Please Use This Email Address

Fall 2016

English 398C-SG1Wappel

Office Hours: TBD*

Email:

(please use this email address)

Texts: Williams, Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace (ISBN: 9780321479358). Do not buy the book until we have discussed the text in class.

Please note that I do not use ELMS

Writing Case Studies and Narrative Reports

Course Description: Investigative writing places a premium on close and precise observation of particular persons and situations and reports of that observation, precise written record keeping, selection of telling detail, judicious summary, accurate paraphrase and apt quotation, as well as the assembly of details, appropriate data analysis, and lucid narration in informative investigative reports.
Course Objectives: This course teaches you to understand and accommodate specific audiences, to use stylistic and visual devices to make information more accessible, and to edit both your own work and that of your peers. Good writers know that accessible writing makes things happen in the working world. With this in mind, this course is designed to help you learn how to:

Distinguish facts from opinions
Record particulars with effective note-taking
Identify relevant, telling facts
Prepare summaries
Create emphasis
Make inferences
Construct effective narratives
Signal structure
Understand showing vs. telling
Appropriately use adjectives and the adjectival
Appropriately uses adverbs and the adverbial
Accommodate information for a specific audience’s needs and interests
Argue for your ideas and initiatives
Structure information so that your readers can understand and retain it
Use stylistic devices to make information readable and interesting
Improve your ability to edit both your own work and that of your peers
Work in collaboration with other writers

Students will emerge as more powerful and confident writers upon completion of this course. These skills will stand you in good stead in both an academic and professional environment.

Assignments: You will be asked to complete all of the following assignments:

Cover Letter and Resume (one page each, single spaced)
Definition and Observation for Lay Audiences (three to five pages double-spaced).
Process Analysis (two pages single-spaced)/Instructions (ten instructions, page count indeterminate) or Causal Analysis (five to seven pages, double-spaced). Observation Study (five pages, single-spaced).
Evaluative Memo (two pages, single-spaced).
Final Paper (Evaluative Report, Proposal, Case History, seven to ten pages).
In addition, you must complete three very short reflective essays. These essays have been added by the university. I will give you more information about them as it becomes available.

All of your grades will be based on a 10-point system. I will be incorporating the new (+/-) grades into your grades on the papers.

Before handing in each of the papers, we will dedicate one class to editing and peer reviews of the paper. More than one class will be dedicated to the review of the Proposal. Peer reviews are very important. Attendance and the production of a rough draft will be noted and factored into your final grade.

Graded papers will be returned to you before the next paper is due. I may ask some of you to provide a folder of your graded papers at the end of the semester for departmental analysis.

There will be four quizzes. All quizzes are based on the work we do in Joseph Williams’ Style (You cannot make up a missed quiz. You are allowed one missed quiz, in which case I will average three quiz grades instead of four. Missing more than one results in a grade of zero for that quiz).

Late Papers: We all have very tight schedules. You should have a very good reason for turning in a late paper. I cannot guarantee that late papers will be returned before the next paper is due. If I am holding two of your papers at the same time, or if you turn two or more papers in at the same time, one of them will not be graded. Late papers must be turned in at least one week before the next paper is due. This includes quizzes and reflective essays. Please read carefully. Do not regard this as an excuse to turn in a late paper. Papers not graded will receive “0” for the grade and averaged accordingly.

Grading: I will grade papers based on how well you meet the terms of the assignment. Essentially, I am looking for you to demonstrate an understanding of invention, arrangement, and style (Williams). In addition, I require that some, but not all, of your papers include graphics. I also require that all papers be written in Standard English. Excessive grammatical and mechanical errors seriously affect your grade.

Your final grade will be determined as follows:

20%Cover Letter, Resume, three reflective essays

20%Definition and Observation, Process/Instructions.

20%Evaluative Memo.

20%Evaluative Report.

20%Four Quizzes.

Attendance: Attendance is expected. Unnecessary absences lead necessarily to failure in the class. See the University Attendance Policy for further information.

Plagiarism: Any student that plagiarizes will automatically fail the class and face the possibility of expulsion from the university. See the University Attendance Policy for further information.

Professional Etiquette

Your conduct in the classroom should be the same as it would be in a work environment. Turn off all cell phones and electronic devices before class starts, arrive on time, act respectfully in your interactions with others, and show enthusiasm for your work. Failure to behave in a professional manner may result in a lowered grade.

Disabilities

If you have a documented disability please speak to me after class to make any special arrangements necessary.
*I do not have an office at the Shady Grove campus, and I am sure that you do not want to drive to College Park (at least most of you) to meet in my office there. So, conferences will be held before or after class in the classroom.

Weekly Syllabus

Week 1, Introduction, Diagnostic Essay, Diagnostic Grammar Test.

Week 2, Introduction to Resume and Cover Letter: Readings: Williams, Concision; Resume and Cover Letter continued.

Week 3, Rough Draft of Resume/Cover Letter due; Audience Analysis; continue Williams; Quiz 1: Based on Williams’ Concision; Final Draft Due: Resume/Cover Letter.

Week 4, Williams, Characters, Passive Voice; introduction to Definition; discussion of Definition for Lay Audience.

Week 5, Readings: Williams’ Actions, Nominalizations; Definition continued; Rough draft of Definition for Lay Audience. Introduction to Process Analysis.

Week 6, Process Analysis continued; Cohesion and Coherence, Final Draft Due: Definition for Lay Audiences; introduction to Instructions; Williams continued.

Week 7, Instructions continued, discussion of graphics; Rough Draft of Process Analysis and Instructions.

Week 8, Conferences: Final Draft Due: Process Analysis/Instructions.

Week 9, Introduction to Observation and Evaluation;

Week 10, Observation.

Week 11, Continue draft of Observation.

Week 12, Final Draft of Observation. Style Review. Introduction to Criteria and Evaluation

Week 13, Conferences, Final Proposal Draft Due.

Week 14, Rough draft of Evaluations

Week 15, Final Draft of Evaluation.

You will notice that there are no dates here but only “Weeks.” I will announce the due dates for papers and quizzes in class. Writing them up now is an exercise in futility since they will probably change anyway.