WPA Outcomes Statement for First-Year Composition
Rhetorical Knowledge
Rhetorical knowledge is the ability to analyze contexts and audiences and then to act on that analysis
in comprehending and creating texts. Rhetorical knowledge is the basis of composing. Writers
develop rhetorical knowledge by negotiating purpose, audience, context, and conventions as they
compose a variety of texts for different situations.
By the end of first-year composition, students should
. Learn and use key rhetorical concepts through analyzing and composing a variety of texts
. Gain experience reading and composing in several genres to understand how genre
conventions shape and are shaped by readers’ and writers’ practices and purposes
. Develop facility in responding to a variety of situations and contexts calling for purposeful
shifts in voice, tone, level of formality, design, medium, and/or structure
. Understand and use a variety of technologies to address a range of audiences
. Match the capacities of different environments (e.g., print and electronic) to varying
rhetorical situations
Critical Thinking, Reading, and Composing
Critical thinking is the ability to analyze, synthesize, interpret, and evaluate ideas, information,
situations, and texts. When writers think critically about the materials they use--whether print texts,
photographs, data sets, videos, or other materials--they separate assertion from evidence, evaluate
sources and evidence, recognize and evaluate underlying assumptions, read across texts for
connections and patterns, identify and evaluate chains of reasoning, and compose appropriately
qualified and developed claims and generalizations. These practices are foundational for advanced
academic writing.
By the end of first-year composition, students should
. Use composing and reading for inquiry, learning, critical thinking, and communicating in
various rhetorical contexts
. Read a diverse range of texts, attending especially to relationships between assertion and
evidence, to patterns of organization, to the interplay between verbal and nonverbal
elements, and to how these features function for different audiences and situations
. Locate and evaluate (for credibility, sufficiency, accuracy, timeliness, bias and so on)
primary and secondary research materials, including journal articles and essays, books,
scholarly and professionally established and maintained databases or archives, and informal
electronic networks and internet sources
. Use strategies--such as interpretation, synthesis, response, critique, and design/redesign--to
compose texts that integrate the writer's ideas with those from appropriate sources
Processes
Writers use multiple strategies, or composing processes, to conceptualize, develop, and finalize
projects. Composing processes are seldom linear: a writer may research a topic before drafting, then
conduct additional research while revising or after consulting a colleague. Composing processes are
also flexible: successful writers can adapt their composing processes to different contexts and
occasions.
By the end of first-year composition, students should
. Develop a writing project through multiple drafts
. Develop flexible strategies for reading, drafting, reviewing, collaborating, revising, rewriting,
rereading, and editing
. Use composing processes and tools as a means to discover and reconsider ideas
. Experience the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes
. Learn to give and to act on productive feedback to works in progress
. Adapt composing processes for a variety of technologies and modalities
. Reflect on the development of composing practices and how those practices influence their
work
Knowledge of Conventions
Conventions are the formal rules and informal guidelines that define genres, and in so doing, shape
readers’ and writers’ perceptions of correctness or appropriateness. Most obviously, conventions
govern such things as mechanics, usage, spelling, and citation practices. But they also influence
content, style, organization, graphics, and document design.
By the end of first-year composition, students should
. Develop knowledge of linguistic structures, including grammar, punctuation, and spelling,
through practice in composing and revising
. Understand why genre conventions for structure, paragraphing, tone, and mechanics vary
. Gain experience negotiating variations in genre conventions
. Learn common formats and/or design features for different kinds of texts
. Explore the concepts of intellectual property (such as fair use and copyright) that motivate
documentation conventions
. Practice applying citation conventions systematically in their own work
