Introductory Writing

Our department is dedicated to helping all students achieve their writing goals, including those students who need more instruction and time before entering the first general education writing course, English 111.

English 110 differs from other universities' introductory writing classes because it does not focus on grammar and mechanics. Instead students work on higher order concerns, such as thesis and paragraph development, which have a greater impact on the overall effectiveness of the writing.

In English 110, students learn how to:

• identify a thesis statement in texts
• write a thesis statement for an academic argument
• identify main and supporting ideas in texts
• write a focused, well-developed paragraph
• learn to write meaningful transitions
• use feedback on their writing
• provide useful feedback to their peers
• work with a tutor in our Writing Center
• talk productively about writing

We understand that it is impossible to provide a template for writing success that can be used in students' future classes, so we teach the academic argument essay as a basic form that can be adapted to other academic contexts.