Writing
the Section Description
The section description aims to appeal to students’ interests
and persuade them to include the class in their list of seven
preferred sections they submit before enrolling in PWR. As
a key element of the section selection process, section descriptions
are due midway through the quarter before the class will be
taught (for autumn classes, descriptions are due in early
July). These descriptions are posted on the PWR website so
that students can study them before submitting their top seven
choices to PWR through the online Section Preference Form.
Experience strongly suggests that your brief section description
will be most effective if it meets the following criteria:
- It is clearly written, with as little specialized jargon
as possible. If specialized terms are used, they should
be defined and illustrated in the description.
- It contains an implicit argument for the significance
of the topic.
- It provides specific references to course readings and
relates the readings clearly to the writing assignments
students will complete. The readings should be structured
in service to the writing assignments and not the other
way around. It is important to avoid lists of texts to be
covered as well as lists of themes or sub-themes.
- It outlines the major assignments (including page counts
and minute counts for PWR 2), describing the rationale for
and goal of each assignment as well as providing an example
of a topic students might use to fulfill the assignment.
- Examples of descriptions for PWR 1 and PWR 2 are available
on the PWR website.
