WRTG 1150-775 Introduction to Writing and Rhetoric: Writing as Design
WVN 166A11:30-12:45T/RDr. John M. Ackerman,
ENVD 1B27B (main office)WVN 184303-827-1947 (cell)
WVN OH TBD, Otherwise by Appointment
Overview and Course Goals
Writing 1150 satisfies core, graduation requirements at CU-Boulder, and it satisfies the transfer guarantee across the Colorado system of higher education.[1] Since the late 19th century, such courses have been required by universities and colleges to insure that entering students succeed, according to the conventions and intellectual expectations of the institution. Toward that end, we focus on the conventions of academic writing and the key roles of analysis, argumentation, and inquiry across the full terrain of the university. This is an ambitious project, but we will approach writing and rhetoric as trans-disciplinary practices, accessible and translatable for the many disciplinary homes that you aspire to join while at UCB. We will approach writing and rhetoric as analogical to other types of human design, considering what prompts composing, why an iterative process is necessary, how no one is ever alone because you always depend upon the works of others, and how writing and rhetoric are fundamentally persuasive. You’ll learn how to build arguments with evidence so that your voice is heard on campus and in society, and we’ll study the interrelationship between analysis and argumentation in the pursuit of answers to important design questions.
WVN SEEDS & SbD RAP Goals
Writing in context, there is no other way to learn to write effectively. Our context is a living and learning community, committed to social and ecological responsible. Our context is our shared space in WVN, the campus and Boulder community, our locale along the front range of Colorado; and it is inclusive of those locales you bring with you to UCB. Memories matter. The course is arranged around four units, the first a consideration of specific kinds of memory. We will consider how all artifacts of modern life are ‘downstream’ in history and thus to comprehend them we must go ‘upstream.’ This includes texts we read and write, and to write at the university—successfully and differently from other walks of life—you need to write within a ‘literature’ (Latour) of prior work. The next unit invites you into your local community by rendering—by your making—a found object, which then will be conceptualized for its ‘thing-power’ and its ‘assemblage.’ We will consider if there are different ways of ‘seeing’ that would enable or disable local, tactile design as the ‘arts’ of living. Our third unit practices an established professional genre, the site analysis, used in campus, city, and community planning. Our site will be local to the Boulder community, and we will work collaboratively to consider the parts that necessarilylead to the whole, what we determine to be the ‘essence’ of a given site. We will try our hand at collaborative composing, but you will be responsible for your particular part.
Assignments and Evaluation
The schedule that follows is built around the four projects mentioned: memory, objects, site, and solutions. Each assignment will be defined in writing, with criteria, in advance, and all assignments are meant to be cumulative. For the sake of evaluation, the work of the course is arrayed as follows:
Graded AssignmentsPoints
1. Memory 15
2. Object Assemblage 20
3. Site Analysis 25 All are cumulative; all lead to the final project.
4. Midterm Examination 10
5. Proposal 15
6. Participation 15
100
Participation: how to engage this class. We are small; so we are conversational. Our room is built for discussion, and this means that class time is best used by actively engaging the material. Listening to me, or to your colleagues imparts one form of knowledge, but writing down what you hear and drawing (literally drawing at times) connections is paramount. You may be used to waiting until test times or due dates to compose your thoughts—this is a big mistake at the university. No body works (well) that way; none of the advanced students or faculty succeed that way. My advice is to record Key Words from the readings and our discussion and to build a learning log for your class time. There are myriad ways to take notes: an open laptop in class signals you are doing that. If I find otherwise, the moment is lost, and the option to use this technology is gone. We have a Mid-term Examination that will measure how much and how well you’ve read material and kept up in class. Besides memorizing and voicing what you learn, you must also be able to quote, paraphrase, and synthesize material to insert in into your writing. This one skill, comprised of many related skills (reading for mail ideas, summarizing), will do more to earn a high grade in this class than most anything else you do.
