RHE 398T: Teaching First-Year Writing, Theory and Practice

RHE 310 Intermediate Expository Writing is an intermediate-level workshop in writing and editing designed to help students develop and improve their prose for specific contexts. The course emphasizes style and readability, and close attention is paid to the role that choices about grammar and style play in the production of thoughtful and engaging prose. Over the course of a semester, students typically learn to examine a variety of expository genres (memoirs, film reviews, applications, feature articles, editorials, etc.); analyze rhetorical appeals; distinguish good (and bad prose); apply their knowledge of mechanics and rhetorical theory to their own writing and revising; respectfully and effectively critique their own and classmates' work. Instructors will and have approach(ed) the above goals through a variety of efforts, but most RHE 310 classes include three or four major writing projects, each designed to guide the student through the writing process, including several pre-writing exercises--such as proposals--as well as revision exercises--such as peer reviews, rough-draft workshops, initial, and final drafts. It is also common for each student to present at least one paper in the semester for an in-class workshop during which the entire class offers both written and oral feedback. Instructors typically have students practice editing and proofreading their papers and those of their classmates carefully to eliminate errors in grammar, mechanics, and usage. Finally, the course materials often include a full- or medium-sized handbook that focuses on the creation of readable and interesting prose, instructions on how to revise and comment on drafts, along with tips and directions on how to identify and fix common problems in grammar, mechanics, and usage.

- Course Requirements
- Teacher Development and Marketability
- Course Paradigms
- Workshopping Student Papers