Core Areas

English Composition (CAEC)

Students must satisfactorily complete six (6) credit hours of approved coursework (Composition I and II). A major emphasis of the University of South Florida's General Education curriculum is to develop and refine students' written communication skills. Composition I and II provide the foundation for academic and professional writing.

Composition I addresses expository and academic writing and textual interpretation. Through its emphasis on thinking rhetorically, analyzing and synthesizing of ideas encountered in multiple readings, and writing as a process, this course prepares students for academic writing. Students learn to interpret, critique, summarize, and paraphrase texts.

Composition II addresses persuasive writing, library research, internet-based research, and original research. It emphasizes thinking rhetorically, providing evidence for assertions, creative thinking, and writing as a process. Analysis and synthesis are key components of this course.

Composition I and II emphasize systematic organization, effective use of detail, compelling treatment of evidence, demonstration of reading skills, appropriate consideration of audience, language use (style) appropriate to discipline and audience, and construction and analysis of valid and sound arguments. In both courses, process writing is fostered through multiple drafts with careful revision and editing.