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Students can take one of ten different courses to satisfy the University Tier I Writing requirement, unless they place into the WRA 1004/0102 Preparation for College Writing course, in which case they take that course prior to taking a course numbered from WRA 110 through 150. WRITING CURRICULUM Writing is the key component of a student's intellectual endeavor and is inherently linked to other aspects of comprehension and communication, such as reading, listening, thinking and speaking about specific subjects. The overall goal of Tier I Writing is to prepare students for the kinds of writing they will be called upon to produce in the academy, in their professional and business lives, and as citizens of a democracy. In Tier I Writing, students will receive instruction and practice in conceiving, drafting, revising and completing papers of various lengths (from a paragraph to several pages), based upon sources that challenge them to seek new information and to reflect upon its relevance to their own observations and experience. It is the goal of the department to provide students with the opportunity to acquire and use word processing and editing skills. Students in Tier I courses will receive specific instructions in the following skills in connection with their writing in and out of class: reading, discussing, and analyzing cultural texts of various kinds brainstorming and generating ideas for essays defining an audience creating a thesis and argument organizing information and weighing evidence drafting and revising through multiple drafts using handbooks and editing for standard usage and grammar researching library and other sources of information writing from sources and learning how to incorporate them into a text and how to document them writing essay examinations Faculty will require a writing text/handbook to focus and complement classroom instruction, and students will be expected to produce a minimum of 6,000 finished words of instructor-evaluated and commented upon writing during the semester. This requirement will be distributed over a minimum of five separate assignments. These may take the form of in-class essays, out-of-class essays, research or documented source papers, essay examinations, or some combination thereof. The 6,000 word requirement does not include journals, revisions, or drafts. ATTENDANCE The University policy on attendance is that students are expected to attend classes on a regular and consistent basis in order to be involved in their learning in an active way and to become a contributing member of a learning community. In a writing course where drafting workshops, peer group response sessions, discussions of reading materials, and planning sessions for writing assignments are regularly done, it is even more important that students be in class and be prepared to participate and contribute. Instructors will have individual, course-specific attendance policies. Make sure you understand this policy for the course you take, especially if any grade penalties are involved. This policy should be clearly stated in the course syllabus you will receive. AVAILABLE COURSES AND BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS The following courses constitute the Tier I Writing curriculum. The main courses and individual sections within courses will differ in the following main ways: the instructor's selection of texts and any accompanying course materials such as films, documentaries, visual documents the instructor's choice of themes or topics as the focus points for the course and the historical and cultural framing of these the kinds of writing assignments and the number and lengths of papers or writing exercises the instructional and learning format, including the approach to and contexts for the development of writing skills and practices, and the system of grading with relative weighting of the various areas of student performance. The greatest variations in these five factors will be in the 150 Writing: The Evolution of American Thought course. The other courses have more specialized subjects. In many cases students' choice of a course and section will be determined by the needs of overall schedule and by the registration availability of courses. What is most important is students have the opportunity to find a course that suits their general interests, or perhaps even fits with their overall planned curriculum. However, in a large institution such as Michigan State University students have to be flexible in terms of course selection. The Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures Department pledges to provide a course that is intellectually challenging and engaging and that gives students necessary writing practice and assignments to prepare them for their work in the university and their ongoing development as effective and expressive writers. Composition skills in all courses will be developed through instruction, workshops, collaborative work such as peer group editing and critiquing, and individual conferences. Instructors may also use e-mail and electronic discussion groups or web site projects. 110 Writing: Science and Technology involves drafting, revising, and editing compositions derived from readings and discussions on American science and technology to develop skills in narration, persuasion, analysis, and documentation. Instructors can organize course readings around any combination of the following topics: language and invention, pre-industrial culture, machine technology, energy and environment, information technology, and social and ethical issues related to science and technology. 115 Writing: Law and Justice in the United States involves drafting, revising, and editing compositions derived from readings on American law and justice to develop skills in narration, persuasion, analysis, and documentation. Instructors can organize course readings around any combination of the following topics: founding principles of law; rhetoric of law and justice; gender, class, race, and age; civil rights and privacy; land and treaty policy; separation of church and state. 125 Writing: The American Ethnic and Racial Experience involves drafting, revising, and editing compositions derived from readings on the experience of American ethnic and racial groups to develop skills in narration, persuasion, analysis, and documentation. Instructors can organize course readings and cultural information on these ethnic and racial groups: African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, European immigrants, Hispanics. 130 Writing: American Radical Thought involves drafting, revising, and editing compositions derived from readings on American radical thought to develop skills in narration, persuasion, analysis, and documentation. Instructors can organize course readings around any combination of topics: conquest and revolution, natural rights, socialism, technology and its problems, radicalism of the 1960s, and capitalism and expansionism. The course will examine the assumptions and positions of radical thinkers and organizations as well as assess their impact and influence on social change and policy. 135 Writing: Public Life in America involves drafting, revising, editing, and publishing written compositions derived from readings on the American civic tradition and community service-learning experience to develop skills in narration, persuasion, analysis, documentation, collaboration, and critical thinking. Instructors can organize course readings around any combination of the following topics: the social contract, the public good, changing communities, citizenship in the media age, the individual in society, civic literacy. Students are required to do community based service-learning and volunteer work with an organization in the Lansing area.. This placement is coordinated with MSU's Service-Learning Center and normally involves local off-campus travel.. 140 Writing: Women in America involves drafting, revising, and editing compositions derived from readings on women in America to develop skills in narration, persuasion, analysis, and documentation. Instructors can organize course readings around any combination of the following topics: feminist theory; women and language; women's history and literature; gendered social roles; factors of race, class, gender, and age; cultural differences. 145 Writing: Men in America involves drafting, revising, and editing compositions derived from readings on men in America to develop skills in narration, persuasion, analysis, and documentation. Instructors can organize course readings around any combination of the following topics: theories of masculinity; history of patriarchy; gender roles and stereotypes; factors of class, ethnicity, and age; current and future issues; cross-cultural references. 150 Writing: The Evolution of American Thought involves drafting, revising, and editing compositions derived from American historical, social, and cultural texts to develop skills in narration, persuasion, analysis, and documentation. Instructors organize course readings around any combination of the following topics: national goals and ideals, reason and revolution, domestic and world crises, American dreams and realities, cultural pluralism, national migrations and movements.

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