Readings

William Paterson University English Department
1100: College Writing
Reading Resources

Beginning in the Fall 2020 semester, it is the policy of the Program in Writing and Rhetoric not to require students to purchase textbooks for English 1100.  You may provide readings for students;  you may ask them to use online sources; or you may use student writing as the primary texts for the class. Exceptions to this policy can be made.  If, after you have reviewed the materials below, you still have a textbook that you want to teach from, please schedule an appointment to speak with the Writing Program Director.

The Writing Program with the help of the University’s Office of Instruction and Research Technology has put together the following online list of resources because we think it’s important for students to have free access to essential class material.  This online text collects material that represents best practices for teaching in our field of writing studies. The articles, essays, videos, and resources on this site help both students and teachers think through the topics and issues essential to understanding what it means to write in various situations, and how to best improve at writing.

We have divided the site into four broad categories:  The Writing Process; Rhetoric, Genre, and Discourse; Multimodal Composition; and Research as Inquiry. Each category is accessible as a link below. We do not mean these categories to represent a sequence of study. Teachers and students can pick and choose whichever sources seem useful.  We encourage teachers to select the sources that best fit their courses, and we encourage students to browse and sample whatever selections sound helpful or interesting.

Please click through these links to explore each category:

Workshop on Using the Readings
In Spring, 2020, we conducted an online workshop about why we're asking faculty to use these readings and how to tie them into writing assignments.  Chris Weaver and Robert Greco presented on two sample assignments that can be used in conjunction with two of the sections above:  "The Writing Process" and "Rhetoric, Genre and Discourse."  An audio/video recording of that workshop can be found through the following link: OER Readings and Assignments Workshop