Cincinnati Christian University
Foster School of Biblical Studies, Arts & Sciences
ENGL 111 01 COLLEGE ENGLISH 2 (Section 1)
Professor: Brian DericoSemester: Fall 2013
Phone: 244.8147E-mail:
3 Semester Credit HoursMeeting Times: TH 11 – 12:15
Course Description
ENGL 111 is a companion course to ENGL 110 covering additional patterns of development and writing situations. A major research project forms a part of the requirements. Also, attention is given to literary analysis. Prerequisite: ENGL 110 or its equivalent.
Course Rationale
It is the purpose of this course to equip students with the rhetorical orientation, knowledge, and skills required to create and analyze persuasive texts in a variety contexts.
Course Objectives
Students who satisfactorily complete this course should be able to do the following:
1.Analyze a rhetorical situation and respond to it with a persuasive text;
2.Demonstrate thoughtfulness about 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
Purdue OWL (various pages)
“Backpacks vs. Briefcases,” Laura Bolin Carroll (Web/Google Drive)
“Reading Games: Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources,” Karen Rosenberg (Web/Google Drive)
“The Outcasts of Poker Flat,” Bret Harte (Google Drive)
They Say, I Say by Graff, Birkenstein, and Durst, Second Edition
“The Real Bluff of John Oakhurst,” Jeff Tweedy (Google Drive)
“Annoying Ways People Use Sources,” Kyle D. Stedman (Web/Google Drive)
“Walk, Talk, Cook, Eat: A Guide to Using Sources,” Cynthia R. Haller (Web/Google Drive)
“Googlepedia,” Randall McClure (Web/Google Drive)
“Beyond Black on White,” Michael J. Klein and Kristi L. Shackelford (Web/Google Drive)
“Navigating Genres,” Kerry Dirk (Web/Google Drive)
“Reflective Writing,” Sandra Giles (Web/Google Drive)
“I Need You to Say I,” Kate McKinney Maddalena (Web/Google Drive)
Assignments
●Persuasive Essay about Literature & Analysis of the Rhetorical Situation (10%)
●Persuasive Essay with Sources & Analysis of the Rhetorical Situation (10%)
●Persuasive Essay with Division and Classification & Analysis of the Rhetorical Situation (10%)
●Persuasive Essay with Cause and Effect & Analysis of the Rhetorical Situation (10%)
●Article Analyses (9) (40%)
●Exam (10%)
●Class Participation (10%)
Course Policies
●Work submitted late that reflects a satisfactory effort will receive 60% credit and may not be revised.
●Initial drafts that do not reflect a satisfactory effort will receive 60% and may not be revised.
●You will receive credit for the following assignments in the context of a scheduled conference outside of the regular meetings of our course: Persuasive Essay about Literature, Persuasive Essay with Sources, Article Analysis One, Article Analysis Two. Conferences for these assignments must occur within three weeks of the assignment’s due date.
●If you choose to revise an assignment that is eligible for revision you must schedule the revision meeting to occur within three weeks of the assignment’s due date.
●Revisions must be accompanied by a revision explanation (described below). Revisions won’t receive less credit than an earlier draft, but they won’t necessarily receive more. Revisions that do not reflect satisfactory effort will not receive credit for further revision.
●Students enrolled in this course must read and respond in a timely manner to email from the professor or his Graduate Assistant.
●All written assignments must be shared with me in Google Drive under file names that conform to the pattern described in the File Name Format section of this syllabus.
●The attendance regulations listed in the CCU catalog apply to this course.
●If you do not understand an assignment or section of class discussion, it is your responsibility to ask for clarification either during a class session or in private consultation with the professor.
●You must maintain scrupulous academic integrity. The CCU Policy on Academic Integrity will be our guide on occasions of academic dishonesty.
●I reserve the right to amend the above policies for individual circumstances. It is always your responsibility to apprise me of extenuating circumstances.
●If you require academic accommodations due to any documented physical, psychological, or learning disability you 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: 9:30-11:00
Tuesday: 9:30-10:00
Wednesday: 9:30-11:00
Thursday: 9:30-10:00
Friday: 9:30-12:00
Course Agenda
All dates are approximate and subject to change without notice.
