Choosing a W Course

The development of writing skills takes time and effort. In keeping with this, the Common Course of study requires that Lafayette students take 4 courses designated as W, or writing intensive. Lafayette’s requirement is designed to let you choose the courses most relevant to your individual abilities, majors, and schedules. W courses are offered across the curriculum, and they all have the following things in common: you will write either 1) 5000 words of writing that have been revised into final form or 2) 10,000 words of writing total, which would include all rough and final drafts, revisions, and informal writing; in addition, you will receive feedback on your work, learn to revise in response to that feedback, and acquire strategies for composing, revising, editing, and proofreading.

Some W courses currently offered introduce you to the conventions of academic writing (FYS, ENG 100); some take issues in writing or language as their primary subject of inquiry (e.g., ENG 202, ENG 250); and some teach discipline-specific writing conventions (e.g. ART 216, ECON 311, MATH 356). It’s a good idea to plan W courses so that writing experiences are distributed across all four years, especially since you are expected to take one W in your major department and one W outside of it (and you won’t formally declare a major until spring semester of your sophomore year).

CWP designed the following guidelines to help you choose W courses appropriate to your individual needs and interests. In choosing a W, you should consider with your advisor how strongly you identify with the bulleted items listed under each option below. In other words, these are indeed a set of guidelines and not a checklist.

Introduction to Academic Writing (ENG 100) is probably best for me if…

• I am a first-year or sophomore student looking for additional practice with academic writing conventions after my FYS.
• I want to think more deeply about what academic writing is, what it does, and how it functions in and beyond college.
• I am interested in practicing strategies for college-level reading and discussion in service of college-level writing.
• I want to consider best practices for how to organize my ideas in writing, such as where to begin, how to paragraph, how to conclude, etc.
• I would like feedback on how to help readers follow my ideas and how to effectively support my ideas.
• I would benefit from more practice revising my writing with specific audiences and purposes in mind.
• I would like to strengthen my ability to identify as a writer.
• I would benefit from taking a course in which I would write regularly and receive regular peer and professor feedback on my writing.

A Writing Seminar (English 202) is probably best for me if…

• I want to take a course whose subject is writing and language, a course in which I can expect to write regularly and receive regular peer and professor feedback on my writing.
• I am interested in learning more about current topics of discussion regarding writing and language.
• I would like to continue engaging in college-level reading and discussion that supports and challenges the ideas expressed in my writing.
• I feel fairly comfortable in planning and organizing an essay and would like opportunities to try new ways of beginning, paragraphing, concluding, etc.
• I would like to know myself as a writer more deeply, including reflecting on my process, trying new drafting and revising strategies, etc.
• I welcome feedback and I feel that I have feedback to share with my peers on how to help readers follow ideas and how to use evidence effectively in writing.
• I have ideas about what I generally do well as a writer and areas of improvement in my writing given previous feedback and grades on my writing from my instructors.
• I would like to strengthen my writerly identity.

A “W” course in my major field or another department is probably best for me if…

• I want to take a course in which I will learn more about discipline-specific writing conventions (i.e., writing in English Studies, Engineering, Philosophy, Biology, etc.) and in which writing is primarily assigned as a tool for learning.
• I feel generally comfortable writing on my own and confident in my ability to revise my writing in response to feedback I receive from professors, classmates, and/or WAs.
• I feel comfortable with the expectations and conventions of college-level writing, reading, and discussion.
• I have done a fair amount of writing at Lafayette College and have relatively clear ideas about how my writing is received by specific audiences such as instructors, peers, and/or WAs.

Finally, please bear in mind that although the W requirement consists of four courses, you are not limited to that number. As mentioned above, the development of writing skills takes time and effort; Lafayette’s Common Course of Study, course offerings across disciplines, and the College Writing Program are designed to give you many opportunities to become better, more confident writers.