Notes to instructors will appear in red ink. These must be removed before submitting your syllabus. This course is based on 5 essays, but you may choose to modify by requiring 4 essays in EWNR106. In either case, the minimum word requirement of revised prose is 6000 words, roughly 20-22 pages of unit essays.
ENWR 106
College Writing II: Writing and Literary Study
Created by Donna Phillips
Professor
(insert teaching days and classroom location)
Office: Dickson (provide room #)
Office Hours:
Email:
Required Texts:
Schilb, John and John Clifford. Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012.
Hacker, Diana, and Nancy Sommers. A Writer’s Reference. Montclair State University custom 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. (this is the required handbook you purchased for College Writing I)
Websites:
Course Blackboard: http://blackboard.montclair.edu
First-Year Writing: http://www.montclair.edu/chss/english/first-year-writing/
Center for Writing Excellence: http://www.montclair.edu/cwe/
Live Literature: http://www.montclair.edu/writing/firstyearwriting/LiveLiterature.html
Internet/Web Expectations:
This course uses Blackboard (Bb) extensively for its course documents and online assignments. You must have access to it as the syllabus, breakdown of assignments, handouts, and supplemental links for this course will be posted there. You will get various opportunities throughout each unit to work with Bb’s tools (discussion board, blog, journal, etc.). All homework and drafts (first and/or second) for the course will be submitted either through Bb or email. Final draft packets (due at the conclusion of each unit) and the final portfolio (due during our final exam period) will be submitted in hard copy.
**Important note about your MSU webmail account: You are responsible for checking your account on a regular (daily) basis. All Bb announcements I make also generate an email notice to you. Make sure that you regularly maintain your webmail account (delete unnecessary mail to avoid a full inbox) in order to receive key class notices and/or updates.
Course Objectives:
This semester we will continue to make use of the writing strategies that you became familiar with in College Writing I (freewriting, brainstorming, reader response, peer review, revising multiple drafts). As the semester progresses, you will read and incorporate critical sources into your work and find ways to balance your writerly voice with those of literary critics. We will also discuss theoretical approaches to literature and look at specific works through a theoretical lens. You will not only develop your ability to read and interpret literary texts, but you will also be asked to think and to write about the context in which literary texts are written and read. In addition, you will learn to show how YOUR interpretation of any literary piece is a valid one by using textual evidence and analysis to support your thinking. The overall goal of this course is to make you an active reader as well as a writer, and, most importantly, to bring you to a place in your writing (and reading) where you question and re-vision static literary interpretations and “answers” by looking into the political and social contexts that inform them.
The course is organized into five units. For each of our five units, you will do a series of short, informal writings and online exercises that will help you develop your thoughts about a topic and situate your thinking in a wider historical and cultural context. Your short writings for each unit will be based on the assigned readings and online activities. Taken together, these writing assignments and online discussion forums will provide you with a starting point for your essay for each unit. Assignments will emphasize writing as a process. For each essay, you will write a first (exploratory) draft, a second (mid-process) draft, and a third (final) draft. You will workshop your drafts in class and online with your peers. I will provide you with essay questions for each unit, which you will use as a starting point to develop your central claim. One of your final papers will be a documented essay -- that is, an essay in which you’ll have the chance to find and use additional (outside) sources to support your analysis. A final writer’s portfolio will be submitted at the conclusion of our course showcasing your strongest writing of the semester.
Attendance and Participation:
Attendance is taken at every class. You are only allowed two unexcused absences. For each absence beyond the second, you will lose a half grade point on your final grade (e.g., a C will drop to a C- etc.). Six or more absences, you automatically fail the course. Repetitive lateness to our class meetings will also negatively affect your grade (three lates = one absence). As a member of this class, you are expected to attend and participate actively in class. This includes coming to class with completed assignments and all necessary materials, making meaningful contributions to large- and small-group discussions, providing thoughtful peer comments during workshops, and demonstrating an engagement with the texts and dialogue in the classroom.
Note: If you miss a class, you are still responsible for the work that is due for that day and the material discussed in class on that day.
Class Cancellations:
In case of an emergency class cancellation, you will notified by email immediately that morning and a post will be made in Bb announcements. Note that if I cancel class, or the University closes school for weather-related purposes, there will be an online assignment due that day.
