COMPOSITION II - COM102/1 Fall 2020
Course

COM 102 develops the writing skills taught in COM 101: It hones the student’s ability to think critically and originally; consolidates their ability to make appropriate stylistic choices with regard to specific purpose, register and genre, and it reiterates the stages of the writing process. Moreover, COM 102 concentrates on developing the skills required to produce a substantial academic research paper. These include: critical reading and research, formulating and supporting a thesis, incorporating credible sources and properly employing citation and bibliographic techniques.
Here is the course outline:
1. Rhetoric
Sep 25
Concision, Prewriting, Citation Styles, Prototype Semantics, Isocrates’ Didactic Approach, “Bullshit” in academic writing |
2. Analytical Reading
Oct 5
Text analysis, In-Text Citations, Thesis Statements vs. Claims, Academic Ethos |
3. Prewriting
Oct 12
Drafting an Extended Outline, Film Screening (to be announced) |
4. Citation Styles
Oct 19
Online Databases, Boolean Operators, Types of Research, Peer Review |
5. Information Literacy
Oct 26
Online Databases, The CRAAP Test, The Academy of Sciences Library |
6. Referencing
Oct 30
Quoting, Text Analysis, Compiling a List of References |
7. Plagiarism
Nov 2
Types of Plagiarism, Paraphrasing |
8. Select a Topic
Nov 9
Thesis Statements and Claims, The Oscar Wilde Taste Test |
9. Working Bibliography
Nov 16
Aphorisms about Conciseness, Citation Styles, Quotations, Editing Exercise |
10. Extended Outline
Nov 23
Examining Sample Papers, Formatting, Long Quotations |
11. Drafting
Nov 30
Final Paper Checklist, Editing Exercise, Peer Review |
12. Peer Review
Dec 7
Hyphens-Italics-Capitals, In-Class Peer Evaluation |
13. Final Paper Defense
Dec 14
Presentation and Defense of Research Papers |