First Year Writing and Rhetoric, PWR 1150
http://www.colorado.edu/ArtsSciences/PWR/
Instructor: Sally Green, M.A., R.S.A. Dip.
Office: Stadium 266B
Enter through Gate 11, go up stair 111, turn right, then enter the first door on your left into the 266 suite of offices
Office Hours: MWF 1-2
Phone: 303-492-7290
Email (generally faster replies than phone):
The syllabus, announcements, and major assignments as they are assigned are posted on the course website on CULink.
Some of this class' communication will be conducted via email
Texts
Knowing Words, PWR-CUBoulder
They Say/I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing, Gragg and Birkenstein
“RIOT” Library Tutorials http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/pwr/tutorial/home.htm
Your papers, copied and circulated for class discussion
A college writing handbook of your choice, no more than 2 years old, to be purchased by the end of the first week of class for use during the second week
Course Objectives
PWR 1150, a core, required course at CU-Boulder, will prepare you to participate in academic discussion and larger civic debate by giving you a functional understanding of the elements of rhetoric and how they work, in texts you encounter, and in your own writing and speaking. Interwoven with our rhetorical approach is a parallel focus on the elements that constitute strong academic and civic writing. The course will focus first on critical reading skills, then on analysis and argument. It will also introduce you to the fundamentals of the research process and enhance your familiarity with various technologies useful for academic work. You will develop a topic of your own choosing as you work through a series of projects. At the end of this class, you will be equipped with an understanding of the elements of the concept of rhetorical situation and its application to narrative, analytical, and persuasive writing for diverse audiences that you can carry with you into other writing and speaking situations, both in your academic and professional careers. You will have developed your own approach to the writing process through both extensive practice and analysis of the various approaches offered by our texts, Knowing Words. Class lecture and They Say/I Say will improve your grasp of academic writing conventions and your ability to use them in your own writing.
Workshopping
Although we will be reading texts to guide us in our exploration of critical writing and thinking norms and rhetorical concepts, and to provide us with issues to examine, your own writing will be the primary text of this class. Rigorous group critique provides the opportunity to participate in a unique and demanding rhetorical situation which you will encounter in various forms throughout your academic and professional careers. I will guide you in developing your ability to incisively and helpfully critique the work of others and to receive and use the feedback you are given about your own work.
Method
1. Attend class. Because much of this class is conducted as a participatory workshop, you must attend regularly. You may miss three classes with no harm to your grade. Each absence after three will lower your grade by one level (a B to a B-, for example). More than six absences will result in an I for the course. It is particularly important that you be here for your scheduled workshop time. You may NOT make up in-class work that you miss, including quizzes and other writing assignments. Consistent late arrivals or early departures will be counted as absences. Rostered students who miss two classes during the first week of the term will be administratively dropped from the course. Please note this attendance policy.
2. Participate, with rhetorical sensitivity, both in writing and verbally. Be prepared at every class meeting to discuss your classmates’ work and assigned readings. All students are expected to make written comments on every draft submitted for workshop. You will learn the norms for this type of discourse and I will periodically collect and evaluate your annotations, guiding you in improving your ability to function in the unique and crucial rhetorical situation of group critique. If you miss class, you are responsible for obtaining the papers to be workshopped at the next class or via email attachment from the authors. Notice that this aspect of your grade reflects your mental rather than simple physical attendance. Please turn off and put away cell phones and other electronic devices as soon as class begins.
3. Written Assignments. Anything you attach to me should be in .doc format. Please make note of this. Turn in typed, page-numbered, double-spaced drafts of your work when due. Papers which are more than one page long should be stapled before being distributed to the class. Leave margins in which I can make comments. If you don’t turn in your work, we can’t workshop it. Late drafts will be given last priority; if you turn in your drafts late, you may miss your opportunity to receive help from the class. I do not accept final papers that have not been reviewed in class. I do not accept late final papers except under unusual circumstances.
