ENGL 1210 - Composition 1

Credit Hours: 3.00

Outcome 2:
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to write full essays that incorporate a controlling idea stated in an introduction, developed in the essay, and summarized in a conclusion.

Outcome 3:
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to write sentences that are reasonably free of run-ons, comma splices, fragments, and agreement errors, and will demonstrate a satisfactory mastery of standard spelling, diction, and usage.

Objectives:
In the final essays written for the course the student should be able to fulfill the following requirements:

1. Include an introduction that coherently leads to a statement of the main idea (thesis) of the essay.
2. Paragraph the essay by a logical plan (e.g. by general steps to a process, by causes, by effects, etc.).
3. Link the body paragraphs by transitions, repetition, leading sentences, or parallelism.
4. Include topic sentences that accurately state the subdivisions or supporting generalizations of the essay’s main idea.
5. Include in body paragraphs only that development which is governed by the topic sentence.
6. Use examples, details, definitions, or comparisons to develop the paragraph.
7. Include a conclusion that either restates the main idea or summarizes the subtopics or suggests the implications of the subject.
8. Avoid sentence structure errors (awkwardness, comma splices, fused sentences, fragments, misplaced modifiers, faulty parallelism, illogical subordination).
9. Avoid grammatical errors (agreement, case, pronoun reference, verb forms).
10. Maintain a consistent point of view.
11. Apply the conventions of punctuation (commas, semi‐colons, colons, apostrophes, italics, quotation marks).
12. Avoid misspellings.
13. Maintain an appropriate level of diction.
14. Use conventional manuscript form.
15. Abide by deadlines.

1. Organization of Essays
   1. Introduction
      1. Definition of Introduction
      2. Function of Introduction
      3. Tone in the Introduction
      4. Definition and function of thesis
      5. Scope of thesis
      6. Relationship of the thesis to the organizational structure of the essay
      7. Placement of thesis in Introduction
      8. Length of introduction
   2. Middle paragraphs
      1. Definition and function of topic sentences
      2. Placement of topic sentences in paragraph
      3. Relationship of middle paragraphs to the introduction and to the thesis
      4. Length of middle paragraphs
   3. Conclusion
      1. Function of the conclusion
      2. Length of the conclusion
2. Development of Essays
   1. Patterns of development
      1. Exposition (required)
         1. causation
         2. classification
         3. definition
         4. analogy
         5. comparison
         6. illustration
         7. process analysis
      2. Narration
      3. Argumentation
      4. Description
   2. Transitions
   3. Define and illustrate adequate detail
   4. Define and illustrate specific detail
   5. Define devices of emphasis
   6. Sentence variety
3. Grammar and Punctuation
   1. Define and illustrate fragments
   2. Identify ways of correcting fragments
   3. Define and illustrate run‐ons
   4. Identify ways of correcting run‐ons
   5. Define and illustrate comma splices
   6. Identify ways of correcting comma splices
   7. Identify common usage errors and illustrate ways of correcting them.
   8. Require standard spelling in essays
   9. Show students how to use spelling checkers and grammar checkers in Word or other word processing programs
   10. Point out problems and cautions with using these checkers
   11. Define and illustrate agreement errors (subject‐verb; pronoun‐antecedent)
   12. Identify ways of correcting agreement errors.
   13. Define and illustrate simple, complex, and compound sentences
   14. Illustrate the use of each type of sentence
   15. Explain the connection of sentence type to logic (i.e. compound sentences are used for ideas of equal importance; complex sentences subordinate less important ideas).
   16. Define, illustrate, and explain when to use parallel structure
   17. Encourage the development of vocabulary and precision in word choice
   18. Explain denotation and connotation
   19. Define trite phrasing, jargon, slang, euphemism, and vulgarity suggesting ways to avoid or correct these problems
   20. Define and illustrate figurative language