英文短文寫作

This course aims to enhance students’ abilities to draft and revise short essays; to critically assess short essays, whether written by themselves or others; to supply constructive feedback aimed at improving a short essay; and to incorporate such feedback in the process of revising a short essay.

Over the course of the semester, students will complete three units, each of which will result in a short essay. The course is designed to guide students through the writing process, from outlining to the completion of a first draft, and from revising and editing to the completion of a final draft. Each unit will stress a particular writing skill: comparing and contrasting, arguing for an opinion, and identifying causes and effects.

Comparison-Contrast Essay Final Draft (1-2 pages): 25% Opinion Essay Final Draft (1-2 pages): 25% Cause-and-Effect Essay Final Draft (2-3 pages): 30% Essays will be graded on a letter scale. First Drafts and Outlines (1-3 pages): 10% First drafts and outlines will be graded pass-fail. Students who submit a completed assignment on time will receive full credit. Attendance and Participation (includes take-home activities): 10% The attendance-and-participation grade for weeks 17 and 18 (the flexible teaching weeks) will be determined by whether students submit the take-home activities on time (see the course schedule below for more information). Late assignments will be penalized. There will be no exams for this course.

Savage, Alice and Patricia Mayer (2012). Effective Academic Writing 2: The Short Essay. 2nd edition. New York: Oxford University Press.