English 230-02: Writing for the Workplace and Public Audiences

Fall 2013

Tuesdays, Thursdays, 12:30-1:45 PM

Class location: MHRA 2206

______

Ms. Kathleen T. Leuschen Office hours: Thursdays, 2:00-4:00

English Departmentand by appointment

Email: Office location: MHRA 3210A

“For as it is the duty of preceptors to teach, so it is that of pupils to show themselves teachable; neither of these duties else will be of avail without the other.” – Quintilian 39-96 CE

“I can only show you the door. You're the one that has to walk through it.” –Morpheus

Course Description: Reading and writing multiple genres of expository prose, focusing on the products of different writing communities in workplace and public settings.

Required Texts:

Crawford, Matthew B. Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work. New York: Penguin Books,

2009.

Gordon, Karen Elizabeth. The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: The Ultimate Handbook of Grammar for the

Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed. Revised ed. New York: Pantheon Books, 1993.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs):

Upon completing this course, students will be able to:

1. Identify key features and concerns of non-academic (workplace and public) writing genres

2. Analyze the style, content, and larger communal or work-related purpose(s) of several different genres of writing

3. Demonstrate appropriate knowledge and command of the writing conventions of several different genres of writing

4. Differentiate between different types of arguments, and different uses of evidence, relevant to diverse non-academic/workplace/public genres of writing

5. Demonstrate the ability to write clearly, coherently and effectively about writing in workplace and public settings

6. Adapt modes of communication to one’s audience

7. Incorporate constructive feedback from readers to improve written work

Questions/Concepts to explore in class:

  • What counts as work or labor? Or, how do we define work/labor? How is it valued? What are the purposes and compensations?
  • What is the difference between public and private? What do these definitions assume about audiences and ethos?

Policies

Academic integrity: Academic integrity is founded upon and encompasses the following five values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility. Violations include, for example, cheating, plagiarism, misuse of academic resources, falsification, and facilitating academic dishonesty. If knowledge is to be gained and properly evaluated, it must be pursued under conditions free from dishonesty. Deceit and misrepresentations are incompatible with the fundamental activity of this academic institution and shall not be tolerated” (from UNCG’s Academic Integrity Policy). To ensure that you understand the university’s policy on academic integrity, review the guidelines and list of violations at < I expect you to abide by the Academic Integrity Policy.

Attendance Policy: Students in T/TR classes are allowed to miss no more than three classes—this means if you have three absences and you miss one more, you will fail the course. In attendance means being physically and mentally present ready to participate. If you do not have your materials for class, you will be counted absent.

Students are by state law allowed two excused absences due to religious holidays. These absences do not count toward the total maximums allowed above. If a student plans to miss class due to a religious holiday, he or she must notify the instructor at least 48 hours prior to the absence.

Correspondence: Email will be an essential mode of communication between us outside of class, so you are responsible for checking your email regularly. I will send email only to your UNCG address. I will respond to emails Mondays through Fridays within 36 hours of receiving them. If I have not responded within 36 hours, please send your email again. Emails sent after 6 PM on Fridays may not be returned until 9 AM on Mondays.

Late Submissions: Assignment deadlines are firm. If you require an extension on an assignment, please speak to me about it at least 48 hours before the deadline. Not all requests for an extension will necessarily be granted.

Quizzes: I reserve the right to give you a reading quiz on any of the assigned material at any time. If you complete the reading actively and critically, this should not be a problem for you. If you miss a quiz, it is your responsibility to schedule an appointment with me to take the quiz. You have one week to make up any missed quizzes. If you walk into class 10 minutes late or after, you will need to schedule a time to meet with me to take your quiz. Make-up quizzes may be different than in-class quizzes.Quizzes will be a part of your participation grade.

Resources

Office of Accessibility Resources & Services: Students with documentation of special needs should arrange to see me about accommodations as soon as possible. If you believe you could benefit from such accommodations, you must first register with the Office of Accessibility Resources & Services on campus before such accommodations can be made. The office is located on the second floor of the Elliott University Center (EUC) in Suite 215, and the office is open 8am to 5pm, Monday - Friday. Telephone: 334-5440; e-mail: .

