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ENG-103 Composition II

Composition II builds upon the foundational skills of Composition I with a focused exploration of rhetoric and academic inquiry. Students engage in sustained, independent research and writing processes that emphasize critical thinking, analysis, genre awareness, and evidence-based reasoning. The course provides explicit instruction in locating, evaluating, and ethically integrating information from traditional and emerging sources—including artificial intelligence tools—to create well-reasoned, research-based arguments. Emphasis is placed on reading and composing a variety of texts that address real-world issues, promoting the transfer of writing, research, and information-literacy skills to academic, professional, and civic contexts.

Credits

3

Prerequisite

ENG-101

Lecture Contact Hours

3

Lab Contact Hours

0

Other Contact Hours

0

Department

  • Humanities

Grading Scheme

  • Letter

SUNY Gen Ed Credit

  • Yes

Semesters Course Will Be Offered

  • Fall
  • Spring
  • Summer

Course Learning Outcomes

  1. Rhetorical and Genre Knowledge- Read, analyze, and compose a variety of texts by evaluating and responding to purpose, audience, genre, and context across academic, professional, and civic situations; engaging in reasoned inquiry; and considering multiple viewpoints to participate constructively in civic discourse.
  2. Critical Thinking and Information Literacy- Engage in reasoned inquiry by locating and evaluating information using tools appropriate to the rhetorical situation, with an awareness of authority, validity, bias, and origin; and synthesize and integrate that information ethically to develop well-supported arguments.
  3. Composing and Research Processes- Employ flexible, recursive writing and research processes, including planning, drafting, revising, peer review, and reflection, to compose rhetorically effective and coherent texts for varied contexts.
  4. Ethical and Transferable Communication Practices- Demonstrate command of conventions, documentation, and style, while showing an understanding of the ethical dimensions of information use, creation, and dissemination, including appropriate engagement with emerging technologies (such as artificial intelligence), and apply these practices to academic, professional, and civic contexts through informed, ethical advocacy, dissent, and dialogue.
View Course Outline

ENG 103: Composition II

Department

Humanities

Course Description

Composition II builds upon the foundational skills of Composition I with a focused exploration of rhetoric and academic inquiry. Students engage in sustained, independent research and writing processes that emphasize critical thinking, analysis, genre awareness, and evidence-based reasoning. The course provides explicit instruction in locating, evaluating, and ethically integrating information from traditional and emerging sources—including artificial intelligence tools—to create well-reasoned, research-based arguments. Emphasis is placed on reading and composing a variety of texts that address real-world issues, promoting the transfer of writing, research, and information-literacy skills to academic, professional, and civic contexts.

Credit Hours

3

Contact Hours

Lecture3
Lab0
Other0

Grading Scheme

Letter

Semester(s) Course Will Be Offered

Fall, Spring, Summer

Prerequisites

ENG-101

SUNY General Education Course

  • Written Communication

First Year Experience Course

No

Capstone Course

No

Course Learning Outcomes

  1. Rhetorical and Genre Knowledge- Read, analyze, and compose a variety of texts by evaluating and responding to purpose, audience, genre, and context across academic, professional, and civic situations; engaging in reasoned inquiry; and considering multiple viewpoints to participate constructively in civic discourse.
  2. Critical Thinking and Information Literacy- Engage in reasoned inquiry by locating and evaluating information using tools appropriate to the rhetorical situation, with an awareness of authority, validity, bias, and origin; and synthesize and integrate that information ethically to develop well-supported arguments.
  3. Composing and Research Processes- Employ flexible, recursive writing and research processes, including planning, drafting, revising, peer review, and reflection, to compose rhetorically effective and coherent texts for varied contexts.
  4. Ethical and Transferable Communication Practices- Demonstrate command of conventions, documentation, and style, while showing an understanding of the ethical dimensions of information use, creation, and dissemination, including appropriate engagement with emerging technologies (such as artificial intelligence), and apply these practices to academic, professional, and civic contexts through informed, ethical advocacy, dissent, and dialogue.

Topic Outline

  1. Rhetorical Reading and Writing, which includes:
    1. audience
    2. purpose
    3. subject
    4. context
    5. genre
  2. Writing Strategies for Genres, which may include but are not limited to:
    1. research proposals
    2. annotated bibliographies
    3. planning documents, such as synthesis documents

    4. engaging with emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, in ethical and appropriate ways

    5. determining how to use emerging technologies as tools vs. substitutes

    6. researched-based academic papers
  3. Reading Strategies, which may include but are not limited to:
    1. identifying key terms
    2. evaluating
    3. summarizing
    4. annotating
    5. responding to texts
  4. Joining an Academic Conversation:
    1. posing inquiry-based questions
    2. framing an issue or concern
    3. arriving at an independent conclusion
    4. adding an independent contribution
  5. Integrating Sources, which may include:

    1. evaluating for Credibility

    2. evaluating for Relevance

    3. evaluating for Authority

    4. evaluating for Accuracy

    5. evaluating for Purpose

    6. evaluating for Bias
    7. popular Sources
    8. scholarly Sources
    9. quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing
    10. citation systems, such as
      1. MLA
      2. APA
      3. CSE
    11. in-text citation format
    12. end-of-text citation format
  6. Recursive Research and Writing Process, which may include but is not limited to:
    1. generating content
    2. drafting
    3. peer commenting or reviewing
    4. revising
    5. maintaining the integrity of the recursive research and writing process through scaffolded work
  7. Reflective Writing, which may include but is not limited to:
    1. self-evaluating before, during, and after a writing project to see growth in critical thinking
    2. examining change in perspective before, during, and after reading research
    3. transferring writing and research strategies to other contexts

8. Minimum Standard Requirements:

  1. Annotated Bibliographies, totaling at least 6 sources and at least 2,000 words. Each annotated bibliography for each source should contain a summary, evaluation, and reflection.
  2. An Researched Argument Paper of at least 2,500 words integrating at least six sources.
  3. A Final Reflective Essay totaling 750-1,000 words
  4. Students should expect to generate a minimum of 10-15 pages of polished work that has undergone a significant revision process during the semester.