English 11

In Composition 11 with Sam, students will explore such questions as: How does the form and structure of an argument influence the effectiveness of it’s delivery? What are rhetorical devices and how does one use them effectively and ethically? How do we distinguish between a good source of information and a bad source of information? How does one write a successful academic paper? How do we construct new ideas and arguments from existing literature through citation? Sam aims to guide students through the process of writing an academic paper in a way that discovers and fortifies the strengths that students already have. Students can expect to engage with a diversity of textual materials across disciplinary lines. Students will learn to critically approach ideas and information in order to create their own original texts, utilizing a variety of genres, forms, structures, and styles.

Your Educator – Sam O’Connell

Born in Vancouver, Sam was raised in Dublin, Ireland. Sam graduated with an honours degree in Biology from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth before returning to Canada. From a young age she has been working with kids of all ages, who were struggling, in and out of the classroom from instructing swimming with Special Olympics Ireland to teaching IT classes in the local school. Through this experience she realised that one method doesn’t suit all when it comes to learning and we need to embrace that! In her spare time Sam can be found skating and playing ice hockey at many of the local rinks around Vancouver. She also loves listening to (and playing guitar to) all kinds of music. Phil Collins is a firm favourite though. Other hobbies include reading biographies and crime fiction books or playing video games. She is excited to bring her experience to BrainBoost!