Oenbring / 7
ENGLISH 281 C: Intermediate Expository WritingGenre and the Northwest
Tuesday & Thursday 8:30-10:20, Mary Gates 082/082A
Instructor: Raymond Oenbring,
Course webpage: http://staff.washington.edu/oenbrr/engl281
Course listserv:
Office: Lewis Annex (the two-story trailer)[1], Room 202
Office Hours: TTh 10:30-11:30, and by appointment.
Required Materials:
o An active UW email account
o Course reading packet (available at Ave Copy Center, 4141 University Way)
o Guterson, David. Snow Falling on Cedars. New York: Vintage, 1995.
Recommended Materials:
o A college writing guide (e.g., Lunsford’s The Everyday Writer)
o A stapler[2]
Course Overview and Goals:
English 281, the second class in the UW's expository writing stream, is meant to help you sharpen the skills you acquired in your freshman writing course: academic writing and critical reading.
My goals for you this quarter are as follows:
o To learn specific ways to develop argumentative essays in response to the challenges of increasingly complex contexts
o To further practice how to develop effective arguments and to support these arguments with effective reasoning
o To be able to understand and analyze arguments in complex academic texts
o To understand that writing takes place in a specific context and responds to the requirements of the particular context
o To understand that writing is a process-based and collaborative activity
o To be able to provide your peers with helpful feedback
o To develop your own writing process, from brainstorming to research and revision
Thematic Overview:
This course will investigate the notion of writing genres by exploring how various types of writing differentially construe peoples and objects in the Northwest. While most of the styles of writing that we will look at are not endemic to the Northwest (i.e., they are found other places as well), our limiting of the scope of our exploration to texts about peoples and objects in the Northwest will provide us with a shared point of reference for entering the notion of genre, a very abstract and fluid concept. While we will read some creative works, most of the texts we will read will be of the non-fiction variety; this is not a “literary genres of the northwest” class. The texts we will read will include the following: native narratives, anthropological tracts, scholarly work in the social and physical sciences, journalism, and two novels.
Sequence One: Cultural Encounters, Knowledge, and the Politics of Representation
Sequence Two: Genre and Academic Disciplines
Sequence Three: Non-academic Genres
Sequence Four: The Übergenre: the Novel
Papers:
This course is based on the idea that writing is a process. Even the most talented published writers cannot sit down and produce a polished text on the first try. Instead, they—like the rest of us—have to read texts and talk to people and search out experiences that serve as both the inspiration and the building blocks of their work. They use writing as a means to discover ideas, as well as to convey them.
All papers should be:
· Typed in a standard 12-point serif font (like Times New Roman);
· Double-spaced;
· Formatted according to MLA guidelines
Successful papers will be well researched and argued, well-structured, show a familiarity with the conventions specific to academic writing and be interesting and original.
Reading Packet Contents:
Native tales:
Anthropological presentation:
Boas, Franz. Chinook Texts. Washington: GPO, 1894. 149-152.
Jacobs, Melville. Badger and Coyote were Neighbors. Corvallis: Oregon State UP, 2000. 132-145. 288-291.
Aimed at popular audiences:
Lopez, Barry. Giving Birth to Thunder, Sleeping with His Daughter. New York: Avon, 1977. 23-25.
McDermott, Gerald. Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1993.
Academic writing:
Anthropology:
Jacobs, Melville. Badger and Coyote were Neighbors. Oregon State UP, 2000. 38-74. 88-93.
Geography:
Braun, Bruce. The Intemperate Rainforest: Nature, Culture and Power on Canada’s West Coast. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2002. 30-65.
English:
Swales, John. Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. New York: Cambridge UP, 1990. 21-67.
Non-academic prose essay:
Baillargeon, Emily. “Seattle Now: A Letter.” New England Review 20.2 (1999): 148-163.
Experimental novel:
Hodgins, Jack. The Invention of the World. Toronto: Macmillan Canada, 1977.
Poetry:
Hall, Hazel. Pacific Northwest Women, 1815-1925: Lives, Memories, and Writings. Eds. Jean Ward & Elaine Maveety. Corvallis: Oregon State UP, 1995.
Appendix:
Vancouver, George. Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean. New York: Da Capo Press, 1968. 533-540.
Participation:
This is not a lecture class. Active, thoughtful participation is essential to your success in this class, as well as the class itself. Class participation means doing all the readings, making notes, having questions, and making an effort in peer review, group work and in-class writing exercises – i.e., making the most of class time.
Grades:
Your final grade in the course will be broken down as follows:
v 30% Participation
Your participation mark will include all of the following:
Ø preparation for class
Ø the group presentation (30% of your participation mark)
Ø the two reading quizes (each 10% of your participation mark)
Ø in-class activities
Ø revision work for portfolio
v 70% Writing Portfolio
At the end of the quarter, you will turn in your complete writing portfolio, choosing two of the three short papers and one of the two major papers for grading. Your portfolio will include all of the following:
Ø paper drafts
Ø final drafts revised (two short papers and one long paper)
Ø portfolio cover letter (2 pages, single-spaced)
Save everything for your portfolio!
