Writing 100 Program (Writing and Rhetoric)

Contact Information

Questions about a specific WRT 100 course should be addressed to the course instructor. General questions about the course or requests which require program chair approval can be addressed to the program chair.

Description and Course Objectives

Writing and Rhetoric (WRT 100) introduces students to the reading and writing practices that characterize intellectual work in the university. Students are challenged to explore issues of interest and consequence, considering the perspectives of readers as well as their own. The course adopts a process approach to writing in a variety of academic genres, emphasizing pre-writing, researching, composing, revising, and editing as it prepares students for success at Niagara and beyond. (This course was previously known as Thinking and Writing before Fall 2020.)

By the end of the semester, successful students will be able to:

1. Apply key rhetorical concepts to a variety of texts, including their own, to demonstrate more conscious control over their reading and writing;
2. Respond to different kinds of rhetorical situations and to the needs of different audiences;
3. Read with an awareness of the persuasive intent of the author;
4. Approach writing as a recursive process that requires them to prewrite, research, compose, revise, and edit their work over multiple drafts;
5. Locate, evaluate, and ethically incorporate credible, genre-appropriate sources;
6. Give and receive constructive feedback on drafts;
7. Write with clarity, brevity, coherence, and control of generic conventions, such as grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

Common Assignment

While topics and some assignments may vary, all students in WRT 100 will create an argumentative essay which uses research and includes library instruction.

Common Academic Integrity Policy

The common academic integrity policy (in addition to the university's policy) for WRT 100 is: In Writing 100, the most common violation of academic integrity is plagiarism. Therefore, be sure you understand what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. If you are unsure how to ethically incorporate sources into your own writing, be sure to ask your instructor long before the assignment is due. If you are caught plagiarizing on an assignment submitted for a grade, regardless of whether the act was accidental or deliberate, you will receive zero points for the assignment in question and be reported to the university's Academic Integrity Board. If you are caught plagiarizing a second time, you will automatically fail the course and again be reported to the Academic Integrity Board.