The following outcomes come from the First-Year Writing Requirement foundation document approved by the Faculty General Education Council in 2007. Writing 150 and English Language 150 (taught outside University Writing in the Department of Linguistics and English Language) align their outcomes to this document.

Rhetorical Knowledge
Students should demonstrate that they can focus on a well-defined purpose in writing, write clearly for a specified audience, use conventions of format and structure appropriate to the rhetorical situation, and adopt a voice, tone, and level of formality suited to the purpose and audience. They may also learn about and practice the following: responding to the needs of different audiences; responding appropriately to different kinds of rhetorical situations; writing in several genres; and exploring the ways different genres shape writing and reading.

Processes of Writing
Students should develop productive and flexible individual and collaborative writing processes, including prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading. These processes could include the following: collecting data, finding supporting evidence, and creating good arguments; organizing the material for a paper; writing successive drafts of the same paper; group writing; seeking and using peer responses; revising; editing grammar, usage, and punctuation; and using conventional formats.

Critical Reading
Students should be able to read and evaluate written materials from a variety of genres. They should demonstrate their ability to read critically, which would include some of the following: analyzing and evaluating arguments; identifying authors’ claims and main ideas; identifying supporting evidence; identifying premises and unstated assumptions; evaluating logic and logical fallacies; drawing inferences; synthesizing ideas; identifying and evaluating analogies and figurative language; and distinguishing among emotional, ethical, and rational appeals.

Processes of Library Research
Students should demonstrate that they can locate and evaluate print and electronic sources, and use these sources to write a documented research paper.

Knowledge of Conventions
Students should demonstrate their knowledge of the following: common formats for different kinds of texts; genre conventions, ranging from purpose and structure to tone and mechanics; methods of documenting borrowed information; and conventions of edited syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling.