College Writing Curriculum Map 2014-2015
Course Description:
This course emphasizes goal setting and the higher-level thinking skills: application, analysis,
synthesis, and evaluation. On a more advanced level, students will use research skills, review
grammar, develop vocabulary, practice oral communication skills, and improve writing skills. It
is open to students who have made ACT scores of 20 in reading and 20 in English and who
are recommended by their English teachers. This class requires that students have a strong
work ethic and good study skills. Students are required to complete assignments outside of class.
Specifically as a writing course, this course is designed to teach students to develop and generate
ideas--through significant revision--in clear, effective written English. This course emphasizes
argument and provides instruction and practice in reading critically, thinking logically, responding
to text and non-text, developing research skills, writing substantial essays through systematic
revision, addressing specific audiences, and expressing ideas in clear and correct English.
This course includes a brief review of grammar and mechanics; a general competency is assumed.
The results from a grammar pretest given at the beginning of the years determine the course focus in
grammar.
OCTC CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT OBJECTIVES AND STANDARDS
Course Objectives: 1) Help students become confident and effective writers; 2) To provide
guidance and recommendations leading toward the mastery of basic writing skills; 3) To show the
value of logical thinking and expression; 4) To help students evaluate their own writing by revising,
editing, and proofreading 5) To help the students achieve and demonstrate basic mastery of
Standard American English grammar, syntax, and mechanics through writing experiences and
exercises 6) To help students recognize and understand the different elements and levels of
argumentative writing.
COURSE COMPETENCIES AND ASSESSMENT:
Communication: To communicate effectively using standard written English. Upon completion of
the course, students should be able to:1) Write with a style that is clear and expressive 2) Draw
logical conclusions from across the disciplines 3) Demonstrate problem-solving through summary,
critique, and synthesis; to understand, analyze, summarize, and interpret a variety of reading
materials. 4) Evaluate a writer's purpose, basic assumptions, methods of organization, and the
overall validity of texts. 5) Summarize main points in a text and identify their importance. 6)
Recognize the points involved in successfully completing an essay exam. Assessments may include
exercises or tests. (QEP-WE L4); assignments which indicate a basic mastery of concepts, or essays
which indicate cumulative skills (QEP-WE L4); extended writing assignments (QEP-WE L4)
Independent Learning: To think critically and make connections in learning across the disciplines.
Upon completion of the course, students should be able to: 1) Recognize arguments and how to
avoid common fallacies which undermine arguments. Assessment may include exercises,
discussion, or tests which indicate a basic mastery of concepts, or essays which indicate cumulative
skills. 2) Synthesize information into written form. 3) Critique a piece of writing based on given
criteria. 4) Identify personal assumptions concerning selected issues and respond lucidly to those
presented in both oral and written form. Assessment may include exercises, discussion, or tests
which indicate a basic mastery of concepts, or essays which indicate cumulative skills. (QEP-WE
College Writing Curriculum Map 2014-2015
L4; QEP-WE L2)
Critical thinking: To elaborate on knowledge to create thoughts, processes, and/or products that are
new to the student. Upon completion of the course, students should be able to: 1) Choose a suitable
narrowed topic for a research paper. 2) Gather information appropriate to the chosen topic. 3) Use
appropriate search strategies to find and evaluate information. Assessment may include discussion,
exercises, MLA/APA exercises, or other written assignments. (QEP-WE L3). Assessment methods
may include note taking or a bibliography. (QEP-WE L4).
QC Code
A.2.d
A.2.e
QUALITY CORE READING STANDARDS
Use close-reading strategies (e.g., visualizing, annotating, questioning) in order to
interpret increasingly challenging texts
• I can use close-reading strategies to interpret text.
Compare texts to previously read texts, past and present events, and/or content
learned in other coursework
• I can compare different argument modes.
• I can compare current arguments to past events.
QC Code QUALITY CORE KNOWLEDGE OF LITERARY AND NONLITERARY
FORMS
A.3.a Identify, analyze, and evaluate the defining characteristics of nonliterary forms
A.3a
(e.g., editorial, essay, memorandum) and describe how form affects the
meaning and function of the texts
 I can identify, analyze, and evaluate the characteristics of an editorial and
describe how the form affects the meaning and function of the text.
Explain the relationship between the time in which a nonliterary work is set, the time
A.3d
during which the author wrote, and the time in which the reader reads.
