WRIT 125/3.0: Effective Writing I

This course is available to both Queen’s and non-Queen’s students. Non-Queen’s students (including interest students, visiting students, and new online degree students) must first apply for admission. The following course description is presented for informational purposes only and is subject to change.

Instructor

Jean Prinsen  Learn more about the instructor...
E-mail: prinsenj@queensu.ca

Course Description

This online writing course is a study of the basic principles of academic writing, including a series of assignments that emphasize logical organization, stylistic clarity, and grammatical precision.

Introduction

WRIT 125/3.0 (Effective Writing I) is an online writing course about fundamentals. One of its main purposes is to familiarize students with the essential components of the academic essay: the thesis statement, topic sentences, paragraph structure, and basic grammar and style. Students with a firm grasp of these principles, and an opportunity to put them into practice and to receive feedback on their attempts, are likely to produce better essays.

But producing better essays is not an end in itself. The process of planning, preparing, and writing a university essay gives students the opportunity to engage with a particular topic, think critically about it, determine their own perspective and opinion on the subject, and present that perspective to their readers in a clear and coherent way. WRIT 125/3.0 helps students through every stage of that process: prewriting, drafting, writing, and editing. This course also gives students the opportunity to write a number of different types of essays: for example, the critical review, the comparison essay, and the research paper, each of which is an integral part of the general university curriculum.

WRIT 125/3.0 also places considerable emphasis on grammar, sentence structure, and style. It is common to hear students say, "I have good content but my style is weak" or "The prof liked my ideas but trashed my writing." In fact, an essay's ideas and the writing go hand in hand. Original and creative thoughts, awkwardly expressed, will not impress a reader; neither will perfectly constructed but uninteresting sentences. WRIT 125/3.0 will not only help students to develop and organize their ideas, but also provide instruction and exercises in basic grammar, particularly in those areas where students may be having the most difficulty.

Course Objectives 

After completing WRIT 125, students should be able to do the following:

• understand the essential components of the academic essay: thesis statement, topic sentences, paragraph structure, and basic grammar and style
• understand the format and purpose of types of assignments common to many academic courses, such as comparison/contrast essays and critical reviews
• use material derived from research sources to develop an argument
• see how the mechanics of writing – style and grammar – help them communicate more effectively with readers

Course Topics

• Learning the Components of the Academic Essay
• Reading More Critically
• Developing Grammar Skills
• Analyzing by Comparing
• Using Research to Support Your Own Argument

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More information:

• Computer Requirements and Internet Access
• Moodle, Our Online Learning Environment 
• Academic Integrity
• Evaluation
• Suggested Time Commitment
• Required Material