Second Year (VWC)

The second-year writing requirement at Appalachian State University is satisfied by RC2001: Introduction to Writing Across the Curriculum.

Introduction to Writing Across the Curriculum (R_C 2001) asks that students read a variety of academic texts, analyze the writing conventions of various disciplines, and write in different genres for different academic communities. As we know, writing is integral to every academic discipline, but conventions differ greatly from one discipline to another. Writing is not only important to all fields of study within the university, though; it will also be an important aspect of students’ professional lives. Whether writing a business proposal for a company’s expansion or a scholarly article for a psychology journal, understanding the conventions of discourse and genre is crucial to successful communication.

R_C 2001 focuses on rhetorical, disciplinary, and genre awareness and research methods and documentation, emphasizing how expectations change across a wide range of academic contexts so that students may more readily transfer skills across contexts. Students learn how to analyze and write about texts rhetorically and critically and use different methods of documentation and other conventions appropriate to different academic disciplines. Students leave this course as well-prepared writers with the rhetorical sensitivity to meet varied writing situations within academic and professional settings. Students must accumulate 30 semester hours and credit for R_C 1000 before they may enroll in R_C 2001.

Vertical Writing Curriculum's Student Learning Outcomes:

  • Practices proficiencies from first-year writing. 
  • Writes in a variety of academic genres. 
  • Applies rhetorical knowledge to analyzing texts from different genres and from different academic communities. 
  • Uses rhetorical skills to match research to needs of writing situation and addresses audiences effectively. 
  • Demonstrates proficiency in at least two documentation styles. 
  • Reflects upon and evaluates own writing in the context of writing across the curriculum. 

RC2001 Course Goals and Outcomes, aligned with the Vertical Writing Curriculum:

Goal 1: Students exhibit increasing rhetorical knowledge.

  • Draft with a clear purpose in mind.
  • Analyze and respond appropriately to different kinds of rhetorical situations.
  • Write with strong voice and authority.

Goal 2: Students exhibit increasing critical thinking, reading, and writing skills.

  • Use writing and reading for learning, thinking, and communicating.
  • Locate, evaluate, analyze, synthesize, and document primary and secondary sources.
  • Demonstrate critical thinking, in part by understanding that personal investments and cultural perspectives are woven into language and knowledge.

Goal 3: Students exhibit increasing understanding that writing is a process.

  • Generate ideas and draft, revise, edit, and proofread recursively, consciously, and effectively.
  • Participate actively and collaboratively in a writing community.
  • Reflect upon semester writing, in part by evaluating their own work and that of writing community members.

Goal 4: Students gain increasing ability to research and write in various environments, including electronic environments.

  • Use a variety of technologies to produce and share writing.
  • Use a variety of technologies in conducting research.