COMPOSITION II - COM102/5 Fall 2024
Course
COM 102 develops the writing skills taught in COM 101: It hones the student’s ability to think critically and originally; consolidates their ability to make appropriate stylistic choices with regard to specific purpose, register and genre, and it reiterates the stages of the writing process. Moreover, COM 102 concentrates on developing the skills required to produce a substantial academic research paper. These include: critical reading and research, formulating and supporting a thesis, incorporating credible sources and properly employing citation and bibliographic techniques.
Here is the course outline:
1. Rhetoric
Sep 11
Concision, Prewriting, Citation Styles, Prototype Semantics, Isocrates’ Didactic Approach, “Bullshit” in academic writing |
2. Analytical Reading
Sep 18
Text analysis, In-Text Citations, Thesis Statements vs. Claims, Academic Ethos |
3. Prewriting
Sep 25
Drafting an Extended Outline, Film Screening (to be announced) |
4. Citation Styles
Oct 2
Online Databases, Boolean Operators, Types of Research, Peer Review |
5. Information Literacy
Oct 9
Online Databases, The CRAAP Test, The Academy of Sciences Library |
6. Referencing
Oct 16
Quoting, Text Analysis, Compiling a List of References |
7. Plagiarism
Oct 23
Types of Plagiarism, Paraphrasing |
8. Select a Topic
Nov 6
Thesis Statements and Claims, The Oscar Wilde Taste Test |
9. Working Bibliography
Nov 13
Aphorisms about Conciseness, Citation Styles, Quotations, Editing Exercise |
10. Extended Outline
Nov 20
Examining Sample Papers, Formatting, Long Quotations |
11. Drafting
Nov 27
Final Paper Checklist, Editing Exercise, Peer Review |
12. Peer Review
Dec 4
Hyphens-Italics-Capitals, In-Class Peer Evaluation |
13. Final Paper Defense
Dec 11
Presentation and Defense of Research Papers |