ENGL 15Rhetoric and Composition

3 credits · English · Penn State

ENGL 15 is an intensive, rhetorically based experience in reading and writing that will prepare you both to understand the communications that surround you and to succeed in your own communication efforts. Thus, in this course, we will focus specifically on analyzing verbal and visual texts (our reading) as well as on producing such texts (our writing), always in terms of rhetorical principles. Even if the term rhetoric isn't familiar to you, you bring a good deal of rhetorical skill to this class: you already know how to gauge the way you perceive and produce language according to the speaker, the intended audience, and the purpose. You may not always gauge perfectly, your perception may not always be accurate, and your production may not always be successful, but you still often try to interpret and choose language that is appropriate to the rhetorical situation. When you do not succeed, you often try again. The goal of ENGL 15 , then, is to help you build on what you already know how to do as you become a more confident reader and writer. You will become more attuned to your goals as a writer, more aware of the ongoing conversation surrounding the topic, and more resourceful in terms of the appropriate delivery of your information, the rhetorical appeals at your disposal, and the needs and expectations of your audience. You will also learn to research and synthesize multiple outside sources in order to support your arguments effectively and ethically. In other words, we hope you'll come to write with skill, conviction, sophistication, and grace, if not immediately, then soon. In the process, you'll learn how to read more critically as well. Credit toward degree requirements is limited to one course from: ENGL 15 , ENGL 15A , ENGL 15E , ENGL 15S , ENGL 30H , ENGL 30T , ESL 15 , ENGL 137H , CAS 137H , or LA 101

Before you enroll

Prerequisites

None listed in the catalog.

Counts toward

General education

Writing & Speaking (GWS)

Where it fits

Where it sits in degree plans

Suggested plans most often put it in Year 1 · Fall (328 programs).

Required in (33)

Agricultural Science, B.S.
Agricultural and Biorenewable Systems Management, B.S.
Biomedical Engineering Technology, A.ENGT.
Energy and Sustainability Policy, B.A.
Energy and Sustainability Policy, B.S.
Food Science, B.S.
Forest Technology, A.S.
General Business, A.S.
Human Development and Family Studies, A.S. (Altoona)
Human Development and Family Studies, A.S. (Health and Human Development)
Human Development and Family Studies, A.S. (University College)
Information Sciences and Technology, A.S. (Berks)
and 21 more

One of the options in (87)

Accounting, B.S. (Behrend)
Actuarial Science, B.S.
Aerospace Engineering, B.S.
Architectural Engineering, B.A.E.
Artificial Intelligence Engineering, B.S.
Biological Engineering, B.S.
Biomedical Engineering, B.S.
Business Administration, A.S. (Abington)
Business Administration, A.S. (Altoona)
Business Administration, A.S. (Berks)
Business Administration, A.S. (Capital)
Business Administration, A.S. (University College)
and 75 more

What it opens up

Courses that list ENGL 15 as a prerequisite (147)

