ENG W131 Elementary Composition

W131 is a course in academic writing that attempts to integrate critical reading, thinking, and writing about phenomena and issues in our culture. Rather than practicing a set of discrete skills or often unrelated modes of discourse, the course aims to build sequentially on students' ability to read both written and cultural texts closely and critically and to analyze those texts in ways that also engage and problematize students' own experience, the perspectives of "experts," and the world they live in.

W131 aims to show students how the use of sources, agreement/disagreement, and personal response can be made to serve independent, purposeful, and well-supported analytical writing.

In summary, the course offers instructions and practice in the reading, writing, and critical thinking skills required in college. Emphasis is on written assignments that require synthesis, analysis, and argument based on sources.

**Please note that it is STRONGLY recommended that non- native or Basic Writing (eligible) students do NOT take W131 during the first summer session.