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WRITING 2011: Intermediate Writing(Hybrid Course)

Academic Writing and Research: Fall 2017

Nancy C. Jensen

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Office:3890 LNCOTelephone: (801) 581-6160 (Office)

Office Hours:TH 10:45-11:35;(801) 581-7090 (Dept. Office)

W 1:20-2:10; and Email:

by appointmentCanvas

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Course Materials

  • Behrens and Rosen, A Sequence for Academic Writing (SAW),7th ed., Pearson, 2018.
  • Canvas Materials: You must access, print out, and read some materials placed on Canvas.

Course Description

Writing 2011 is designed to provide students with the foundational practices and capabilities needed to read and write academic arguments proficiently. The course introduces students to the strategies, tools, and resources necessary to become successful writers in a range of academic contexts. Specifically, students will develop their critical reading and thinking skills as they write a variety of academic arguments, develop their information literacy and writing skills, and gain a better understanding of genre and academic conventions. By the end of the course, students should be able to demonstrate increased understanding of and improvement in the ability to do the following:

  • Write academic arguments—
  • Draft and revise arguments for a particular purpose, context, and audience;
  • Read sources critically in order to question, investigate, and draw conclusions about ideas and issues on a selected topic;
  • Evaluate, analyze, and synthesize ideas from sources and effectively integrate such information into an argument essay;
  • Synthesize current research on a topic and situate an argument in that research;
  • Understand and utilize the basic components of an academic argument;
  • Develop an argument using authoritative evidence to support a clearly stated thesis.
  • Develop information literacy—
  • Conduct the research necessary for writing in an academic context;
  • Use research databases and other tools to find relevant information;
  • Find and use reliable sources that are appropriate to the topic and audience;
  • Demonstrate knowledge of a variety of online genres and source types.
  • Develop strategies for working with genre and academic conventions—
  • Utilize genre conventions, including organization, support, and documentation;
  • Use a citation style consistently, attributing words and/or ideas to the appropriate author(s);
  • Collaborate with peers in various phases of the writing process (planning, revising);
  • Write paragraphs that are structured to develop ideas,and make connections within and between paragraphs;
  • Construct well-formed sentences that follow the expectations of Standard Written English;
  • Edit and proofread according to the conventions of Standard Written English.

Course Assignments

This is a hybrid course that blends traditional face-to-face and online learning. Students are expected to attend classroom sessions as well as participate in online activities as assigned.The following list identifies the course assignments and provides a timeline, points, and percentages for those assignments:

AssignmentTimeline Points% of Grade

Critique EssayWeeks 1-410010% 750-1000 words

Argument Synthesis EssayWeeks 5-715015%

1000-1250 words

Research Project:Weeks 8-15

Proposal for Research ProjectWeeks 8-9 25 2.5%

Research LogWeeks 8-10 25 2.5%

Annotated BibliographyWeeks 8-10100 10 %

Plan for Researched ArgumentWeek 11 25 2.5%

Oral Presentation Week 11 25 2.5%

Researched Argument EssayWeeks 12-1430030 %

2000 words; 8 sources

Self-Analysis EssayWeek 15 50 5 %

Drafts and draft workshops,Weeks 1-15200 20 %

informal homework assignments,

in-class individual and group

writing exercises and activities

Grading and Grading Scale

All formal writing assignments will be evaluated based on criteria we will establish and discuss in class. You will participate in draft workshops on the major writing assignments, receiving feedback on your writing and providing other students with feedback on their writing. Final grades will be assigned according to the following scale:

940-1000 points A / 800-839 points B- / 670-699 points D+
900-939 points A- / 770-799 points C+ / 640-669 points D
870-899 points B+ / 740-769 points C / 600-639 points D-
840-869 points B / 700-739 points C- / 0-599 points E

Course Policies, Procedures, and Resources

Hybrid Course: This is a hybrid course—it combines a regular classroom component with an online component, as students will meet once a week in class (Tuesday, 9:10 to 10:30) and will complete various activities and assignments on line that will typically be due on Thursdays. Students are expected to be in class each week for the classroom meeting and to complete all online assignments as well.

Attendance and Participation: The framework of this course, with its emphasis on discussion and group work, requires that you attend class regularly, as well as complete online assignments by designated due dates. Much of the online work will involve participating in online discussions, completing peer reviews, and engaging in activities that involve reviewing and commenting on other students’ ideas and work. For the classroom component of this class, you are expected to arrive on time to class and be prepared to contribute to class discussion and small group work, as well as provide thoughtful feedback to other students on their work in progress and drafts. Over the course of the semester, you may miss classtwo times with no direct penalty, but after that, you will have your final course grade reduced by ten points for each additional absence. Excessive tardiness will be considered an absence. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to check with other students to find what you missed and to get notes. Please contact me if you have an extended illness or situation that interferes with regular attendance.

