<p>Hey guys,
I was wondering if anyone would be able to tell me a little about Writing I. Do we analyze texts or write compositions or fiction? Is it a hard class? What are the exams like? I've heard (and read on this forum!) a lot of things about other classes, but none really about Writing =]
Thanks!</p>
<p>I didn’t have to take the course, but I can tell you what I know from my friends who had to take Writing I. You may or may not analyze other writers’ texts. I would assume you do, since that’s a very important part of writing. I believe most (if not all) of the things you write are what would best be described as essays. I don’t remember hearing about any fictional writing. What makes you think there are exams? It’s a writing course…you write essays for a grade.</p>
<p>While the curriculum varies a little bit from professor to professor, (or grad student to grad student-- it’s not just professors who teach writing one) you’re basically analyzing essays and articles, culminating in a short research paper of sorts about some primary text of your choosing (a short book, song, tv show, movie, piece or series of art, etc.)</p>
<p>Grading depends on who is teaching the course, but your grades are mostly dependent on your writing (and maybe a little on participation?) In my experience, good writers do well, though often you do need to make sure your writing style fits what your professor is looking for (as is the case with many classes.)</p>
<p>Save for some engineers, everyone takes the course, and everyone gets through it. Don’t sweat it.</p>
<p>It’s not hard. Since a c+ is the minimum passing grade, a bad paper will typically still get you at least a b, if you turn it in. Some teachers will grade harshly at the beginning to push you to work harder, but everyone I know who has tried has ended up with an a- or better. But you can save yourself a lot of time if you make your final research topic something that you will be able to find jstor articles on (when they say you can pick something creative to write about like the underpass or your backpack, don’t. It’s really not worth it in any way, just do something creative with something that you’ll be able to find sources for).</p>
<p>RaVNz, I didn’t know if there would be in class essays or something.
Thank you all for your input!</p>
<p>I have a question that might warrant reviving this thread? Does anyone know if there’s some particular qualification that warrants an incoming freshman to take the writing placement exam? I don’t think anything in my “record” indicates that I’m bad at writing. Sorry about this; it’s sort of a point of pride.</p>
<p>^You have to be an engineer. Any and all engineers are welcome to take the placement test during orientation (unless they’ve already tested out via test scores).</p>
<p>Note: if you test out of writing 1 as an engineer, and then switch to a different school later on, you will have to take writing 1 (yes, even if you’re a junior).</p>
<p>Go us Engineers!</p>
<p>My son got a 5 on his AP English, so as an Engineering prospect - per the WUSTL website - he tests out of Writing I.</p>