Institute Writing Program

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The Institute Writing Program seeks to equip cadets for both academic success and participation in the full range of rhetorical occasions they will encounter in their lives as citizens and professionals.

To ensure the development of strong written communication abilities, the program’s curriculum provides sequential, sustained writing instruction and support throughout the cadets’ academic careers at VMI.

The program links a rigorous two-course sequence in first-year composition (ERH 101 and 102) with a thriving Writing Across the Curriculum initiative, which requires cadets to complete two additional “writing-intensive” courses prior to graduation. Professional tutors in the Writing Center consult individually with cadets at any stage of a writing project.

Beyond the classroom, the program celebrates excellence in writing by encouraging conversations among scholars, professional writers, cadets, and members of the surrounding community. The Writing Program also sponsors Post-wide contests to recognize excellence in writing by cadets across disciplines.

First-Year Composition

ERH 101 – Writing and Rhetoric I

Lecture Hours: 3 | Lab Hours: 0 | Credit Hours: 3

This course introduces the essential principles of rhetoric, develops cadets’ ability to analyze complex texts rhetorically, and refines their writing strategies, paying special attention to their critical reflection on their writing processes. Such essential practices as invention, arrangement, and revision will be emphasized in their writing of expository essays. Minimum grade of C required.

ERH 102 – Writing and Rhetoric II

Lecture Hours: 3 | Lab Hours: 0 | Credit Hours: 3

This course engages cadets in reading, thinking, and writing about contemporary civic issues from a rhetorical perspective. Cadets learn to write persuasive essays for public audiences in which they ethically incorporate research from appropriate secondary sources, as well as critically reflect on their writing processes. Minimum grade of C required. Prerequisite(s): ERH 101 with a minimum grade of C.

Writing Across the Curriculum

Writing-intensive courses provide cadets with regular opportunities to use writing to learn, analyze, and synthesize the materials of the course. In both formal and informal assignments, cadets also refine their ability to revise their writing in response to the needs of different audiences.

Each cadet is required to take a minimum of two upper-level courses that are officially designated as writing-intensive (W). At least one of these courses must be in the cadet’s major. Writing-intensive courses build on cadets’ experiences in the first-year composition sequence and teach them to communicate effectively in different academic disciplines.

To qualify for the W designation a course must a) be numbered 200 or above; b) require substantially more writing than a non-W section of the same course, with a minimum of 10 pages of carefully revised writing submitted for grade; and c) provide substantial guidance in techniques of revision. Enrollment caps are placed on W courses to enable the professor’s careful attention to each student’s written work. In addition, because W-I courses build on the foundations laid in the ERH 101 and 102 (Writing and Rhetoric I and II) sequence, only students who have satisfied the Institute requirement to pass ERH 102 with a grade of C or better may enroll in W courses.