3103/3104 Course Coordination

This weblog is intended to support faculty and teaching assistants affiliated with the University of Puerto Rico’s Department of English in Mayagüez who have been assigned to teach Intermediate Writing I and/or II (INGL 3103 and/or INGL 3104). Currently, we are the largest multiple section course in the Department of English, offering a total of 41 sections to 1,107 students, the great majority of whom are prepas (first year students). According to the 2007-2008 Undergraduate Catalogue of our institution, both of these courses are dedicated to “the analysis of selected readings, such as essays, fiction, poetry and drama, and practice in writing compositions with attention given as needed to grammar and idiomatic expressions”. In practice, however, INGL 3103 is dedicated to the analysis of contemporary essays (and a parallel practice of composition), while INGL 3104 focuses on literature (poetry, short stories, and drama). It is particularly relevant that the course title is Intermediate Writing. In 3103, this means the aim is to cultivate students’ understanding and application of formal rhetorical strategies using the writing of professional essayists as models for this practice. In 3104, the writing focus shifts to the direct and explicit analysis of the poetry, short fiction, and plays that students read. This means they are not themselves writing poetry, plays, or short stories. Rather, they are formally analyzing and interpreting them.  Keeping all of the above in mind, the objective of this weblog is to provide you with useful documents that should facilitate your instruction of these courses, including sample syllabi, course outlines, assessment materials, useful course-related links, and much more.