Writing Program

This support course focuses on the foundational skills needed to succeed in WR 121Z. Students will expand and improve reading rate, vocabulary, and comprehension of complex college-level texts. Emphasis on critical thinking skills, information literacy, and college-level skills in preparation for essay writing in WR 121Z. Required: Students will be concurrently enrolled in WR 121Z unless approved by the department chair or Vice President of Student Services.

WR 121Z engages students in the study and practice of critical thinking, reading, and writing. The course focuses on analyzing and composing across varied rhetorical situations and in multiple genres. Students will apply key rhetorical concepts flexibly and collaboratively throughout their writing and inquiry processes. Prerequisites: Placement into WR 121 or successful completion of RDWR 115 or its equivalent. Audit available.

WR 122Z builds on concepts and processes emphasized in WR 121Z, engaging with inquiry, research, and argumentation in support of students' development as writers. The course focuses on composing and revising in research-based genres through the intentional use of rhetorical strategies. Students will find, evaluate, and interpret complex material, including lived experience; use this to frame and pursue their own research questions; and integrate material purposefully into their own compositions. Prerequisite: Successful completion of WR 121 or its equivelent

This course emphasizes forms of writing demanded in the workplace. Students will practice professional correspondence, informal reports, instructions, and proposals. Students will also analyze audience and purpose to make decisions about writing form, style, ethics, and content. Prerequisite: WR 115

WR 227Z introduces students to producing instructive, informative, and persuasive technical/professional documents aimed at well-defined and achievable outcomes. The course focuses on presenting information using rhetorically appropriate style, design, vocabulary, structure, and visuals. Students can expect to gather, read, and analyze information and to learn a variety of strategies for producing accessible, usable, reader-centered deliverable documents that are clear, concise, and ethical. Prerequisite: Successful completion of WR 121 Recommended: WR 122

This course is designed to introduce students to the art and craft of writing as an artistic medium. By studying the basic elements of craft in fiction, reading and analyzing the work of professional writers, and completing your own creative projects, you will explore the fundamentals of creative writing, from character and setting to narrative voice and structure. Prerequisite: WR 121

This course is designed to introduce students to the genre of Creative Nonfiction. They will learn the conventions and techniques of the genre through guided creative writing projects. Students will learn how to implement narrative, backstory, pacing, and characterization by reading the work of other students and published authors, whose work will serve as models for the students. The readings will include the various modes of the genre, such as autobiography/memoir, personal essay, nature and/or science writing, and literary journalism. Students will produce, workshop, and present their own works of creative nonfiction in class.?? Prerequisite: Successful completion of WR 121

This course is designed to introduce students to the genre of poetry. They will learn the conventions and techniques of the genre through guided creative writing projects. Reading professional poets, students will write poems that show an understanding of what choices are available to writers while exploring the fundamentals of craft such as meter, rhyme, conceit, and metaphor. Prerequisite: Successful completion of WR 121