I've been hearing alot of things about Expo. Writing

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rutgers University
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<p>Is it that that hard/stupid/worthless (Maybe worthless is not the word but you know what I mean) as people make it out to be? I'm talking to some of my most hardworking and smart friends in Rutgers, and they all said that it is the most stupidest and maybe the hardest class they ever took. Some didn't nec. say it was really hard, but ALL of them mentioned that they hated it.</p>

<p>Expo. Writing is required for freshmen year... Can anyone give me an idea of how the class is, and example of what you might read, and how easy/hard is it to get an A or B+? Basically anything knowledgable please don't bother trying to answer me if youre going to give me just B.S.</p>

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<p>Hey man,
Expository writing is sort of tough. It requires six five page papers throughout the semester. The last three are graded, and the grade you carry over two paper is your final grade. So if you C, B, B for your last three papers you will receive a B. Overall, expos does requires attendance to every class pretty much. Expos is not too tough, if you do the work and try you can receive an A. Also grades are subjective to teachers as well. </p>

<p>The readings for the papers are very interesting though. Depending on your teacher, a lot of readings might have to do with the environment or politics. It is very interesting at times, they are readings you can really use outside the classroom in conversation.</p>

<p>It is definitley not the hardest class you will ever take. It might be the most work for a class level of 300 or below. But classes like Bio, Symbolic Logic, Physics, Chem, are wayyyy tougher than expos.</p>

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<p>It’s not “hard”, but it’s just a very frustrating and inconvenient class, in my opinion.</p>

<p>You spend you semester writing paper after paper (every week, practically), whether it be rough drafts, revisions, final drafts. The point of the class is to try and improve your writing and see how well you can effectively make connections between two or more articles per The New Humanities book required for the class, while trying to use your own analysis and prove an argument.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t say it is worthless, but just inconvenient. Writing 5 page papers may seem simple, but for this class you find it difficult sometimes.</p>

<p>Sometimes the person teaching the class can make the class better or just worse for you. One might be placed in a section where the teacher is quite lenient (thus, easier for you to get an A or B), while others might be stuck with a teacher who is very specific and picky. You can be the BEST writer in the world, have had a book published, and won a couple of awards because of your writing, YET you can STILL get a C+ in this class.</p>

<p>An idea of the class: you spend time talking about the articles if it is unclear. On days when rough drafts are due, you spend the whole period revising your peers’ papers. You are required to do 3 short (3-5 minute) presentation – one of them have to be on something related to grammar (like maybe discussing about punctuations or passive voice). Sometimes your teacher might do mini activities and exercises to help improve your writing. </p>

<p>We read articles featured in The New Humanities by some guy who’s the head of the Writing department here at Rutgers. One article discussed about how society places too much emphasis on self-esteem (“An Army of One: Me” by Jean Twenge), an article by Oliver Sacks (who was a guest speaker earlier in the year at Rutgers), and another on media literacy relating to Harry Potter fan fiction online. </p>

<p>To succeed in this class: it takes effort, it pays to not wait the last minute to type your paper, it helps to see your teacher during office hours and get feedback, it helps to probably look for that one “B” or “A” student in class during peer revision days to help you improve your paper.</p>

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<p>Sorry for hijacking this thread, but I was wondering about the honors Writing course, “Exposition and Argument” (355:103). It’s on the honors engineering page and I was wondering how it is different from regular Expos and if AP English Lit&Comp credits could cover it.</p>

<p>thanks. (:</p>

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<p>It really varies by teacher, but if you’re a good writer, you’ll get a good grade. I came into college as a pretty strong writer, and I got the same grades I got in Expos as I did in AP English … which was a B+. This was true for a lot of the kids from my school that came to Rutgers, so I guess the English department at my high school was pretty good. You just have to put the work in, and more importantly, show the teacher that you put the work in, and you’ll get a good grade.</p>

<p>Writing grades are so subjective that as long as the teacher sees that you put in a lot of effort (whether you actually do doesn’t really matter), you’ll get a good grade.</p>