A Course to Jump Start Your Academic Success

English 108, Writing Ready, is designed for students who want to

• Strengthen their writing and learning skills as they transition from high school to college
• Understand college-level learning and performance expectations before they show up for Autumn classes
• Build an academic and social community of classmates who can support each other throughout their programs of study

Course Benefits
This writing-intensive course shows students what it means to read, write, and
learn at a highly competitive, global institution. It strengthens language fluency
through regular reading and classroom interaction. It develops writing confidence
as students prepare to tackle college composition courses. In short, Writing Ready
builds your abilities to succeed at college-level scholarship.

 Learning Goals and Activities
English 108 moves students toward Writing Ready by:

• Increasing your writing fluency, by having you write frequently—almost every class meeting  
• Introducing the processes of inquiry, by having you practice the kinds of skills and understandings that support college-level writing  
• Familiarizing you with campus writing resources, by placing you in touch with writing center supports and library-based research supports 
• Developing your metacognitive skills, that is, how you "think about thinking", using skills such as self-assessment, self-monitoring, transfer, and similar practices critical to becoming a successful and confident student
• Engaging you in the study of learning itself, by exploring how you learn and how that learning style supports your writing 

The first half of the course focuses on metacognitive skills—how your brain learns
best. In the second half, you'll complete a learning-based research project that
provides hands-on experience with campus writing centers, libraries, and online
resources. 

With these goals and activities as a foundation, you can expect writing to become
more of a second nature. You can expect inquiry to support your assessment and
synthesis of new information, thus enabling your writing to be more original and
nuanced. And you can expect to be better equipped to find help when the need
arises. Most importantly, you can expect to leave class more confident in your
writing and more comfortable using your new skills.

Academic Credit
Students earn 5 credits of Arts and Humanities coursework in English 108, which
they may apply toward their Areas of Inquiry requirement.