WRTG 1150/094 First Year Writing Fall 2008
Instructor: Susan Daney
Office: TB 1, Rm. 4A TB 1 is between Sewall Hall and Clare Small
Mailbox: In the hallway on the left inside the front door of TB 1
Office hours: 1:30-4:30Wed. or by app’t
Office phone:303-735-0283 From campus 5-0283
Email:
Course description: This section of 1150 focuses on the theme of assimilation with many of its inherent difficulties. From the assigned essays, you will improve your reading, writing, and critical thinking skills that should make university academic work easier. You will read for different purposes, develop through inquiry and discussion your ideas, and present them to different audiences in written form. The workshop process will be important in the revision process of your major papers.
Coursework: You will write many short assignments (SA) connected to the assigned essays. In addition, other writings include a personal narrative, a summary, an analysis of a political cartoon, an analysis of an argument, and an argument with the annotated bibliography and research proposal/review that precede it. Please work on drafts conscientiously even though they are not graded.
1150 and the CCHE requirements
The first year writing course offered through the Program for Writing and Rhetoric fulfills the core requirements of the University of Colorado at Boulder and those required by the CCHE for an intermediate writing course. Essentially, it will broaden your rhetorical knowledge, offer multiple kinds of writing, reinforce your knowledge of writing conventions, and enhance your awareness of effective communication.
Rhetorical Knowledge. Rhetoric refers to an individual’s use of words or images to move an audience. A writer’s awareness of how to choose her words to present her ideas often means the difference between a mediocre and successful piece of writing. As we read the essays and the writings of fellow students in the workshop, we begin to understand that different writers use various strategies to influence their audiences.
Writing Process. In workshop you will present early drafts of your papers to your class members. You will see how your work affects the audience. As you critique the work of others you will begin to sense the needs of the audience. Both aspects of the writing process (writing and reviewing) will determine what changes you make to your next draft. You will improve information literary skills with various technologies and online research tools. Finally RIOT training will help you determine a writer’s credibility and the relevance and validity of sources.
Conventions. The formal papers for 1150 require certain conventions of academic and professional writing. You will recognize that your audience determines your choice of conventions, whether your writing project is a letter, a summary, or an analysis. This class, generally speaking, will use standards of grammar, sentence structure, and paragraphing. What makes an effective paragraph? Our goal will always be to produce effective writing that meets the needs of its particular audience.
Communication Strategies. Because each piece of writing implies a particular purpose, each assignment has a purpose and thus a particular audience. For example, your audience for your personal narrative can be your classmates; your audience for your argument, however, would be more specific, someone or some group interested in the issue at hand. When you write for this class, you must take into account the needs of your audience.
CLASS SCHEDULE for 1150/094 FALL 2008
Week 18/26Introductions, syllabus, policies
Personal narrative instructions and questions
8/28KW Chap. 1 5 important points (SA .5)
Draft 1 personal narrative
WS #1 4 copies
Week 29/02KW Chap. 2 5 points (SA .5)
Essays 1 and 2 Staples and Mukherjee RP (2) (SA 2)
Discuss double entry journal
9/04Essay #3 Liu DEJ (SA 2)
Lanham reading
Week 39/09KW Chap. 3 5 points (SA .5)
Lanham video TB 1 Rm. 211
Group sentence work
*Personal narrative due (SA 6)
9/11Essay #4 La Escondida (RP 2) (SA 2)
Summary handout
Week 49/16 *Summary of Liu or La Escondida essay due (SA 4)
Hand in revised Lanham sentences (SA .5)
Start topics discussion for research paper
9/18RIOT 1 and 2 due
Essay #5 Rodriguez DEJ (SA 2)
Week 59/23RIOT 3 and 4 due
KW Chap. 4 5 points (SA .5)
Essay #6 Agosin RP (2) (SA 2)
Topics continued
9/25Political cartoon practice/cartoons and instructions
Topics > research questions
Bring Pocket Keys to class Common Error Log #1
Week 69/30Draft of political cartoon paragraphs
WS #2 Copies sent by e-mail A/B, B/C, and C/A
10/02Draft 1 of p.c. continued
Topics/research questions discussion cont’d
Week 7 10/07LIBRARY SEMINAR COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE
Norlin E303
*Political cartoon assignment due (SA 8) Send by email
10/09Bring Pocket Keys to class
Common Error Log #2 and MLA citation practice
Week 8 10/14Read essays #s 7 and 8 Steele and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Choose one for analytical paper
10/16Lecture on analysis possible theses and approaches T par.
Bring Pocket Keys CEL #3
Week 9 10/21Bring Pocket Keys CEL #4
All thesis paragraphs for analytical paper due
WS #3 Copies sent by e-mail Small group work
10/23Draft 1 of analytical paper due for everyone
WS #4 Copies sent by e-mail 9 papers
Week 10 10/28WS #5 Continue discussion of drafts 9 papers
10/30 *Analysis papers due Two copies
Discuss annotated bibliography assignment
Week 11 11/04Annotated bib. Draft of 4 sources
WS #6 Copies sent by e-mail Group work ABC
Lecture on argument and audience
11/06 *Final draft of A.B. Use at least 6 sources.
Lecture on proposal and literature review
Read examples of above in KW
Week 12 11/11Draft of proposal/review
WS #7 Copies sent by e-mail
11/13All thesis paragraphs for research argument due
WS #8 Copies sent by e-mail
Week 13 11/18Finish thesis paragraphs
WS #9
More about audience, counter-argument
11/20 *Final draft of proposal and literature review due
More on building an argument
Week 14 11/25THANKSGIVING VACATION RELAX
Week 15 12/02 Draft 1 of argument paper due
WS #10 Copies by e-mail Group A
12/04 Draft 1 of arg. paper due
WS #11 Copies by e-mail Group B
Week 16 12/09 Draft 1 of arg. paper due
WS #12 Copies by e-mail Group C
12/11 *All argument papers Draft 2 due
All portfolios due for review
Abbreviations for syllabus
DEJ: Double Entry Journal (See instructions below)
eRes: Electronic reserve
KW: Knowing Words
RP: Reaction paragraph
RIOT: Library tutorial
T/Reasons: thesis and points that support the thesis
5 imp. Points: List 5 of the most important points of the chapter.
To access eRes, go to Under “Research Resources” click on “eReserves/Course Reserves.” You’ll then see: “Reserve lists by instructor or class”. Enter my last name (Daney) or the class (WRTG 1150. Soon you will access a list of readings. You need your identikey. Click on the correct title, and wait for the article. Print a copy, read, complete the SA, and bring essay to class on day assign. is due.
Essays/Books listed on eReserves
everything’s an argument Andrea A. Lunsford et al.
“Always Living in Spanish” Marjorie Agosin
“Journey toward Wholeness: Reflections La Escondida
of a Lesbian Rabbi”
50 Essays Samuel Cohen
“Notes of a Native Speaker” Eric Liu
“Two Ways to Belong to America” Bharati Mukherjee
“Just Walk on By: Black Men and Brent Staples
Public Space”
“Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Richard Rodriguez
Childhood”
“On Being Black and Middle class Shelby Steele
The Essay Connection Lynn Bloom
“Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King, Jr.
Revising Prose Richard Lanham
Double Entry Journal (DEJ) Instructions
from Tory Tuttle
When you read, read actively with a pencil in hand. Use it to mark anything striking: important or confusing ideas or concepts. Write in the margins questions or comments. Also, keep a double entry journal for essays you read—either as or after you have read and marked significant passages. Divide a page in two vertically. On the left side for a passage that interests or disturbs you, quote the text. On the right side, respond to the text. Be sure to note page number and paragraph number for each passage. Note the bib.info. from the passage at the top of the page.
What the text says What I think
Write out the interesting, surprising, or Write out your response in
confusing passage. sentences.
Be accurate. Use direct quotes, Give quick thoughts
paraphrase, summarize. or fastwrite.
Indicate beginning and end of passage List any questions.
Tell what bothers you.
As you read move back and forth. Make connections to other ideas.
(Adapted from Bruce Ballenger and Michelle Payne, The Curious Reader,2003, 29 and Bruce Ballenger, The Curious Researcher, 2004, 147.)
Reaction Paragraph Instructions
You will occasionally write reaction paragraphs. They need to be grammatically correct with some sense of unity but not necessarily tight-structured. Explore your reactions. Show what bothers you or pleases you. Raise questions or challenge the writer. Be specific but let yourself go a little. Consider the following questions; you don’t need to answer all of them.
What is the writer’s purpose? Does he support that purpose satisfactorily?
What is the evidence or logic of the argument that undermines the main point?
What bothers or confuses you? What do you disagree with?
What interests, please, or surprises you? What’s new here? How does the essay relate to your life or to the lives of others?
What do you dislike about the style?
Don’t forget to type and double-space your paragraphs.
Paper format information***
All papers must be typed, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins. For heading include your name, course number, workshop group (if any), and due date. Keep a copy of every paper you turn in. Major papers will have detailed instructions. Keep all returned SA, handouts, instructions in your folder. For SA and DEJ, you must
include due date and assignment title.
Texts: Your writing
Pocket Keys for Writers Raimes, Ann
Knowing Words PWR publication
Electronic Reserve Readings at
<http.//ucblibraries.colorado.edu/pwr/index.htm>
A: A paper exceptional in form and content;
original, substantive, organized. Clear
SA 30% graceful and error-free style.
Analysis 20% B: A clearly written, well-developed
Research part 20% interesting paper showing above average
Argument 20% thought and writing. No major flaws.
Participation 10% C: A reasonably well-organized paper that
works to support a thesis. Unresolved
problems in presentation and distracting
errors or flaws. Mixture of strengths and
weaknesses. Fulfills basic requirements.
D: A paper seriously deficient in content,
form, style, and mechanics. Disorganized,
confusing, unfocused, illogical.
F: A paper that is incoherent, disastrously
flawed, unacceptably late, plagiarized.
POLICIES
Policies You are responsible for knowing and following PWR Policies—see Knowing Words, Appendix A 131-136. (Appendix B tells about resources available to writers.)
Attendance: Attendance is required because this class works as a workshop. You may have three absences, but after that I will lower your participation grade and your final grade. When you miss a class, find out from another student what happened in class. Arrive on time prepared to participate; late arrivals and early departures count as absences.
Email, on-line materials: We will communicate by a class email. Check your account several times a week. To access on-line materials, eReserves and RIOT see KW 141. If you live off campus, use the computers at the library or establish remote access to the library. See KW 142, “Remote Access.”
Short Assignments (SA): Finish these assignments on time for maximum credit. I only accept SA and RIOT scores within one week of their due date.
Workshop: The place and time when we’ll read your preliminary drafts and offer suggestions for revision. You will give and receive feedback in a supportive environment. Most of the time you will be responsible for sending your draft out over email by 7:30, the evening before we discuss it. Plan ahead. You will need to copy drafts according to a schedule I will lay out. I will only accept a draft on or before the due date. Failure to turn in drafts on time will lower the paper grade. I will accept no paper that has not come through the workshop process. Failure to prepare for a workshop will lower your participation grade.
Plagiarism: Your work must be original. If you present the words or ideas of others as your own, you plagiarize. If you fail to use quotation marks for directly quoted words, you plagiarize. For more, see KW, 135-136 and RIOT 4.