GEN 111 COLLEGE ENGLISH TWO
Professor: Brian DericoSemester: Spring 2011
Phone: 244.8147E-mail:
Course Description:
GEN 111 is a companion course to GEN 110 covering additional patterns of development and writing situations. A major research project forms a part of the requirements.
Course Rationale:
The ability to use and analyze persuasive discourse is fundamental to participation in power. It is the purpose of this course to equip students with the rhetorical knowledge and skills required to create persuasive texts.
Course Objectives:
Students who satisfactorily complete this course should be able to:
1.Analyze a rhetorical situation and respond to it with a persuasive text;
2.Demonstrate meta-cognitive awareness of their writing process;
3.Integrate contextually credible research into a persuasive text;
4.Offer thoughtful analysis of texts written for various rhetorical purposes.
Course Texts:
Patterns for College Writing by Kirszner and Mandell, Eleventh Edition
The Little, Brown Brief Version, Third Edition
“The Outcasts of Poker Flat,” Bret Harte
“The Real Bluff of John Oakhurst,” Jeff Tweedy
“Reading Games: Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources,” Karen Rosenberg
"Inquiry Paradigms and Writing," Janet Emig
“Interrogating the Message in a Bottle,” Jeff Tweedy
“Walk, Talk, Cook, Eat: A Guide to Using Sources,” Cynthia R. Haller
“Contemporary Composition: The Major Pedagogical Theories,” James Berlin
“Why Educate the Children,” Andrew Knutson
“Annoying Ways People Use Sources,”Kyle D. Stedman
“Three Meanings of Epistemic Rhetoric,” Barry Brummett
“Instrumental and Constitutive Rhetoric,” Leff and Utley
“Googlepedia,” Randall McClure
“Three Simple Words,” Molly McGuire
Assignments:
●Literary Arguments (2)
●Critical Cultural Arguments (2)
●Arguments (2)
●Construct Assessments (3)
Grading:
●Each essay will receive either full credit, no credit without opportunity for revision, or no credit pending revision.
●Students who receive full credit for six essays and full credit for three construct assessments will receive an A for the course.
●Students who receive fullcredit for five essays and full credit for two construct assessments will receive a B for the course.
●Students who receive full credit for four essays and full credit for one construct assessment will receive a C for the course.
●Students who receive full credit for three essays will receive a D for the course.
●Students who fail to receive full credit for at least three essays will receive an F for the course.
●Students who receive no credit pending revision for an essay or construct assessment can submit a revision after discussing the essay or construct assessment in a revision meeting with me during my office hours.
●A revised essay or trace will be due within one week of its revision meeting.
●Late work will receive no credit without opportunity for revision.
●Essay and construct assessments that receive no credit without opportunity for revision may not be revised.
●I reserve the right to assign no credit without opportunity for revision to work that does not reflect a satisfactory effort.
●An essay will not receive full credit until the student has replied to my comments.
Course Policies:
●Work not submitted at the beginning of class on the assignment’s due date is late. Late work will not receive a grade.
●Students must submit each major assignment as a Microsoft Word attachment via e-mail.
●Attendance regulations listed in the CCU catalog and in the student handbook will be enforced.
●Students who do not have a copy of the appropriate text at a meeting of class will be counted absent.
●I reserve the right to prohibit late admittance to class meetings.
●I reserve the right to prohibit the use of any technology that I believe presents an obstacle to our accomplishing the objectives of this course.
●If a student does not understand an assignment or section of class discussion it is her responsibility to ask for clarification either during the class session or during my office hours.
●Students must maintain scrupulous academic integrity. The CCU student handbook will be our guide on occasions of academic dishonesty.
●I reserve the right to amend the above policies for individual circumstances. It is always the student’s responsibility to apprise me of extenuating circumstances.
●Students who require academic accommodations due to any documented physical, psychological, or learning disability should request assistance from the Academic Support Director within the first two weeks of class. The Academic Support Office is located in the Lower Level of the Worship and Ministry Building (room 153). You may also contact the office by phone (244.8420).
Office Hours: Stop by during the posted hours to reach me by chance. Please make an appointment via e-mail if your need is urgent or if the posted hours do not coincide with your availability.
Monday: 9:00-9:45
Tuesday: 3:00-4:00
Wednesday: 9:00-9:45; 1:00-4:00
Thursday: 3:00-4:00
Friday:9:00-9:45; 1:00-4:00
Course Agenda: All dates are approximate and subject to change without notice. The student enrolled in this course is responsible for remaining aware of any modifications to the course agenda.
