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ENGL 456/656: (3 Credits)

Literacy, Culture, and Identity

Professor: Amy Rupiper Taggart

Office: Minard Hall 322D

Office Hours: 3-4:30 MW and by appointment

Phone: 1-7148

Email: (This is the best way to contact me.)

Class Location:

Class Time:

Course Site:

Bulletin Description

Reading, writing, research, and discussion of diverse types of literacy from functional to cultural to technological and their roles in culture and identity formation. Completion of related community projects. Prerequisite: English 120; junior status, unless special permission is given by instructor.

Expanded Course Description

Literacy takes many forms from functional (basic reading and writing needed to survive in a society) to cultural (understanding of highly valued texts and knowledge, the knowers of which also accrue status based on the knowledge) to technological. In this class, students will come to a deeper understanding of many types of literacy and their roles in our culture*[1]. The class will explore myths that surround the concept of literacy and look at specific cases of educational and other barriers to literacy development. Students will also do hands-on community research and/or writing related to literacy. These community projects will offer students experience that might help them in careers in education, the nonprofit sector, and politics, among others, and the experience will help all students to better understand writing and research in non-educational settings.

Learning Objectives

This course will help you:

  • understand the concept of literacy and its nuances
  • consider the roles of education, government, technology, and even the media in shaping notions of literacy and in creating or closing access to literacy
  • actively use and develop your skill as collaborators, writers, and researchers in professional and community settings
  • consider the role of English studies in culture

Primary Texts

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451.

Cushman, Kroll, Kintgen, Rose. Literacy: A Critical Sourcebook. Graduate students should buy this text. Undergraduates will read selections on digital reserve (see below).

Heath, Shirley Brice. Ways with Words.

Hirsch, E.D. Cultural Literacy.

Kozol, Jonathan. Illiterate America.

Villanueva, Victor. Bootstraps.

Texts on Digital Reserve

The library now offers digital reserve so that you can access some of the course readings online in .pdf form. On days when we have reading on digital reserve, be sure to print out a copy of the reading so that you can refer to it in class. You will want to print any reserve readings and keep them in your class binder. At times I will add readings, as necessary. See the schedule and the course site for updates.

Expenses

Photocopying/printing: On draft due dates, you will be expected to bring enough copies of your draft for your review partner or group and for me. On final draft due dates or when daily work is due, you will need to bring 1 copy for me and upload the file to the blackboard course site. Finally, you will sometimes be expected to print readings put on digital reserve on the library’s website or to print something from the course site.

Assignments

  • Participation: 150 points. The participation grade will be earned as follows:

A / No more than 1 week’s absences, excellent discussion leadership, active participation in class discussions, activities, and workshops (your body being in the room isn’t enough!), high quality regular daily writing
B / No more than 4 absences MWF or 3 absences TR, good discussion leadership, active participation in class, good quality regular daily writing
C / No more than 5 absences MWF or 4 absences TR, average discussion leadership, regular participation in class, average quality regular daily writing (may miss a couple of pieces)
D / No more than 2 week’s absences, some participation in class, more than half of daily writing completed fairly on task
F / After 3 week’s absences, you will automatically receive a zero for participation.
  • Literacy and Desire Casebook. For this project, you will build from the course readings and do additional research on an aspect of literacy related to desire: Why do we desire literacy in spite of the fact that, in its various forms, it does not ensure success and prosperity? How is the desire for literacy encouraged by media, school, family, and other social organizations and structures? Draft 25 points. Peer response 50 points. Casual presentation (discussion leadership) 50 points. Final draft 225 points.
  • Community research and/or writing project. For this project, students will work with campus or community agencies conducting needed research on literacy or writing documents that might better facilitate literacy acquisition and distribution. Contract required for completion of assignment. Draft 25 points. Final draft 225 points.
  • Midterm exam. Close to the midway point in the semester, you will take an exam based on the content of the first half of the course. 100 points.
  • Final exam: in-class reflective essay plus a content section. 150 pts. This in-class essay will ask you to identify key concepts you feel like you have learned in this class, identify concepts that remain fuzzy, and ask for your suggestions for revising the class. You will need to be specific about what you have learned, and I hope you can articulate what remains difficult or unclear about certain ideas or concepts.

Total points possible in the course: 1000

Graduate Student Project adjustments:

  • In addition to the regularly assigned reading, graduate students will weekly read one additional article from Literacy: A Critical Sourcebook and will post responses and questions to a course blog.
  • The literacy and desire casebook will be a conference presentation length (8-9 pages) researched paper.
  • The community research and/or writing project will be more extensive in length, appropriate to graduate level skill (part or all of a grant proposal or fairly extensive activist research, for instance, instead of informational brochures, newsletter articles, etc.)
  • Graduate students will have at least one major essay question on each of exams that ask for more in-depth answers and synthesis than the undergraduates.

