The second CRW course, offered in the second semester, has a sharp focus on nonfiction writing, both personal and academic, as the means through which students hone their skills of close reading, analysis, and synthesis. The course begins with a module on personal writing (responses to external texts, journalling), moving into opinion pieces and persuasive and argumentative writing, before taking a turn towards academic writing. There is a focus on preparatory and group work to help students build up to negotiating more complex reading and writing tasks: for instance, students develop a practice mini academic paper in groups, before commencing work on individual papers in the final weeks of the semester. Journalling activities are also incorporated over the semester. These consist of entries that encourage students to reflect on their classes in CRW and in their majors, and synthesize their learnings on the different kinds of academic reading and writing they will encounter in coursework.