Evaluation of your work is varied, with the final grade in all cases determined by your instructor. But other kinds of evaluation—self evaluation, peer evaluation, group evaluation—do much to produce a final product worthy of a high grade. Revision of early drafts is the other key, besides the artful inclusion of supporting material, to a successful paper. Each project will come with its own set of specific parameters for success, and I will provide a description and example (as appropriate) but never a recipe.
Reading Materials
Reading prior to class, discussing the reading together, and applying the readings to problems will constitute a major portion of your work. The books are available through the UCB bookstore, and the readings are downloaded from D2L. The articles and chapters are assigned to shape our discussions and assignments. No one writes well without reading closely, and we will pay particular attention to how our texts are designed for specific purposes.
BooksAlain de Botton: The Architecture of Happiness, Vintage Press, 2008
Program for Writing & Rhetoric, Knowing Words, Fountainhead Press, 2011
ArticlesAlexander, Christopher. A City is Not a Tree, Design After Modernism, 1988.
Bennett, Jane. Vibrant Matter (excerpts), 2009.
Buchanan, Richard. Wicked Problems in Design Thinking, Design Issues, 1992.
Burns, Carol. On Site, Drawing/Building/Text, 1991.
Burns, Carol & Andrea Kahn. Why Site Matters, Site Matters, 2005.
Dillard, Annie. Seeing, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, 2007 (1974).
Hardin, Garrett. The Tragedy of the Commons, Science, 1968.
Latour, Bruno. Literature, Science in Action, 1987.
Lefebvre, Henri. The Everyday and Everydayness,Architecture of the Everyday, 1997.
Lefebvre, Henri. Rhythmanalysis, Writings on Cities, 1996.
Lopez, Barry. The Rediscovery of North America, Vintage, 1990.
Massumi, Brian. Urban Appointments, Making Art of Databases, 1992.
Muir, John.My First Summer in the Sierras, Sierra Club, 1913.
Norman, Donald. The Psychopathology of Everyday Things, Psychology of Everyday Things, 1988.
Putnam, Bowling Alone, Journal of Democracy, 1995.
Stegner, The Sense of Place, The Sense of Place, 1992.
Steinbraber, Sandra. Living Downstream (excerpts), 2010.
Stevens, Wallace. Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird (PD), 1917.
VideosGoldsworthy, Andy.Rivers and Tides (DVD)
Whyte, William H.Social Life of Small Urban Spaces (VHS)
Temple Grandin, HBO (DVD)
Schedule of Events
Unit IMemory: Living Downstream, Writing Upstream
08.28Welcome and Overview
08.30Adjusting our Sight: 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird -
Taking a minute
09.04Adjustments #2: Rediscovery of North America (Lopez)
What kind of argument; what kind of memory; what kind of proposal?
09.06Steingraber, Living Downstream, Foreword, Traces, Silence
Introduce Essay #1: Rediscovering La Querencia (in your home town)
09.11Steingraber, Living Downstream, Time, Space
When, where, and how do you cite others as friends, as combatants
September 12 – Boulder Civic Area – Public Planning Process
09.13Putnam, Bowling Alone (The Tragedy of the Commons)
Argument, Literature, Collective Memory as Social Capital
09.18Essay #1 draft due for Workshop. Final draft due 9.21.12 at 5:00 PM.
09.20Video: Andy Goldsworthy, Rivers and Tides
Unit IIObjects, Things, and their Assembled Agency
09.25Dillard, Seeing from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.
Can we build a synthesis?
09.27Bennett, The Force of Things, from Vibrant Matter
How does a thing have power? Will we grant it (human) agency?
10.02Bennett, Agency of Assemblage, from Vibrant Matter
How do the relationships between things grant agency?
