College Composition IOffice: BUS 207a
Dr. John Harrish: 903-566-4985
ENGL 1301 (section 6) w: 903-565-5701
Fall 2017email:
Office Hours: MW: 10-10:55
TTh:11:45-12:15
F: 11-12:15
Required Texts/Materials
Writing in Transit, Denise K. Comer (ISBN 978-1-59871-803-4)
Description
Intensive study of and practice in writing processes, from invention and researching to drafting, revising, and editing, both individually and collaboratively. Emphasis on effective rhetorical choices, including audience, purpose, arrangement, and style. Focus on writing the academic essay as a vehicle for learning, communicating, and critical analysis.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will:
1. Demonstrate knowledge of individual and collaborative writing processes.
2. Develop ideas with appropriate support and attribution.
3. Write in a style appropriate to audience and purpose.
4. Read, reflect, and respond critically to a variety of texts.
5. Use Edited American English in academic essays.
Student Rights and Responsibilities
An updated statement concerning absences for religious observance or university-supported trips, services for students with disabilities, grade replacement policies, course-drop policies, and so forth may be found at These policies are also stated at the end of this syllabus.
Required Work/Grading
Below are the requirements and criteria to be used in determining your grade, with the relative importance of each item indicated in parentheses. For the record, I assign letter-grades according to the conventional “decade” system (60-69=D, 70-79=C, 80-89=B), with the “A” range running from 90 to 100. All assignments will receive a percentage grade; there will be no mysterious “points system” whose percentage value cannot be explained until the semester ends.
Writing Assignments (75%): In a composition class, composed papers are naturally the primary matter to be evaluated. I will ask you to write eightrather brief essays of about a page in length (300-350 words: no deduction if you go a little longer). Despite the brevity of each paper, you should always compose in multiple paragraphs. There is no magic number of paragraph breaks; simply be aware that they make transitions in your writing much easier for the reader to identify.
Likewise, spelling and grammar are important. During the semester’s first weeks, I will review with you what I consider to be the major grammatical gaffes that a good writer should avoid. Three of the first four papers you write will count only 5% of the total grade because I shall not be weighing grammar very heavily in my grading until we’ve had a chance to cover certain subjects explicitly in class. (The three assignments in question also involve relatively easy tasks.) By semester’s end, however, I shall expect you all to be pretty competent in the grammatical essentials, and I will grade accordingly.
Because of our considerable amount of preparing for each paper, regarding both its content and its grammar and structure,I have not made much provision for formal rewriting. Often we will do outlining and drafting in small-group exercises which are not directly graded, so hopefully this will provide a “safety net” for you. Yet I actually require that you rewrite one of your 10% papers at the end of the semester. I want to see you take the paper that you consider most “improvable” from among these submissions and transform it to reflect your progress in writing.
Here follow all of our writing assignments. Due dates are listed in the “Schedule of Readings and Assignments.”
Assignment 1 (5%)
Write a short fictional story, a vignette, a personal anecdote, a letter to a friend, or some other brief and relatively creative piece that involves your topic in daily events or puts it in a living, active context.
Assignment 2 (5%)
Find one source on the Internet or in print that discusses your topic with some degree of depth and authority (hint: try to select a piece whose author’s name and credentials are published along with it, or which at least appears in a site produced by a respectable organization). Integrate your own opinion into this source’s discussion of your topic, either agreeing or disagreeing with its judgments (or both). Cite the source where appropriate, but do NOT simply repeat what it has to say.
Assignment 3 (10%)
Discuss the differences in the type of writing you did for Assignment 1 and Assignment 2. Be specific. Address such matters as the kind of words you chose, the type of organization you used, the “entry” and “exit” points you created, the implied view of the reader that you projected, the attention you paid to artistic effects or to facts and logic, and the way such attention was displayed. (This is a list of suggestions, intended to give you ideas: you needn’t mention every item above or only the items above.)
Assignment 4 (5%)
Research your topic in the context of a recognized academic discipline. Where would it best fit, given the kind of interest you take in it? After explaining your selection, introduce (very briefly—the writing of a true summary will come next) three articles you’ve found that connect your topic to the stated discipline. Explain how you found these articles. Do you think all three are likely to be equally reliable sources of information? Why, or why not?
Assignment 5 (10%)
Summarize the article of your three that you believe provides the best insight into your topic. Do NOT discuss your reasons for selecting it over the other two: this is not a piece where you want your personal judgments to leak into the discussion. Rather, create your summary for another undergraduate who might want to do academic work on your topic in the context of the field you’ve chosen. Be professional.
Assignment 6 (10%)
Analyze the summary you wrote for Assignment 5. What parts or aspects of your selected article were left out of the summary, and why did you consider them unnecessary to mention? What assumptions have you made about your audience? What is implicit in your word choice and tone about how you view likely readers? Did you find that sticking to the “important points” in any way distorted something that you found attractive or repellent about the article’s true content or style? Understand that, primarily, you are picking apart your own writing, not the article’s.
