Department of English

English 110 and English 120 make up the first-year curriculum of NDSU's Writing Program. Students with 21 and above as their ACT composite score are encouraged to enroll directly in English 120, but may choose to enroll in English 110. Students with ACT Composite scores below 21 are required to enroll in English 110 unless they have already earned credit for English 110.

These courses emphasize helping students make the transition from high school writing assignments and expectations to college writing assignments and expectations. They teach consideration of rhetorical principles like audience, purpose, genre, style, and social context that will be re-enforced in the Upper Division writing courses. English 110 and 120 courses do not use a single syllabus; instead, instructors use materials and approaches they are familiar and successful with in order to help students meet the common course goals:

1. To communicate effectively in a variety of genres for various audiences and situations (General Education Outcome #1).
2. To integrate knolwedge and ideas in a coherent and meaningful manner (General Education Outcome #6).
3. To understand literacy as a dynamic concept, much broader than basic reading and writing skils (English 110) and to understanding leadership as a dynamic role, rather than a static position, that can be played out through writing and collaboration (English 120).

English 110 and 120 courses will continue to change and evolve based on the department's annual assessment of outcomes, the ongoing professional development of our teaching staff, and the rapid changes and uses of communication tools and mediums.

To learn more about the courses in general, student placement in these courses, and policies related to these course, please follow these links:

• An overview of the content of English 110 and 120.
• General information on English 110.
• General information on English 120.
• Information on English 110 and 120 placement for traditional incoming students.
• Information on placement for transfer and non-traditional students.
• Placement exceptions for transfer and non-traditional students.
• The English department attendance policy.
• The English department academic honesty policy.
• The English department grade review procedures.

English 110 and 120 are aligned with the Writing Program Administrator's Outcomes Statement for First-Year Composition.

Teachers of writing at NDSU also share the National Council of Teachers of English's "Beliefs about the Teaching of Writing."