English Composition

Fictional sample for demonstration. Silver Oak University and Prof. Lindgren are fictional, used to showcase thecoursemaker.com. No real institution, course, or person is implied or endorsed.
Showcase note: this course is configured in adaptive-learning mode (the default), and the policies below describe that configuration. The sample folder also ships a traditional variant of every discussion and assignment for side-by-side comparison, and a weekly Writing Studio (P) on every instructional week.

Course Description

English Composition is a one-semester, transfer-level course in first-year writing — the gateway course in which you learn to write clearly, read critically, and argue from evidence. We follow the natural arc of the writing craft — the writing process & the rhetorical situation → critical reading → the paragraph → thesis & essay structure → composing in narration, exposition, rhetorical analysis, and argument → research, source integration & MLA documentation → revision, editing, and reflection — and at each step we lead with the plain-language craft move before the terminology.

This is the first-semester composition course: its center of gravity is the writing process and argumentation. You will write four major essays — a narrative/expository essay, a rhetorical analysis, an argument essay, and a research-based argument — supported every week by a hands-on Writing Studio. A research-based essay is part of the course, but this is not a dedicated research-writing course. No prior college writing experience is assumed.

The emphasis throughout is on writing as a process and on reading real texts the way a writer does. We draw examples from your own drafts and from published writing, reference real authors, essays, and speeches accurately and by link, and use a weekly AI-tutor tutorial — and an AI-critique moment in every studio — as a place to practice and to catch the chatbot's writing mistakes (made-up quotations, invented sources, hollow praise, and voice-flattening over-editing).

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

1. Analyze the rhetorical situation — writer, audience, purpose, genre, and context — and approach writing as a recursive process (invention, drafting, revision, editing, reflection).
2. Read critically — summarize a text accurately and respond to it analytically, separating a writer's claim from its support and summary from response.
3. Develop an arguable thesis and organize an essay — crafting unified, coherent, well-developed paragraphs with effective introductions, transitions, and conclusions.
4. Compose in multiple rhetorical modes — narration/exposition, rhetorical analysis, and argument — using the appeals (ethos, pathos, logos, kairos) and the structure of argument (claim, evidence/grounds, warrant, counterargument, rebuttal).
5. Find, evaluate, and integrate credible sources — develop a research question, judge credibility by lateral reading, and quote, paraphrase, and synthesize without plagiarizing.
6. Document sources in MLA style — in-text citations and a works-cited list built on the core-elements / container model — applying MLA formatting accurately.
7. Revise globally and edit locally — resee structure and argument, then correct style, grammar, and the most common surface errors (fragments, comma splices, run-ons, agreement, punctuation).
8. Reflect on writing as a process — assess your own choices, assemble and introduce a portfolio, and articulate how your skills transfer beyond this course.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

• SLO A — Composition & argument. Compose clear, well-organized, thesis-driven, audience-aware prose, and develop and support an argument using appropriate rhetorical strategies.
• SLO B — Source-based research & academic integrity. Locate, evaluate, integrate, and accurately document credible sources in MLA, avoiding plagiarism.

Required Materials

There is no required textbook, and you will pay nothing for course materials. Readings, videos, and the real texts you analyze are delivered as links to external resources posted in each weekly module. The reading load is intentionally light and is meant to support, not replace, the writing.

You will need:

• A device with a web browser and internet access, and a word processor (any will do).
• Access to one approved AI chatbot for the weekly Lecture Tutorials, the adaptive-learning Discussions and Assignments, and the writing-coach + AI-critique moments in each Writing Studio (see the AI-Use Policy below).
• Free reference sites used all term and linked in the modules — the Purdue OWL and the MLA Style Center for writing and MLA. (The OpenStax Writing Guide is linked as a free, optional reference — not required.)

Grading

Your course grade is the weighted total of the groups below. Weights sum to 100%.

Attendance is tracked at every session but is not weighted (see the Attendance Policy).

Per-item points: quizzes 10 · discussions 20 · assignments 100 · writing studios 50 · midterm & final 100 each.

Letter-Grade Scale

Late & Make-Up Policy

• Late penalty: 10% per day. Submitted work loses 10 percentage points of its earned score for each day (or part of a day) it is late.
• Quizzes, the Midterm, and the Final are time-bound. Make-ups are arranged only for documented emergencies — contact Prof. Lindgren as early as possible, ideally before the due date.
• The major essays can be a real time investment — start early, and bring drafts to office hours. Writing improves most through revision, so don't wait until the night before.
• Practice exercises are ungraded and exist for your benefit; the late penalty does not apply to them.
• If something serious is getting in the way of your work, reach out early. It is almost always easier to arrange support before a deadline than to repair a grade after it.

