con[text]ualizing composition

To be fully literate in the 21st century one must have fluency with a
complex vernacular that incorporates sound, image, moving image,  
and interactivity, as well as the written word.

English 110C, like other sections of first-year composition, focuses on introductory rhetorical analysis as means of providing you with the skills to understand and construct arguments, as well as to read and create texts from an analytical perspective. This course, however, expands the scope of freshman composition beyond its traditional boundaries of print media.  Rather than concentrating solely on producing print texts, this course will also teach you to compose in a number of different digital media texts that engage an audience intellectually and aesthetically.  You will learn to examine your own compositional strategies to learn how make effective choices as readers, writers, speakers and composers in a myriad of media.  Together we will explore the interconnections between print and new media writing:  digital media production complements print, and print guides and shapes the production of digital media.

The format of this course is a workshop for writers, and a large portion of our workshop will include collaborative composing, drawing on one another's affinities and expertise with particular media and composing processes, enabling you to actively participate in developing productive collaborations with your peers.  The architects of this curriculum have created a course that encourages sharing resources and critiquing work within large blocks of studio time.  An important part of this curriculum is on-going reflection and conversation among you, your classmates, and your instructor.