Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Course Overview

To meet the WR 121 Course Content and Outcomes Guide, in this section we will focus on the process of generating and exploring ideas for writing projects, leading to the drafting, feedback and revision of three formal writing assignments: a photo analysis essay, a project on friendship in a genre of your choosing, and a mini-annotated bibliography drawing on contemporary research.

In addition to these three formal writing projects, the course will include weekly discussion posts, freewrites, and knowledge check quizzes.

We will read selections from a variety of genres of writing and watch video content on a range of topics with the goal of reading/viewing as writers and to generate ideas for your writing projects. (Reading topics include photography, philosophies of friendship, animal consciousness and evolutionary biology; genres we will read/watch include academic essays, newspaper and magazine articles, letters, interviews, TED Ed video content, professional, commencement speeches). Students, generally, choose their own topics to focus on for formal writing projects.

Textbook

No textbook is required. All course readings and materials will be available digitally through the D2L course site.

Remote & Online

This course will meet remotely via Zoom on Tuesdays from 6:00-7:50 p.m each week of the term. An additional 2-hours of ONLINE course engagement will be required throughout the week via the D2L course site to take the place of a second, 2-hour weekly remote meeting that would normally be required for a 4-credit fully remote course. The ONLINE coursework can be completed at any time that is convenient for you during the week, as long as it is posted by the weekly assignment deadline. Out-of-class homework—mostly reading, watching video content, and the drafting and revising of your own writing projects for the course—will be required in addition to these 2 hours of engagement via the D2L course site.

Teaching Philosophy

My goal for WR 121 is for all students who complete the work to pass the course and achieve the highest grade possible, regardless of background in academic writing in English. With this goal in mind, the development of writing projects and the feedback and revision process are designed to be highly individualized in the course. The grading system is designed to emphasize the value of effort, practice, revision, and completion of work, more so than evaluation based on a standardized final written product. 

More Information

Please email me (karen.embry@pcc.edu) if you have more specific questions about course content or requirements prior to the start of the term.

I will send a welcome message and open the D2L course site 1 week before the term begins, so registered students can preview the course in more detail before our first Zoom meeting on Tuesday, April 2nd, 2024.