Our experience as teachers of writing has shown us that some students need additional help in order to succeed in the first-year composition course. The writing workshop should be thought of like a lab course for a science or foreign language. Those students whose essays show a need for the writing workshop will be required to attend one workshop session each week, and they must satisfactorily fulfill workshop requirements in order to pass GEC101 . Note that this requirement applies only to the students whom we place in the workshop, on the basis of the in-class essay. The placement essay will be written in class during the first week of the semester.
All students write on the same topic.
You will receive the writing assignment before the class period when you write the essay. You may prepare for the essay by reading the assignment and making notes or an outline, but you should plan to write your essay during class time. You may use a dictionary or thesaurus, if you need one. Writing faculty will read placement essays at the beginning of the second week of classes. Two faculty members will read each essay.