Classroom Policy/Cell Phone Use:
Our classroom is a place to discuss and to develop our writing in an open forum. It is expected that we treat each other with respect and give due attention to each writer’s voice in the class. During our class time, all cell phones must be turned to vibrate. Text-messaging (or otherwise engaging with your electronic devices) is not allowed during our class time.
In-Class Laptop Use Policy:
Laptops are allowed for taking class notes or class research purposes ONLY. At no time should laptops be used to engage in personal emails, chats, tweets, or Internet browsing. If class members are found failing to abide by the policy, the laptop privilege will be suspended for the entire semester.
Grading:
Essay grades: See MSU edition of A Writer's Reference, "First-Year Writing Essay Criteria” and “Paper Evaluation" (pages 8-10) for grading rubric as well as descriptions of A, B, C, D, and F essays.
Your course work will be evaluated as follows:
55% / Unit Essays (Five unit essays, including one that is a documented essay requiring research, plus Peer Review: Unit 1 (5%), Unit 2 (7.5%), Unit 3 (10%), Unit 4 (20%), Unit 5 (12.5%))20% / Class Participation, In-Class Writing/Activities, and Homework Assignments
20% / Final Portfolio
5% / Live Lit requirement
NOTE: You must submit all five unit essays and the portfolio in order to be eligible for passing this course.
Live Literature Requirement: You are required to attend one Live Literature event held on campus this semester. This is an opportunity to gain perspective on the writing process by seeing and hearing published writers share their work. You will be asked to write a reflection paper on this experience (this will count as the final 5% of your overall course grade). Specific dates and times will be posted early on in the semester. Here is the Live Lit website for additional information: http://www.montclair.edu/writing/firstyearwriting/LiveLiterature.html
The rest of your syllabus can be found in the prefatory chapter of the Hacker/Sommers handbook. Please read that chapter carefully, paying particular attention to:
* The Purposes of First-Year Writing Courses
* Guidelines and Expectations for First-Year Writing Courses at Montclair State
* The Portfolio Assignment
* Academic Honesty and Plagiarism (see note below as well)
Academic Honesty and Plagiarism (read prefatory pages 11-12 in Hacker/Sommers):
The First-Year Writing Program at Montclair State University values students’ honest efforts in the classroom and as writers. Plagiarism is strongly discouraged and this class will educate you about what it is and how to avoid it. Should you choose to plagiarize—turning in written work as your own that you have copied from some other source, whether a website, print media, or even another student— [Your professor/I] will submit your plagiarized paper and the source materials from which you have plagiarized to the Student Conduct office and you will face disciplinary action from the University. [Your professor, I] additionally reserve(s) the right, when plagiarism is proven with documentation, to fail you for the semester. Should you be accused of plagiarism, you have the right to appeal the decision and also to request a meeting with your professor and the First-Year Writing program director, Dr. Jessica Restaino. In an effort to avoid this serious offense, please visit the First-Year Writing Program website to learn more about plagiarism and how you can avoid it, and be certain to ask [your professor/me] about any aspects of the issue that you do not understand.
Syllabus Caveat:
This syllabus, particularly the Breakdown of Assignments addendum, is subject to change at my discretion in the event of extenuating circumstances. You will be notified in advance of any changes. Grading criteria or policy will not be affected by any changes. The syllabus is our contract with each other. Please read it over very carefully.
BREAKDOWN OF ASSIGNMENTS—ENWR 106 (insert section numbers and semester information)
Note: All readings are from our class text Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers 5th ed., unless otherwise noted. You are required to bring the text to each class. Please note those classes to which you will need to bring your Hacker/Sommers guide. OL=Online; Bb=Blackboard
Week / Insert day of week / Insert day of week /Week 1 / Insert class date
Unit 1: Literature as a Journey
In-Class:
Introduction to course and its expectations. Overview of syllabus/breakdown of assignments. Writing exercise using “Orientation,” Daniel Orozco (50-4) and “Girl,” Jamaica Kincaid (55-6).
Homework (due prior to next class):
Readings: Chapter 1 of our text (3-7; bottom of 17-20), “From Bone Black: Memories of Girlhood,” bell hooks (266-9), “Theme for English B,” Langston Hughes (1054-5), AND “The Lesson,” Toni Cade Bambara (1142-7).
