Writing II is an intensification of Writing I. This course encourages students to read, reflect on, write about, and synthesize ideas from a range of genres and literary forms. Students examine and learn how to employ different styles, various appropriate uses of evidence and counter-evidence, multiple methods of interpretations, close readings of texts, and, finally, literary-cultural contextualizations. As the course proceeds, students further develop competency in the use and evaluation of multiple external sources as they shape and express their own ideas and cast them into well organized, thoughtful, and persuasive argumentative essays. This course is required for all undergraduate degrees granted by Baruch College. First and foremost, ENG 2150 will be a course in written composition. The primary purpose of this course will be to enhance students' writing skills and rhetorical sophistication, particularly with regard to argumentative prose. The goal is to prepare students not only for success in academic writing but also for effective participation in and critical understanding of the public and professional discourses of the real world beyond school.