English 309: Inquiries into Writing

The focus of English 309 is recognizing differing rhetorical situations and responding to them at an advanced level in appropriate modes for diverse audiences. A student in English 309 should expect to create and revise compositions in multiple genres. Compositions should establish a clear purpose, exhibit audience awareness, and reveal a sense of the writer’s presence and position. A student in English 309 should expect to complete four to six projects of their own design. Themes may vary per section as determined by the instructor.

Student Learning Outcomes for English 309:

The Student Outcomes Statement for English 101 is intended to provide instructors and students with a sense of what kinds of knowledge students should be expected to acquire and demonstrate by the end of this course. The student learning outcomes are intended to create a sense of common purpose for the courses and clear expectations for the students. At the same time, the student learning outcomes have been written to maintain the flexibility in the program that allows individual instructors to continue the tradition of innovation and creativity in the classroom that is one of the great strengths of the University of Louisville Composition Program.

Rhetorical Knowledge

Students will produce writing that responds appropriately to a variety of rhetorical situations. Their writing should:

  • Develop and negotiate an advanced rhetorical situation
  • Integrate and are informed by their own multiple literacies
  • Exhibit awareness of audience, including the ability to determine appropriate scope, genre, and tone for a public text or particular discipline
  • Exhibit knowledge of context, which includes analyzing discourse communities to determine how they shape the various purposes and forms of composing

Critical Reading and Thinking

Students will produce writing that abstracts, synthesizes, and represents the ideas of others fairly. Their writing should:

  • Evidence skill in reading and understanding texts that draw from multiple literacies
  • Indicate knowledge of research methods by analyzing social contexts, assessing the validity of sources, and summarizing and evaluating relevant information
  • Result from designing their own research projects by identifying questions, developing strategies, using primary and secondary sources to support arguments, and choosing effective methods of presentation
  • Acknowledge the complexity of issues by engaging and evaluating multiple points of view

Processes

Students will produce writing reflective of a multi-stage composing and revising process. Their writing should:

  • Use writing as a tool for exploration and reflection
  • Employ strategies for composing as a recursive process of inventing, investigating, shaping, drafting, revising, and editing
  • Exhibit the ability to work collaboratively, including in-class, online, and in individual projects
  • Evidence the ability to reflect on their individual writing processes
  • Exhibit an awareness of the communicative options available for any project, text, or composition and make composing choices accordingly

Conventions

Students will produce writing that strategically employs appropriate conventions in different writing situations. Their writing should:

  • Indicate awareness of various modes of presentation and ability to select the mode(s) most appropriate to the audience and purpose
  • Address the expectations of readers in specific disciplines or public audiences by presenting ideas in appropriate language, format, and citation style