English 100 Program

NOTE TO STUDENTS ABOUT FALL 2021 ENROLLMENT: English 100 sections will be opened throughout the summer. Students should use the online course guide to monitor availability. English 100 is also offered in the spring. 

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English 100 is an introduction to college composition that helps students prepare for the demands of writing at UW-Madison and also helps them think about writing beyond the classroom. The course satisfies the Communication A general education requirement for undergraduates.

Students in English 100 build rhetorical awareness in both written and oral communication. Assignments engage questions of audience, purpose, genre, discourse conventions, and research methods. Students use narrative strategies to explore abstract concepts; summarize and synthesize information; engage in conversations with the ideas of others; and construct arguments through original research. The course views writing as an act of inquiry, a means of communication, and a process. With this in mind, instructors emphasize drafting, revising, and editing as critical practices.

Instructors for English 100 are part of a dynamic intellectual community, centered in the English department. In this community you will find doctoral students in literary studies, composition and rhetoric, English Language and Linguistics, and Interdisciplinary Theatre Studies, as well as Creative Writing MFA students. Additionally, instructional staff often includes experienced doctoral students from the School of Education, Linguistics, and other areas of the university.