Graduation Requirements
First Year Program in Rhetoric and Writing
The first-year writing program focuses on
the inter-relationship between thinking and writing. In order to
achieve this emphasis, particular attention is paid to analytical and
critical thinking as it affects the quality of content in writing.
Thus, the required courses in rhetoric and writing become foundations
for all academic work students will undertake while they are at
Berry. Students are expected to complete ENG 101 and 102 during
their first year of academic study. In order to complete the
first-year writing sequence, students must earn a C- or better in ENG
101 and 102.
Writing Across the Curriculum
The Writing-intensive program, Writing Across the Curriculum, is
grounded in two beliefs:
- Writing is an essential skill for lifelong learning.
- "Active learning of course content is enhanced as
student's
involvement in critical and analytical thinking is prompted by a
variety of writing tasks that receive feedback from peers and/or
instructors."
The goal of the program is to assure that a Berry College diploma
enables graduates to enter academic and professional careers with
strong writing and cognitive skills. Faculty involved in teaching
WI courses have received special instruction in ways to integrate
writing as a tool for enhancing critical thinking and information
acquisition. Students will use a wide variety of pre-writing, drafting,
revision and peer-review strategies so that writing becomes a means to
content mastery within particular courses and disciplines.
Students are required to complete a minimum of two writing-intensive
courses at the 300- and 400-level, totaling a minimum of six
semester hours ordinarily within their major after they complete the freshman-writing sequence. Part of this work should be
taken during the junior year, and part during the senior year. Writing
in WI courses requires students to utilize the same knowledge and
skills that were developed in Rhetoric and Writing 101 and 102. The
application of those skills to a particular disciplines' expectations
is a natural feature of all WI courses.