Canvas: Much of the business of the course will be conducted on Canvas. I will post materials on Canvas, where you will be able to access them, and I will also send out important announcements through Canvas, so you should check it regularly.You will also have weekly online assignments that you must complete and submit on Canvas

Respectful Conduct: Students are expected to treat all members of the university community with respect and to avoid any language or behavior that is inflammatory, insulting, or discriminatory. I will treat each student with respect and expect the same behavior from all students (refer to the “Student Code”).

Reading and Informal Writing Assignments: Complete the reading and writing assignments listed for each day before you come to class that day or by the deadline posted for the online assignments. You must complete some assignments online, and others require that you bring a hard copy to class. Submit all online writing assignments before class begins or by the posted deadline for online assignments, and submit hard copy writing assignments at the beginning of the class on the due date.

Formal Essay Assignments: For formal essay assignments, you will submit a hard copy at the first of the class on the due date, and you will also upload an electronic version of the completed essay on Canvas (upload as an attachment). If you have a compelling reason to be late with an assignment, notify me before the due date and make arrangements for submitting the assignment. For other late assignments, I will deduct 10 points from your score for each class period they are late (not to exceed 50 percent of the total score).

Online Submissions: You will upload an electronic version of drafts and final essays on Canvas, where your paper will be reviewed by turnitin, software that discourages plagiarism and helps students understand the proper documentation of ideas and words from outside sources. After submitting each assignment to turnitin, you will also look over the originality report generated and will write a brief analysis or explanation of that report as part of an informal writing assignment.

Academic Honesty: You must do your own work in this class. At all times in this course, you should document and be prepared to prove where you get information you use. Plagiarism—copying or presenting another person’s work as if it were your own—is not only unacceptable, but also illegal. The

Department’s standard penalty for plagiarism is a failing grade (E) for the assignment and possibly the course. Some examples of plagiarism include using someone else’s words or ideas without properly

citing the source; relying too much on someone else’s words or sentence structure, even if you cite the source; and submitting someone else’s paper or having someone else write your paper.

Revisions: You will have the option of revising formal graded essay assignments, but must do so within one week after a graded essay is returned to you. You must make significant revisions to the essay in order to receive a higher grade; making only corrections to mechanical and grammatical errors will not raise your grade. When submitting a revised essay, include (1) the revised essay, (2) the original graded essay and the grading sheet, and (3) a description of the revisions you made and how they have improved the original essay. The grade for the assignment will be an average of the grades on the original and revised essays.

Conferences and Office Hours: Emailing me through Canvas or my University email account is the easiest way to communicate with me. I am also available to meet with you during office hours and by

appointment. Please talk with me about any questions, concerns, or problems you may have about anything related to the course.

Phones and Laptops: Your responsibility is to contribute to the learning environment in the

classroom and stay focused on class activities, discussions, and exercises. Turn off or silence your

phones before class begins, and use phones and laptops only for course-related activities, such as accessing course readings or taking notes.

Incompletes and Withdrawals: The Writing Department offers Incompletes only in “extraordinary circumstances.” Refer to the University’s web site for withdrawal deadlines.

Computer Literacy: You are expected to have basic computer literacy. You need to know how to use a computer to log onto Canvas, where you will access materials and upload assignments. You are also expected to know how to conduct research using online resources, especially through the Marriott Library databases. If you need help developing such computer literacy, sign up for free classes offered through the Marriott Library.

ADA Notice: The University of Utah seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services, and activities for those with disabilities. If you will need accommodation in this class, please contact me and the Center for Disabilities Services (CDS), Union Building, (801) 581-5020. I will work with you and CDS to make arrangements for such accommodations.

Resources: The University Writing Center is a free service available to all University of Utah students.

It provides one-on-one assistance to students at all stages of the writing process, and the Center’s staff is

trained to work with student writers of all levels. The Center is located on the second floor of the Marriott Library, down the hall from Knowledge Commons. To schedule an appointment, visit the Center’s web site at or call 801-587-9122 for more information.

The University provides numerous additional resources to students, so refer to and utilize those resources for help with various issues and situations.

You are expected to be aware of and understand the policies and guidelines in

this policy statement.

