English 102 requires students to complete complex composition assignments involving rhetorical strategies, critical reading, and formal research. Students will practice performing multiple research methods, evaluating and documenting sources, synthesizing research, and developing original arguments. This course emphasizes analyzing genre to inform writing strategies and research methods, preparing students to transfer knowledge about genre and composition to other writing contexts.

Student Learning Outcomes:

In ENG 102, students will demonstrate the ability to

  • Read and analyze arguments with an awareness of rhetorical situations, exploring persuasive strategies and possible consequences
  • Understand primary and secondary research and use multiple methods to find and evaluate information from a variety of sources
  • Summarize and synthesize multiple sources, integrating others’ ideas into original arguments, documenting appropriately
  • Create reasoned and well-supported arguments for specific audiences and in specialized genres
  • Compare and contrast how different communities, including academic discourse communities, discuss and respond to a similar topic or issue
  • Develop and refine voice and style
  • Reflect on and articulate one’s own composition choices, conveying rhetorical awareness and ability to transfer skills

Explore Examples of Themed and Honors Sections:

“Education,” ENG 102-Honors, Spring 2019, Dr. Edwins

Our theme is “Education.” We’re reading literature and articles having to do with the broad concept of education, including books like Fareed Zakaria’s In Defense of a Liberal Education and J. Drew Lanham’s The Home Place, as well as plays like Lillian Hellman’s The Children’s Hour and David Mamet’s Oleanna.  

“Giving, Getting, and Exchanging,” ENG 102, Spring 2019, Dr. England

Money, gifts, affection, and our internal organs — these are all sources of value, and they can all be given or traded. In this course, we will begin by examining fictional portrayals of desire, sacrifice, and exchange. Then, using nonfiction readings and outside research from a variety of disciplines, we will enhance our understanding of the course’s theme. Throughout the course, students will practice critical reading, analytical writing, and research skills. 

“Dimensions of Place,” ENG 102, Spring 2019, Dr. Clark

This section explores the idea of place as an evolving concept. As we read J. Drew Lanham’s The Home Place, we consider our individual relationships to particular places as well as the way Lanham’s “home place” shaped him. We then expand our scope to investigate how globalization and digital culture alter our understanding of place. 

“The Pee Dee Project,” ENG 102, Spring 2018, Dr. Woosley-Goodman

This course will examine race, racial relations, and racial violence (including symbolic and structural) in the United States. Students will write in different genres including analysis, critique, and argument and the course will culminate with a research podcast. The purpose of the podcast is to recover a piece of South Carolina’s history and this research project will be posted on a course webpage: The Pee Dee Project.