Programs: Writing Workshop

Students: Course Descriptions

General Descriptions of Courses Offered through the Writing Workshop

English 109.01 and 109.02: Intensive Writing and Reading I and II

These 5-hour courses meet five days each week for 48 minutes each day. You will take English 109.01 first and then, preferably the following quarter, English 109.02. After taking both of these courses, you will enroll in English 110.01/.02. Both 109.01 and 109.02 are small classes with no more than 15 students. Individual syllabi vary somewhat, but most courses ask students to investigate a theme, such as "Growth and Change in Adolescence," through intensive writing and reading. The goal of this course sequence is to give students practice doing college-level reading and writing projects.

In Autumn 2005, one 109 class each quarter will be part of the Johnson Park Middle School/OSU Literacy Partnership. At the heart of the project are exchanges between OSU and JPMS students. OSU students in English 109 will act as online editors for a JPMS after-school magazine club that will write and produce a magazine about middle schools on the east side of Columbus. Because of distance and time constraints, rather than attempt to transport students between the two primary sites (an English Department Digital Media Project classroom in Denney Hall and the computer lab at Johnson Park Middle School), students will exchange writing using e-portfolios through the Open Source Portfolio Project.

In addition to the editing they do for JPMS students, OSU students will be engaged in a quarter-long inquiry of how literacy expectations change with context. They will look at criteria for “good writing” in a variety of concrete contexts:

middle school classrooms
an after-school middle school magazine project
college courses across disciplines
electronic environments, such as e-portfolios and Tablet PC’s.

Through applying what they learn through analysis of these sites and standards, they will strengthen their own writing and reading practices for future work at the University.

English 110.03 and 193.03: Composition, Intensive Version

This combined 7-hour course meets four days each week for one hour and eighteen minutes each day. For three of the days, you will meet as a full class with your instructor; on the fourth day, students meet in at a site outside your regular classroom to do work in a different context. (For more information about the two versions of English 110.03 and 193.03, see below.) You will receive 5 credit hours for English 110.03 and 2 credit hours for English 193.03; however, your grades are based on work you do in the entire combined course. You must enroll for both for these courses to receive credit. Your English 110.03 class will contain no more than 15 students, and you will do intensive reading and writing about such topics as literacy, language communities, and identity and culture.

English 110.03 and 193.03: Peer Group Version

If you are enrolled in English 110.03 (peer group or non-service learning version), as part of the requirements for that course, you, several other students from your class, and a peer writing consultant (PWC) will meet once each week in a peer writing group. These PWCs are undergraduate students who have completed English 110.0x are being trained in tutoring through English 467, "Writing and Learning." Together, the members of your group will decide on activities that can help and support your 110.03 writing and reading assignments.

English 110.03 and 193.03: Service Learning Version

For Autumn 2005, the Writing Workshop will again offer two service learning versions of English 110.03. Evaluations of these courses over the last three years show that they can provide attractive alternative versions of first year writing for students as they begin the process of being successful college readers and writers. Students may enroll in the courses for a variety of reasons, because they enjoy community service, because they want to help elementary school students, because they were interested in pursing a degree in education, because they were attracted to the idea of a more hands-on approach to reading and writing. For Autumn Quarter 2005, we will offer two service sections, one which will work with first graders at Medary Elementary School, and a second section that will tutor first graders at Trevitt Elementary School. If you have questions, please call Mindy Wright, Director, Writing Workshop at 292-8134.

In this English 110.03 class, students will practice a number of kinds of college-level essay writing--personal and academic--that will focus on issues surrounding literacy and community. This class meets 3 days each week (MWF) in a conventional classroom format. Each week on Thursdays during class time, OSU students go to Medary Elementary School just north of campus to work with first grade students and teachers. Tutorial activities will include reading and writing with young learners. Because of ways in which course writing and reflection depend greatly on knowledge developed through the tutorial sessions, consistent participation in the service learning tutorial sessions is critical to success in English 110.03.

This English 110.03 service learning class will work with first graders at Trevitt Elementary School (519 Trevitt Avenue, a 45-minute bus ride on COTA or accessible driving by 70E to the Spring Street exit to the near east side of Columbus). For three of the class meetings (MTR), students will meet on Central Campus with their course instructor. Each Wednesday, OSU students will meet at Trevitt Elementary to work in an after school program with teachers and students.

OSU students will be engaged in a number of kinds of college-level essay writing--personal and academic--that will focus on issues surrounding literacy and community. Tutorial activities may include reading and writing with young learners or helping them gain particular literacy-related skills. Because of ways in which course writing and reflection depend greatly on knowledge developed through the tutorial sessions, consistent participation in the service learning tutorial sessions is critical to success in English 110.03.

English 110B01 and 193.03
First -Year Composition, Continuing Education Bridge Program
Every Autumn Quarter, Continuingd Education and the Department of English offer a version of first-year writing for students in the Bridge Program designed to serve OSU employees. To learn more about this program, please visit http://www.continuinged.ohio-state.edu/bridge.html

In this course, students will explore the theme of work and identity in reading/writing and class discussion. The readings for the course consist of personal narratives and biographical profiles of many different people in many different professions which are both traditional and unusual. How people talk about themselves in relation to their work reveals a lot about American cultural values and the myths and stereotypes about certain professions. Students will explore their own experiences with work and those of their classmates to analyze larger issues in the culture. The course will focus on personal experiences and observations and students will use personal writing and perspectives to develop argumentative and analytical papers.

Other first year writing classes offered in the Department of English:
English 110.01, 110.02, and 110C01, 110C02 || English 367.