Junior or senior standing is recommended. This course is for juniors and seniors majoring in scientific or related disciplines. Through regular exploratory writing, students will produce a final project that represents significant work in their field and is presented in written form appropriate to a particular, real audience and situation. Students learn how to find and use library resources and field methods in their areas of specialization. Writing assignments include a formal research report and five to six short papers, such as a letter of application, trip report, proposal, progress report, or assignments derived from rhetorical principles and strategies.
Students select subjects for their writing assignments from within their major study areas.
Students will employ advanced editing skills, practice writing on-line documentation, and develop hypertext links. Instruction throughout the course stresses the rhetorical skills needed to create effective texts that meet the constraints of particular writing contexts. Students will write detailed rhetorical analyses for each of their writing assignments and produce effective letters, memos, technical descriptions, proposals, resumes, progress reports, and other appropriate documents for their course projects.