description:
Whether you think of yourself as an accomplished writer or an awkward
one, this class is designed to help you improve your skills. In University
Writing Skills we will...
- treat writing as an
intentional (purposeful) communicative act involving a writer, an
audience, and a text. When we set out to produce a text, we have in
mind an objective or purpose for writing (e.g. to evoke an image or
feeling, to persuade, to explain), and an audience to whom we want to
convey that message.
- view reading and writing
as complementary processes. Becoming a more attentive reader can
help one become a more effective writer; conversely, paying attention
to the writing process helps one to be a more sensitive and insightful
reader.
- practice writing as a
recursive process involving three phases: pre-writing, writing,
and post-writing.
- produce texts of different
types and lengths: paragraphs, letters, and essays.
- practice a variety of writing
strategies: description, narration, instructions, comparison/ contrast,
cause and effect, definition, exemplification, analogy, argumentation.
- work on paragraphing,
linking constructions and transitions, content, organization,
style and accuracy, paying special attention to those
aspects in which the English tradition differs from the German tradition.
- practice giving as well
as receiving different kinds of feedback.
- learn to identify the
strengths and weaknesses of our own writing, build on the strengths
and set goals for improving the weaknesses.
Syllabus
Self-Assessment
Handouts,
Exercises, Assignments
APA
Citation Style
MLA
Citation Style
Links
to Online Writing Labs and Other Writing Resources
This page is maintained by Janet Sutherland
Last updated: 10 September 2005