Grading

Guidelines

  • A work is excellent, going well above the basic requirements of the assignment; B work is very good (above average); C work is average, just meeting all of the requirements of the assignment; D work needs improvement; and F work is unacceptable.
  • First drafts are graded on four things: Are they full length? Were they on time? Are they generally on task? Do they have a works cited page?
  • First drafts handed in after the due date (in class, not after) will receive 0 points. This is a nonnegotiable requirement. If you wake up sick the day a draft is due, send it via a classmate or email. Do not count on me checking my campus box after class. The draft deadline is important because coordinating peer response goes much more smoothly if everyone has a draft at the same time.
  • Any projects completed collaboratively will receive one grade. Individuals will be asked to evaluate and support both their own work and their peers’ work on this project. This self-assessment will serve as a grading guide for me.
  • All drafts are due at the very beginning of class on the due date.
  • The casebook may be revised once (substantially) after the initial pencil grade.

Scales

1

For assignments worth 25 points:

A = 22.5-25

B = 20-22.4

C = 17.5-19.9

D = 15-17.4

For assignments worth 50 points:

A = 45-50

B = 40-44

C =35-39

D = 30-34

For assignments worth 100 points:

A = 90-100

B = 80-89

C = 70-79

D = 60-69

For assignments worth 150 points:

A = 135-150

B = 120-134

C = 105-119

D = 90-104

For assignments worth 225 points

A = 203-225

B = 180-202

C = 157-179

D = 134-156

For the course:

A = 900-1000

B = 800-899

C = 700-799

D = 600-699

1

Grade Descriptions

A = Excellent work, virtually free of mechanical error (grammar, citation, punctuation, spelling), going above and beyond the basic requirements of the assignment. Demonstrates sophisticated understanding of the assignment and the writing situation. There can be room for improvement in “A” work, but it most respects it knocks my socks off.

B = Good or above average work, minimal mechanical error, going beyond the requirements of the assignment in a least one way, fulfilling all assignment requirements. Demonstrates understanding of the assignment and the writing situation.

C = Ok or average work, some mechanical error is acceptable, just fulfills all assignment requirements. Demonstrates basic understanding of the assignment and the writing situation.

D = Needs improvement to meet assignment requirements.

F = Unacceptable work. Does not fulfill most of the assignment requirements, is not handed in, or is not the writer’s own work (the last 2 conditions warrant a zero).

Attendance

Because writing classes are classes in which writers work together and support each other, attendance at all classes is expected. Be here, and be on time. If you are aware of a potential conflict with this class, consider taking another course or this course another semester. When unavoidable emergencies (and by emergencies I mean verifiable injury that would cause you to end up in the hospital, not the flu) arise, contact me as soon as possible to make the appropriate arrangements. Poor attendance will affect your participation grade.

Writing format

  • Always hand in one hard copy of your work. Then, always post one copy of your work to digital dropbox. I will respond to and hand back the hard copy. For peer response, you will need one hard copy for me plus one copy for each peer respondent.
  • Unless specified otherwise, all assignments must be typed.
  • Use a 12-point font, double space, with one-inch margins all around, unless the document requires a special design.
  • Staple your document together or put it in a paper folder.
  • Cover sheets are unnecessary, but use a heading that includes your name, the date, the title of your work, and any draft information (Example: Literacy and Desire, Draft 1).
  • Include works cited, citations, and "help received" statement as necessary (check a writer’s handbook for citation conventions).
  • When you do a substantial revision for a grade, hand in the previous and newest drafts together so that I can easily see what you’ve changed to improve the piece.

Academic Honesty

All work in this course must be completed in a manner consistent with NDSU University Senate Policy, Section 335: Code of Academic Responsibility and Conduct (

Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism: Work submitted for this course must adhere to the Code of Academic Responsibility and Conduct as cited in the Handbook of Student Policies: "The academic community is operated on the basis of honesty, integrity, and fair play. Occasionally, this trust is violated when cheating occurs, either inadvertently or deliberately. This code will serve as the guideline for cases where cheating, plagiarism, or other academic improprieties have occurred. . . . Faculty members may fail the student for the particular assignment, test, or course involved, or they may recommend that the student drop the course in question, or these penalties may be varied with the gravity of the offense and the circumstances of the particular case" (65).

Academic Honesty Defined: All written and oral presentations must "respect the intellectual rights of others. Statements lifted verbatim from publications must be cited as quotations. Ideas, summaries or paraphrased material, and other information taken from the literature must be properly referenced" (Guidelines for the Presentation of Disquisitions, NDSU Graduate School, 4).

