Expository writing for students located anywhere
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If your enrolment is for five months, you are an
INDEPENDENT STUDY STUDENT
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Welcome! This is Writing and Rhetoric II, an internet version of Ohio University's English 308J. Here you and your fellow students connect in a classroom unbounded by walls, earning credit and proficiency at your own keyboard and at your own pace.
As in the classes taught on campus, this course "develops skills in writing expository prose, with regular practice and evaluation supplemented by attention to professional prose and concepts of rhetoric and style." That's the official course catalog speaking. In plain talk ... to help you write exactly what you mean and affect what your reader knows and believes, this course asks you to write often and to comment on writings by your classmates, to study published writing, and to discuss how weak writing fails and strong writing works.
We use interactive feedback as our main tool for improving writing. This course is a 'workshop' that depends on your participation, your constructive comments, and your willingness to accept comments and to try alternatives. The text readings are used as departure points for discussion and creation of your own work, and are not designed to be step-by-step guides for grammar and style. Whatever strengths your writing already shows are encouraged, and whatever weaknesses are identified and worked upon. In this manner, you receive a program of practice, feedback, and instruction that is tailored to your individual needs.
The content of the compositions is wide-ranging (not limited to computer topics), and covers a number of traditional forms of writing. Research using the internet is strongly encouraged. Please note that, although the computer is our means of communication, this is a writing course, not a course of instruction in computer skills and internet usage. We will help you with the minimum that is needed to get the writing and messages done, sent, and received, but you may have to solve some computer-related problems on your own using the documentation supplied with the programs (both printed and in help menus), local sources of help, and internet forums.
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This course is not intended for English-language acquisition and assumes that you have native-level proficiency in English. You may be asked to withdraw if your English language abilities prevent a concentration on advanced writing skills. SESSION STUDENTS: You will have deadlines determined by the session you are in. For Spring Semester, the course will last fifteen weeks. Other courses and activities are often competing for time and attention, so be careful to meet the deadlines (see details below). INDEPENDENT STUDY STUDENTS: You have five months to complete your coursework at your own pace. You will be responsible for meeting two interim deadlines and keeping track of assignments and exercises.
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The following lessons are derived from chapters in the textbook, The Practice of Writing. The types of writing listed as lesson titles create a framework for the course, but are not meant to limit the activities, sub-topics, and discussions within each lesson. In the same way, assignments are not necessarily confined to the main type of writing identified for each lesson.
- Lesson One: Expression
- Lesson Two: Reflection
- Lesson Three: Feedback1
- Lesson Four: Description
- Lesson Five: Classification
- Lesson Six: Feedback2
- Lesson Seven: Analysis
- Lesson Eight: Persuasion
- Lesson Nine: Feedback3
- Lesson Ten: Argumentation
- Lesson Eleven: Synthesis
- Lesson Twelve: Feedback4
- Lesson Thirteen: Narration
- Lesson Fourteen: Completion
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To conduct this class entirely 'at a distance,' we use the resources of the internet extensively. In addition to this webpage site, we rely on abundant email, email attachments, a shared directory on our website, and a web-based conference.
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You will produce twenty pages of strong, clear, polished writing in four formal projects and several exercise activities. Rewriting of each project is expected, though formal grading of those rewrites won't take place until the end of the course. In addition, you'll be adding suggestions to papers by other students in the class. A final rewrite of each paper takes the place of a final exam. No proctored final is given, and physical attendance on any campus is not needed at any time.
Because your documents will be electronic and formatting can distort the number of pages, 'pages' is not as useful a measure as a word count. For our purposes, a page equals 300 words, and the total amount written for the course will reach 6,000 words. Graphics and large fonts are disregarded in the word count. You'll find that a paper meant to be read on the screen is best presented single-spaced (which increases the number of lines visible without scrolling).
Lessons will also involve online text readings, an online discussion of those readings, and exercises designed to highlight particular methods of rhetorical control, or to encourage flexibility. In some cases, those exercises will involve collaborating with your fellow students. A required writing reference text -- an eBook -- will be used to address problems in grammar and usage as they occur. Continued grammatical errors will affect your grade.
During the course, you will prepare detailed feedback for six student papers. You will insert specific constructive suggestions within each paper as a modified file, write a paragraph addressed to the writer that summarizes your reactions, and send the feedback to the student author and to myself.