Critique Essay Assignment (100 points)

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For this assignment, you will utilize critical reading skills to analyze a piece of writing and then write a critique that presents your analysis within a well-reasoned and well-developed essay. Behrens and Rosen define a critique as “a formalized, critical reading of a passage” (70), and they explain that the purpose of a critique is to “turn your critical reading of a passage into a systematic evaluation in order to deepen your reader’s (and your own) understanding of that passage” (70). As you analyze a text, you will identify the author’s purpose and target audience and will evaluate strategies and techniques the author uses to achieve that purpose for a given audience.

For this assignment, you will write a critique of Megan McArdle’s “The College Bubble.” As a starting point, you should identify the author’s, purpose, thesis, and target audience and then select those aspects of the article that you want to focus on in your essay. You could write a positive or negative critique, emphasizing what an author does effectively or fails to do, or you could analyze both the strengths and weaknesses of a text. You should narrow the focus of your critique; do not attempt to analyze all aspects of the article. For this assignment, you could do any of the following or could go in other directions as well:

  • Analyze a technique or related techniques that the writer uses to achieve her purpose, including organization, evidence, appeals (logos, pathos, ethos), language, style, word choice, or tone (writer’s attitude). It is often good to narrow your focus rather than attempting to analyze multiple aspects of the article; for example, you could analyze what McArdle does/fails to do to establish her ethos within the article and how it impacts the article, or you could analyze McArdle’s use of expert opinion and how it supports/fails to support her thesis.
  • Analyze how McArdle appropriately addresses critical issues or focus on ones that she overlooks, fails to address, or dismisses too easily.
  • Analyze the persuasiveness of the author’s conclusions and their validity or implications; you could focus on the ways the author deals with opposing ideas and makes a stronger/weaker case by addressing them.
  • Analyze the author’s logical reasoning and/or identify logical fallacies within the argument (hasty generalization, begging the question, faulty cause and effect).

You need to develop a thesis that presents the central claim of your essay. As you organize your ideas, you should refer to the five-section format that Behrens and Rosen describe on pages 71-72, but be sure that your organization fits with the overall assignment. For example, the suggested format contains a summary of ideas, but your readers are familiar with the reading, so you do not need to provide such a summary. Behrens and Rosen indicate that a critique often provides a section in which the writer responds to the ideas within the text, agreeing or disagreeing with those ideas, but many academic critiques do not directly focus on such agreement or disagreement, but instead analyze those aspects of the text that contribute to its effectiveness or ineffectiveness. However you choose to organize your essay, you should begin with an introduction that provides a context for the reader to understand your analysis and that presents your thesis (typically at the end of the introduction); you should then move to the body where you develop the thesis and support it with evidence; and then you should close by reiterating your thesis, often emphasizing its importance, and providing a sense of completeness to the essay.

Audience: Target the professor and other students in the class, all of whom are familiar with the article.

Purpose: Critique/analyze McArdle’s article. Illustrate your critical reading and writing skills in a well-written

essay that shows your ability to analyze a written text, to present that analysis in an essay, and to follow the conventions of essay and academic writing. Remember that your purpose is to critique McArdle’s article, not write an essay on the value of a college education.

Evidence: Provide evidence from the article to support your thesis and other claims you make within the

essay. You may do outside research, but are not required to do so.

Length: 750-1000words, double spaced, 12-point standard font (Times New Roman).

Format: Put your name, course, and date in the upper left-hand corner; provide a centered title for the essay (do

not just use Critique as the title); and number the pages.

Documentation: Document sources using MLA. Use in-text citations to identify the source for all paraphrases

and quotations that you use from McArdle or any other outside sources. Provide a Works Cited that lists

all sources that you cite within the essay (refer to pages 277-280 in the textbook for overall guidelines).

ARGUMENT SYNTHESIS ESSAY ASSIGNMENT (150 points)

Synthesis comes from a Greek word that means “to put together” and often refers to the combining of informationor ideas from a variety of sources into a coherent whole. Synthesis refers to both a thought process and a type of essay. A synthesis essay involves bringing ideas together from different sources into a unified piece of writing and varies from a simple comparison and contrast essay to a complex researched argument.

For this assignment, you will write an argument synthesis essay on a topic related to education and any of the issues raised within the McArdle, Weissmann, and Rose articles. You should select an issue or aspect of the topic that interests you or that is critical to the conversation. The purpose of your essay is to persuade readers of the correctness of your thesis (central claim of your argument) by providing relevant evidence and analysis. Within your essay, you must synthesize ideas from at least three readings, one of which must be the McArdle, Weissmann, or Rose articles and one of which must be the additional article that you or a class member read and annotated. You may do additional research as well, but such research is not necessary for the assignment. Document all ideas from outside sources, providing MLA or APA in-text citations to identify the source for every paraphrase, summary, and quotation. Include a Works Cited or References that lists all sources you cite within the essay.