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Writing 5
About the Course
Current WRIT 5 descriptions can be found here.
WRIT 5 introduces Dartmouth students to critical writing and treats writing not primarily as an instrument for communication but as a practice, a practice of thinking, by means of which ideas are discovered, examined, compared, evaluated, refined, and promoted. To learn to write critically is to learn to think critically, and that is the core value of a liberal arts education. Each section of WRIT 5 organizes its writing assignments around challenging readings chosen by the instructor. The texts for the class also include student writing.
WRIT 5 class size is limited to 16 to allow for individualized attention. Enrollment above the limit is never allowed in a WRIT 5 course. Open slots are first-come, first-served. No waiting lists are maintained.
Students must successfully complete WRIT 5 or an equivalent course to fulfill the first-year writing requirement and then complete a First-Year Seminar (or HUM 2) to complete the first-year seminar requirement.
Students who complete the online directed self-placement process for first-year writing and accept a recommendation to take WRIT 5 are assigned to take the course either in the fall or winter; this assignment cannot be changed. WRIT 5 term assignment information appears in the online student placement record visible to students and their pre-major advisors just prior to fall course registration.
Past Course Descriptions
View full ORC course description for Writing 5.
For course descriptions for the current or upcoming term, view the Writing 5 section descriptions from the Office of the Registrar. Writing 5 section descriptions for the coming term are posted shortly before registration opens for that term.
The Writing 5 section descriptions pages from the Registrar's website for the most recent years are archived below. If you need a Writing 5 description from terms prior to those posted here, please contact us at Writing.Program@dartmoutfh.edu.
- Winter 2025 Writing 5 archived section descriptions
- Fall 2024 Writing 5 archived section descriptions
- Winter 2024 Writing 5 archived section descriptions
- Fall 2023 Writing 5 archived section descriptions
- Winter 2023 Writing 5 archived section descriptions
- Fall 2022 Writing 5 archived section descriptions
- Winter 2022 Writing 5 archived section descriptions
- Fall 2021 Writing 5 archived sections and descriptions
- Winter 2021 Writing 5 archived section descriptions
- Fall 2020 Writing 5 archived section descriptions
- Winter 2020 Writing 5 archived section descriptions
- Fall 2019 Writing 5 archived section descriptions
- Winter 2019 Writing 5 archived section descriptions
- 18f_writ_5_course_descriptions.pdf
- Winter 2018 Writing 5 archived section descriptions
- Fall 2017 Writing 5 archived section descriptions
- Winter 2017 Writing 5 archived section descriptions
- Fall 2016 Writing 5 archived section descriptions
- Winter 2016 Writing 5 archived section descriptions
- Fall 2015 Writing 5 archived section descriptions
- Winter 2015 Writing 5 archived section descriptions
- Fall 2014 Writing 5 archived section descriptions
Guidelines for Students
Writing 5 is a writing course in which students write regularly and frequently. While engaged in this process, students are encouraged to think primarily about exposition: its conventions, contexts, structure, registers, and style.
Writing 5 Expectations
- Students will write at least three formal papers on different topics, totaling about 7,000 words.
- Students will explore the characterization of arguments (their premises, claims, and terms).
- Students will develop a repertoire of ways to set up an argument (problem-solving, question-forming, thesis-formulating, etc.).
- Students will attend to matters of voice, style, and grammar in their work.
- Students will regularly revise their work, frequently in response to comments from their professors and classmates.
- Students will participate actively in class discussions and in peer critiques.
- Students will familiarize themselves with the Dartmouth library system and with proper citation protocol. (See Sources.)
- Students can expect to confer with their professors, individually and/or in small groups, outside the classroom.
- Students will observe deadlines and other policies as required by their professors.
- Students will familiarize themselves with the Dartmouth Honor Code.
Learning Outcomes
WRIT 5 introduces Dartmouth students to critical writing and treats writing not primarily as an instrument for communication but as a practice, a practice of thinking, by means of which ideas are discovered, examined, compared, evaluated, refined, and promoted. To learn to write critically is to learn to think critically, and that is the core value of a liberal arts education.
Creating and Producing
Upon completing Writing 5, you should demonstrate the ability to:
- Craft a strong, supportable claim to guide your paper, and represent that claim in a short statement (often called a thesis).
- Support your claim with an evidence-based argument, choosing the best evidence, organizational structure, and rhetorical strategies for that argument.
- Express complex ideas with clear, concise language, paying attention to voice and audience.
- Participate in an academic conversation with both peers and scholars by engaging with, responding to, incorporating and appropriately attributing the ideas of others.
Inquiring, Interpreting, Integrating
Upon completing Writing 5, you should demonstrate the ability to:
- Ask questions that inquire into the complex issues of the course.
- Read critically, recognizing and questioning texts and other objects.
- Assess the reliability of research sources.
- Gather information through critical reading and research, distinguishing unsupported opinion from evidence-based argument.
- Analyze information in the context of relevant social and scholarly conversations.