Your own writing will be available for feedback by the other students. These shared papers are previously submitted assignments, and involve no extra preparation on your part.
Feedback is designed to give you a range of responses to work with -- one paper will have student feedback only, two will have both student feedback and extensive feedback from the instructor, and one will be rewritten independently at the end of the course, to show what you have picked up from the course. The exercises in each lesson will be read and noted, but not critiqued. When the type of exercise warrants it, I will send a suggested solution that you can compare to your own.
To participate in an online course, you must have basic computer and internet skills (additional skills will be developed during the course). You must also acknowledge the importance of details that may be much less important in an on-campus setting. For example, all coursework uses specific filenames and subject lines, and the identification of coursework must be accurate. If it is not, the errors cause much confusion and wasted time, for yourself, for other students, and for the instructor. Following instructions is part of a larger goal of the course -- to strengthen your ability to read with care and precision.
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This course is delivered in two versions -- one self-paced (Independent Study) and the other following a timetable set by OU (either a semester or a summer session). The credits, content, and coursework are identical. For some activities, you will be sharing the same course tools.
INDEPENDENT STUDY STUDENTS:Independent & Distance Learning students are allowed a maximum of five months from the date of enrollment to complete this course. An extension of two months can be requested, for a fee (contact Independent & Distance Learning for information). You should expect this course to last the length of one semester on campus, namely, fifteen weeks -- or if you're working efficiently and with few competing projects -- a minimum of two months. Due to the large number of messages and the interactive nature of the exchanges, this online course requires a level of participation equal to or greater than an on-campus, regular class -- though the times of participation will vary from student to student.
Although electronic replies can be instantaneous, human replies take longer. You may work ahead on subsequent exercises and lesson material -- and submit them -- without waiting. However, please make sure you have submitted everything from each lesson before moving on to the next.
Coursework missing from a lesson will be treated as late and not accepted as soon as you submit any coursework for the next lesson -- so make sure everything is done before moving on to the next lesson.
In order to prevent a pile-up of coursework at the end of the course, you will face two interim deadlines. You must complete Lessons One to Six within two months after the start of your enrollment. Lessons Seven to Twelve must be completed within four months after the start of your enrollment. Missing either of those deadlines will cause your final grade to be lowered by one level (e.g. B+ to B); missing both deadlines will lower your final grade by two levels.
Lessons Thirteen and Fourteen finish the course, and are due within five months after the start of your enrollment. If you are applying for an extension (two months), permission will depend on how much of the course you have completed and new interim deadlines will take effect. All coursework will need to be done by the new finishing date.
SESSION STUDENTS:The timetable is determined by the length of the session, and because of the interactive nature of the course, deadlines are essential to keep everyone working together, and to have coursework available for other students when it is needed. The deadlines must be strict, and work that is submitted after a deadline will not be given instructor feedback and will not be graded. (Note that two missed deadlines are allowed, as explained in "Participation" below). Your final course results will be affected if you don't keep up with the schedule. Computer problems will not be a valid excuse for lateness -- leave enough time to respond to possible hardware/software glitches, and always make backups of both your document file and your disk.
The course builds on previous coursework, so missed activity affects the remainder of the lessons. If you miss a deadline, you are still responsible for any work that was due. In particular, you will need to do any late exercises, readings, student feedback, and/or writing assignments by the time of the next posted deadline, even if they will not be graded or given instructor feedback. Failure to do so will lead to further grade reduction, affecting the completion part of the next grading period in addition to the missed part of the current grading period (see "Grading" below for details about the grading periods)
The schedule is posted online where you can see it easily once the course begins. All times refer to local time in Athens, Ohio.
Please do the coursework in the sequence presented within each lesson (methodically scroll down the lesson page to see it all), and don't move on to the next lesson until you have completed each part.
You can manage your time best if you begin the next lesson as soon as you finish the current week's coursework. Watch for assignments that need special preparation time (e.g. longer papers). Looking -- and working -- ahead will be particularly relevant for students who have the most available time on the weekend. However, when you work ahead, please don't submit the completed work until the current deadline is passed.
START OF SESSION: please note what is called the Two-Hour Rule, as explained in the OU Undergraduate Catalog under Academic Policies and Procedures: Class Attendance Policy.
