Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:
1. Use writing to reflect and clarify thinking.
2. Apply linguistic knowledge to clearly communicate through writing in professional, civic, and academic situations commonly encountered in the U.S.
3. Apply critical thinking to writing with an understanding of one’s own cultural filter, using concepts learned in a multi-cultural environment; apply
cultural understanding learned in class to examine and appreciate the writing of others.
4. Use the accepted patterns of organization and clarity common to professional and academic writing in the U.S.
5. Use a multi-step process to plan, revise, and edit written work, including tools (e.g., dictionary, thesaurus) and sources to support writing.

Write a minimum of five essays, including at least two of each of the following:

1. satisfactory[*] in-class essays
2. satisfactory[*] out-of-class essays

*explanation of "satisfactory" attached

A. Grammar Review and Instruction

1. Phrases and Clauses
2. Verbs and Related Structures
3. Other Parts of Speech
4. Mechanics

B. Writing Process
C. Rhetorical Styles
D. Critical Thinking Skills
Competencies and Skills
A. Grammar and Mechanics
Phrases and Clauses
1. use simple, compound, and complex sentences
2. use adverb clauses
3. use adverb clauses in the conditional (real)
4. use adjective clauses
5. use noun clauses of reported speech
6. identify and correct sentence fragments, run-ons, and comma splices
7. recognize and begin to use restrictive and non-restrictive adjective clauses
8. recognize and begin to use adverb clauses in the unreal and past unreal conditions
9. recognize and begin to use noun clauses as subjects, objects, and subject complements
10. recognize and begin to use reduced clauses as modifying phrases
11. recognize and begin to correct problems with parallel structure
Verbs and Related Structures
1. use verbs in the active and passive voice competently
2. use modals and related words correctly
3. develop greater ability to use gerunds and infinitives competently
4. use two-word verbs correctly
5. use subject-verb agreement with expressions of quantity
6. recognize and begin to use perceptive and causative verb forms
7. use direct and indirect speech competently
Other Parts of Speech
1. use articles with common nouns,
2. use pronouns, adverbs, prepositions, adjectives, and coordinating conjunctions
3. continue to develop skill with correlative conjunctions and transition words and phrases
4. recognize and begin to use articles with generic nouns and with proper nouns
5. recognize and begin to use appositives
Mechanics
1. identify and correct punctuation, capitalization, and spelling errors competently
B. The writing process

1. use prewriting skills, including brainstorming techniques, group discussion of topics, narrowing a topic, and outlining
2. develop ability to revise and edit (including using/doing peer response) multiple drafts
3. develop skills in organizing essays correctly:

a. create a thesis statement
b. create introductions in a variety of styles, each keeping the intended audience in mind.
c. develop supporting paragraphs that have clear topic sentences and adequate relevant supporting detail
d. develop ability to evaluate and improve an essay in the areas of coherence and unity of ideas and presentation.

4. conference twice with instructor
5. keep a reading/writing journal (optional)
6. use assigned format for papers
C. Rhetorical Styles
1. competently use several of the following rhetorical styles in multiple-paragraph essays: descriptive narration or descriptive process, comparison/contrast, cause/effect, discussion

D. Critical Thinking Skills
1. use supplemental or textbook readings to generate ideas and vocabulary for writing assignments
2. appropriately incorporate examples or the thoughts of others and provide source citation
3. avoid plagiarism
4. demonstrate an awareness of audience and purpose
5. distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information
6. distinguish between facts and opinions
7. avoid bias and stereotyping in writing
8. identify topics of equal class for comparison or contrast and classification
9. distinguish between causes and effects
10. categorize information quickly
11. give a balanced presentation of opposing arguments on an issue
12. distinguish between subjective and objective evidence
13. distinguish between a thesis and a statement of fact
14. form a thesis based on assigned readings (or film as text) and support it with details and examples
15. understand the difference between narration/description and expository writing
Explanation of Satisfactory Essays
A satisfactory essay includes the following:
1. selection of a topic worthy of adult communication
2. selection of a rhetorical pattern that integrates well with the chosen thesis
3. appropriate language, detail, and tone showing originality and awareness of audience
4. an introduction which creates interest and fits with the rest of the essay
5. a clear thesis statement
6. paragraph development that thoroughly explains the thesis statement
7. appropriate topic sentences
8. a concluding paragraph
9. unity and coherence
10. seventy percent grammatical accuracy in these area: verb tense, verb form, run-ons, fragments,
11. agreement, word form, word choice, and word order; grammatical errors in other areas should not interfere with intelligibility
12. precise vocabulary (word form and word choice appropriate to context/purpose/audience)
13. appropriate transitions and other connectors
14. sentence variety
In addition to the above general criteria, the following essay-specific criteria will be used:
A satisfactory in-class essay
1. contains three or more paragraphs
2. includes development that is at least 70 percent as thorough as satisfactory out-of-class essays
3. demonstrates the ability to connect writing to specific reading or readings (at least one in-class essay will do this)
A satisfactory out-of-class essay
1. is a minimum of two typed pages.
2. demonstrates evidence of having been edited and proofread.