First-Year Composition at USF

ENC 1101 Online is a rigorous and challenging course that prepares students for argument and research-based writing in academic settings. The course is intended to facilitate communication and literacy in the twenty-first century through a variety of electronic and web-based multi-modal projects. Successful participation in this class therefore requires not only an existing familiarity with computers and the web but the desire to extend that familiarity while refining traditional composition skills. While online classes offer attractive advantages in terms of time management and eliminate transportation concerns usually associated with the traditional classroom, you should not consider these advantages as the primary reason for taking this course. 

A Note on Public Writing

ENC 1101 Online teaches you skills that might prepare you for a business world that relies significantly on mass communication. In particular, you will learn how to publish work in public writing forms. Opportunities to place your work in public spaces require an element of caution. As your writing will be readily viewable for a large public audience, you will need to be attuned to the particulars of public writing. Although it may seem as if you are writing just for yourself or for a finite number of your peers, you should be aware that documents, videos, blogs, vlogs, podcasts, wikis, and such that are published online are not only visible to all other Web users, but these items can also be scanned/searched by prospective employers and other interested parties. In fact, many employers now use Web searches to assist in discerning more about potential job candidates. Your privacy and your presentation of your views and responses should be considered in all of your public writing.Utilize the benefits of public writing, explore writing for different audiences, learn strategies to vary your rhetorical stance. 

Add your perspective to the larger conversations, but be mindful that your online readership is multifold and your rhetorical perspective is relative to what and how you wish to present yourself and how you wish to be received by others now--and in the future.