4. Library component. You will complete several online library tutorials in preparation for a seminar in research skills at the library, which we will attend as a class. This course component is designed to introduce you to some fundamentals of quality research and the basic technologies involved. In order to access the materials you need Adobe Acrobat. If you have difficulty accessing the materials or downloading the necessary programs, the library staff or I can help you.
Grading Guidelines
Some drafts of written work will be given benchmark grades to indicate where the work is at that stage of development, while other assignments will receive a final grade and may not be revised (details of this are given with individual assignments).
Grading guidelines are the same for all sections of PWR 1150. Remember that effort does count, because you invariably learn from your efforts to improve. However, your grade reflects the quality of your work, not the amount of time or
effort you put into it. All assigned work must be completed to pass the course, including early drafts.
General:
Participation and response to others’ work 10%
Library Tutorials, including attendance at the Seminar and completion of the orientation handout 5%
Quizzes and take-home assignments 5%
Personal Narrative 10%
Individual Research Project Elements:
Research Proposal 5%
Written website evaluation 5%
Preliminary oral source write-ups, each 5% = 10%
Annotated Bibliography 10%
Argumentative Paper 25%
Civic Essay 15%
Writing Center
Expert one-on-one help with your writing is available to you from the Writing Center in Norlin Library, room M-250, near the west entrance. Please do make use of it!
Academic Conduct
All students of the University of Colorado at Boulder are responsible for knowing and adhering to the academic integrity policy of this institution. Violations of this policy may include: cheating, plagiarism, aid of academic dishonesty, fabrication, lying, bribery, and threatening behavior. All incidents of academic misconduct shall be reported to the Honor Code Council. Students who are found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy will be subject to both academic sanctions from the faculty member and non-academic sanctions (including but not limited to university probation, suspension, or expulsion). Other information on the Honor Code can be found at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/honor.html and at http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/
Notes
If you speak English as a second language, you should contact me before the third class meeting so that I can better assist you in the course, advise you about special ESL courses, and/or refer you to appropriate services on campus.
If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit a letter to me from Disability Services in a timely manner so that your needs may be addressed. Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities. Contact: 303-492-8671, Willard 322, or www.Colorado.EDU/disabilityservices.
Campus policy requires that faculty make every effort to deal reasonably and fairly with all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments or required attendance. Please inform me within the first two weeks of class if you require alternative arrangements in order to complete coursework due to religious obligations. See University policy details at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/fac_relig.html .
Students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an appropriate learning environment. Those who fail to adhere to such behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, culture, religion, politics, sexual orientation, gender, gender variance, and nationalities. Class rosters are provided to the instructor with the student's legal name. I will gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or gender pronoun. Please advise me of this preference early in the semester so that I may make appropriate changes to my records. See polices at
http://www.colorado.edu/policies/classbehavior.htmland at
http://www.colorado.edu/studentaffairs/judicialaffairs/code.html#student_code.
The University of Colorado Policy on Sexual Harassment applies to all students, staff, and faculty. Any student, staff or faculty member who believes s/he has been sexually harassed should contact the Office of Sexual Harassment at 303-492-2127 or the Office of Judicial Affairs at 303-492-5550. Information about the OSH and the campus resources available to assist individuals who believe they have been sexually harassed may be found at http://www.colorado.edu/sexualharassment/.
All students of the University of Colorado at Boulder are responsible for knowing and adhering to the academic integrity policy of this institution. Violations of this policy may include: cheating, plagiarism, aid of academic dishonesty, fabrication, lying, bribery, and threatening behavior. All incidents of academic misconduct shall be reported to the Honor Code Council (; 303-725-2273). Students who are found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy will be subject to both academic sanctions from the faculty member and non-academic sanctions (including but not limited to university probation, suspension, or expulsion). Other information on the Honor Code can be found at
http://www.colorado.edu/policies/honor.html and at http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/.
PWR 1150 Spring 2009
This is a general guide to the topics and assignments we will be dealing with each week. Please pay attention and make note in class of more detailed information you will be given about the items in this schedule. Class activities involving assigned work are italicized.
