Undergraduate Models
Advanced Writing
In our current information-rich economy, an unprecedented demand now exists for college graduates with excellent communication skills. The Advanced Writing Model provides students with extensive preparation for the variety of writing tasks required of professionals in business, law, government, and administration, as well as of graduate students and educators in all disciplines. This model offers two distinct emphases: (1) nonfiction writing and publishing and (2) corporate and managerial writing.
The Nonfiction Writing and Publishing emphasis prepares students for careers as editors, free-lance writers, and staff writers on newspapers and magazines, as well as for careers in publishing. Students hone writing skills in writing-intensive courses in expository and/or argumentative writing, explore the art of writing in non-fiction genres for newspapers and magazines, and/or writing for specialist audiences and markets. The nonfiction writing emphasis also includes Studies in Biography and Speechwriting, which provides students with mastery of options in work choice and word arrangement to enhance the effectiveness of sentences in speeches.
The Corporate and Managerial Writing emphasis prepares students for careers in management, administration, business, and industry. Students prepare for the demands of writing in the corporate world in Professional and Advanced Professional Writing, learning to write with maximum clarity, concision, and effectiveness across a variety of genres in advertising, business, and law. This emphasis also includes the Literature of Science and Advanced Technical Writing.
Strongly Recommended: 2000-level grammar course
Model 1: Nonfiction Writing and Publishing (4 core courses required):
- AML 4170 Biography
- ENC 3310 Advanced Exposition
- ENC 3312 Advanced Argumentative Writing
- SPC 3605 Speechwriting
Also, students following the Nonfiction Writing and Publication model should take at least two courses from the Corporate and Managerial Writing model or the General Writing Model Supplementary Courses listed below. To ensure some measure of breadth, students in this model will complete their major – four more upper-division English courses – by selecting from the wide range of departmental offerings in literature, literary theory, film theory, children’s literature, etc. Whenever possible, students should complete an internship that provides hands-on experience in publishing or related areas.
Model 2: Corporate and Managerial Writing (3 core courses required):
Suggested prerequisite: ENC 2210 Technical Writing
- ENC 3250 Professional Writing
- ENC 4260 Advanced Professional Writing
- ENC 4212 Professional Editing
Students following the Corporate and Managerial Writing model should take at least two courses from the Nonfiction Writing and Publication model or the General Writing Model Supplementary Courses listed below. To ensure some measure of breadth, students in this model will complete their major – five more upper-division English courses – by selecting from the wide range of departmental offerings in literature, literary theory, film theory, children’s literature, etc.
Whenever possible, students should complete an internship that provides hands-on experience in publishing or related areas.
General Writing Model Supplementary Courses:
- ENC 3414 Hypermedia
- ENG 3063 Advanced Grammar
- ENG 4060 History of the English Language
- ENG 4940 Writing Internship
- LIN 3010 Introduction to Linguistics
- LIT 4431 The Literature of Science
- SPC 4680 Rhetorical Criticism
Faculty
Department of English faculty who regularly teach courses in this model include:
- Ronald Carpenter – Rhetorical Theory, Speechwriting, Persuasion
- Sidney Dobrin – Composition Studies/Theory, Ecocomposition, Visual Rhetoric
- Wayne Losano – Professional Writing
- Raúl Sánchez – Composition Studies, Composition Theory, Critical Theory