The Writing Center: The purpose of the Writing Center is to enhance the confidence and competence of student writers by providing free, individual assistance at any stage of any writing project. Staff consultants are experienced writers and alert readers, prepared to offer feedback and suggestions on drafts of papers, help students find answers to their questions about writing, and provide one-on-one instruction as needed. The Writing Center is located in the Moore Humanities and Research Building, room 3211.

The Learning Assistance Center: The Learning Assistance Center offers free services to the entire UNCG undergraduate community and is located in McIver Hall, rooms 101-104, and 150. For help with study skills, contact Erin Farrior, Academic Skills specialist. Telephone: 334-3878; e-mail: .

The Counseling and Testing Center: This center offers free counseling services for individuals, couples, and groups. Telephone: 334.5340.

The Library: Check it out: They have like books and stuff there!

Websites: There are many useful online resources at your fingertips.

  • Owl at Purdue,
  • UNCG Writing Center,
  • Grammar Girl,
  • KnightCite,
  • Ohio State Time Management,
  • Dartmouth Time Management,

Assignments

1.Class Participation (10%): This class is student-centered class, which means your participation is vital to your success and that of your peers. I encourage you to think of this classroom as a community. It is imperative for you to complete all reading/writing assignments, bring the required texts to class, and participate in classroom activities and discussions. Laptops and cell phones are not allowed during class time. Sleeping or completing other homework in class will not be tolerated. Pets are not allowed.

2.Rhetoric Exam (20%)

3.Midterm Essay (20%): For your midterm, you will write a5-7 pagedefinition essay on labor/leisure or public/private.

4.Guest Speaker Workplace Rhetorical Analyses (20%): Several times throughout the semester we will have guest speakers come to our class and tell us about their own workplace, audiences, and the techniques and etiquette they use to navigate/communicate in those rhetorical spaces. This is an awesome opportunity to hear from a variety of professionals and understand how different workplaces have different audiences (based on context remember) and different workplaces require different kinds of writing and communicating. Following each guest speaker you will turn in a 2 page essay that describes the rhetorical situation of the speaker’s workplace, audiences, and communication strategies. There are five speakers, so you get one pass of your choice. This means you will submit 4 Guest Speaker Workplace Rhetoric Analyses.

5.Final Project (30%): For your final project in this class, you will create a workplace portfolio outlining the rhetorical space of a particular kind of work that you would like to pursue. This project requires:

  1. A journal. Choose a career that you want to go for or are interested in finding out more about. You are going to begin to trace and think about this career in light of our larger theoretical, rhetorical explorations of labor, workplace, and public audiences.
  2. An interview with a person who already works in this particular field.
  3. A sample resume that is acceptable in this field.
  4. Samples of other genres of writing that are required in this field.
  5. An explanation of the audiences that you will be required to work with and the kinds of writing and speech that will used to address them
  6. A plan of how to reach this particular career goal
  7. 8 articles from valid news sources about your particular degree

Participation Rubric

ASuperior communicative skills; excellent preparation for class discussion; always volunteers; student exemplifies mastery, rigor, and intellectual curiosity regarding course readings and concepts while also introducing relevant independent insights to the discussion; student demonstrates enthusiasm and takes initiative, particularly during group activities.

BGood communicative skills; solid preparation for class discussion; consistently volunteers; student exemplifies interest and engagement regarding course readings and concepts; student demonstrates positive attitude; makes meaningful contributions during group activities.

CAdequate communicative skills; fair preparation for class discussion; occasionally volunteers; student exemplifies competence regarding course readings and concepts; student demonstrates an inoffensive, but noncommittal attitude; sporadic contributions during group activities.

DLimited communicative skills; uneven preparation for class; rarely volunteers; demonstrates indifference or irritation when prompted; inattentive during class; rare contributions during group activities. [Performance may be marked by other flaws: consistent tardiness; disruptive; etc.]

FWeak communicative skills; little to no preparation for class; little evidence of reading assignments (this can include not buying the course texts; or not making up missed material); never volunteers, or doesn’t respond when prompted; demonstrates potential hostility to discussion; irrelevant, distracting, or no contributions to group activities.

