Topic outline

  • Course Introduction

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    • Time: 29 hours
    • CEUs: 2.9
    • Free Certificate
    Effective writing skills are necessary for success in college and in your future career. This course is designed to improve your writing ability. Pre-College English coursework focuses on basic writing skills, emphasizing four keys to good writing: unity, support, coherence, and sentence-level skills. You will also learn about the importance of writing and some considerations to keep in mind when approaching a writing task.

    In Unit 1, you will learn why writing is important and how it differs from speech. You will learn how to identify purpose and audience and some important features of effective writing, including the four keys to good writing. You will also learn about prewriting strategies that can help you plan out a writing task. Unit 2 will go into greater depth about the first two keys of good writing: unity and support. You will learn how to write an effective topic sentence and support it with evidence. You will also learn about anticipating reader questions and using specific details and descriptions to make your writing come to life. Unit 3 will focus on the third key to good writing: coherence. You will learn about how to organize and connect ideas in ways that are logical and easy for readers to follow. In Unit 4, you will learn about the fourth key to good writing: sentence-level skills. This will include learning about sentence structure and avoiding common errors, punctuation, consistency, and word choice. In Unit 5, you will learn how to write a multi-paragraph essay. This will include learning how to write effective introductions and conclusions, write a thesis statement, and apply the keys to good writing on a larger scale.

    You should keep a writing notebook (or have a designated place to save your work on your computer) and use it throughout the course to write your responses to prompts and practice activities. This course will help prepare you for ENGL101: English Composition I. This course assumes you have a strong command of the English language. If you do not, you should consider taking our English as a Second Language (ESL) courses first.

  • Unit 1: The Importance of Writing and Getting Started

    Writing is an essential part of our daily lives. Whether you are writing a cover letter to a potential employer, making a shopping list, writing a blog about your favorite hobby for people who share that interest, emailing a coworker, or writing an essay for a class, writing is an important skill. When it comes to being a college student, you will find that writing effectively will be a key skill for success. In your classes, you will be asked to write journals, responses to texts, essays, and research papers, in addition to the writing you will need to do when you take notes while reading or listening in class. However, let's face it: not everyone enjoys or feels comfortable expressing themselves through writing. This course aims to help improve your writing as well as your confidence in your writing. You may find that as you improve as a writer, you will enjoy it more (or at least dislike it less)! After all, it is understandably frustrating when you have all these great ideas in your head, and they just don't seem to come out the way you want on the page. It's hard to like something you don't feel any good at! As you begin this course, brainstorm about your feelings and experiences regarding writing. What do you like about writing? What do you dislike about it?

    Completing this unit should take you approximately 3 hours.