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COMPOSITION II - COM102/2 Spring 2025
Course
Anthony Marais
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
Feb 10
Concision, Prewriting, Citation Styles, Prototype Semantics, Isocrates’ Didactic Approach, “Bullshit” in academic writing |
2. Analytical Reading
Feb 17
Text analysis, In-Text Citations, Thesis Statements vs. Claims, Academic Ethos |
3. Prewriting
Feb 24
Drafting an Extended Outline, Film Screening (to be announced) |
4. Citation Styles
Mar 3
Online Databases, Boolean Operators, Types of Research, Peer Review |
5. Information Literacy
Mar 10
Online Databases, The CRAAP Test, The Academy of Sciences Library |
6. Referencing
Mar 17
Quoting, Text Analysis, Compiling a List of References |
7. Plagiarism
Mar 31
Types of Plagiarism, Paraphrasing |
8. Select a Topic
Apr 7
Thesis Statements and Claims, The Oscar Wilde Taste Test |
9. Working Bibliography
Apr 14
Aphorisms about Conciseness, Citation Styles, Quotations, Editing Exercise |
10. Extended Outline
Apr 21
Examining Sample Papers, Formatting, Long Quotations |
11. Drafting
Apr 28
Final Paper Checklist, Editing Exercise, Peer Review |
12. Peer Review
May 5
Hyphens-Italics-Capitals, In-Class Peer Evaluation |
13. Final Paper Defense
May 12
Presentation and Defense of Research Papers |