- Course Type CLEP
- Subject Composition and Literature
- Level Introductory
- Length 4 Weeks
- Effort 6 Hours/Week
- Institution Modern States
This course will prepare you to pass the College Board’s CLEP College Composition exam. Our goal as creators of this course is to provide you with an accessible and affordable pathway to higher education by obtaining college credit.
This examination contains multiple-choice questions and two essay assignments that will test your skills in analysis, argumentation and synthesis.
Through the guidance of Dr. Dana (Dean) Simpson, from Tufts University, this course will review materials to improve both your awareness of a variety of logical, structural and grammatical relationships within sentences and your ability to use authentic materials and perform rhetorical analysis.
All of those skills are taught in most first-year college writing courses.
“College Composition” is a completely self-paced course. It has no prerequisites and it is offered entirely for free.
CLEP Exam
This course is designed to prepare you for the CLEP College Composition exam and cover other related topics as well.
Instructors
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Dana (Dean) Simpson, Ph.D.Professor at Tufts University
Course Overview
College Composition Course Overview - Modern States
| Module | Topic | Video Length | Reading Pages |
| 1. Conventions of Standard Written English (10%) 00:42:20 total video length 223 total reading pages |
1.1 Syntax (Parallelism, Coordination, Subordination) | 0:10:00 | 223 |
| 1.2 Sentence Boundaries (Comma Splice, Run-Ons, Sentence Fragments) | 0:02:49 | – | |
| 1.3 Recognition of Correct Sentences | 0:02:42 | – | |
| 1.4 Concord/Agreement (Pronoun Reference, Case Shift, and Number; Subject-Verb; Verb Tense) | 0:07:56 | – | |
| 1.5 Diction | 0:04:52 | – | |
| 1.6 Modifiers | 0:03:07 | – | |
| 1.7 Idiom | 0:01:37 | – | |
| 1.8 Active/Passive Voice | 0:00:47 | – | |
| 1.9 Lack of Subject in Modifying Word Group | 0:01:29 | – | |
| 1.10 Logical Comparison | 0:01:40 | – | |
| 1.11 Logical Agreement | 0:01:09 | – | |
| 1.12 Punctuation | 0:04:12 | – | |
| 2. Revision Skills 00:35:57 total video length 94 total reading pages |
2 Introduction to Revision Skills | 0:01:21 | 94 |
| 2.1 Organization | 0:04:18 | – | |
| 2.2 Evaluation of Evidence | 0:02:45 | – | |
| 2.3 Awareness of Audience, Tone and Purpose | 0:01:19 | – | |
| 2.4 Level of Detail | 0:02:57 | – | |
| 2.5 Coherence Between Sentences and Paragraphs | 0:02:27 | – | |
| 2.6 Sentence Variety and Structure | 0:02:55 | – | |
| 2.7 Main Idea, Thesis Statements and Topic Sentences | 0:02:38 | – | |
| 2.8 Rhetorical Effects and Emphasis | 0:01:28 | – | |
| 2.9 Use of Language | 0:02:42 | – | |
| 2.10 Evaluation of Author’s Authority and Appeal | 0:02:35 | – | |
| 2.11 Evaluation of Reasoning | 0:04:21 | – | |
| 2.12 Consistency of Point of View | 0:01:26 | – | |
| 2.13 Transitions | 0:02:09 | – | |
| 2.14 Sentence-Level Errors Primarily Relating to the Conventions of Standard Written English | 0:00:36 | – | |
| 3. Ability to Use Source Materials (25%) 00:30:20 total video length 55 total reading pages |
3 Ability to Use of Source Materials | 0:00:41 | – |
| 3.1 Use of Reference Materials | 0:05:01 | 55 | |
| 3.2 Evaluation of Sources | 0:06:21 | – | |
| 3.3 Integration of Resource Material | 0:04:29 | – | |
| 3.4 Documentation of Sources (Including, but not Limited to, MLA, APA and Chicago Manuals of Style) | 0:13:48 | – | |
| 4. Rhetorical Analysis (25%) 00:13:54 total video length 38 total reading pages |
4.0 Introduction | 0:00:24 | 38 |
| 4.1 Appeals | 0:01:18 | – | |
| 4.2 Tone | 0:01:03 | – | |
| 4.3 Organization/structure | 0:02:56 | – | |
| 4.4 Rhetorical effects | 0:02:36 | – | |
| 4.5 Use of language | 0:02:49 | – | |
| 4.6 Evaluation of evidence | 0:02:48 | – | |
| 5. The Essays: Our Guide 00:16:47 total video length 144 total reading pages |
The Essays: Our Guide | 0:00:50 | 144 |
| The Essays: Part 2 (Module 5) | 0:15:57 | – | |
| 6. Review and Tips 00:48:19 total video length 0 total reading pages |
6.0 Review and Tips | 0:00:49 | – |
| 6.1 Review Part 1 | 0:18:14 | – | |
| 6.2 Review Part 2 | 0:22:27 | – | |
| 6.3 Things to Remember | 0:06:49 | – |
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Student Stories
“It was totally free. I got college credit for all of the CLEP exams and passed all of them on the first try. I loved being able to learn at my own pace. Modern States is amazing.”
“I'm using Modern States to complete my engineering degree in the shortest amount of time possible”
“I can trust Modern States.”
“For 15 credit hours I’ve essentially paid nothing … which has been awesome!”
“All of my undergraduate courses, which I can CLEP out of, will go towards my nursing degree and probably save me close to $15,000.”
“Modern States made it possible to do a five-year degree in four years. It's helping dreams come true.”
“I'd like to thank Modern States for even making this possible to students.”
“It doesn't matter how old you are. You can go back [to school] with the help of Modern States.”
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