AEE 330W Communication in Agricultural and Natural Resource Careers
AFAM 463 African American Autobiography
AFAM 466 African American Novel I
AFAM 467 African American Novel II
AFAM 468 African American Poetry
AFAM 469 Slavery and the Literary Imagination
AMST 470 The American Renaissance
AMST 472 Topics in American Literature
AMST 475 Black American Writers
AMST 476 American Women Writers
ANSC 332N Science and policy of global greenhouse gas emissions and management
ARCH 311W Architectural and Planning Theories
ARTH 222N Intersections between Art History and the History of Psychology
ARTH 222Q Intersections between Art History and the History of Psychology
ASTRO 237W Astronomy Communications
AYFCE 211N Foundations: Civic and Community Engagement
BA 321 Contemporary Skills for Business Professionals
BA 322 Negotiation Skills for Business Professionals
BBH 201N Health and the Media
BIOL 403 Biological Writing and Communication for Research
CAS 214W Speech Writing
CAS 222N Foundations: Civic and Community Engagement
CAS 426W Communication Ethics
CAS 450W Group Communication Theory and Research
CAS 452W Organizational Communication Theory and Research
CED 420W Gender and International Development
CED 431W Economic Analysis of Environmental and Resource Policies
CIVCM 211N Foundations: Civic and Community Engagement
CMLIT 453 Narrative Theory: Film and Literature
COMM 208N Visual Representations of the Middle East in the US and Middle East
COMM 230W Writing for Media
COMM 260W News Writing and Reporting
COMM 262 Podcasting and Digital Media for Entrepreneurs
COMM 290N Cinema and Globalization
COMM 453 Narrative Theory: Film and Literature
EET 212W Op Amp and Integrated Circuit Electronics
ENGL 183 Adventure Literature
ENGL 202A Effective Writing: Writing in the Social Sciences
ENGL 202B Effective Writing: Writing in the Humanities
ENGL 202C Effective Writing: Technical Writing
ENGL 202D Effective Writing: Business Writing
ENGL 202H Effective Writing: Honors
ENGL 250 Peer Tutoring in Writing
ENGL 312 Globality and Literature
ENGL 400 Authors, Texts, Contexts
ENGL 401 Studies in Genre
ENGL 401W Creative Writing Theory
ENGL 402 Literature and Society
ENGL 403 Literature and Culture
ENGL 404 Mapping Identity, Difference, and Place
ENGL 405 Taking Shakespeare From Page to Stage
ENGL 406M Honors Course in English: General Topic in Recent Literature
ENGL 407 History of the English Language
ENGL 408M Honors Seminar in English: General Topic in Post-1800 Literature
ENGL 411M Honors Seminar in English: Creative Writing
ENGL 412 Advanced Fiction Writing
ENGL 413 Advanced Poetry Writing
ENGL 414 Biographical Writing
ENGL 415 Advanced Nonfiction Writing
ENGL 416 Science Writing
ENGL 417 The Editorial Process
ENGL 418 Advanced Technical Writing and Editing
ENGL 419 Advanced Business Writing
ENGL 420 Writing for the Web
ENGL 421 Advanced Expository Writing
ENGL 426 Chicana and Chicano Cultural Production: Literature, Film, Music
ENGL 427 Topics in Jewish American Literature
ENGL 430 The American Renaissance
ENGL 431 Black American Writers
ENGL 432 The American Novel to 1900
ENGL 433 The American Novel: 1900-1945
ENGL 434 Topics in American Literature
ENGL 435 The American Short Story
ENGL 436 American Fiction Since 1945
ENGL 437 The Poet in America
ENGL 439 American Nonfiction Prose
ENGL 440 Studies in Shakespeare
ENGL 441 Chaucer
ENGL 442 Medieval English Literature
ENGL 443 The English Renaissance
ENGL 444 Shakespeare
ENGL 445 Shakespeare's Contemporaries
ENGL 446 Milton
ENGL 447 The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century
ENGL 448 The English Novel to Jane Austen
ENGL 449M Honors Seminar in English: Pre-1800s literature
ENGL 450 The Romantics
ENGL 451 Literary Modernism in English
ENGL 452 The Victorians
ENGL 453 Victorian Novel
ENGL 454 Modern British and Irish Drama
ENGL 455 Topics in British Literature
ENGL 456 British Fiction, 1900-1945
ENGL 457 British Fiction Since 1945
ENGL 458 Twentieth-Century Poetry
ENGL 459 Writing Palestine-Israel
ENGL 460 Business and Literature
ENGL 462 Reading Black, Reading Feminist
ENGL 463 African American Autobiography
ENGL 464M Honors Seminar in English: Multicultural
ENGL 465 Humanity in Computerized Society
ENGL 466 African American Novel I
ENGL 467 African American Novel II
ENGL 468 African American Poetry
ENGL 469 Slavery and the Literary Imagination
ENGL 470 Rhetorical Theory and Practice
ENGL 471 Rhetorical Traditions
ENGL 472 Current Theories of Writing and Reading
ENGL 473 Rhetorical Approaches to Discourse
ENGL 474 Issues in Rhetoric and Composition
ENGL 475 Comics Studies
ENGL 476 Arab American Literature
ENGL 478 Grant Writing
ENGL 480 Communication Design for Writers
ENGL 481 Literary Theory: Historical Perspectives
ENGL 482 Contemporary Literary Theory and Practice
ENGL 482W Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory
ENGL 483 Problems in Critical Theory and Practice
ENGL 486 The World Novel in English
ENGL 487W Senior Seminar
ENGL 489 British Women Writers
ENGL 490 Women Writers and Their Worlds
ENGL 491 The Capstone Course in Professional Writing
ENGL 492 American Women Writers
ENT 419W Pesticide Science
FIN 301 Corporation Finance
FIN 301H Corporation Finance (Honors)
GEOG 332N Science and policy of global greenhouse gas emissions and management
HDFS 175N Introduction to Youth Development and Arts-based Social Justice
HDFS 400 Youth Development and Social Justice Capstone Seminar
IST 260W Introduction to Systems Analysis and Design
JST 427 Topics in Jewish American Literature
JST 459 Writing Palestine-Israel
LTNST 426 Chicana and Chicano Cultural Production: Literature, Film, Music
METEO 332N Science and policy of global greenhouse gas emissions and management
SC 451 Science Outreach and Communication
SOC 208N Visual Representations of the Middle East in the US and Middle East
SOC 245N Globalization, Technology, and Ethics
SOC 290N Cinema and Globalization
STS 245N Globalization, Technology, and Ethics
SUST 242N Issues in Sustainability
VBSC 280N Current Topics in Veterinary Medicine
WMNST 420W Gender and International Development
WMNST 462 Reading Black, Reading Feminist
WMNST 489 British Women Writers
WMNST 490 Women Writers and Their Worlds
WMNST 491 American Women Writers