Welcome to ENGL002: English Composition II

Specific information about this course and its requirements can be found below. For more general information about taking Saylor Academy courses, including information about Community and Academic Codes of Conduct, please read the Student Handbook.

Course Description

Learn basic research concepts and techniques by using them to conduct academic research and develop effective writing processes.

Course Introduction

The ability to research topics and incorporate information from your sources into your work is an important skill both in college and on the job. This course will reinforce the concepts you practiced in ENGL001 by introducing you to basic research concepts and techniques. It will also give you a chance to put these new concepts and techniques to work as you develop a final research paper. We will begin by looking at how to build research into an effective writing process. First, you will learn to think of researching not as a requirement for getting a good grade on a paper but as a valuable tool that can make your writing more powerful and convincing. You will learn how to build research into your writing process so that you can add persuasive power to your finished work. Through the rigorous practice of the fundamental techniques, you will come to see that, like writing itself, research is an act of discovery rather than a search for prefabricated ideas. The intent of this course is to teach you how to prepare research for any discipline or subject. We will carefully explore and practice general research techniques and processes that you should apply to many academic disciplines and in your job.

In Unit 1, you will select a topic that intrigues you, conduct preliminary research to focus your topic, and develop a thesis statement and a set of questions to help guide the remainder of your research. In Unit 2, you will learn strategies for conducting your research and taking careful notes. We will look carefully at researching on the Internet, but we will also make a point of honing the skills necessary to research topics in a physical library. We will explore some of the techniques that scholars use to record and organize the information that they plan to include in their work, so you can make the most of your resources when you start to write. By the end of the unit, you will have completed detailed notes for your own research project. In Unit 3, you will learn how to evaluate and understand the sources you located in the previous units. You will learn why it is important to put significant effort into reading and evaluating Internet sources, and how to identify and what you need to consider when you use primary and secondary sources. You will also get plenty of practice in determining how and when to use sources to help make your point. By the end of this unit, you will start to understand how to determine whether any source is authoritative, accurate, and current. You will also have an annotated bibliography that will guide you through the writing process. In Unit 4, you will develop your argument and create a detailed outline for your research paper. We will take some time to reinforce and expand upon the rhetorical concepts we introduced in Composition I. Like the prerequisite course, this unit focuses on putting your research to work to strengthen your academic writing. We will study how to use the results of your research and analysis to bolster written arguments and support rhetorical strategies. Unit 5 focuses on how to use style standards and citation methodology correctly. This unit will help you clearly understand why it is important to document and cite your sources and do so consistently and correctly. We will closely examine the issue of plagiarism, noting the situations that can cause writers to misuse source materials, either consciously or accidentally. After completing this unit, you will write a complete draft of your research paper. Unit 6 prepares you for revising and polishing your paper. We will provide you with detailed editorial exercises focusing on specific elements of sentence and paragraph structure, grammar, and mechanics, which will help you achieve your goal of writing clear, grammatically sound expository and persuasive prose. We will use the Modern Language Association (MLA) standards for citation and formatting.

This course includes the following units:

  • Unit 1: Research and the Writing Process
  • Unit 2: Researching: How, What, When, Where, and Why
  • Unit 3: Reviewing and Analyzing Your Sources
  • Unit 4: Putting Your Source Material to Work
  • Unit 5: Writing Your Research Paper and Acknowledging Your Sources
  • Unit 6: Polishing Your Research Paper

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

  • Define the relationship between research techniques and academic work in various disciplines;
  • Refine research within a writing process, identifying and using rhetorical strategies as well as practicing critical thinking and reading;
  • Identify the various kinds of research used to produce written work in academic disciplines;
  • Identify and use tools for conducting Internet-based and library research;
  • Demonstrate critical and analytical thinking in locating, evaluating, and using research;
  • Use quotes, paraphrases, and summaries accurately and appropriately to strengthen written arguments and to avoid plagiarism;
  • Demonstrate skills in source summarization and in synthesis skills;
  • Cite and document information sources in accordance with MLA style requirements;
  • Use information from resources as structural elements in an academic paper; and
  • Review and practice the grammatical and rhetorical skills necessary for successful writing.

Throughout this course, you will also see learning outcomes in each unit. You can use those learning outcomes to help organize your studies and gauge your progress.

Course Materials

This course's primary learning materials are articles, lectures, and videos.

All course materials are free to access and can be found in each unit of the course. Pay close attention to the notes that accompany these course materials, as they will tell you what to focus on in each resource and will help you understand how the learning materials fit into the course as a whole. You can also see a list of all the learning materials in this course at this link.

Some parts of this course may have been created or reviewed with the support of artificial intelligence (AI). To make sure you receive accurate, high-quality, and academically sound learning materials, all AI-assisted content is carefully checked and approved by Saylor Academy's faculty and subject matter experts.

Evaluation and Minimum Passing Score

Only the final exam is considered when awarding you a grade for this course. To pass this course, you will need to earn a grade of 70% or higher on the final exam.

Your score on the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. Be sure to study in between each attempt! If you do not pass the exam, you will not complete this course or receive a certificate of completion. You can attempt the exam as many times as you want.

There are end-of-unit assessments in this course that are designed to help you study and do not factor into your final course grade. You can take them as many times as you want until you understand the concepts they cover.

You can see all of these assessments at this link.

Continuing Education Credits

The certificate earned by passing this self-paced course displays the program hours you completed and continuing education credits (CEUs). CEUs document successful completion of courses that are designed to improve the knowledge and skills of working adults. Many industries value CEUs, and now your certificate reflects them clearly, and they may be used to support career advancement or to meet professional licensing standards. This course contains 10.1 CEUs.

Tips for Success

ENGL002: English Composition II is a self-paced course, meaning you can decide when to start and complete the course. We estimate the "average" student will take 101 hours to complete. We recommend studying at a comfortable pace and scheduling your study time in advance.

Learning new material can be challenging, so here are a few study strategies to help you succeed:

  • Take notes on terms, practices, and theories. This helps you understand each concept in context and provides a refresher for later study.
  • Test yourself on what you remember and how well you understand the concepts. Reflecting on what you've learned improves long-term memory retention.

Technical Requirements

This course is delivered entirely online. You will need access to a computer or web-capable mobile device and consistent internet access to view or download resources and complete auto-graded assessments and the final exam.

To access the full course, including assessments and the final exam, log into your Saylor Academy account and enroll in the course. If you don't have an account, you can create one for free here. Note that tracking progress and taking assessments require you to log in.

For more details and guidance, please review our complete Technical Requirements and our student Help Center.

Optional Saylor Academy Mobile App

You can access all course features directly from your mobile browser, but if you have limited internet connectivity, the Saylor Academy mobile app provides an option to download course content for offline use. The app is available for iOS and Android devices.

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Fees

This course is entirely free to enroll in and access. All course materials, including textbooks, videos, webpages, and activities, are available at no charge. This course also contains a free final exam and a free course completion certificate.

Last modified: Thursday, October 2, 2025, 4:04 PM