January19Introduction to College English Two
21Rhetorical Analysis
24Literary Argument
26“Outcasts of Poker Flat,” Bret HarteMoodle
28“Outcasts of Poker Flat,” Bret HarteMoodle
31ICW: Literary Argument
February02“The Real Bluff of John Oakhurst,” Jeff TweedyMoodle
04Peer Review
Due: Literary Argument Draft
07“Reading Games,” Karen Rosenberg Moodle
Due: Literary Argument
09"Inquiry Paradigms and Writing," Janet EmigMoodle
Due: Construct Assessment
11Critical Cultural Argument
14Collaborative Analysis of Cultural Artifact
16Collaborative Analysis of Cultural Artifact
18ICW: Critical Cultural Argument
21“Interrogating the Message in a Bottle,” Jeff TweedyMoodle
23 Peer Review
Due: Critical Cultural Argument Draft
25Library Presentation
“Walk, Talk, Cook, Eat,” Cynthia R. HallerMoodle
Due: Critical Cultural Argument
28“Contemporary Composition,” James BerlinMoodle
Due: Construct Assessment
March 02Argument
04Class Collaboration
07Spring Recess
09Spring Recess
11Spring Recess
14Class Collaboration
16ICW: Argument
18“Why Educate the Children,” Andrew KnutsonMoodle
21Peer Review
Due: Argument Draft
23“Annoying Ways People Use Sources,”Kyle D. StedmanMoodle
Due: Argument
25“Three Meanings of Epistemic Rhetoric,” Barry BrummettMoodle
Due: Construct Assessment
28Literary Argument
“Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King, Jr. Patterns (588)
30“Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King, Jr.Patterns (588)
April01ICW: Literary Argument
04“Instrumental and Constitutive Rhetoric,” Leef and UtleyMoodle
06Peer Review
Due: Literary Argument Draft
08“Googlepedia,” Randall McClureMoodle
Due: Literary Argument
11Critical Cultural Argument
Collaborative Analysis of Cultural Artifact
13Collaborative Analysis of Cultural Artifact
15ICW: Critical Cultural Argument
18“Three Simple Words,” Molly McGuireMoodle
20Peer Review
Due: Critical Cultural Argument Draft
22Easter Recess
25Argument
Class Collaboration
Due: Critical Cultural Argument
27Class Collaboration
29ICW: Argument
May02“The Case for Torture Warrants,” Alan M. DershowitzPatterns (686)
“Torture’s Terrible Toll,” John McCainPatterns (696)
04Peer Review
Due: Argument Draft
06Course Review
Due: Argument
Assignment Descriptions: The following assignment descriptions will be supplemented by class lectures and assigned reading. The student is responsible for completing each assignment in a fashion that reflects familiarity with lectures and assigned readings.
Peer Review
Peer-review serves a number of valuable purposes in a writing course. Peer review:
●gives students an opportunity to practice review and revision;
●motivates multiple drafts and substantial revisions;
●underscores the collaborative nature of writing.
ICW
In-class writing assignments:
●help students practice idea-generating techniques
●help students develop and focus their ideas
●prepare students for classroom discussion
Reading
Reading assignments listed in the course syllabus are an important component of this course. Information available in reading assignments may be supplemented by classroom activities but will not necessarily be repeated. No specific credit will be assigned to completion of reading assignments, but a student’s ability to perform well on essays will require familiarity with assigned portions of course texts.
Examination
I do not offer a final exam in this course. Instead, student grades are contingent upon student writing.
Extra Credit
I do not offer extra credit because it is a disincentive for students to consistently pursue excellence and because there are sufficient opportunities to earn credit built into the course.
Literary Argument
●Write a thesis driven essay of at least 700 words that supports a specific interpretation of the chosen text (or a portion of it).
●Literary analyses describe the action of literature as though it happens in the present tense.
●Literary analyses most commonly are written in the third person.
●Literary analyses must incorporate quotations from the text as evidence.
●Literary analyses may also incorporate evidentiary support derived from inquiry beyond the text. Such evidence might be, for instance, biographical, bibliographical, historical, psychological, physiological, ideological, critical, cultural, sociological, or epistemological.
●Literary analyses must include reference to the title of the subject of the analysis in the introduction--even if it appears in the title.
●Literary analyses must include reference to the full name of the author of the subject of the analysis in the introduction—even if it appears in the title.
●Literary analyses present evidence in support of a claim about the subject of the analysis—not summary or description alone.
