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Composition II - COM102/2 Fall 2025
Course
Anthony Marais
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 8
Concision, Prewriting, Citation Styles, Prototype Semantics, Isocrates’ Didactic Approach, “Bullshit” in academic writing |
2. Analytical Reading
Sep 15
Text analysis, In-Text Citations, Thesis Statements vs. Claims, Academic Ethos |
3. Prewriting
Sep 22
Drafting an Extended Outline, Film Screening (to be announced) |
4. Citation Styles
Sep 29
Online Databases, Boolean Operators, Types of Research, Peer Review |
5. Information Literacy
Oct 6
Online Databases, The CRAAP Test, The Academy of Sciences Library |
6. Referencing
Oct 13
Quoting, Text Analysis, Compiling a List of References |
7. Plagiarism
Oct 20
Types of Plagiarism, Paraphrasing |
8. Select a Topic
Nov 3
Thesis Statements and Claims, The Oscar Wilde Taste Test |
9. Working Bibliography
Nov 10
Aphorisms about Conciseness, Citation Styles, Quotations, Editing Exercise |
10. Extended Outline
Nov 17
Examining Sample Papers, Formatting, Long Quotations |
11. Drafting
Nov 24
Final Paper Checklist, Editing Exercise, Peer Review |
12. Peer Review
Dec 1
Hyphens-Italics-Capitals, In-Class Peer Evaluation |
13. Final Paper Defense
Dec 8
Presentation and Defense of Research Papers |