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What is English 101?


“I hate you,” she says, as a sly smile creeps up the corners of her lips. “I hate you because I can’t stop this.“ She breaks into a full-on grin. “I read and I want to write. And I can’t stop thinking. And then I want to read some more.”

Do you know this student? At one point she was in my class. But she’s your student, too. She’s sarcastic and witty and incisively bright when she applies herself— recently, she started reading about Kenyan Activist Wangari Maathai—but this was not always the case. She felt cheated by the education system and let that become a chip on her shoulder. It’s something she is working through and she’s succeeding right now. And this reminds me why I love to teach English 101.

English 101 is often the first class students take when they’re college ready. It’s a jumping-off point and a moment brimming with potential to open doors. Students may come in with all sorts of preconceptions and habits, but there’s a real opportunity with entry level courses to help inspire and challenge students to be more than they thought they could be. Sometimes this works. Sometimes it doesn’t. But ENG 101 is required for all students and for good reason: we need our students to become critical readers, writers, and thinkers to navigate their way in the world—as people, as citizens, as colleagues. So I wanted to take a moment to tell you about the kinds of things we do in College Composition.

Composition is not just grammar. Grammar, mechanics, words, sentence structure, and format make up the material parts of a piece of writing. Students write in and out of class for a composition course and should work at clear communication, so grammar skills are important. But grammar itself isn’t the center-point. It’s the thinking that’s in the center. Good writing should be polished; yes, but it should also be insightful, logical, interesting, accurate, and, among other things, built upon conversations that are going on in our world by other thinkers, too—news reporters, scholars, politicians, artists, scientists, and more. Good writing demands that a reader think more on a subject.

So what’s English 101? It’s a course that asks students to read, write, and research in order to help them think more independently. It’s a course that’s on a continuum of courses that do this—along with literature courses and sociology courses and psychology courses and more—and it’s a course that operates as one point on an academic path. Composition is a course that helps students write by creating space for a consistent flurry of reading, writing, and discussion about ideas.

A few years ago Syracuse Professor Rebecca Moore Howard, a national figure on student writing, came to MCC’s campus. She talked about how to turn our energy towards a national crisis of reading practices that stems from shifting cultural and technological forces. One way we integrated her insight was altering our course learning outcomes. Our current focal point for composition is on summary, analysis, and synthesis of college-level readings so that we can help students join local, national, and international conversations with some measure of clear thinking. We work on integrating reading, writing, and research skills to help students engage with sources in an insightful and contemplative way.

I can tell you that with over 80 sections of the course here at MCC each semester, it doesn't look exactly the same in every classroom. This is by design. Some sections focus on international policy proposals, others create national debate forums, while others talk about local issues or explore questions or literary themes. The idea is to stress key outcomes and carve space for faculty freedom and creativity to help students move forward in their thinking. After all, in nod to John Locke, “it’s the thinking that makes what we read ours.” And who wouldn’t want our students to start that journey of exploring ideas? It’s an exciting path to tread.

Angelique Johnston
English and Philosophy
10/20/2015


Attachments:
icon Comp Notes Oct 2015.pdf