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Writing 121: College Composition I

WR 121 is the introductory college-level course in written reasoning. This course presents writing as a means of exploring, developing, confirming, and communicating ideas. The ideas that students write about develop from their understanding of issues encountered in readings and focused discussions. Students compose essays that support and develop a thesis, and they learn to make structural and rhetorical choices based both on the requirements of that thesis and on their knowledge of the audience. They are taught to practice open-minded inquiry into ideas, so that their writing will be based on honest and defensible reasoning. They learn how clear and effective communication is a way of showing respect for one's audience. They learn the importance of revision in the process of written reasoning. And they learn to become better critical readers of their own and others' prose.