The College Composition (CC) program offers two courses: CC 110, a Topic-Based Writing Course; and CC112, Controversial Issues. Upon entering Pine Manor College, students select a section of CC110 based on their topic of interest. Sample topics include: Constructing Identity in the Contemporary World; Examining Hip Hop; Gender Issues; Legends, Lore and Lies; Please Don’t Steal My Jordans: Wealth and its Discontents; Self, Spirit and Society; and The Impact of Science on Society. At the conclusion of CC 110, students complete a portfolio, along with a self-assessment, to determine the next placement. A committee of CC staff makes placement determinations for one of the following options to complete the CC requirement:
- Moving from CC 110 directly into CC 112. Depending on the student's learning needs, a section of CC 112 with a writing laboratory may be recommended.
- Placing into an honors section of CC 112
- Exempting CC 112
All students must take CC 110 and CC 112, with the following exceptions:
- Any student who transfers in credit is exempted from the appropriate course.
- Any student with a score of 600 or higher on the SAT II in Writing is exempted from CC 112.
- Any student who exempts from CC 112 on the basis of the portfolio review.
Ordinarily, students are expected to complete the composition sequence no later than the end of their first semester, sophomore year.
Learning Outcomes of the College Composition Program
- Students will effectively communicate in writing and class discussion about contemporary, classical, and controversial issues.
- Students will think critically about the relationship and complexity of ideas in writing, and make connections between texts while considering issues through a variety of perspectives.
- Students will demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which race, class, ethnicity, and gender affect contemporary society.
Program Goals and Objectives
All sections of College Composition work toward the following:
- Students will share in a community of writers, readers, and listeners
- Students will effectively use narrative, descriptive, analytical, and persuasive techniques, as appropriate, within essays
- Students will demonstrate an understanding of tone, purpose, and audience
- Students will think critically about contemporary, classical, and controversial issues
- Students will be able to identify a writer's underlying concepts and assumptions
- Students will identify and paraphrase main points and abstract ideas from reading
- Students will read texts closely for analysis as well as to read them to explore their own ideas about a topic
- Students will develop an understanding of writing as a process that involves brainstorming, free-writing, planning, drafting, revision, and editing
- Students will be able to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their own writing
- Students will be able to use parenthetical citations and create a Works Cited list according to the conventions of MLA style
- Students will write clear sentences, using correct grammar and mechanics, and language that is appropriate for the audience and occasion
- Students will be able to write effective essays as measured by the "Standards for Grading"