Welcome Aboard

WELCOME ABOARD!


English 321, Advanced Composition, is an upper-division advanced composition course that builds on the rhetorical and stylistic skills/techniques developed in freshman and sophomore level writing classes. It offers students preparation for successful writing experiences professional contexts and for advanced academic work. This course is designed to help writers develop the thinking and organizing skills needed for effective written expression. Among other emphases, particular attention is given to such special skill requirements as found in the interaction of style, purpose, and audience in diverse and complex writing situations. This is the “company line” as it were, what Ferris State outlines the course. There are outcomes quantifying the anticipated course learning experience on our syllabus as well, and they are accurate and a good demarcation of our learning goals, but these are also jargonous practical terms. Let’s face it—most success in writing will depend upon how well you communicate your ideas, orders, reports, etc. I used to work as an associate editor at a literary journal where the editor kept especially bad cover letters for the bulletin board in the office. From that I learned this: write well, sound good, blend in, stand out by not making someone’s cork board. There is no shortchanging the importance of fostering one’s written communication skills.

So we will use as much discussion and actual writing as possible (through our Blog and the Discussion Board) to come to terms w/ the readings and also w/ our writing selves. If it helps we can think of the Blog and discussion board as virtual classrooms—and interaction is a key component.

The writing you engage in will be the kind you’ll find in the practical world, and hopefully will allow you to concentrate as often as possible on your field of study. Some may be new, some may be practice—but all writing is muscular, that is, you get stronger by putting up the reps. Be sure as well that I will work as hard as I can to make sure that the atmosphere of our class is one of interaction and the free exchange of ideas. I don’t expect that we will always agree with one another, but as long as we remain courteous, constructive, and professional then we can truly have a place where ideas collide in an energetic yet positive way.

I hope that you enjoy yourselves in your learning. Always feel free to contact me by phone/email whenever you have questions, concerns, suggestions, or ideas. Good luck and here’s to a great semester.

Best,

Jamie Thomas