The Freshman Composition Program at Bowie State University is committed to expanding students' awareness and understanding of the power of language and their ability to comprehend, appreciate, and use it in their personal and professional lives. Each course is designed to develop communication skills that acknowledge the interaction of reading, writing, and thinking and that will make students aware of the linguistic and rhetorical choices available to them as they develop written work for their college courses and prepare for their chosen careers. Based on rhetorical theory, English 101 and 102 emphasize the relationship among writer, audience, and subject. Students examine the rhetorical modes of narration and description as well as exposition and argument. A range of gifted writers from different time periods and cultural backgrounds focus class discussions and writings and encourage students to explore different viewpoints and develop informed opinions.
Imaginative literature plays a role in both courses.
Approached as a study of history, culture, and human relations, literary works in English 101 and 102 are intended to stimulate thinking and deepen appreciation for the power of narrative and poetic language. The Freshman Composition Literary Series brings writers of works being studied in English 101and 102 to campus in an effort to heighten students' awareness of both the tradition and vitality of literature. Technology is also key to all three courses. Writing is a process. Writing and reading are mutually supportive activities.