Note: I reserve the right to make changes to this schedule in order to enhance your learning experience; you are responsible for keeping track of those changes.
Note: Whenever reading is assigned, bring the text to class.
WEEK 1, January 12-16
Monday, Course Introduction; Introduction to Rhetorical Situation: Audience, Purpose, Aristotelian elements of rhetoric.
For Wednesday., read Knowing Words, Chapters I, II, III, and IV. Word process an introduction to yourself following guidelines given in class.
Wednesday, quiz and discussion of Knowing Words, Sections I, II, III, and IV
Friday, Aristotelian elements of rhetoric, con’t.
for next Wednesday, bring the handbook you have purchased.
for next Friday, read Knowing Words Chapter V, first three essays (p. 35-53) and the essay on p. 123 and read They Say/I Say, Introduction and Part One through page 38.
Complete the assigned handout, which asks you to use the academic conventional templates from TS/IS in your commentary on the essays.
WEEK 2, January 19-23
Mon, no class, Martin Luther King Day
Wed., Handbook activity—assessing the ethos of your handbook and its appropriateness for you as audience
Friday, discussion of reading; remember to bring KW and TS/IS.
Elements of Rhetoric: Ethos and Pathos, as manifested in Personal Narrative
For Monday, complete personal research interest inventory
WEEK 3, January 26-30
Monday, Intro to personal essay assignment, personal research inventory
Wednesday, in-class writing with personal essay ideas; the essay process
for Friday; first draft of personal essay due; bring assigned number of copies
Friday, Elements of Rhetoric, con’t: Ethos, Pathos, Logos, Kairos
for Monday, read and annotate classmates’ papers
WEEK 4, February 2-6
Sentence analysis, 1-2 days and Workshop
Sentence analysis will focus on strategic approaches to improving your sentence craft, using examples from your drafts.
Complete the library tutorial during the next two weeks.
WEEK 5, February 9-13
Workshop, con’t
Friday, Introduction to Argumentation, work with in-class reading
Final draft of personal essay is due Monday.
For Monday, read provided extract from “Metaphors We Live By,” Lakoff
WEEK 6, February 16-20
Monday, Introduction to Argumentation; Introduction to research proposal; discussion of reading.
Research proposal due Monday.
Wednesday, Argumentation, con’t.
Introduction to Annotated Bibliography, Website evaluation, and Oral Source assignments.
For Monday, read Faulty Reasoning Handout. Complete exercises 5.1, 5.2, 5.3,5.4, Self-Assessment Quiz, and Integrative Exercises. Work on website evaluation and oral source assignments.
Friday, no class. Instructor is at a conference.
WEEK 7, February 23-27
Monday: Logical Fallacies; Logos and its distractions
For Wednesday: read Knowing Words, Section V, 89-116 and They Say/I Say, pages 39-73. Complete the provided handout.
Wednesday, discussion of reading; Logos in action; responding to the arguments of others.
For Friday, website evaluation due.
Friday, Library Seminar
Sign up for conferences next week.
WEEK 8, March 2-6
Monday, No Class, Work Day
Wednesday-Monday, No Regular Class—Attend Scheduled One-on-One conferences with Instructor—Bring the first draft of your Annotated Bibliography and as many of your sources as is practical to carry.
WEEK 9, March 9-13
Monday, last day of conferences
Wednesday, Citation review; Paraphrasing/Summary/Plagiarism Exercise
Group A distributes 18 copies of the first draft of your argument paper for workshop Friday.
Final draft of Annotated Bibliography and Write-ups of Oral Sources due.
Friday, Workshop Group A
Group B distribute 18 copies of your argument paper for workshop Friday
WEEK 10, March 16-20
Monday, Workshop Group B
Group C distribute 18 copies of your argument paper for workshop Wednesday
Wednesday, Workshop Group C
Group D distribute 18 copies of your argument paper for workshop Friday