Last Updated: Wed, 12/17/2025
Course prefix:
ENGL
Course number:
1101
Semester:
Spring
Academic year:
2026
Course description:

A composition course focusing on skills required for effective writing in a variety of contexts, with emphasis on exposition, analysis, and argumentation, and also including
introductory use of a variety of research skills. Develops analytical reading and writing
skills through the investigation of methods used in cultural and literary studies and the
application of those methods to specific texts.

Course learning outcomes:

Course learning outcomes:

Rhetorical Knowledge

Rhetorical knowledge focuses on the available means of persuasion, considering factors such as context, audience, purpose, genre, medium, and conventions.

· Explore and use with purpose key rhetorical concepts through analyzing and composing a variety of written texts. These concepts include:

o Rhetorical situation: purpose, audience, context

o Genre

o Argumentation: controlling purpose, evidence

· Develop an understanding of the ways in which rhetorical concepts can be transferred to multimodal artifacts

· Gain experience reading and composing in several genres to understand how genre conventions shape and are shaped by readers’ and writers’ practices and purposes

· Develop facility in responding to a variety of situations and contexts calling for purposeful shifts in voice, tone, level of formality, design, medium, and/or structure

 

Critical Thinking, Writing, and Composing

Critical thinking is the ability to analyze, synthesize, interpret, and evaluate ideas,

information, situations, and texts.

· Use composing and reading for inquiry, learning, critical thinking, and communicating in various rhetorical contexts

· Read a diverse range of written texts, attending especially to relationships between assertion and evidence, to patterns of organization, to the interplay between verbal and nonverbal elements, and to how these features function for different audiences and situations

· Use strategies—such as interpretation, synthesis, response, critique, and

design/redesign—to compose texts that integrate the writer’s ideas with those from appropriate sources

Knowledge of Conventions

Conventions are the formal rules and informal guidelines that define genres, and in so

doing, shape readers’ and writers’ perceptions of correctness or appropriateness.

· Develop knowledge of linguistic structures, including grammar, punctuation, and

spelling, through practice in composing and revising readers’ and writers’ perceptions of correctness or appropriateness

· Learn common formats and/or design features for different kinds of written texts

· Explore the concepts of intellectual property (such as fair use and copyright) that motivate documentation conventions

Required course materials:

8th edition of Andrea Lunsford's Everyday Writer via Perusall
WOVENText Open Educational Resource (https://woventext.lmc.gatech.edu)

Grading policy:


Assignments:

Common First Week Letter: 4% of final grade

Perusall Assignments 10% of final grade
Project 1: 20% of final grade
Project 2: 20% of final grade
Project 3: 20% of final grade
Final Portfolio: 16% of final grade
Participation: 10% of final grade

 

A: 90-100
Superior performance—rhetorically, aesthetically, and technically—demonstrating
advanced understanding and use of the media in particular contexts. An inventive spark
and exceptional execution.
B: 80-89
Above-average, high-quality performance—rhetorically, aesthetically, and
technically.
C: 70-79
Average (not inferior) performance. Competent and acceptable—rhetorically,
aesthetically, and technically.
D: 60-69
Below-average performance. Needs substantive work — rhetorically, aesthetically,
and/or technically.
F: 0-59
Unacceptable performance. Failure to meet minimum criteria rhetorically,
aesthetically, and/or technically.

Attendance policy:

Attendance and participation are essential to success in courses in the Writing and Communication Program. Because of this, you are expected to attend class in person. Not attending a scheduled class session in-person results in an absence.

There may be times when you cannot or should not attend class, such as if you are not feeling well, have an interview, or have family responsibilities. Therefore, this course allows a specified number of absences without penalty, regardless of reason. After that, penalties accrue. Exceptions are allowed for Institute-approved absences (for example, those documented by the Registrar) and situations such as hospitalization or family emergencies (documented by the Office of the Dean of Students).

Your instructor can communicate with you about how to access materials or make up work you may have missed during your absence or suggest ways to participate in class remotely and/or asynchronously. Students may miss a total of four (4) classes over the course of the semester without penalty. Each additional absence after the allotted number deducts 2% from a student’s final grade.

Academic honesty/integrity statement:

Students are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity. All work submitted must be original and properly cited. Plagiarism, cheating, or any form of academic dishonesty will result in immediate consequences as outlined in the university's academic integrity policy.

Core IMPACTS statement(s) (if applicable):

ENGL 1101 Core Impacts Statement

 

ENGL 1101 ENGL COMPOSITION I

This is a Core IMPACTS course that is part of the Writing area.

Core IMPACTS refers to the core curriculum, which provides students with essential knowledge in foundational academic areas. This course will help master course content, and support students’ broad academic and career goals.

 

This course should direct students toward a broad Orienting Question:

· How do I write effectively in different contexts?

 

Completion of this course should enable students to meet the following Learning Outcomes:

· Students will communicate effectively in writing, demonstrating clear organization and structure, using appropriate grammar and writing conventions.

· Students will appropriately acknowledge the use of materials from original sources.

· Students will adapt their written communications to purpose and audience.

· Students will analyze and draw informed inferences from written texts.

 

Course content, activities and exercises in this course should help students develop the following Career-Ready Competencies:

· Critical Thinking

· Information Literacy

· Persuasion

Instructor First Name:
Jessica
Instructor Last Name:
Estep
Section:
LS1
CRN (you may add up to five):
29514