English 101: Critical Writing Spring 2008
Tracy Duckart, Instructor Derek McCoy, Intern
Proposed Course Syllabus | MWF 0900-0950 | FH 178 | 24708-1
This is a fluid document. Please check The Cache for information about assignments and, when prompted, for syllabus updates.
If you are not prone to check The Cache daily for assignments, deadlines, and reminders, please print a copy of this document—and do so from a color printer. You’ll be glad you did.
Date / Due for Class / In-Class ActivitiesJanuary 21 / M1 / Martin Luther King, Jr., Holiday: No Class Today
January 23 / W1 / •Introduction and Welcome
January 25 / F1 / •Negotiation Prep Assignment due / •Course Negotiation Session
Monday, January 28 is the deadline to add or drop a class without a magic number.
January 28 / M2 / •Read and Highlight Chapter 1: “Understanding Argument” (3-24).
•Please come prepared to identify your three favorite films of all time. / •Asking the Right Questions: Topic Selection Workshop
•Dissection Arguments I: Favorite Films (or Claim, Support, and Warrant)
January 30 / W2 / •Hollywood Inference Assignment due
•Please bring your text to class today.
•Please have completed some serious work on your essay by classtime today. / •Who’s Who: Sharing Your Verdict
•Reading Workshop: Conversing with Neusner
February 1 / F2 / •Feedback Draft of Researched Persuasive Essay due for submission. Be sure to include in-text and bibliographic citations following MLA format. Please also be sure to follow paper format requirements. / •Postwrite
•Schedule Feedback Conferences
•Dissecting Arguments II: Hell Freezes Over
February 4 / M3 / •Read “The External Project” page on The Cache.
•Read and Highlight Chapter 2: “Responding to Argument” (25-44, through “Responding as a Writer”).
•Please bring your text to class today. / •External Project Workshop I: Options and Opportunities
•Practicing on Neusner: An Introduction to the Rhetorical Précis
Feedback Conferences:Monday, February 4 through Wednesday, February 13
February 6 / W3 / •First Rhetorical Précis Assignment due.
•Read and Highlight Chapter 5: “Support” (157-185).
•Come prepared to declare your External Project. / •External Project Workshop II: Declarations and Alliances
•An Homage to Audience: The Kim Jones Plagiarism Case
February 8 / F3 / •Read and Highlight Chapter 4: “Claims” (104-128).
•You might find your text a useful resource today. / •An Introduction to Claims: Fact, Value, and Policy
•Name That Claim
•Penny for Your Thoughts
February 11 / M4 / •Selling Your Stance Assignment due.
•Read and Highlight the Remainder of Chapter 2: “Responding to Argument” (47-56, the “Responding to Visual Argument” section) / •The Ad Game: A Show-and-Tell Contest
February 13 / W4 / •Endorsement Group Request Assignment due (timely submission of this assignment is so very important)
•Read and Highlight Chapter 6: “Warrants” (220-38). / •Who Should Survive?
February 15 / F4 / •Unpacking Clichés Assignmentdue to my mailbox (FH 201) or to my office door (FH 228) by 11:00 today.
•If you could not submit your EG Request Assignment when it was due on Wednesday, please be sure to do so before 11:00 today. I can’t make good decisions without your input. / Class Cancelled Today
Monday, February 18 is the deadline to add a class; it is also the deadline to drop a class without a serious and compelling reason.
February 18 / M5 / •Read the “Making EGs Work” page on The Cache
•Read and Highlight Chapter 7: “Induction, Deduction, and Logical Fallacies” (269-95). / •Preparing for Endorsement Group Sessions I
•The Forms of Deduction: Suspending Truth
Endorsement Group Workshops:Monday, February 18 through Friday, February 22
Before you attend your session, please have thoroughly examined all three sample papers. Come prepared to identify the strengths and weaknesses in each paper as they pertain to your EG's responsibilities and to practice delivering that information to the writer. Arriving unprepared will force your entire group to reschedule the session. Follow the links on The Cache to download the sample papers (available through the “Making EGs Work” pageand also through the “Course Schedule” next to February 18).
