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Our writing professionals are committed to serving CNU students. We believe written communication is a skill learnable by all students, and should be continually practiced over a lifetime.
Because writers on all levels profit from frequent exposure to courses emphasizing an intensity of writing, the program offers classes in both the freshmen and sophomore years.
Consult the full-text descriptions below for further details.
223 can be taught in all departments and takes a discipline-specific prefix (e.g. BIO 223, PHIL 223). The description below applies to all 223 courses, though it has been adjusted to describe an English 223 course.

ENGLISH 123
The First Year Writing Seminar introduces students to the conventions of reading and writing appropriate for liberal arts learning, in particular the ability to analyze and produce sophisticated arguments that position their views within ongoing social and cultural questions.
The course explores argument in relationship to issues in the arts, humanities, social sciences, professional studies, business, economics, and sciences and technology.
Beginning with an examination of the principles of academic argument, students will evaluate prose texts and craft polished arguments of their own using multiple research sources as evidence.
Requirements
  • 1-3 Analyses of Arguments: close rhetorical readings of single texts to evaluate argumentative strategies, such as evidence, logic, style, and claims.
  • 1-3 Contextual Analyses: rhetorical analyses of one text using the ideas of another text, and context of at least one other text.
  • 1-3 Arguments with Multiple Sources: short argumentative papers synthesizing several outside sources to support a thesis.
  • Formal or informal oral presentation(s) of research, readings, and writing.
Objectives
  • Students will engage in a variety of responses in order to practice effective paraphrasing, to avoid plagiarism, to recognize a variety of argument structures, to discern main points from secondary data, and to articulate ideas for later revision.
  • Students will engage critically with a text, practice incorporating sources into writing, establish and manage tone and voice, and marshal valid evidence, such as logic, counter examples, opposition, and other argument elements.

Consult Sample Syllabi for more information.

ENGLISH 223
The Second Year Writing Seminar invites students to create and participate in a collaborative research community formed around a stimulating course topic, such as Popular Culture, Media and Gender, Language and Society, or The Culture of Fear, determined by the professor.
The seminar encourages students to continue practicing and reflecting upon the conventions of reading and writing appropriate for liberal arts learning, in particular the ability to evaluate, synthesize, and present primary and secondary sources in a research project.
As it introduces students to the conventions of academic research and its presentation in both oral and written forms, the course's focal point is the creation of a 10-15 page formal research paper.

Requirements
  • Informal Writing: freewriting, notes, journals, early drafts, responses to other student essays, exercises, paraphrasing work, posts to online prompts, and homework.
  • Semi-formal Writing: 5-10 writing tasks, such as mid-level drafts, reading responses, quizzes, essays, and in-class essays.
  • Formal Writing: a target of 15 pages including final drafts that integrate multiple sources and papers with polished, effective prose styles, and one 10-15 page research piece. Formal writing is evaluated on content, correctness, organization, and style
Objectives
  • Students will engage in a variety of writing responses in order to practice effective paraphrasing, to avoid plagiarism, to recognize a variety of discourse structures, to discern main points from primary and secondary sources, and to articulate ideas for later revision.
  • Students will engage critically with a text, practice incorporating sources into writing, establish and manage tone and voice, and marshal valid evidence, such as logic, counter examples, opposition, and other research conventions.

Consult Sample Syllabi for more information.
Oral Presentations
The oral presentation component of the course may be satisfied by any activity such as the following, at any point in the course. Length of presentations is to be determined by individual instructors.
  • Brief, informal presentations of source summaries/analyses to the class, or to a small group.
  • A brief, informal presentation of the prospectus to the class or a small group.
  • A formal presentation of the research project--its process and/or its conclusions.
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