RHETORIC & COMPOSITION 1

 

ACADEMIC LITERACY

Enables students to:

  • Employ critical thinking, reading, writing, speaking and listening skills

  • Communicate effectively within different university contexts

  • Ultimately adapt these literacy skills to life beyond the university

 

ACADEMIC DISCOURSES

Are the kinds of writing and speaking that occur within a university:

  • Scholar to Scholar (e.g., academic journals)

  • Scholar/Teacher to Major (e.g., upper division classes in a major)

  • Scholar/Teacher to Non-major (e.g., Rhetoric and Composition 1)

 

ACADEMIC DISCOURSE CONVENTIONS

Are the "rules" for academic writing and speaking:

  • General conventions (reasoned arguments, organized ideas & clear sentences)

  • Specific conventions (such as particular topics, genres, and styles) that are

         associated with each academic discipline (e.g., theology, business, chemistry).

         For example, theology courses may ask for thesis-support essays; marketing

         classes may ask for business proposals; and chemistry courses may ask for

         lab reports.

Unit Learning Objectives        Textbooks         Rubrics and Gradesheets

Writing Resources        Forms

Note #1: No one is born with academic literacy. It can be learned at any stage of life.

Note #2: R/C 1 cannot teach all the conventions of every academic discipline. It can, however, help students develop critical literacy, i.e., the ability to recognize, analyze, employ, and (when necessary) interrupt discourse conventions that are appropriate for each academic context in which students find themselves.