February 20 / W5 / •Read Chapter 9: “Writing an Argumentative Paper” (373-93). / •The Imperatives of Induction: Responsible Generalization
•Induction vs. Deduction
February 22 / F5 / •Identifying Fallacies, Discovering Warrants Assignment (handout) due
•Please bring a pen of a different color than the one you used to complete the above assignment.
•Please come to class today prepared to discuss your EP with others who have selected the same option as you. I strongly recommend bringing the materials you have collected to date (the novel, the review text, the wiki research). / •Fallacies Extravaganza
•EP Support Groups
February 25 / M6 / •Read the “Compiling an Annotated Bibliography” section of Chapter 10 (430-31).
•Paper Prospectus Assignment due. / •Reading Workshop: William Zinsser’s “The Right to Fail” (handout)
February 27 / W6 / •More Fun with Fallacies (handout) due
•Read and Highlight Chapter 4: “Definition” (62-80).
•You might find your text a useful resource today. / •Defining Concepts
February 29 / F6 / •Color Definition Assignment due / •Preparing for Endorsement Group Sessions II
March 3 / M7 / •Complete Draft for Endorsement Group Session
•Please review the “Making EGs Work” page on The Cache. / •(Our First) Endorsement Group Session
March 5 / W7 / •Second Rhetorical Précis Assignment due
•Please bring a clean copy of your most recent draft of your most complete paper to class today. / •EG Session Debriefing
•Writing Workshop: The Art of the Expository Paragraph
March 7 / F7 / •More Fun with Fallacies Redux due (required only of those who scored an “Incomplete” on the original assignment or those going for a “Strong”).
•Complete Draft for Endorsement Group Session / •Endorsement Group Session
March 10 / M8 / •Complete Draft for Endorsement Group Session
•How is your essay coming along? We have only four EG sessions until it is due (including today’s), and the A Review Deadline is next week.. / •Endorsement Group Session
March 12 / W8 / •From the “Punctuation” section of The Cache, read the colon, semicolon, comma, and dash pages.
•Please bring a clean copy of your most recent draft of your most complete paper to class today. / •The Wheel of Punctuation
March 14 / F8 / •Flex Endorsement Group Session:
Because I am in program meetings, you are not required to attend to attend class today. However, actively participating in today’s session will fulfill one-half of your flex-attendance requirement. In addition, I will happily forgive one absence for every student who actively participates in fourof the five flex EG sessions: March 14, April 2, April 4, April 18, and May 9.
Spr i ng Break
Monday, March 24 is the deadline for selecting the CR/NC grading option. You can select this option through WebReg.
March 24 / M9 / •Complete Draft for Endorsement Group Session
•A Review Deadline (optional—but smart): If you get a fully endorsed essay to me by the start of today’s class session, I will let you know by Wednesday’s class session whether I agree with the EGs that the paper meets all minimum criteria, leaving you enough time to revise if it doesn’t. / •Endorsement Group Session
March 26 / W9 / •Complete Draft for Endorsement Group Session. / •Endorsement Group Session
March 28 / F9 / •A Deadline:Everyone must have submitted at least one fully endorsed paper that exceeds four full pages by 3:30 today. If I agree with the EGs that the paper meets all minimum criteria, it will count toward your paper grade, and you will be eligible for a paper grade of A. If I do not agree, you will have until November 5 to revise, and you will have to content yourself with a B or C, depending upon how many more qualifying papers you write, as your paper grade.
•Complete Draft for Endorsement Group Session / •Endorsement Group Session
March 31 / M10 / Cesar Chavez Holiday: No Class Today
April 2 / W10 / •Flex Endorsement Group Session:
Because I am attending a conference (in New Orleans!) this week, you are not required to attend to attend class today. However, actively participating in today’s session will fulfill one-half of your flex-attendance requirement. In addition, I will happily forgive one absence for every student who actively participates in fourof the five flex EG sessions: March 14, April 2, April 4, April 18, and May 9.