August 27Introduction to College English Two
“Article Analyses” Syllabus
29Rhetorical Analysis
“The Rhetorical Situation”(All Sections)Purdue OWL
“MLA Formatting and Style Guide”Purdue OWL
“Backpacks vs. Briefcases”Google Drive
Due: Article Analysis One
September 03“Reading Games,” Rosenberg Google Drive
Due: Article Analysis Two
05Introducing the Persuasive Essay about Literature Assignment
“Writing about Fiction” (All Sections)Purdue OWL
“Writing about Literature” (All Sections)Purdue OWL
“MLA Formatting Quotations”Purdue OWL
“Integrating Quotations into Sentences”Google Drive
10“Outcasts of Poker Flat,” HarteGoogle Drive
12“Outcasts of Poker Flat,” HarteGoogle Drive
17They Say, I Say Introduction-Chapter 3
19Peer Review
Due: Persuasive Essay about Literature Draft
“MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics”Purdue OWL
“MLA Works Cited Page: Basic Format”Purdue OWL
“Avoiding Plagiarism” (All Sections)Purdue OWL
24“The Real Bluff of John Oakhurst,” TweedyGoogle Drive
26Due: Persuasive Essay about Literature
Taking Essay Exams
“Writing Essays for Exams”Purdue Owl
October 01“Annoying Ways People Use Sources,” StedmanGoogle Drive
Due: Article Analysis Three
03FALL RECESS
08Introducing the Persuasive Essay with Sources Assignment
“Walk, Talk, Cook, Eat,” HallerGoogle Drive
Due: Article Analysis Four
“MLA Sample Works Cited Page”Purdue OWL
“MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources (Web)Purdue OWL
10Library Presentation
“Googlepedia,” McClureGoogle Drive
Due: Article Analysis Five
15They Say, I Say
Chapters 4-5
17Peer Review
Due: Persuasive Essay with Sources Draft
“Evaluating Sources of Information” (All Sections)Purdue OWL
22Rhetorical Practice
24Introducing the Persuasive Essay with Division and Classification Assignment
Due: Persuasive Essay with Sources
29They Say, I Say Chapters 6-7
31Peer Review
Due: Persuasive Essay with Division and Classification Draft
November05“Beyond Black on White,” Klein and ShackelfordGoogle Drive
Due: Article Analysis Six
07“Navigating Genres,” DirkGoogle Drive
Due: Article Analysis Seven
12Introducing the Persuasive Essay with Cause and Effect Assignment
Due: Persuasive Essay with Division and Classification
14They Say, I SayChapters 8-9
19Peer Review
Due: Persuasive Essay with Cause and Effect Draft
21“Reflective Writing,” Sandra GilesGoogle Drive
Due: Article Analysis Eight
26THANKSGIVING RECESS
28THANKSGIVING RECESS
December03Exam Review
Due: Persuasive Essay with Cause and Effect
05They Say, I Say Chapters 10-12
10“I Need You to Say I,” MaddalenaGoogle Drive
Due: Article Analysis Nine
12Exam Review
Assignments
The following assignment descriptions will be supplemented by class discussion and assigned reading. The student is responsible for completing each assignment in a fashion that reflects familiarity with lectures and assigned readings.
File Name Format
When you save your documents please name the file using the following pattern: your name, assignment description, draft number.
●Example: student name, persuasive essay about literature, draft one
●Example: student name, persuasive essay about literature, revision
●Example: student name, article analysis one, draft one
●Example: student name, article analysis one, revision
Class Participation
Operative Theory of Learning:
The design of this course is premised on the theory that learning occurs when individuals and communities encounter ideas and then bring those ideas into productive contact with the knowledge systems that govern human behavior (rhetorical, agricultural, historical, sociological, psychological, philosophical, political, economic, artistic, religious, scientific, etc.). Productive contact is reflective, collaborative, and oriented toward action. It requires that participants work together to understand how new ideas disrupt or reify existing knowledge systems--and it must lead to strategic action.
Consequent to this theory of learning is the requirement that students actively participate in this course in the following ways:
●Attend class regularly (arrive on-time and remain for entire meeting);
●Arrive to class prepared to participate in class activities (complete writing assignments on time; read assigned texts; plan ways to contribute to production of knowledge during course meetings);
●Actively participate in class activities (participate in class discussions; do not use phones, computers, tablets, etc. for purposes not explicitly related to the objectives of this course; do not use class meeting as opportunity to complete work unrelated to this course).
Class Participation Grading Breakdown:
Pass: 10%
Fail: 0%
Peer Review
Peer-review serves a number of valuable purposes. Peer review:
●motivates recursive writing;
●underscores the collaborative nature of writing;
●gives students an opportunity to thoughtfully engage in rhetorical analysis.
Reading
Reading assignments listed in the course syllabus are an important component of this course. Information available in reading assignments may be supplemented by discussions during class meetings. No specific credit will be assigned to completion of reading assignments, but a student’s ability to perform well on written assignments and the essay exam will require familiarity with assigned portions of course texts.
Essay Exam
The exam will be offered during exam week and will require familiarity with class discussion, and the assigned readings.
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.
Conferences
You will receive credit for the following assignments in the context of a scheduled conference: Persuasive Essay about Literature, Persuasive Essay with Sources, Article Analysis One, Article Analysis Two.
●Please schedule a meeting using the Google Doc created for that purpose;
●Conferences are scheduled for times outside of the regular meetings of our course;
●Arrive to a conference prepared to participate in a dialogue about your essay;
●Please plan to discuss only one assignment at an appointment;
●Please make available in Google Drive a version of the draft you plan to discuss at least 24 hours before your meeting;
●Please list your name and the subject of our meeting when you schedule a meeting;
●Please read your work before your meeting and arrive prepared to participate in a dialogue about your work;
●Please take notes during your meeting;
●Make only one appointment for a given day;
●Do not add appointment times to the published schedule;
●Please cancel a scheduled meeting as soon as you discover you will not be able to attend it;
●Please let me know if the appointments listed in this document do not coincide with your availability.