Evaluation method for the final gradeBasic Percentage Grading Scale

10% weight for class participationA90-1004.0

20% weight for rhetoric examB80-893.0

20% weight for guest speaker analysesC70-792.0

20% weight for midterm essayD60-691.0

30% weight for final project F59 or below0.0

Course Schedule *This schedule is tentative and may be subject to change.

Date / Reading Due / Writing Due / Class Activities
T 8/20 / Syllabus/Intro
R 8/22 / Crawford, Shop Class as Soulcraft Ch. 1-3 / Rhetoric Review
T 8/27 / Crawford, Shop Class as Soulcraft Ch. 4-6 / Rhetoric Review
R 8/29 / Crawford, Shop Class as Soulcraft Ch. 7-8 and Concluding Remarks / Rhetoric Review
T 9/3 / Rhetoric Exam
R 9/5 / BB: Marx, excerpts from “Manifesto of the Communist Party,” “German Ideology,” and “A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy”
T 9/10 / BB: Brady, “I Want a Wife,” Firoozeh Dumas, “Sweet, Sour, and Resentful,” and Lars Eigner “Dumpster Diving”
R 9/12 / BB: Diana George, “The Word on the Street: Public Discourse in a Culture of Disconnect” and
Susan Wells, “Rogue Cops and Health Care: What do We Want from Public Writing?”
T 9/17 / *Guest Speaker:
Greensboro/Guilford County Report, Eric Ginsburg
R 9/19 / BB: Lorraine Higgins, Elenore Long, and Linda Flower “Community Literacy: A Rhetorical Model for Personal and Public Inquiry” and
Gere, “Kitchen Tables and Rented Rooms: The Extracurriculum of Composition” / GSR Analysis Due
T 9/24 / BB: Brent Stamples, “Black Men and Public Space” in 40 Model Essays and
Jesus Vilicana Lopez “My Decision” from Writing and Community Engagement
R 9/26 / * Guest Speaker:
Agent, Marc Epstein
T 10/1 / GSR Analysis Due / * Guest Speaker:Attorney, J. Rodrigo Pocasangre
R 10/3 / GSR Analysis Due / Film: PBS Documentary What I Want My Words to do to You
T 10/8 / FIELD RESEARCH DAY
R 10/10 / Midterm Essay Due / * Guest Speaker: Business Journalist, Catherine Carlock
T 10/15 / NO CLASS—FALL BREAK
R 10/ 17 / GSR Analysis Due / * Guest Speaker: Founder of Poet.She, Kelly Rae
T 10/22 / BB:Turkle, “Privacy Has a Politics,” and Rodriguez, “Private Language, Public Language” andPerriKlass “She’s Your Basic LOL in NAD” In 40 Model Essays / GSR Analysis Due
R 10/24 / BB:Richard Lantham “Style/Substance Matrix”
Paul Butler “Style and the Public Intellectual: Rethinking Composition in the Public Sphere”
T 10/29 / BB:Hebdige, “Style” and Roach and Eicher “The Language of Personal Adornment”
R 10/31 / BB: Orwell “Politics of English Language”
Kathryn Flannery “The National Prose Problem”
T 11/5 / BB: Smitherman “How I Got Ovah”
Hiatt “The Feminine Style”
R 11/7 / NPR: “Is Higher Education Still Worth It?”

BB: Kozol, “Preparing Minds for Markets,” and Hirsch, “American Diversity and Public Discourse”
T 11/12 / BB: hooks, “Confronting Class in the Classroom,” and “Women at Work,” “Seeing and Making Culture: Representing the Poor”
R 11/14 / BB: Torosyan, “Public Discourse and the Stewart Model of Critical Thinking,”
T 11/19 / Final Presentations
R 11/21 / Coffee Shop Writing Workshop
T 11/26 (Last day of class) / NO CLASS / Personal Coffee Shop Writing Workshop
Final on
11:00 Tuesday, 12/10
12:30 Thursday, 12/5 / Submit Final Project