1000-Fall 2015/ XXX
English 1000: Exposition and Argumentation
[[Please note: I fully encourage you to put your own mark on this. Adapt with your own fonts and design; revise with your own voice. Many things are optional or up for your own sense of things; I’ve tried to indicate such things with notes in double brackets, like this one]]
Fall 2015
[[Section Number]]
[[Classroom Building & Number]]
INSTRUCTOR:OFFICE:
OFFICE HOURS:
PHONE: / [[offering a phone number may not be feasible; feel free to omit]]
EMAIL:
CLASS WEBSITE:
TEXTS AND MATERIALS
· Ramage, Bean, and Johnson. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing, 7th Brief Edition
· Copies of additional readings, available on the web or as handouts [[You can add readings of your own choice]]
· Folder & USB drive to hold all work for the class: save everything!
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Exposition and Argumentation provides students with the rhetorical foundations that prepare them for the demands of academic writing, especially the kinds of assignments encountered in writing-intensive classes. In general, you’ll be working with sources of various kinds to make claims about issues that are up for debate and to design documents that will appeal to readers. You’ll also practice different ways of approaching writing assignments, including ways of gathering sources, taking notes and finding patterns, and producing documents that meet different goals.
This course will also teach students to develop rhetorical sensitivity by responding to the writing of others and by using the suggestions of their teacher and their peers to improve their own writing.
[[Feel free to revise with your own voice.]]
READING ASSIGNMENTS
You will have two kinds of reading assignments in this course: instructional reading assignments from the textbook, and more analytical reading assignments of both popular and scholarly texts.
Careful reading—in which you consider what a person is saying, why s/he is saying it, and how s/he is saying it—is an essential prerequisite to effective writing. Please read all assignments carefully, marking passages that seem particularly important and writing questions and comments in the margins. You’ll get the most from your reading if you read each analytical reading assignment at least twice—quickly the first time, then more slowly the second time. I’ll ask you to write short responses and summaries after each reflective reading assignment (see “Informal writing assignments,” below); careful reading and annotation will enable you to do these short writing assignments well.
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Informal Writing: [[Note: I have found short regular writing assignments to be one of the best ways to ensure that students come to class ready to engage with the material assigned to them. As much as possible, I like to make these assignments directly related to the formal writing assignments, so that they are actually doing a little bit every day toward completing those longer assignments. We’ll talk more about this approach during the workshop/orientation. I find blogs or social networking sites to be a good place for students to do these assignments, but journals in notebooks are also perfectly acceptable. We’ll talk about the benefits and drawbacks of each.]]
As you can see in the attached schedule, I’ll ask you to write something for almost every class period. (Though you will have a few writing-free days.) These short (usually about 250 word) assignments are meant to provide you with opportunities for thinking about what you have read and developing ideas for future writing assignments. I am not concerned with how “polished” these assignments are: they need not be focused or grammatically perfect. What I will be looking for instead is evidence that you have thought carefully and responsibly about the reading.
For the first and last units in the class, I will ask you to bring two hard copies of your informal writing to class. During the two middle units, I’ll ask that you contribute these writings to a class weblog. (Details about the weblog will come a little later.) I will write a brief response and tell you whether the assignment will get credit, credit plus, half credit, or no credit. In order to receive full credit for the assignment, you will need to:
· submit the assignment on time (usually by the beginning of class)
· be in class on the day the assignment is due
· demonstrate, through the quality of your response, that you have read and thought about the assignment
If you miss an informal assignment, you may submit it up to one week after the initial due date for partial credit. Please note that you will receive only partial credit if you submit an assignment but miss class that day.
Be sure to save all informal writing assignments on a USB drive and/or print a hard copy for yourself; you will often use these informal assignments as you compose your formal writing assignments.
There will be a total of 15 Informal Writing Assignments. Your grade for this portion of the class will be assigned according to this formula:
A = at least 5 credit plus assignments; no missing assignments; no more than one half credit assignment
B = at least 2 credit plus assignments; no missing assignments; no more than two half credit assignments
C = no missing assignments; no more than four half credit assignments
D = a total of the equivalent of at least 60% of the assignments
F = less than the equivalent of 60% of the assignments completed for credit
Reflective Writing: [[Optional; we’ll talk about this during orientation/workshop]]
After you complete each Formal Writing Assignment, I will ask that you write about your own writing. These reflective writing assignments are meant to enable you to gain facility in self-evaluation and to help you develop confidence as a writer and thinker. (In addition, your final Formal Writing Assignment for the class will be an extended reflective essay.)
They four informal pieces of Reflective Writing will also be assessed on a credit, credit plus, half credit, no credit basis:
A = at least two credit plus reflections; no half credit or missing reflections
B = no more than one half credit reflection, or two half credit reflections with at least one credit plus reflection; no missing reflections
C = no more than two half credit reflections; or three half credit reflections and one credit plus reflection; no missing reflections
D = at least one missing reflection or three half credit reflections and no credit plus reflection
F = two or more missing reflections or four half credit reflections
Peer Review: [[We’ll talk about different approaches to peer review and why I consider this a really important step. You might also choose to do peer review in the form of mini-workshops. Again, we’ll talk about these options.]]