Assignment 7 (10%)
Now imagine that you’re having to “pitch” your topic and any surrounding material you’ve found out about it for someone planning a documentary, movie, TV serial, etc. for popular consumption. Do not write an actual summary. Instead, explain what sorts of matter you would downplay or leave out, and what sorts you would emphasize, detail, or urge for inclusion. You want to ensure that the represented material is all plainly pointed in the direction of correctly informing AND pleasantly entertaining a general audience not deeply versed in the subject.
Assignment 8 (10%)
In the wake of this semester’s experience, which kind of writing about your favorite topic would you most like to do, and how do you now foresee having to restrict, discipline, or even compromise that kind of writing in an academic context? What has the semester taught you, in other words, about the likely adaptations you’ll have to make in a college setting if you write about a subject that deeply excites you or fascinates you? Are you convinced that all of those changes are sensible and necessary?
Rewritten Assignment (10%)
Since Assignment 8 is essentially your Final Exam and will not be submitted while regular classes are ongoing, it is ineligible for this exercise; but all other 10% papers (3, 5, 6, and 7) are included in the pool. You are to rewrite the paper of these previous four that you think you can improve the most (not necessarily the one with the lowest grade). Don’t simply add commas and apostrophes where I made corrections in the original. Give the thing a thorough overhaul! I will evaluate it based on its appearance beside the first version, so it should display visible change.
Class Participation (20%): You can’t participate in a class whose meetings you do not attend. The first component of this quarter of your grade is therefore physical presence. I take attendance at the beginning of every class. Every student is allowed two “free misses”: after these, CP will be dropped a full letter grade every time the student skips a class, (This is in fact a very liberal policy compared to most I’ve seen.) Athletes and others who must miss due to representing the university in some capacity are fully excused. Other excuses (health, family crisis, etc.) may be accepted, but documentation may be requested. Please alert me as early as possible if you know in advance that a job obligation, religious duty, etc., will necessitate your absence.
On the positive side, there are several ways to elevate this one-fifth of your grade. The primary way is through the discussion following our reading assignments. On days when a reading is to have been completed (see the Schedule below), you will be expected to walk into class ready to participate verbally. I will call names randomly from the roster as well as invite anyone to comment who wishes: try not to be the person with nothing whatever to say. Even if you don’t understand the material you’ve read, formulate a question about parts of it that you found confusing. That can be very helpful: other class members probably share in your confusion.
There are also occasions designated on the Schedule when I expect you to have prepared an outline, a rough draft, or a question for general discussion. I do not collect any submissions at these times, but I want you to be ready with something you’ve scrawled or typed up which you can easily present to a small group or to the whole class.
I keep track of performance in such cases by making notations on my roster. They may be as simple as 0, 1, or 2 (for “nothing to say,” “weak contribution,” or “solid contribution”). Obviously, a degree of subjectivity is involved in records of this sort; but over the length of an entire semester, a pattern definitely begins to emerge.
The interplay of active participation and what might be called passive participation (i.e., merely showing up) also produces some mildly subjective calls, but I invite you to use the following formula as a benchmark. If you have perfect attendance but either have nothing or very little to say whenever called upon, your CP reaches a C level. I’m glad to see you always present… but your passivity makes your presence of very little practical value. To achieve an A for this 20%, then, you should attend steadily and also contribute actively when you have the chance.
Submission of Complete Portfolio (5%): For various reasons (running from the salutary lessons in self-discipline to something called “institutional assessment”), I ask that you submit a folder—the standard manila type should suffice—with all of your semester’s work on the final day of class. I will add Assignment 8 to the collection after I have received and graded it. This 5% of the grade, in most cases, is either a “did” or “didn’t do”: that is, you’ll likely get either a 100 or a 0. Students tend to keep all of their papers if they remember to keep any of them. Don’t be one of that hapless, disorganized few!
Photo Gallery
The topic you choose to write about will follow you about all semester, so please select something that genuinely interests you. There are absolutely no holds barred. To communicate that idea, I’ve appended a few images:
Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Kushtaka… is this creature real, or a hoax? The researcher who took the photo above swears that it’s legit. The biologist, the social scientist, and the folklorist might all have something to say on the subject.
Don’t start getting too fond of her—she’s a robot! But will AI furnish us with friends, and even lifelong partners, in the near future? This isn’t just a technical question: it has moral, sociological, economic, and even political aspects to it… and just imagine how human psychology might be impacted if robots shared every aspect of our lives!
Iulia Tymoshenko was Ukraine’s first female president. She was also imprisoned for fraud after her term (on made-up charges, some said), and became the nucleus of resentment between that nation’s east and west that erupted into a coup by the pro-European faction and secession by the pro-Russian faction. A hornet’s nest of issues!
