Content Review Matrix

To demonstrate appropriateness of prerequisite

Discipline: English

Proposed prerequisite: English 98, Fundamentals of Composition I

List of activities in English 98 that promote specific skills needed in English 120.

1) Develop vocabulary and language

      awareness as introduction to college

      level reading skills. Read model

      essays.

2) Employ various rhetorical modes—

      comparison/contrast, description,

      classification—to organize

      paragraphs.

3) Write paragraphs on particular

      themes; observe standard paragraph

      format: topic sentence, support,

      conclusion. Begin essay writing.

4) Write personal and issue-based

      paragraphs that require formulating

      generalizations drawn from personal

      experience (and short readings).

5) Begin to develop argumentative skills

      by emphasizing logical relationship

      between topic sentence and

      supporting evidence.

6) Learn rules of standard written

     English: usage, grammar,

     punctuation. Learn parts of speech,

     with emphasis on conjunctions—

     subordinators and coordinators—to

     join sentences.

Course: English 120

Specific skills needed in English 120

1) Ability to read essays, short stories,

      materials from periodicals as bases

      for essay writing.

2) Ability to use a variety of rhetorical

      modes to organize essays and to

      discover meaning.

3) Ability to write short essays on

      particular topics and observe 

      standard essay format—thesis

      statement, topic sentence, support,

      conclusions.

4) Ability to write personal and issue-

      based essays and formulate

      generalizations drawn from readings

      and from personal experience.

5) Ability to write short argumentative

      essays and analyze common logical

      flaws in readings.

6) Knowledge of standard English usage, appropriate diction, grammar, sentence variety, etc.