This competency-based course is designed to develop reading comprehension, literary analysis, writing, and listening and speaking skills. A particular emphasis on academic, workplace, and reflective/autobiographical composition is integrated with a focus on significant works of American literature. A diagnostic test of editing and proofreading skills facilitates a targeted review of punctuation, usage, and sentence structure. Students discuss, analyze and interpret the short story, poetry, drama, the novel, and works of non-fiction. The Internet is employed as a research tool for enhancing reading and writing tasks. Students review the writing process and fundamentals of composition: the topic sentence, paragraph structure, the thesis statement, and the use of a rubric. Essay form is reviewed through the discussion and analysis of exemplary writing, and students develop a portfolio of depth and variety: a reflective essay, an essay of definition, descriptive and narrative compositions, an essay of literary analysis, a letter of application, and a script for a multimedia presentation. FREE