This breathtaking rendition of an alien or transplanted civilization may not be possible: a physicist might tell us that the gravity of so near a moon would utterly disrupt life on the planet’s surface. But the futurist and the sci-fi writer would consider that a quibble!
Google HAARP and you find that a few of these multi-acre transmitters were constructed in the 1990s to study the Northern Lights, then abandoned… and also that dozens of such sites are actively operating around the world to manipulate weather systems strategically. The physicist, the meteorologist, the political scientist, the journalist, and the ethicist might all have something to say here.
The Andromeda Galaxy (M 82) is our cosmic next-door neighbor, perfectly illustrating the classic spiral galaxy. But how have the dark lanes between the “pinwheels” been preserved intact after so many eons of eons? The sci-fi author is inspired, but the physicist sits frowning.
Schedule of Readings and Assignments
Assignments are due for (i.e., should have been read or written by) the day when they are listed.
August
28Introduction to course. HW: secure a copy of Writing in Transit and read pp. 1-11.
30Class discussion of reading, small-group discussions of your “favorite topic.” HW: identify our favorite
topic.
September
1Class discussion of topics, questions about first writing assignment addressed. HW: compose an outline or
rough draft of Assignment 1 (NOT for submission).
4Labor Day: no classes.
6General sharing of ideas for Assignment 1. HW: complete Writing Assignment 1.
8Submit Assignment 1, discussion of grammar (comma splices, sentence fragments, fused sentences). HW:
read WT, pp. 13-26.
11Assignment 1 returned, class discussion of reading, preliminary instructions for Assignment 2. HW: read
WT, pp. 27-41. Census Day.
13Class discussion of reading, preparation for next paper in small groups. HW: decide upon source to use in
Writing Assignment 2.
15Share sources for next paper in general discussion, final questions about paper. HW: complete Writing
Assignment 2.
18Submit Assignment 2, discussion of grammar (case, agreement, and apostrophes). HW: read WT, pp. 42-
61.
20Assignment 2 returned, class discussion of reading and practice on grammar. HW: ponder differences in
first two assignments and be prepared to discuss.
22Class discussion of forthcoming writing assignment, breaking into small groups. HW: prepare outline for
Writing Assignment 3 (NOT for submission).
25Share outlines in small groups, class discussion of grammar (commas and dangling/squinting constructions). HW: prepare one question to ask about a grammatical issue.
27Discussion and review of grammatical issues, final questions about next paper.HW: complete Writing Assignment 3.
29Submit Assignment 3, class discussion of academic disciplines. HW: carefully consider the disciplinary
context in which you want to treat your topic for rest of semester, jot down any questions.
October
2Discussion in small groups and then generally to determine your academic preference for handling topic. HW: read WT, pp. 63-74.
4Class discussion of reading, connections made with next paper. HW: read WT, pp. 75-90.
6Assignment 3 returned, class discussion of reading, review of some basic research methods. HW: begin
looking for articles about your topic.
9Continue discussion of research methods as class and in groups. HW: select your three articles and be
prepared to discuss them.
11Brief presentation of articles in class, final questions about next paper. HW: complete Writing Assignment
4.
13Submit Assignment 4, class discussion of summaries. HW: read WT, pp. 93-104.
16Class discussion of reading, work individually or in groups to select an article for summarizing. HW: read WT, pp. 105-122.
18Assignment 4 returned, class discussion of proper technique for citing sources. HW: create draft of
summary (NOT for submission).
20Review of grammar as a class, work in groups on summary drafts, final questions on next paper. HW:
complete Writing Assignment 5.
23Submit Assignment 5.Class discussion of “triage” (i.e., sorting through ideas in order to synthesize a
coherent point), possible group exercises. HW: read WT, pp. 125-137.
25Class discussion of reading. HW: read WT, pp. 137-155.
27Assignment 5 returned, class discussion of reading. HW: read WT, pp. 157-172.
30Class discussion of reading. HW: read WT, pp. 172-193.
November
1Class discussion of reading, group discussions analyzing last paper. HW: outline analysis of your
Assignment 5 (NOT for submission).
3General sharing of ideas for next paper’s analysis, final questions. HW: complete Writing Assignment 6.
6Submit Assignment 6, class discussion of combining pragmatism with truthfulness. HW: create one question or comment in response to previous class’s discussion. Last Day to Withdraw from a Class.
8Continue previous discussion, also discuss reading and its applications to next paper. HW: read WT, pp.
195-218.
10Class discussion of reading and its applications to next paper. HW: read WT, pp. 221-246.
13Assignment 6 returned, small group discussions of next paper. HW: create outline or rough draft of your
“proposal” to a film producer (NOT for submission).
15Outlines/rough drafts shared in general class discussion. HW: complete Writing Assignment 7.