Special Needs

In keeping with the Americans with Disabilities Act, I encourage students with special needs who need accommodations in this course to contact me as soon as possible so that the appropriate arrangements can be made.

Observations and Suggestions

  • Some of the readings in this course are examples of "academic writing;" they might refer to other scholars you are not familiar with, they might use words you are not familiar with, and quite frankly, they might seem a little bit dry. Again, I would say, "focus on the big picture." Academics are trying to get ideas across, and they are not trying to write stories that entertain.
  • Have some fun with the assignments! Pay attention to what you like to do, and which tasks you find difficult–becoming aware of your preferences will help you decide which courses to take, and perhaps even help you make some career decisions.
  • I have tried to use the formula “1 hour of class time, 2 hours out of class” as I thought about designing this course. That means for 2.5 hours of class time per week, I would expect you to put in 5 hours per week out of class. That doesn’t mean every week will require 5 hours of commitment—some will be more and some will be less—but it does mean that if you are working a lot, or taking a lot of credits, you will probably find this class to be pretty demanding.

Schedule, ENGL 456/656, Literacy, Culture, and Identity

Unit I: Literacy, Schooling, and Diversity

Week

/ Reading Assignment /

Writing Assignment

/ Class Information
1 / Gee “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics” on Docutek
Rose, Lives on the Boundary, first half / As you read, make notes about your own literacy beginnings. Here are some questions to consider: Think about your parents and grandparents and how their levels of literacy influenced you. Think about what kinds of books you had in your house growing up. Was reading emphasized? Consider the social groups that you spent the most time with at different stages of your life. Include details about how you learned to read and write, about what was taught in your home and school and how it was taught. What was emphasized most in school? After you gather notes from the past, look at the present. Do you like to read? Do you like to write? What do you think contributes most to your attitude toward literacy? If there was a change in your attitude about reading and writing at some point in time, what caused the change? / Introductions
What is literacy?
Literacy and identity
2 / Rose, Lives on the Boundary, second half / Take a look at the following web site and consider what is and is not true of you: "William Perry's Scheme of Intellectual and Ethical Development" by William J. Rapaport. (Informal reading presentation) / Introduce casebook assignment
3 / Kozol Illiterate America, Part I / Weekly homework: Hand in casebook topic proposal with at least 10 source working bibliography
4 / Kozol, Illiterate America, Parts II & III / Weekly homework: Hand in 5-source annotated bibliography (related to literacy and desire casebook)
5 / Kozol, Appendix “Bilingual Literacy”
Villanueva, Bootstraps / Introduce community projects, form teams
6 / Villanueva, Bootstraps / Literacy and Desire Casebook draft due, beginning of week
Peer response letter due end of week / Casual presentations/discussions of casebook findings
Unit II: Literacy and Culture

Week

/ Reading Assignment /

Writing Assignment

/ Class Information
7 / Hirsch, Cultural Literacy / Community project contracts are due this week, signed by student teams and community representatives / Casual presentations/discussions of casebook findings
Prepare for mid-term
8 / Hirsch, Cultural Literacy / Mid-term exam
9 / Ong “Writing as a Technology that Restructures Thought”
Baron “From Pencils to Pixels” on Docutek / Literacy and Desire Casebook pencil grade drafts are due in conference
Post questions and responses to the two readings for this week on blackboard’s discussion board / Individual conferences instead of whole-class meeting
10 / Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 1st half (Parts I & II) / Topics: Censorship, Writing as a technology
11 / Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 2nd half (Part 3, Afterward, Coda) / Literacy and Desire Casebook final drats are due / Topic: Censorship
Unit III: Literacy and Action

Week

/ Reading Assignment /

Writing Assignment

/ Class Information
12 / Flower, Peck, Higgins “Community Literacy”
Brandt “Sponsors of Literacy”
Arnove & Graff “National Literacy Campaigns”
All on Docutek / Community research/writing project drafts must be handed in to me, to the community partners by this week.
13 / Brice Heath Ways with Words
14 / Brice Heath Ways with Words
15 / Brice Heath Ways with Words / Community research/writing project final drafts are due to me, to community partners / Prepare for final exam
16 / Final Exam

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[1] In this course, culture will refer to three related concepts. When discussing the term “cultural literacy,” the definition of culture that is operating is based on E.D. Hirsch’s notion that to be highly effective and informed citizens of a particular society, one needs to know the great texts, concepts, dates, and artifacts of that society. When talking about how literacy is one mechanism for stratifying society, we will be drawing on theories of social construction that suggest individuals and societies are influenced by a wide variety of factors that will define what is normative and not normative. Individuals and societies simultaneously influence one another and co-create meaning that is continually shifting. Culture at its most basic in this course will refer to the social structures and symbols systems that are shared by large groups of people within our national boundaries (as we will primarily be considering literacy in America).