AI-Use Policy

This course uses AI as a writing coach for several activities, and it draws a clear line for everything else. Read this section carefully.

Approved chatbots

You must use one of these three approved AI chatbots: Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT. The free tier of any of these is sufficient; pick whichever you prefer.

AI in this course (adaptive-learning activities)

Your Lecture Tutorials, Discussions, and Assignments are adaptive-learning activities you complete with the chatbot:

• Weekly Lecture Tutorials — work through the week's craft concept in conversation, then submit the conversation share link and your Completion Summary.
• Discussions — think a question through in a real-time dialogue with the chatbot, then post the AI-generated summary plus your chat share link (and reply to peers).
• Assignments (the major essays and skill tasks) — work through the writing with a chatbot coach that scaffolds you from thesis → evidence → revision, grades against an embedded rubric, and emits a self-scored report (the line beginning STUDENT'S SCORE:) — which you submit plus your chat share link.
• Writing Studios — a hands-on workshop each week with a writing-coach moment (paste a paragraph → targeted feedback on thesis, structure, and clarity) and an AI-critique moment (catch the chatbot's failures).

For all of these, the share link is part of your submission — treat the conversation as your work, keep it on-topic, and do your own thinking and writing.

The writer judges the tool — every week

A chatbot is a fast, confident drafting partner that is also routinely wrong about writing. It will invent quotations and attribute them to real authors who never wrote them, fabricate sources and citations that look perfect but don't exist, hand you hollow generic praise, and "improve" your sentences until your own voice disappears. A central skill of this course is catching these failures. The weekly AI-critique moment is built for exactly this: the tool drafts; you verify every quotation, source, and citation against the real text, and you protect your own voice.

Permitted vs. not permitted

• AI may be used on your coursework — the Lecture Tutorials, Discussions, Assignments, Writing Studios, and the ungraded Practice Exercises. (For the adaptive activities above, working with the chatbot is the activity.)
• AI may not be used on the Quizzes, the Midterm, or the Final — these are closed to AI and must be entirely your own work.

Disclosure

The adaptive activities (tutorials, discussions, assignments, studios) need no separate disclosure — the share link already documents your AI use. If you use an AI tool to help you think about any other graded work, add a one-line note stating which tool you used and how.

Academic integrity & AI

Using AI as described here is encouraged and fully consistent with the integrity standard below. The violations are: fabricating or doctoring a chat you submit; using AI on the closed assessments; and — the writing-specific one — submitting a quotation, source, or citation you did not verify against the real text. A fabricated quotation or a made-up source is a serious integrity problem whether a human or an AI produced it. When in doubt, check the source and ask before you submit.

Attendance Policy

This is an in-person course that meets twice a week, and the in-class work — workshopping drafts, worked writing moves, peer review, and the AI-critique moments — is where much of the learning happens.

• Attendance is tracked at every session. It is not part of your weighted grade, but a strong attendance record is expected and consistent absence will show in your writing.
• Arrive on time, stay for the full session, and engage professionally with your classmates' drafts and ideas.
• If you must miss a session, notify Prof. Lindgren in advance when possible and review the module materials to catch up. You remain responsible for any content, announcements, and due dates from a missed class.

Academic Integrity

You are expected to do your own work and to represent it honestly. Plagiarism — presenting someone else's words, ideas, or work (human or AI) as your own — and fabricating quotations, sources, or citations are violations of academic integrity and will be handled according to university policy, which may include a failing grade on the work or in the course. In a writing course this matters doubly: how you use and credit sources is part of what you are graded on. Collaboration and AI are welcome where an assignment invites them; when in doubt about what is allowed, ask first. Holding to this standard is what makes your grade — and your degree — mean something.

A note on course content: This course teaches argument, which means we will read and write about real, sometimes contested public issues. The goal is to argue from evidence and to represent opposing views fairly — you should be able to argue a position you don't personally hold and to steel-man the other side. The course does not take sides on live political questions; it teaches the craft of argument. Topics are chosen to be substantive and classroom-appropriate, and you will usually have latitude to choose a subject you can write about responsibly.

Accessibility: Silver Oak University is committed to equal access. Students who need accommodations should contact the campus disability services office to arrange them; notify Prof. Lindgren early in the term so supports can be in place. (Placeholder — institutions should insert their official accessibility, Title IX, and integrity statements here.)

Course Schedule — Fall 2026 (16 Weeks)

Term runs Aug 31 – Dec 18. Campus holidays: Labor Day (Sep 7), Veterans Day (Nov 11), Thanksgiving (Nov 26–27). Week 16 is reserved for finals. Dates are the Monday of each week.

Practice exercises, a Lecture Tutorial, and a Writing Studio are part of every instructional week's module; the table lists the graded touchpoints. The schedule may be adjusted with advance notice; changes will be announced in the course.