10.04Norman, Everyday Objects, from The Psychology of Everyday Things
Introduce Essay #2: Designing with Vibrant Matter
10:09Project: Building Object Arts
10:11In-class Presentations
10:16Essay #2 Draft due for Workshop. Final draft due 10.19.12 at 5:00 PM
10:18Midterm Exam Review
10:23Midterm Exam: based on all readings, discussions, presentations, and events
Video: William H. Whyte, The Social Life of Cities [
Unit IIISite Analysis – Rediscovery of the User
10:25On Site Analysis – Field Trip to CU Boulder (weather permitting)
Burns, On Site
10:30de Botton, Architecture of Happiness [ Chapters I, II (opt), III ]
11:01de Botton, Architecture of Happiness [ Chapters IV, V, VI (opt.) ]
Graphic information in writing
11:06Design Rubric: Groups Meet to Plan/Enact Their Analyses
11:08Massumi, Urban Appointments
Lefebvre, Rhythmanalysis; Alexander, A City is not a Tree
11:13Field Work – Consultations
11:15Presentations of Preliminary Findings. Final drafts due 11.27.12 at 5:00 PM
Fall Break: November 19 to 23
Unit IVSite Problem – Social Solutions
11:27Final Projects Introduced
Site Analyses Due, Video: Temple Grandin (opt.)
11:29Buchanan: Wicked Problems in Design Thinking
What constitutes a problem
12:04Bennett, Political Ecologies from Vibrant Matter
12:06Fieldwork/Consultations
12:11Presentations
12:13Presentations
Finals Week:There is no final examination in WRTG 1150-775
Final Projects are due Monday, December 17 at 5:00 PM unless otherwise specified.
Other Rules for the Road
Conferences
During the course of the semester, I may schedule conferences (either individually or in groups) to discuss your writing. Conferences are regarded as participation and attendance. If you don’t show up for your scheduled time, it will be counted as an absence, unless you contact me to reschedule.
Attendance
Invariably people will be sick or be required elsewhere, but absences should be announced to me in advance and documented. I intend to be flexible, but undocumented absences that accrue beyond two classes (T/R schedules = 1.5 class) may lower someone’s course grade. Lateness beyond 10 minutes = absence.
Due Dates
Unless we change the due date for a project, your work is due on the day stated and without exception. Late work is accepted only if is accompanied by a documented excuse. Papers must be submitted hard copy unless specified otherwise. Planning is essential. You will need to manage your time wisely to visit your places and gather your evidence well in advance of when a draft is due.
Writing Center
If you want or need additional help with your writing, the Writing Center in Norlin Library is a great resource, but you must schedule an appointment, as their services are in high demand. Check the Writing Center website for more information about hours and services, or request an appointment online at:
Disabilities*
If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to me a letter from Disability Services in a timely manner so that your needs may be addressed. Disability Services will determine accommodations based on documented disabilities (303-492-8671, Willard 322,
Religious Observances*
Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every effort to deal reasonably and fairly with all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments, or required attendance. In this class, I ask that you contact me at least one week ahead of the date(s) that you will be absent so that we can discuss any assignments/class material that you will miss.
Classroom Behavior*
Students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an appropriate learning environment. Those who fail to adhere to such behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, culture, religion, politics, sexual orientation, gender, gender variance, and nationalities. Class rosters are provided to the instructor with the student's legal name. I will gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or gender pronoun. Please advise me of this preference. Find information at: and at
Discrimination and Harassment*
The University of Colorado at Boulder policy on Discrimination and Harassment, the University of Colorado policy on Sexual Harassment and the University of Colorado policy on Amorous Relationships apply to all students, staff and faculty. Any student, staff or faculty member who believes s/he has been the subject of discrimination or harassment based upon race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status should contact the Office of Discrimination and Harassment (ODH) at 303-492-2127 or the Office of Judicial Affairs at 303-492-5550. Information about the ODH, the above referenced policies and the campus resources can be obtained at .
The Honor Code*
All students of the University of Colorado at Boulder are responsible for knowing and adhering to the academic integrity policy of this institution. Violations of this policy may include: cheating, plagiarism, aid of academic dishonesty, fabrication, lying, bribery, and threatening behavior. All incidents of academic misconduct shall be reported to the Honor Code Council (; 303-725-2273). Students who are found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy will be subject to both academic sanctions from the faculty member and non-academic sanctions (including but not limited to university probation, suspension, or expulsion). The Honor Code can be found at
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