Writing, Identity, and Power
Writing, Identity, and Power (ENGLWRIT 111; formerly called Basic Writing) is an intensive reading and writing course designed for students who need additional preparation before taking College Writing. This four-credit course is a part of General Education at University of Massachusetts Amherst, carrying Interdisciplinary (I) and Diversity: United States (DU) designations, and it is overseen by the University Writing Committee, which reviews first-year writing at the University every five years.
Every Englwrit 111 course at UMass shares the following objectives for students:
- To explore different disciplinary perspectives on writing, language, and literacy;
- To understand that writing is socially and culturally situated, and that the ways in which writing practices are valued are tied to larger systems of power and privilege;
- To become familiar with practices used in process-oriented writing courses at UMass Amherst (drafting, revision, copyediting, peer response, etc.);
- To experiment with practices used in different academic disciplines, such as close reading and forms of qualitative research;
- To practice respectful and ethical ways of engaging with others’ ideas, working with both peers’ and published authors’ writing;
- To develop a line of intellectual inquiry through reading, writing, and original research;
- To produce polished pieces that take into account conventions of grammar and style as well as the affordances of different modes of communication; and
- To become familiar with composing technologies (word processing, digital publication, etc.) available to UMass Amherst students.
This course uses Open Educational Resources and/or library content.
For assistance enrolling in Writing, Identity, and Power, contact writingprogram@acad.umass.edu, and for questions about placement, contact writingplacement@umass.edu. For more information about this course, please contact Anne Bello, Deputy Director of the Writing Program.