English 112 is a research course. Students begin with a focus on how to develop, research, frame, and engage a complex argument. They learn and practice methods of college research, reading, and writing – understanding and communicating the argument of a text while keeping it separate from their own opinion, analyzing a text, and ethically utilizing evidence to support the claims of their analysis. Progressing from rhetorical and contextual analysis, students develop essential research questions to drive their academic inquiry, and they produce extended essays in MLA format based upon their research in libraries, academic search engines, and the internet, and with academic journals, magazine articles, blogs, movies, documentaries, and other texts.
English 112 classes are usually organized around particular themes, for example:
- The Rhetoric of Baseball
- The Rhetoric of Kenya
- The Rhetoric of Freedom
- The Rhetoric of Popular Culture
- The Rhetoric of Horror
- The Rhetoric of the American Frontier
- The Rhetoric of Water
The broad scope of the themes creates an academic environment in which students can choose a specific focus for their research while contributing to the inquiry of others.
English 112 curriculum is driven by these course objectives:
- Recognize the distinctions between opinions, facts, and inferences.
- Conduct independent research in answer to a research question, using library databases and other resources appropriate to the question.
- Locate and integrate a variety of sources that appropriately support a primary purpose.
- Analyze and evaluate written communication in terms of credibility, function, situation, audience, purpose, genre, and/or point of view.
- Practice writing and research processes such as drafting and revising, demonstrated in research genres such as the proposal, essay, and annotated bibliography.
- Effectively use rhetorical strategies to persuade, inform, and engage.
- Demonstrate mastery of academic conventions regarding essay structure, appropriate tone, formal citation, and sentence clarity. English 112 curriculum is driven by these course objectives:
English 112 curriculum is also designed to facilitate student growth in two of Highlands University’s four traits:
- Mastery of content knowledge and skills
- Effective communication skills