Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: demonstrate mastery of clear and effective writing through carefully written analyses of exemplary models of literature; identify and apply in an essay, various rhetorical modes in English Composition, focusing upon the expository (i.e., comparison/contrast) and argumentative (i.e., literary argument) approach; identify elements of a theme and its evidence presented by the author throughout a piece of literature; effectively read a poem, analyze its components, rhythm, and how a poem sounds versus how it reads, and ultimately demonstrate improved mastery of word choice and poetic devices in their own writing; actively engage literary works to develop creative interpretations through an individualized “strong” reading of classic short stories, poetry, and drama; working within the context of selected pieces of fiction, students compose a literary argument with appropriate documentation; develop techniques for addressing opposing views to insure the basic theme of a paper is adequately, though ethically supported; recognize and assess the philosophical or analytic approaches literary critics adopt as “templates” for understanding what a piece of writing means and identify any potential author or critic ideological bias; write an in-depth research paper displaying a discriminating focus upon what constitutes good literature and demonstrating facility with MLA format and its specific requirements for citing references; and recognize various forms of plagiarism, both “benign” and intentional.