The Practice of Writing: Becoming Writers at U-M
Becoming Writers at U-M is a course that provides students with the opportunity to develop critical thinking and academic writing skills that will serve them well in college and beyond. In this course students will have the opportunity for intensive, personalized writing instruction and support, including half-hour meetings with the instructor. In this class students will write five main texts: a personal history, a descriptive report, an argumentative essay, a letter to yourself, and a remix of a previous assignment. The aim is to help students expand their conception of what writing is and how it functions, by reading example texts and writing their own. Students will learn to identify conventions, and then how to personalize those conventions for their own rhetorical purposes. Our model text will be Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between The World and Me. We will read that text together throughout the semester, and each main assignment is based on a section of that text. In this way, students will have a point of reference that they can follow, but can also feel free to explore alternatives and be as creative as they see fit. The theme of the class, Becoming Writers at U-M, allows students to think of themselves not just as students, but as creators. Students, ultimately, are the writers here, and the goal is not to tell them what to write, but rather to support them in making sure that they’re happy with the way they say what they want to say.
Course Requirements
In this class students will write five main texts: a personal history, a descriptive report, an argumentative essay, a letter to yourself, and a remix of a previous assignment. They will also meet for 6 one-to-one, half-hour meetings with the instructor.
Intended Audience
Undergraduate students who would like to practice writing in a supporting environment before enrolling in their First-Year Writing Requirement course.
Class Format
One 2-hour seminars per week.
