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NEO Workshop

COMPOSITION II - COM102/2 Fall 2020


Course
Anthony Marais
For information about registration please contact our admissions.

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. Critical Thinking

Sep 22

Syllabus Review, The Writing Process, Aristotlean Appeals, Critical Thinking

2. Rhetoric

Sep 29

Concision, Prewriting, Citation Styles, Prototype Semantics, Isocrates’ Didactic Approach, “Bullshit” in academic writing

3. Analytical Reading

Oct 2

Text analysis, In-Text Citations, Thesis Statements vs. Claims, Academic Ethos, Wittgenstein's Motto

4. Prewriting

Oct 6

Drafting an Extended Outline, Film Screening (to be announced)

5. Gathering and Evaluating Sources

Oct 13

Online Databases, Boolean Operators, Types of Research, Peer Review

6. Information Literacy

Oct 20

Online Databases, The CRAAP Test, The Academy of Sciences Library

7. Referencing

Oct 27

Quoting, Text Analysis, Compiling a List of References

8. Plagiarism

Nov 3

Types of Plagiarism, Read articles on Schavan and zu Guttenberg, Paraphrasing

9. Select a Topic

Nov 6

Thesis Statements and claims, The Oscar Wilde Taste Test

10. Working Bibliography

Nov 10

Aphorisms about Conciseness, Citation Styles, Quotations, Editing Exercise

11. Extended Outline

Nov 24

Examining Sample Papers, Formatting, Long Quotations

12. Drafting

Dec 1

Final Paper Checklist, Editing Exercise, Peer Review

13. Peer Review

Dec 8

Hyphens-Italics-Capitals, In-Class Peer Evaluation

14. Presenting and Defending

Dec 15

Presentation and Defense of Research Papers

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