ENGLISH 221: Theories of Composing, Tutoring, and Teaching

Fall 2005
Instructor: Arnie Sanders
Department of English
Goucher College

N.B., recent changes, 6/10/07--The site is resting up for the next time I teach English 221.  The syllabus will remain similar in design, though individual scholarly articles in the assigned readings may be changed to reflect recent research in composition research.  One major cultural source of changes in writing teachers' practices is reflected in the conversion from print to digital circulation of writing.  English 241 ("Archeology of Text"), a newly designed course for Fall 2007, will address the consequences of the three main physical media by which writing was composed and read in the past two thousand years: digital online text, printed paper text, and manuscript paper and parchment text.  You can see the syllabus and other materials by clicking here.

        If you are a Goucher student and are interested in taking the course, see the web page for Admission to English 221 and Becoming a Writing Center Tutor and browse the links in the menu below.

The Course

        English 221 explores the composing process from a variety of approaches, including training as a peer tutor (some practice tutoring required, but students are not required to seek Writing Center employment).  Students will study the composing process carefully and discover how their processes differ from the processes of others. We will study the physical, mental, and social systems which affect writing. We also will learn how research on composition is conducted and will undertake some research of our own.  Though we may study the writing behaviors of famous authors or young children, the composing processes typical of academic writers will be our foremost concern.  Understanding the struggles of college-level writers will allow us to assist them as peer tutors and to improve our own writing, as well.

Reset 8/30/04