Revisions
Revision is a necessary part of everyone’s writing process. Revision can be motivated by and reflect developments in your understanding of the rhetorical context of your text, comments made by readers, further research and inquiry, and further consideration of your persuasive ambitions. You may revise the following assignments after an initial draft has been assigned a grade in the context of a conference: Persuasive Essay about Literature, Persuasive Essay with Sources, the first two Article Analyses. These revision opportunities are for the purpose of helping you to introduce revision into your typical writing process.
Revision Explanations
You may not meet to discuss a revision unless it is accompanied by a revision explanation. Revision explanations must offer a thorough explanation of the revised draft you are submitting. Specifically, what is different from the previous draft and what considerations motivated these changes. If you chose not to make a specific recommended revision you should also offer an explanation of that decision. Your revision explanation should appear at the top of your revised draft.
Article Analyses
You must schedule meetings to receive credit for Article Analyses One (“Backpacks vs. Breifcases,” by Laura Bolin Carroll) and Article Analysis Two (“Reading Games: Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources,” by Karen Rosenberg). You will receive credit for the remaining Article Analyses without scheduling meetings and without opportunity for revision.
Purpose
Article Analyses give you a method for reading journal articles that emphasizes their rhetorical nature, a method for taking notes that facilitate your engagement in class discussions, and potential material for integration into other writing assignments. The Article Analysis assignment is also an opportunity to develop your ability to paraphrase, summarize, and conform to MLA style. Article Analyses should display thoughtful, meaningful, and complex interactions with the assigned readings.
Procedure
In order to develop usable insights into the assigned readings, you will need to strip away all unnecessary information and develop a sharp focus on four components of each article:
●Description of the Problem
●Description of the Solution
●Assessment of the Solution (optional)
●Description of a Key Term/Concept
Problem Descriptions
Problem Descriptions should describe the problem that motivated the author to write the article. In addition to describing the problem, you should indicate why this particular issue is problematic for the scholar’s audience. Do not describe your problems with the article or problems you think readers have when reading it. Do not quote directly, but do provide page numbers for paraphrases and summaries in parenthetical citations. Problem descriptions should comprise between 25 and 75 words.
Description of the Solution
Descriptions of the Solution should identify and describe how the author attempts to address the problem that motivates the article. Again, do not quote directly, but do provide page numbers for paraphrases and summaries in parenthetical citations. Your Description of the Solution should comprise between 50 and 150 words.
Assessment of the Solution (optional)
Assessments of the Solution should make a compelling case for your assessment of whether or not the article is likely to solve the problem that motivated it. Again, do not quote directly, but do provide page numbers for paraphrases and summaries in parenthetical citations. Your Assessment of the Solution may comprise between 50 and 100 words.
Term or Concept Descriptions
Term or Concept descriptions define the meaning and function of a term or concept that appears in the article. Define the meaning of the term or concept as it functions in this article rather than offer a dictionary definition. Give specific attention to the function of this term or concept in the solution to the problem that motivated this article. The term or concept you choose does not have to be the most important term or concept--simply one that is worthy of consideration during a class discussion of the article. If you cannot imagine a discussion of this term or concept being a worthwhile contribution to our class discussion, choose a different term or concept. Again, do not quote directly, but do provide page numbers for paraphrases and summaries in parenthetical citations. Term/Concept Descriptions should comprise between 50 and 75 words.
Format
●Use headings to divide the sections of your Article Analysis.
●Identify the title and the full name of the author of the article in the Problem Description.
●Identify the title of the article by using quotation marks.
●Do provide a Works Cited entry for the article.
●Do not quote the article.
●Use parenthetical citations to provide page numbers for paraphrases and summaries.
●Your article analysis should not be a cohesive essay with an introduction and conclusion.
●Your completed article analysis should be between 125-300 words.
Persuasive Essay about Literature
●Write a thesis driven essay of at least 700 words that supports a specific interpretation of the chosen text (or a portion of it).
●Essays about literature describe the action of literature as though it happens in the present tense.
●Essays about literature must incorporate quotations from the text as evidence.
●Essays about literature 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.
●Essays about literature must include reference to the title of the subject of the article in the introduction--even if it appears in the title.
●Essays about literature must include reference to the full name of the author of the subject of the article in the introduction—even if it appears in the title.
●Essays about literature present evidence in support of a claim about the subject of the article—not summary or description alone.
●Essays about literature must make and support an assertion with which a reasonable person might disagree—or that a reasonable person might not have considered but would benefit from encountering.
●Essays about literature mark the title of a short story with quotation marks—not italics or underlining.
●Essays about literature conform to MLA format and style.
●Essays about literature should be organized in support of a thesis rather than according to the chronology of the short story that is the subject of the article.
●Essays about literature have titles that reflect their argument—not just their subject.
●To receive credit for this assignment you must submit the essay with your Analysis of the Rhetorical Situation as a Google Doc before class on the assignment’s due date. You must also schedule a meeting to discuss this assignment to occur within three weeks of the assignment’s due date.
Persuasive Essay with Sources
●Write a thesis driven essay of at least 1400 words that supports an assertion within the context of a scholarly rhetorical situation.