• I can identify the characteristics and rhetorical context of an argument.
QC Code AUTHOR’S VOICE AND METHOD
A.5.e Identify, analyze, and evaluate the ways in which the devices the author
A.5.e
chooses (e.g., irony, imagery, tone, sound techniques, foreshadowing, symbolism)
achieve specific effects and shape meaning in increasingly challenging texts
• I can identify the ways in which the devices the author achieve specific effects and
shape meaning in an argument.
• I can analyze the ways in which the devices the author chooses achieve specific
effects and shape meaning in an argument.
• I can evaluate the ways in which the devices the author chooses achieve specific
effects and shape meaning in an argument.
A.5.h Identify the author’s stated or implied purpose in increasingly challenging
A.5.h
texts
• I can identify the author’s stated or implied purpose in an argument.
QC Code PERSUASIVE LANGUAGE AND LOGIC
Summarize and paraphrase information in increasingly challenging texts, identifying
A.6.b
key ideas,
supporting details, inconsistencies, and ambiguities
• I can summarize information in an argument, identifying key ideas, supporting
College Writing Curriculum Map 2014-2015
A.6.c
details, inconsistencies, and ambiguities.
• I can paraphrase information in an argument, identifying key ideas, supporting
details, inconsistencies, and ambiguities.
Locate important details and facts that support ideas, arguments, or inferences in
increasingly challenging texts and substantiate analyses with textual examples that
may be in widely separated sections of the text or in other sources
• I can locate important details and facts that support ideas, arguments, or inferences
in an argument and substantiate analyses with textual examples that may be in
widely separated sections of the text or in other sources.
Distinguish between fact and opinion, basing judgments on evidence and reasoning
• I can distinguish between fact and opinion, basing judgments on evidence and
reasoning.
QC Code WORDS AND THEIR HISTORY
A.8.h Apply knowledge of connotation and denotation to determine the meanings of
A.8.h
words and phrases in increasingly challenging texts
• I can apply knowledge of connotation and denotation to determine the meanings of
words and phrases in various arguments.
• I can apply knowledge of denotation to determine the meanings of words and
phrases in various arguments.
A.6.d
RESOURCES
 Language Network: Grammar, Writing, Communication Grade 12. Evanston, IL:
McDougal Littell, 2001.
 Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings (9th Edition), Ramage and Bean
 Various websites for research and MLA citation purposes; media center; computer labs;
and video
CHAPTERS OF STUDY
Quarter
Chapter of Study
st
1 9
Appendix 2 – Small Groups
weeks
Appendix 1-Fallacies
Chapter 17- Using, Citing, and Documenting
Sources
Chapter 16- Finding Sources
Chapter 1 – Argument- An Introduction
Chapter 2 – Argument as Inquiry
Chapter 3 – The Core of an Argument
Chapter 5- Using evidence
*focus – STAR, Angle of vision, framing
evidence,
Chapter 4- Logical structure Toulmin
Chapter 6- Moving the Audience
Chapter 7 Opposing Views
PL/CS
Group discussion; team skills
Understanding sound logic and
bias
Real-world research skills
Real-world research skills
Real-world research skills
Dialectical thinking
Analysis of real-world issues
Effective written real-world
communication
College Writing Curriculum Map 2014-2015
2nd 9
weeks
Chapter 8 – Analyzing Arguments Rhetorically
Chapter 9- Analyzing Visual Arguments
Chapter 10 – an Intro to Types of Claims
DECEMBER MIDTERM
3rd 9
weeks
Chapter 11 – Definitional Argument
Chapter 13 – Resemblance Argument
4th 9
weeks
Chapter 12- Causal Argument
Chapter 13 – Proposal Argument
MAY FINAL
Group discussion; team skills
Understanding sound logic and
bias
Real-world research skills
Real-world research skills
Real-world research skills
Dialectical thinking
Analysis of real-world issues
Evaluating written real-world
communication
Group discussion; team skills
Understanding sound logic and
bias
Real-world research skills
Real-world research skills
Real-world research skills
Dialectical thinking
Analysis of real-world issues
Evaluating written real-world
communication
Group discussion; team skills
Understanding sound logic and
bias
Real-world research skills
Real-world research skills
Real-world research skills
Dialectical thinking
Analysis of real-world issues
Evaluating written real-world
communication