LACR 100 - Fundamentals of Composition II

3 credits

In LACR 100 the emphasis is on the reading and writing processes that lead to argumentation, as well as on the technical aspects of writing, specifically essay structure, paragraph construction, grammar, punctuation and spelling. Students practice critical reading and writing skills in order to develop academic essays: describing, summarizing, analyzing, applying, and synthesizing. They are introduced to the library’s holdings and taught to access and assess source material. As this course is six hours per week, one-to-one time with the instructor is built into the class, so students can work on individual reading and writing issues. By the end of this course, successful students will: 1. Demonstrate the critical reading and writing skills needed to construct academic essays – describing, summarizing, analyzing, applying, and synthesizing. 2. Compose a question-based research paper (about four pages in length) and support a thesis in the body of the essay in properly structured paragraphs. Apply source material avoiding intentional or unintentional plagiarism through direct quotation and paraphrase, and cite in MLA format (in-text citations and bibliography) Synthesize source material to support a deductive argument 3. Assess scholarly sources (locate the author’s thesis, evaluate evidence, and weigh credibility). 4. Access source material through the library holdings: reference section, on-line databases, stacks, and in-library periodicals. 5. Recognize and edit patterns of grammatical error (sentence fragments, run-on sentences, subject-verb agreement, verb tense, punctuation, and spelling) to write clear sentences. Enrollment is based on performance on the English Placement Exam and SAT/ACT scores. Successful completion of LACR 008 or LACR 009 may be required as a result of the English Placement Exam. This course substitutes for LACR 101 and successful completion of this course will permit students to enter LACR 102 or LACR 103, depending on the teacher’s recommendation, in the following semester.

Successful completion of LACR*008 where required a, result of English placement exam. Successful completion of LACR*009 where required as a, result of English placement exam.