English

Mission

The English and Developmental English Departments at Quinsigamond Community College offer courses to fulfill program and transfer requirements and to prepare students for success in college. Developmental courses prepare students for success in writing and reading at the college level. Freshman composition courses foster communication and composition skills necessary for success in all academic and career endeavors. Upper level literature-based courses, seminars, Honors, and other advanced courses offer additional challenges in interpretive and critical skills. Learning goals are designed to:

• Develop critical thinkers, readers, and writers;
• Incorporate interdisciplinary research and current technology in writing;
• Develop creativity in written expression;
• Recognize diverse perspectives in communication;
• Promote academic integrity and apply ethical standards in problem-solving.

Teaching methodology

Our faculty make use of the following strategies in teaching composition:

• The rhetorical modes including narration, description, exposition, and argumentation;
• The three types of rhetorical claims
  • The appeal to logic or reason
  • Ethical appeal to character or the writer's credibility
  • Appeal to the audience's emotional needs;
• The five steps of the writing process
  • Brainstorming
  • Outlining
  • Drafting
  • Revising and editing
  • Polishing
• Close textual analysis
  • This asks a student to both carefully read and examine a text in a way that goes beyond opinion or judgment. The analysis that comes from close reading answers questions of “why” rather than questions of fact and depends on understanding the text as a whole as well as the section analyzed.
• Critical thinking and metacognitive practice
  • Students are asked to apply, analyze, and synthesize information to reach a conclusion based on evidence and to reflect on their own thinking process.
• Creative writing practice
  • Students are asked to draw on imagination to relate a human experience.
    Prompts for this practice are available at Creative Writing Prompts (Poets & Writers).