I. General Information

1. Course Title:
Honors Composition II

2. Course Prefix & Number:
ENGL 1421

3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:

Credits: 4

Lecture Hours: 4

4. Course Description:

Honors Composition II is a research-based writing-intensive course that teaches students how to write in a professional and public capacity through frequent writing experiences similar to the writing which they are likely to encounter in community or work situations. Through practice, students will master the research process and explore ways to share the results of their research with various audiences. For example, students will learn how to locate, access, evaluate, and synthesize traditional and online library resources and shape the results into a cohesive argument. Throughout the course, students will develop a command of the writing and revision processes and the APA (American Psychological Association) and the MLA (Modern Language Association) formats. Students will learn the foundational elements of argumentation and will develop researching, critical thinking, and collaborative writing strategies as they draft and revise multiple documents for multiple audiences. Students will demonstrate these skills through formal papers written in edited Standard English, which will result in a minimum of 5,000 words. The results of student learning will extend beyond the college classroom, reflecting common forms of civic engagement that exist in diverse and pluralistic societies.  The capstone project for the course will include a presentation in public forum. Courses in the Honors Program emphasize independent inquiry, informed discourse, and direct application within small, transformative, and seminar-style classes that embrace detailed examinations of the material and feature close working relationships with instructors. In addition, students learn to leverage course materials so that they can affect the world around them in positive ways.

5. Placement Tests Required:

6. Prerequisite Courses:

7. Other Prerequisites

OR permission from the instructor or Honors Coordinator, or high school GPA of 3.5 or greater

9. Co-requisite Courses:

There are no corequisites for this course.

II. Transfer and Articulation

1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:

Normandale Community College, MN, ENGL 1101 Honors Composition, 4 credits
St. Cloud State University, HONS 160 Honors English Composition, 4 credits
University of MN Duluth, WRIT 3180 Honors: Advanced Writing, 3 credits
University of MN Crookston, COMP 1013 Honors: Composition II, 3 credits

III. Course Purpose

1. Program-Applicable Courses – This course is required for the following program(s):

 

2. MN Transfer Curriculum (General Education) Courses - This course fulfills the following goal area(s) of the MN Transfer Curriculum:

• Goal 1 – Written and Oral Communication
• Goal 9 – Ethical and Civic Responsibility

IV. Learning Outcomes

1. College-Wide Outcomes

College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies	Students will be able to:
Demonstrate written communication skills	Draft documents in multiple genres for multiple audiences.
Apply abstract ideas to concrete situations	Research an issue, analyze data and evidence, and draw conclusions that are applicable to a concrete situation.
Work as a team member to achieve shared goals	Engage in small group discussions and collaborative projects such as peer reviews, wikis, group presentations, and simulation exercises.

2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of the course:

• Participate effectively in groups with emphasis on listening, critical and reflective thinking, and responding (MnTC Goal 1);
• Identify, locate, and comprehend research and academic sources with various points of view (MnTC Goal 1); 
• Evaluate the quality and relevance of peer-reviewed sources as they pertain to a specific topic (MnTC Goal1);
• Synthesize diverse sources and points of view into an argument, reflecting the authors' intended meaning appropriately and accurately (MnTC Goal 1); 
• Select appropriate communication choices for specific audiences (MnTC Goal1);
• Construct logical and coherent arguments (MnTC Goal 1); 
• Use authority, point-of-view, and individual voice and style in their writing and speaking (MnTC Goal 1);
• Employ syntax and usage appropriate to academic disciplines and the professional world (MnTC Goal 1); 
• Understand/demonstrate the writing and speaking processes through invention, organization, drafting, revision, editing, and presentation (MnTC Goal 1);
• Examine, articulate, and apply their own ethical views (MnTC Goal 9); 
• Understand and apply core concepts (e.g., politics, rights and obligations, justice, liberty) to specific issues (MnTC Goal 9); 
• Analyze and reflect on the ethical dimensions of legal, social, and scientific issues (MnTC Goal 9); 
• Recognize and articulate the diversity of political motivations and interests of others (MnTC Goal 9); and 
• Identify ways to exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship (MnTC Goal 9). 

V. Topical Outline

Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.

1. Lecture Sessions

1. Audience and occasion
• Persona
• Rhetorical situation
• Argument and persuasion
• Suggested assignments: memo; business letter; e-mail; letter to the editor, congress, or company; press release; product review
2. Academic research and inquiry
• Topic selection
• Hypothesis
• Finding and using sources
• Plagiarism
• Rhetorical evaluation
• Suggested assignments: research topic proposal and preliminary annotated bibliography
3. Computer-mediated discourse
• Public versus private
• Social media
• Blog
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Podcast
4. Collaboration
• Small group roles
• Google Docs
• Wiki
5. Online portfolio
• Content selection/creation
• Portfolio design
• Suggested assignments: collaboative wiki resource page, eFolio, blog and twitter postings, collaborative poster using Google Docs
6. Analysis and recommendation
• Considering the opposing view
• Major components of APA report
• Ethics of research
• Revision
• Suggested assignments: 10-15 page APA research report and research showcase/panel presentations