ENG 101 - Writing About Thinking

Writing About Thinking focuses on writing as a way to think. This past year has brought changes into our lives that would be hard to imagine, had we not experience them ourselves. What many of us have not had the time or means to do is reflect on what we’ve experienced, witnessed, been a part of, or learned. Being in the middle of such intense change often necessitates action, like putting on a mask and staying home, or protesting severe, age-old injustices. Writing engenders thought; it is a private place where you can examine what you know. Our course will encourage students’ written, thoughtful, examination.

We will read essays by authors who wrote their way toward thought, who solidified their thinking through writing. For many authors, unlike many of us, writing is how they think; all other thinking methods (oration, discussion, etc.) simply stir the pot. Yet, stirring the pot is a necessary precursor to writing; we need to speak to each other about the works we are reading, not only in terms of content but to examine the structure and approach that the content determined. Why do we do this? Because what the writer is trying to say will be reflected in how the writer writes. The writing produced by students in Writing About Thinking may address private questions, critical evaluations of current controversies and close encounters with the risky thinking that comes from questioning the status quo. In other words, in Writing About Thinking, all ideas are on the table. We will read George Orwell, Joan Didion, Flannery O’Connor, Brent Staples, Dr. Martin Luther King, and many others, as well as current editorials and blogs. Finally, we will examine and discuss cultural interpretations of the world through any medium available.

Credits 1

Foundation
First Year Writing

Compass Attributes
Writing