●Literary analyses must make an assertion with which a reasonable person might disagree—or that a reasonable person might not have considered but would benefit from encountering.
●Literary analyses mark the title of a novel with italics—not quotation marks or underlining.
●Literary analyses conform to MLA format and style.
●Literary analyses should be organized in support of a thesis rather than according to the chronology of the novel that is the subject of the analysis.
●Literary analyses have titles that reflect their argument—not just their subject.
●To receive credit for this assignment you must submit it as a Word attachment via e-mail before class on the assignment’s due date.
Critical Cultural Argument
●Write a thesis driven essay of at least 700 words that supports an assertion about what a particular element of culture—an event, an object, a place, an institution—says about our culture generally.
○Here are some examples of the questions that a critic developing a cultural analysis might ask:
○What kinds of behavior does this element of culture seem to encourage or enforce?
○What are the social purposes or functions of this element of culture?
○How do people at different times and different places differently understand this element of culture?
○What are the differences between my values and the values implicit in this element of culture?
○Upon what social understanding does this element of culture depend?
○How might this element of culture affect the freedom or movement of a person or groups of persons?
○How is this element of culture connected to larger social groups, beliefs, structures, issues, ideas, events, habits, customs, practices, or communications?
●A critical cultural argument must move beyond an analysis of an element of culture in isolation. It must support an assertion about the significance of a particular element of culture in relationship to its cultural context.
●Support your assertion with appropriately documented evidence derived both from the element of culture itself and from corroborative sources.
●To receive credit for this assignment you must submit it as a Word attachment via e-mail before class on the assignment’s due date.
Argument
●Write a thesis driven essay of at least 700 words that supports an assertion within the context of a specific rhetorical situation.
●Your essay should reflect your careful analysis of the rhetorical situation to which your essay responds. That is, you should compose a text that reflects your consideration of questions like these:
○What occasion gives rise to this opportunity for persuasion?
○What do you hope to accomplish through this text?
○Who is the primary audience of this text?
○What does this audience value? What kinds of evidence and authority do this audience recognize as credible?
○What is your relationship to this audience? Does this audience recognize your authority to make this argument? Does this audience recognize your authority to make this argument in this place and at this time?
●Support your assertion with appropriately documented and contextually credible evidence.
●To receive credit for this assignment you must submit it as a Word attachment via e-mail before class on the assignment’s due date.
Construct Assessments
Purpose
Construct assessments will give you both a forum and a schema for exploring three journal articles in more detail, while also providing you with timely approaches to class discussions. Construct assessments should display thoughtful, meaningful, and complex interactions with the assigned readings.
Procedure
In order to formulate concise, productive, and usable insights into the assigned readings, you will need to strip away extraneous information and develop a sharp focus on three components of a given scholarly argument:
●Description of the problem
●Description of a key concept
●Description of the key construct
Problem Descriptions
Problem descriptions should parse the intellectual and scholarly problem that a particular scholar is addressing. Do not describe your problems with the article, the problem you think readers have when reading it, or issues of application or execution. The intellectual problem is an issue in which the scholar's readers will have some knowledge, interest, and investment.
An intellectual problem drives the knowledge work behind an article. While the problem may not be explicitly stated as a problem, there are usually fairly overt cues as to the nature of the scholarly problem. In addition to describing the problem, you should indicate why this particular issue is problematic for the scholar and his/her audience and how the author sets out to examine or explore the problem (see below). Do not quote directly. Problem descriptions should comprise 50 to 100 words of your construct assessment.
Concept Descriptions
Concept descriptions parse, delineate, and illustrate a key concept in the article—an extract or instantiation of the broader problem, for example. Describe how the concept works for a given scholar, how s/he makes use of it. You should refer to specific page numbers, but do not use direct quotes; paraphrase instead. Concept descriptions should comprise 50-100 words of your construct assessment.
Construct Descriptions and Assessment
Construct descriptions should identify, define, and describe a key construct in a given scholarly work. A construct, as the name implies, is constructed by the scholar. A construct does intellectual or theoretical work, and it may often be a response to the scholar's problem (see above). In a construct description, you will need to “make a case” for the importance of the construct, as well as clearly describe it.
Finally, you will assess the effectiveness of the construct relative to the overriding problem and concept—does the construct move the field forward? How? If not, why? Does the construct adequately address the intellectual or scholarly problem? Again, do not quote directly. Construct descriptions should be about 200 words.
Your completed construct assessment should be 300-400 words..