April 4 / F10 / •Flex Endorsement Group Session:
Because I am attending a conference (in New Orleans!) this week, you are not required to attend to attend class today. However, actively participating in today’s session will fulfill one-half of your flex-attendance requirement. In addition, I will happily forgive one absence for every student who actively participates in fourof the five flex EG sessions: March 14, April 2, April 4, April 18, and May 9.
April 7 / M11 / •Complete Draft for Endorsement Group Session
•How are your essays coming along? We have only 13 EG sessions (including today’s) until the final, do-or-die essay deadline. / •Endorsement Group Session
April 9 / W11 / •Complete Draft for Endorsement Group Session / •Endorsement Group Session
April 11 / F11 / •Third—and Last—Rhetorical Précis Assignment due (please remember that this RP must be performed on an essay you have written)
•Complete Draft for Endorsement Group Session / •Endorsement Group Session
April 14 / M12 / •Complete Draft for Endorsement Group Session
•How are your essays coming along? We have only 10 EG sessions (including today’s) until the final, do-or-die essay deadline. / •Endorsement Group Session
April 16 / W12 / •Complete Draft for Endorsement Group Session
•How is your External Project coming along? It’s due a mere nine days from today. / •Endorsement Group Session
April 18 / F12 / •Flex Endorsement Group Session:
Because I am in program meetings, you are not required to attend to attend class today. However, actively participating in today’s session will fulfill one-half of your flex-attendance requirement. In addition, I will happily forgive one absence for every student who actively participates in fourof the five flex EG sessions: March 14, April 2, April 4, April 18, and May 9.
Friday, April 18 is the deadline to drop a class or withdraw from the University (with a serious and compelling reason).
April 21 / M13 / •Read the Grading Letter Assignment that is due 05/09/08.
•Complete Draft for Endorsement Group Session / •Endorsement Group Session
April 23 / W13 / •Complete Draft for Endorsement Group Session / •Endorsement Group Session
April 25 / F13 / •External Project due. After today, I will not accept EPs for credit. Please remember that submitting a complete EP will earn you an A for that portion of your course grade; failing to submit an EP on time or submitting an incomplete/short EP will earn you an F for that portion of your course grade. EPs do not qualify for the late-assignment allowance.
•Complete Draft for Endorsement Group Session / •Endorsement Group Session
April 28 / M14 / •Complete Draft for Endorsement Group Session
•How are your essays coming along? Please submit them as soon as they’re fully endorsed. That way, if you need to revise for credit, you will have time to do so. Remember, please, that five EG sessions remain (including today’s) before the final, do-or-die essay deadline. / •Endorsement Group Session
April 30 / W14 / •Complete Draft for Endorsement Group Session / •Endorsement Group Session
May 1 / F14 / •Complete Draft for Endorsement Group Session / •Endorsement Group Session
May 5 / M15 / •Complete Draft for Endorsement Group Session
•Today is the last day I can accept a review submission of a fully endorsed essay. If you get it to me by the start of today’s class session, I will let you know by Wednesday’s class session whether I agree with the EGs that the paper meets all minimum criteria. / •Final Session Pot Luck Sign up
•Endorsement Group Session
May 7 / W15 / •Complete Draft for Endorsement Group Session / •Endorsement Group Session
May 9 / F15 / •Grading Letter due to my mailbox (FH 201) or to my office door (FH 228) by 4:00 today.
•Paper Submission Deadline. After 4:00 p.m. today, I will not accept papers for credit.
•Flex Endorsement Group Session:
Because I am in program meetings, you are not required to attend to attend class today. However, actively participating in today’s session will fulfill one-half of your flex-attendance requirement. In addition, I will happily forgive one absence for every student who actively participates in fourof the five flex EG sessions: March 14, April 2, April 4, April 18, and May 9.
Final Session Potluck and Debriefing: Monday, May 12, 0800-0950.
Please Note: Missing our final session will earn you two absences. Late arrival and/or early departure will earn you one absence. I mean it.
English 101 (Critical Writing) Proposed Spring 2008 Syllabus: 1