First Year Composition: Syllabus Report

After reading the syllabus for “English 1110 First Year Composition” instructed by Steve Backus, it is clear that he values development and self-guided learning above all else. We can see that these are things that he values most because they are the most stressed points in the syllabus. They are very important things to be valued: development because that is the point of the class, to develop as a writer and learn how to become a better writer; and self-guided learning because it is a good life skill that can better prepare us for future classes as well as the real world.

Development as writers is the whole point of the class. So it only makes sense that it is one of the most stressed points in the syllabus. The instructor outlines how he

The best example of that is by using journaling. In the syllabus there are two sections that touch on Journaling, the first section talks about what the journals consist of. They are supposed to be about what you are writing and the writing process. It will help us reflect and help ourselves learn more about our writing and what we can do to improve it. Our instructor will also look them over to makes sure that we are on track. In the second portion where he talks about journaling he explains what he expects from an “A” level journal. He talks about length and how often they have to be but he also goes on to say, “The best journals lose themselves in problems and solutions that transfer from our class to other classes” (Backus 3). This relates to self guided learning in that we are able to look back on what we are doing and come to conclusion on how to improve based off of acknowledging what we need to work on and what we have done well. This is heavily emphasized because self-guided learning is good for critical thinking skills as well as better preparing us for the real world. He even says that the wants what we learn and the conclusions that we come to in our journals to carry over to our other classes. He emphasizes this because he values a teacher as a guide. They should not spoon feed you the answers, rather they should guide you to come to your own