Breakdown of Writing Portfolio grade:
Revised Short Paper #1 20%
Revised Short Paper #2 20%
Revised Major Paper 50%
Cover Letter 10%
Communication Policy:
Please do not hesitate to talk to me after class, visit me during office hours, or email me. I will do my best to respond within 24 to 48 hours to all email sent during the week.
CIC Stuff
The CIC student guide can be accessed here:
http://depts.washington.edu/engl/cic/sgonline/
You will be using the computers in the Local Area Network (LAN) for group discussions, to draft papers, to comment on the papers of your peers and to keep a record (in your individual folder) of your written work. You will need to put in time and effort early in the quarter in order to become comfortable with the computer skills necessary for success in this class. In order to complete assignments for this class, you may need to use the LAN outside of class hours. Hours when the LAN is open for use by students enrolled in CIC classes are posted in the LAN. You cannot use the LAN during the breaks between scheduled classes.
Plagiarism:
This is a topic I wish I didn’t have to discuss. Nevertheless, plagiarism happens, and I must address it. I expect you to maintain a professional level of academic honesty in this course, which entails, among other things, correctly citing when you are using somebody else’s ideas or language in your own writing. Passing off another’s ideas or writing as your own is one of the more serious offenses in academia: if you are caught—and chances are you will be caught: I’m very Internet-savvy and familiar with the materials we’re reading, beyond which, I am in contact with hundreds of other TAs in the department who can help me to identify a paper previously submitted to another class; it’s safer not to plagiarize, even if it means a slightly lower grade for late work. Come talk to me if you have questions about citation or plagiarism.
Classroom Conduct:
A large portion of class time will be devoted to discussion. In the course of discussion, it is likely that many of you will disagree with each other. While I think this academic debate is fruitful, I ask that you be respectful of the opinions of others: when engaging in debate, focus on the argument and not the person who said it.
Other Concerns:
If you have other concerns regarding this course, please see me or email me as soon as possible. I you are uncomfortable speaking to me or are not satisfied with my response, you may contact one of the following Expository Writing staff members in Padelford A-11:
Anis Bawarshi, Director:
If, after speaking with the Director of Expository Writing or the Assistant Director, you are still not satisfied with the response you receive, you may contact the English Department Chair, in Padelford Room A-101, at 543-2690.
Tentative Schedule
WEEK 1 / Day’s activity / homework assignedTues, 4/1 / First day housekeeping / -get course materials
-read Native tales (Boas, Jacobs, Lopez, and McDermott)
Thurs, 4/3 / Discuss Native tales
Organize groups for presentations / -read Jacobs’ scholarship and Braun
WEEK 2
Tues, 4/8 / Discuss Jacobs and Braun / -Compare/Contrast short paper due
Thurs, 4/10 / Compare/Contrast Short paper due / -read Swales
-read Lambert (natural science)
WEEK 3
Tues, 4/15 / Swales discussion
First round of group presentations / -read Hardwick and Meacham (social science)
-read Walls (humanities)
Thurs, 4/17 / Second round of group presentations / -read Starbucks annual report and Halo 2 user’s manual
-prepare for claim workshop
WEEK 4
Tues, 4/22 / Third round of group presentations
Claim workshop / -prepare for reading quiz
-Read Baillargeon
Thurs, 4/24 / Baillargeon discussion
Reading quiz #1 / - 1st major paper due
WEEK 5
Tues, 4/29 / 1st major paper due
Discussion of non-academic genres / -read The Invention of the World
Thurs 5/1 / The Invention of the World discussion (1-90) / -read The Invention of the World
WEEK 6
Tues, 5/6 / The Invention of the World discussion (91-162) / -Non-academic genre project
-read The Invention of the World
Thurs, 5/8 / Non-academic genre project due
The Invention of the World discussion (163-212) / -read The Invention of the World
WEEK 7
Tues, 5/13 / The Invention of the World discussion (212-315) / -read The Invention of the World
Thurs, 5/15 / The Invention of the World discussion (317-455) / -Close reading due via email Sunday @ 5 pm
-read Snow Falling on Cedars
WEEK 8
Tues, 5/20 / Snow Falling on Cedars discussion (1-151) / -read Snow Falling on Cedars
-prepare for reading quiz
Thurs, 5/22 / Snow Falling on Cedars discussion (152-299)
Reading quiz #2 / -read Snow Falling on Cedars
-prepare for claim workshop
WEEK 9
Tues, 5/27 / Snow Falling on Cedars discussion (300-380)
Claim workshop
Thurs, 5/29 / Snow Falling on Cedars discussion (381-460) / -Second major paper due
WEEK 10
Tues 6/3 / Second major paper due / -read Hall
Thurs 6/5 / discussion of portfolio / -Portfolio due Fri, 6/13
1
[1] No kidding.
[2] Please, please.