Write: Complete and submit HW1 (Homework 1) assignment (Bb: posted in HW Assignments, Unit 1 folder). / Insert class date
In-Class:
Discussion of hooks, Hughes, and Bambara (be prepared to discuss your responses to the HW1 assignment you submitted prior to coming to class; bring a hard copy of assignment for reference).
Homework (due prior to next class):
Readings: “Araby,” James Joyce (609-13) AND “On the Lake,” Olaf Olafsson (1026-33)
Write: Complete and submit HW2 assignment (Bb: posted in HW Assignments, Unit 1 folder)
Week 2 / Insert class date
In-Class:
Discussion of Joyce and Olafsson. Include Robert Frost’s “The Road not Taken” (1452).
Homework (due prior to next class):
Readings: “Hills Like White Elephants,” Ernest Hemingway (551-5) and “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Joyce Carol Oates (1407-20).
Write: Complete and submit HW3 assignment (Bb: posted in HW Assignments, Unit 1 folder). / Insert class date
In-Class: Group work on Hemingway and Oates. Unit 1 essay assignment distributed. Discussion of Unit 1 essay and peer review guidelines for Wednesday’s class.
Homework (due at the start of next class):
Write: First draft of Unit 1 essay.
Week 3 / Insert class date
PEER REVIEW SESSION
In-Class: First drafts are due today in class. Bring two hard copies with you to class for peer review. Review of MLA guidelines in preparation for submitting first unit essay.
Homework (due at the start of next class): Using the feedback you received during today’s peer review session, write your final draft of the Unit 1 essay. The final draft packet (consisting of your Final Draft, First Draft, and peer review sheets) is due in hard copy in class on (insert due date). NOTE: INCOMPLETE PACKETS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AND WILL BE GRADED LATE ACCORDINGLY. / Insert class date
Final Draft of Unit 1 essay is due: length 4 pages. (complete packet must be submitted at the start of class in hard copy)
Post (by end of day): Submit a journal entry in the “Unit 1 essay post-write” journal (Bb: Journal) detailing your process of writing this paper (thoughts, problems, concerns, strengths, weaknesses, etc.). You will do this type of post-write for each of the unit papers you complete.
Unit 2: Family Perspectives
In-class: Introduction to new unit. Group exercise using Lucille Clifton’s “forgiving my father” (270), Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” (273) and Molly Peacock’s “Say You Love Me” (276)
Homework (due prior to next class):
Readings: “Commitments,” Essex Hemphill (578-9), “Who Said It Was Simple,” Audre Lorde (579-80), “Two Small-Sized Girls,” Minnie Bruce Pratt (581-2), AND “My Transvestite Uncle Is Missing,” Rane Arroyo (583-4).
Write: Complete and submit HW4 assignment (Bb: posted in HW Assignments, Unit 2 folder)
Week 4 / Insert class date
In-Class: Discussion of HW4’s collection of poems.
Homework (due prior to next class):
Readings: “The Rich Brother,” Tobias Wolff (323-36) AND “My Son, the Fanatic,” Hanif Kureishi (533-41)
Write: Complete and submit HW5 assignment (Bb: posted in HW Assignments, Unit 2 folder) / Insert class date
BRING HACKER/SOMMERS GUIDE TO CLASS TODAY!
In-Class: Discussion of Wolff/Kureishi readings (HW5 responses).
Homework (due prior to next class):
Readings: “Daddy,” Sylvia Plath (279-82) AND critical commentaries printed after poem by Broe, Bundtzen, Axelrod, and Kendall (283-96).
Write: Complete and submit HW6 assignment (Bb: posted in HW Assignments, Unit 2 folder).
Week 5 / Insert class date
In-Class: Discussion of Plath’s poem and critical approaches to it. Include a look at Anne Sexton’s “Sylvia’s Death” (664).
Unit 2 Essay assignment will be distributed today (first draft due next class)
Homework (due at the start of next class):
Write a first draft of the Unit 2 essay. Bring TWO hard copies for our in-class peer review. / Insert class date
PEER REVIEW SESSION
In-Class: First drafts are due today in class. Bring two hard copies with you to class for peer review.
Homework (due prior to next class):
Read through your peer reviews carefully and from there develop a second draft of your essay. This second draft is due via email to me on (insert due date).