First-Year Writing Seminar & Literature Core
The English Department's First-Year Writing Seminar (FWS) and Literature Core form a key part of BC's Core Curriculum. These courses are designed to complement each other by helping students to develop essential skills for a liberal arts education. Some 1,600 students take a First-Year Writing Seminar each year, and more than 2,000 enroll in the Literature Core.
First-Year Writing Seminar
The First-Year Writing seminar (FWS) encourages students to understand why people write: not just for grades or to complete requirements but because writing is an intellectual and personal tool for living. In our small, workshop-centered seminars, students use writing to discover new insights, orient themselves to broader conversations, deepen their understanding of ideas, and create changes in service of the common good.
Each seminar is a 15-person workshop designed to help you develop and practice skills in writing and research. Over the semester you will learn to write rhetorically, devising effective writing processes for a variety of purposes and audiences, including but not limited to, academic writing. Each workshop allows you to work creatively on a variety of writing tasks and to put yourself in conversation with other writers. You’ll meet regularly with your instructor to make revision plans, learn to give and receive productive feedback to other writers, and develop skills for revising essays before submitting them for evaluation. You may also work with classmates to present and "publish" your work within various classroom, campus, or internet settings.
One goal of FWS is to teach you a variety of strategies to practice in a range of writing situations which, in turn, will help you to understand and plan for subsequent writing challenges in your future academic, professional, and personal lives. Another goal of FWS is to give you the tools and the incentive to keep writing after the course has ended: in other courses, in your community, and for your own pleasure. Part of learning to write well, especially in academic settings, involves putting yourself into conversation with current arguments using the conventions and tropes of relevant discourses. In FWS you will also be introduced to library resources and will practice writing and documenting secondary research.
By the successful completion of a semester of First-Year Writing, students will be able to demonstrate:
Rhetorical Knowledge
- Focus on a purpose in their writing
- Respond to the needs of different audiences
- Respond appropriately to different kinds of rhetorical situations, including but not limited to academic rhetorical situations
- Write in several genres
Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing
- Use writing and reading for inquiry, learning, thinking, and communicating
- Understand a writing assignment as a series of tasks, including finding, evaluating, analyzing, and synthesizing appropriate primary and secondary sources
- Integrate their own ideas with those of others
Writing Processes
- Be aware that it usually takes multiple drafts to create and complete a successful text
- Develop flexible strategies for generating, revising, editing, and proof-reading
- Understand writing as an open process that permits writers to use later invention and re-thinking to revise their work
- Understand the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes
- Productively critique their own and others' works
- Balance the advantages of relying on others with the responsibility of doing their part
Knowledge of Conventions
- Learn common formats for different kinds of texts
- Develop knowledge of genre conventions ranging from structure and paragraphing to tone and mechanics
- Practice appropriate means of documenting their work
- Control such surface features as syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling
Ability to Compose in Electronic Environments
- Use electronic environments for drafting, reviewing, revising, editing, and sharing texts
- Locate, evaluate, organize, and use research material collected from electronic sources, including scholarly library databases; other official databases (e.g., federal government databases); and informal electronic networks and internet sources
- Understand and exploit the differences in the rhetorical strategies and in the affordances available for both print and electronic composing processes and texts.
Students may fulfill their Writing Core requirement through a BC Summer course with the ENGL1010 course number. (Woods College ADEN English courses will not be counted.) However, we do not permit the Writing Core requirement to be fulfilled over the summer at other institutions or in Study Abroad programs.
First-Year Writing Seminar Staff
Paula Mathieu
Director
Martha Hincks
Associate Director
Dacia Gentilella
FWS Mentor & Learning Specialist
Brian Zimmerman
FWS Mentor
Literature Core
Literature Core is a partner course with the First-Year Writing Seminar (FWS), and together they form the English department’s contribution to the Core Curriculum.
Literature Core is an intellectually rigorous, discussion-based course that introduces first- and second-year students to the college-level study of literature. Each section focuses on a different topic – such as family relations, social outcasts, or world building -- which allows you to find a section that fits your interests.
Over the course of the semester, you will read a diverse selection of texts written in different time periods and multiple genres. You will learn how to interpret literary language at a sophisticated level and to appreciate literature as a window onto your own and other cultures. The course is designed to foster a sense of social connection among students as you share your ideas and take intellectual risks within a small community of learners.
You will engage with literature through various types of writing, including an analytical essay, personal reflection, and creative projects. This variety allows all students to find a way to engage with literature that fits their own interests and aptitudes.
The Power of Close Reading
The careful analysis of literary texts is the foundational skill of English as an academic discipline. Students will develop the art and skill of close reading, which will enable them to appreciate the nuance and complexity of literary language and thereby discover meanings that are not apparent through superficial reading. They will learn how to recognize the formal properties of texts and think critically about them. They will be given opportunities to practice their own analytical and creative interpretations of texts.
Literature as Equipment for Living
This phrase highlights the humanistic dimension of literary study. Students will discover how literature can illuminate the ‘big questions’ that life raises and aid them in navigating the worlds they inhabit. Students will encounter texts drawn from a wide range of genres, styles, time periods, and media, as well as authors who belong to dominant and non-dominant groups. In working with these texts, they will learn how literature opens doorways onto the perspectives of other peoples, times, and cultures, and how it helps us imagine diverse ways of being human. Students will have opportunities to reflect on their own values and the principles that guide their life, often by discovering alternative ways of looking at the world.
Fostering Intellectual Community
Students will experience a discussion-based course that encourages them to share ideas and perspectives with each other. They will have opportunities to forge meaningful human connections with each other, which can help them integrate into the larger BC community in healthy ways. Students will be invited to participate in activities that foster a sense of social and intellectual community. By cultivating a sense of connection rooted in the life of the mind, students will gain a greater appreciation for the challenges and rewards of being active members of a larger community.
You can fulfill the university’s Literature Core requirement by enrolling in ENGL 1080 (followed by a section number, e.g. .01, .02, and so on). If you plan to take First-Year Writing Seminar (FWS), you can take your Literature Core course before or after FWS. We strongly encourage you to take ENGL1080 during your first year at BC.
Literature Core courses are included in the Core Renewal program, which offers opportunities to study Enduring Questions through paired courses offered by two departments and engage with Complex Problems through a single six-credit courses, team-taught by two professors from different disciplines.
Students can also fulfill the Literature Core requirement through select courses in Classics, Slavic and Eastern European Languages, Romance Languages and Literatures, and German.
Students may fulfill their Literature Core requirement through a BC Summer course with the ENGL1080 course number. (Woods College ADEN English courses will not be counted.) However, we do not permit the Literature Core requirement to be fulfilled over the summer at other institutions or in Study Abroad programs.