Each Formal Writing Assignment will go through at least two drafts before being submitted. The first draft of each assignment will be read and commented on by a group of peers. In turn, each of you will be responsible for writing comments in response to the drafts of four peers. You will need to type up your comments and give a copy to me and to the writer. As for the other Informal Writing assignments, you’ll receive credit (or credit plus, half credit, no credit) for each set of comments, and your grade will be determined in the same way as for the Reflective Writing Assignments.
Because we’ll be workshopping papers, it will be impossible to keep your writing anonymous. Keep in mind that everything you write in this class will likely be read by other members of class.
Formal Writing Assignments:
You will write a total of four Formal Assignments, each of which will be assigned a letter grade. The assignments are sequenced to build upon each other.
As mentioned above, each assignment will need to go through at least two drafts. If I haven’t seen your previous draft, you won’t be able to submit the final version for a grade.
You’ll find more information about these assignments (including tentative due dates) in the Course Outline on the next to the last page of this syllabus.
Each of these assignments will be assessed according to how well it meets the particular requirements in five categories:
· Rhetorical knowledge
· Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing
· Processes
· Conventions
· Technology
[[More information about each of these general domains of assessment criteria is available on the English 1000 website: http://english.missouri.edu/english1000/intro.html]]
FINAL GRADES
Your final grade in the class will be determined as follows:
Informal Writing = 20%
Reflective Writing = 10%
Peer Review = 10%
Formal Writing Assignment 1 = 5%
Formal Writing Assignment 2 = 15%
Formal Writing Assignment 3 = 15%
Formal Writing Assignment 4 = 20%
I will use the following scale for assigning letter grades:
A = 100-94 C = 76-74
A- = 93-90 C- = 73-70
B+ = 89-87 D+ = 69-67
B = 86-84 D = 66-64
B- = 83-80 D- = 63-60
C+ = 79-77 F = 59 and below
LATE PAPERS: Because giving feedback is a key part of the writing process, getting drafts in on time is essential. Your grade will be reduced 10% for every class day your paper is late.
ATTENDANCE [[Note: Adapt as you wish. The First-Year Writing Program has no specific attendance policy but does discourage taking points off or reducing the course grade for absences. Ideally, the detriment brought about from absences should be built into the course.]]
Like any teacher, I expect everyone to be in class each day and to arrive on time. And because this class depends on your active participation, it’s especially important that you be here to contribute. Of course, I understand that sometimes the circumstances of life may cause you to miss class (and maybe even to be a little late once or twice, but surely not every day). If you miss more than six classes, however, your chances of getting at least a C will be in jeopardy, and so I reserve the right to drop you from the class. Please talk to me if unexpected emergencies arise or if you have any questions about this policy.
PLAGIARISM [[Note: Feel free to provide the provost’s remarks on academic honest, provided here: http://provost.missouri.edu/faculty/syllabus.html (Properly documented, of course.;)
I will of course expect that everything you write in the class will be written exclusively by you and that the claims you make will be your original claims. Turning in another person’s writing or ideas as your own—whether in whole or in part—is a serious academic offense that can result in a failing grade in the class and/or expulsion from the university. If any assignment shows evidence of intentional plagiarism, it will not receive credit or a grade. In addition, incidences of intentional plagiarism will be reported to the Provost’s office.
Using sources in your academic writing is, of course, expected and by no means offensive. You’ll simply need to be sure to indicate any instance when you are referring to another writer’s words or ideas. We’ll discuss documentation in class; in the meantime, be sure to take a look at Chapters 22 & 23 in the Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing for guidelines on what and how to document.
ACCOMMODATIONS [[The provost’s sample statement on accommodations is also available at the above website.]]
If you need classroom accommodations, please let me know as soon as possible. You should also be sure to register with The Disability Center, 882-4696.
THE WRITING CENTER
The Writing Center, located in the Student Success Center, offers writing support to all students at the University of Missouri. Tutors come from all majors and are familiar with a variety of writing styles and formats. Although tutors are not editors, they can help with any stage of the writing process, from initial brainstorming, to major structural revisions, to putting the finishing touches on a final draft. For more information about how to make an appointment or to submit your essay to the Online Writery, please visit the Writing Center website at writingcenter.missouri.edu or call (573) 882-2496.
ON PRIVACY [[optional: only needed if you’ll be using these tools]]
You’ll be posting work for this class to two public forums: the class blog and the class wiki. I’ll need to ask you to sign a release form that shows you are aware of the public nature of these forums and that you are agreeing to participate on them. You are not required to sign this form, but, if you don’t, you won’t be able to post to these forums. If you are worried about someone identifying you as the author of the work you post, please feel free to use a pseudonym. Using a pseudonym is a way to protect your identity while still choosing to participate on these public forums. If you have any additional concerns, please talk to me.
COURSE OUTLINE [[Note: Do plan to begin with the first assignment described below. We’ll talk about the other assignments and how they might be tweaked.]]
The following due dates are subject to change, depending on the needs of the class, but I’ll give you plenty of advanced warning if they do.
Unit I: What Motivates You to Write? (3-4 pages)
Writing begins with motivation to write, the feeling that a question or issue is worth investigating. We’ll spend the first few weeks of class exploring who we are as writers and doing some preliminary imaginative work with writing as design.