If the rhetorical strategy involves an argument, it should contain a thesis and develop that thesis with coherence, logic, and evidence. Whatever the purpose, the parts of a paper should contribute to a greater, connected whole. Writing should be edited to address surface error, including irregularities in grammar, syntax, diction, and punctuation. The most distinctive feature of the curriculum at The College of Wooster is Independent Study, a capstone experience requiring significant writing from students in both the junior and senior years. Because faculty agree that the College needs a program to integrate and sustain writing instruction throughout a student's career, and because the Independent Study program focuses intensively on writing during a student's last two years, the Wooster writing requirement focuses on a student's first two years at the College.
Several assumptions are implicit in the design of the writing requirement.
Most important, perhaps, is that students can learn to write well in a variety of forms for a wide range of readers, regardless of their disciplines, and that they can do so by strengthening their reasoning and arguing skills. The requirement is constructed in response to the belief that writers are most likely to improve when they use writing to understand a topic that interests them. Because the knowledge and skills required for membership in a community are controlled by those within it, novices are best served if they apprentice with members of the community. The program starts from the assumption that, given appropriate training and support, faculty from across the curriculum can be highly effective writing teachers because of their mastery of their disciplinary discourses. Students will demonstrate their abilities by placement examination, as assessed by the English department.