Showing posts with label English. Show all posts
Showing posts with label English. Show all posts

Sunday, October 23, 2011

English Language And Composition Classes - A Common Freshman Experience

Upon arrival to the new world of secondary education, college freshmen have a vast array of courses, dreams and desires that line their schedules for their academic time and their free time. All students who enter college have one specific item in common - no matter who they are or where they come from, all students must pass English Composition.

English Composition courses are packaged in many different titles such as "Freshman English", "ENG 101", "Intro to Writing", etc. What's inside the packaging of the courses is very similar - there is less of an emphasis on learning the academic process of analyzing literature and more of a focus on crafting writing that is proper, academic and collegiate. In these composition classes there is a specific emphasis on writing prose.

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The first part of an English Comp course is usually an introduction to the writing process. What's known as the writing process is usually taught as everything from brainstorming to the final draft. There are different forms of writing covered as well; mostly the styles covered are narrative and expository. Some professors will focus on certain parts of the essay, such as the introduction.

The writing process is defined by many professors as the stages of writing beginning with brainstorming and ending with submission of a final draft. Professors have a variety of ways of teaching how to brainstorm - some like the idea of web organizers for example. The next step taught is drafting; many professors like to work with students on upgrading their diction in this area. Afterwards the red pens come out for revision, concluding with the submission of the final draft.

The two types of prose studied in these classes are usually narrative and expository. Most students feel great ease using the narrative style as for most people it's easy to tell a story. Professors mostly focus on organization in this style as detailed writing is easy to come by in the narrative form. Expository writing is simply non-personal writing on a topic or idea. Usually professors are on a quest to get more details from their students as the details are not as easy found as they are in the narrative style.

The components of an essay are important to the process of learning to write and professors certainly take their time to focus efforts on expanding the knowledge base. The components of an essay are simple - the introduction, body and conclusion. Students are taught that the introduction, or thesis, is vitally important. The easiest component to learn is the conclusion as that is taught as restating the thesis, while the body paragraphs provide the meat of the essay - the juicy details proving the thesis.

There isn't much emphasis on literature in English Composition. Usually there will be minor reading, but mostly to learn the technique of writing. There is rarely poetry involved in a composition class.

English Language And Composition Classes - A Common Freshman Experience

In conclusion, English language and composition is the common thread of the freshman experience. The skills taught in this class are so essential to a good collegiate experience that it is becoming more common to have it offered as a free college course these days. Students will leave English Comp classes with a better knowledge of how to write, a step on the way to success.

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Sunday, October 9, 2011

English Composition Classes At Core Of All College Education

Students are returning to college in droves, whether they have just graduated from high school or are returning to college after several years on the job. Students from every walk of life will be deciding which classes to take, and trying to figure out the ones that will be most beneficial to them. An English composition class may be one of the best classes to take when students first enroll in college, because of all the benefits it provides.

An English composition class is designed to teach new college students how to critically read and write. Students will read a wide variety of literature, from poetry to short stories and novels. They will read works that are considered classics, as well as newer short fiction or poetry. The idea is to expose students to many kinds of literary works.

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Students will also be required to write a number of papers analyzing what they read. They will be taught to analyze literature on the basis of a variety of literary conventions, which are standards for criticism and analysis. These standards will include topics such as theme, plot, character analysis, and symbolism, to name a few.

In addition to literary convention, an English composition class will also cover structural topics of importance. For example, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure will all be covered in this class. These structural elements of English are the glue that holds a paper together.

Students will be taught how to read a piece of literature in a manner that leads them to a thesis, or theory, about the literary work. Often a thesis is derived on a comparison of characters, or thematic elements within a story or poem. It is the student's job to prove their thesis by drawing on the literary elements within a story and creating a coherent piece of work that has meaning.

Students will also learn to write papers and essays that use a particular style or format. English classes generally use the MLA format, but the APA style is also commonly used in a college environment, as well as a professional environment. Students will learn to use the index in each stylebook in order to format their papers according to the necessary format, including spacing, titles, bibliographies, and footnotes and other annotations.

In college, students are usually required to take a minimum of two English composition classes. Two semesters of English composition will give students the tools they need to create papers in all of their other classes. Nearly every class in college will require essays and other types of explanatory papers to show that the student understands the coursework and can write an articulate summation, when needed.

English Composition Classes At Core Of All College Education

Once a student graduates, the lessons learned in an English composition class will easily translate over into the working environment. This is such a necessary part of higher education that many a class is being offered in a free online college format. In nearly every professional job that requires a college degree, employers are looking for potential employees who can write well, and, with this course, that will definitely be you.

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