Course Overview and Description

The purpose of this writing course is to equip students with necessary skills of academic writing to complete a research paper of 2,000-2,500 words by the end of the academic year. During the first semester, students will be engaged in a series of writing assignments ranging from book critique, essay critique, literature review, and others, intended to enhance their research paper writing ability. Once acquired fundamental skills, the students will move on to writing up a research paper in the second semester.

By the end of this semester, students will learn

-how to analyze the text and the images and read graphic novels closely,

-how to search for articles in academic journals and cite resources with accuracy,

-how to organize persuasive, logical arguments, and reason with evidence,

-the structure and the elements of a research paper,

-the procedures and the ethics involved in writing a research paper.

Course Expectations

Writing course is rigorous and moves along at a quick and steady pace, which means both the instructor and the students must make the most of the time we have together each week. Since the instructor values students’ attendance very much, attendance will be checked every week. Any student who is more than 20 minutes late in joining class will be counted as absent. A missed conference appointment (see weekly schedule) also counts as an absence from class. If a student is absent from class more than three times, with or without sick notice or any other proof, s/he risks being excluded from and failing the course. If you must miss a class, please notify the instructor by email in advance, and consult our class website for any missed materials. Bear in mind that the instructor is not on email 24/7, so your message may not receive an immediate response. The instructor does not accept text messages or phone calls, either.

Students are expected to be fully prepared to participate when class begins—that is, to have read and thought about whatever readings were assigned and to have the required writing with you. Late submission of any assignment won’t be accepted for whatever reason. The instructor considers such lateness extremely disruptive to the class schedule and discussions, and is unfair to the other students who do participate and hand in work on time, so late submission will be penalized by receiving a “0” and will not be read or graded. Please note that excuses related to computer mishaps won’t be accepted either. Note also that homework that is copied from another source will receive an “0”.

Course Requirements:

1.Visit ilearning regularly for weekly assignments, announcements, and course syllabus.