If you miss the first two contact hours of a class, the instructor has the option of not admitting you to the class whether or not you are registered for it. (This policy applies to the first two hours of a class, not to the first two class meetings.) If you miss the first two contact hours, check with your instructor to verify your status in the class. If you have not been admitted, you will need to drop the class through Web Registration.
Note: If the instructor does not admit you to the class, you still must drop the class from your schedule by using Web Registration. Otherwise, you will receive an F, an FN (failure never attended), or an FS (failure stopped attending) for the class at the end of the semester.For our course, "the first two contact hours" will be defined as the time until the first deadline in the first week. I will not admit you to the class if I have received no communication from you at all.
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You may use either a Windows-based PC or an Apple computer. Your computer will probably be protected by a firewall, which is software or a device that stands between you and the outside world like a border patrol, checking the traffic going in and out and preventing unwanted outsiders from reaching the network. Your browser may also be protected by a 'pop-up blocker' or other protection methods.
If you are not able to reach any part of the course, or if any course-related elements aren't working properly for you, the reason may be a setting or two on your own computer. In many cases, I will not be able to help you with the problem (the variations are too many to sort out, and my specialty is writing rather than technical issues). Instead, check with anyone you know who has experience solving those kinds of challenges, or contact the OU Service Desk at 740-593-1222.
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Since each of your systems will be different, you may have to find local support for
answering your specific questions in getting the software and hardware set up. I will help
as much as I can (email me at 
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Microsoft Word is the standard for this course -- this is not optional. WordPerfect, Works, TextEdit, and Open Office will not be adequate. You may use any program you wish to create your documents, but you will need to convert the documents when you submit. You will also need Word to open and review documents received from other students and the instructor.
Word is necessary because we use one of its features, called Track Changes, extensively (this feature is explained during the lessons). To give and receive feedback, you'll need access to Microsoft Word 2003, 2007, 2008 (Word for Mac), or 2010. Some versions of Microsoft Works can't do this, and Open Office does not have Track Changes. Open Office WILL NOT WORK for feedback.
If you don't already use Word, please arrange to have access to Word on another computer, or add Microsoft Office to your own computer. As a student, you qualify for a greatly reduced price. A copy of Office through the university, costing around $70, requires picking up a physical DVD on campus, or you can have the DVD shipped from an internet educational dealer such as The Academic Superstore for around $100.
Word 03 users
Note that Word uses different formats. If you are using Word 2003, you will not be able to open and read later versions (Word 2007, 2008 (Word for Mac) and 2010). For writing and submitting coursework, this is not a problem (the later versions will open your work easily).
However, to receive and read coursework, you will need to:
1. arrange access to Word 07 or later on another computer; or
2. install a free Compatibility Pack from Microsoft (if you need help or advice, contact the Tech Support link in the left margin); or
3. upgrade to the current version of Word (see the purchase info given above).
How do you tell which version you are using? The Help or ? icon will tell you, or you can see if your documents have ".doc" at the end (Word 03 format), or ".docx" (later versions).
Please use only your OU-assigned email address (yourOUid@ohio.edu) for receiving course messages. The OU email address will be listed in the classlist, and mailings from myself and from other students will be sent to that address.
If you have some other regular email account that you prefer to use, you should set up automatic forwarding from OU. You will miss important University-related messages in addition to this course if you don't regularly check your OU address, or if you don't have reliable forwarding in place.
- The OU address is needed mostly for receiving email. Once receiving email is reliable, you can send from an non-university account without concern. Any direct reply will return to that non-university account.
Detailed emails are an essential part of this course. If you normally check your email on a smart phone, make sure you are reading the whole message and not just the beginning. If you briefly check your email, it will be listed as "read" and you can easily miss important content if you don't return to it later and read it all.
The course webpages are designed for Internet Explorer, but any other browser (Firefox, Safari, Chrome) should show them well enough. The course website is deliberately non-graphical, to put emphasis on the words themselves.
The text readings require the use of Adobe Reader, which is standard on many systems. If yours doesn't already it, the program is free and can be downloaded from Get Adobe Reader.
Your browser will need to open separate windows with course content. The settings on your computer may need adjusting to allow pop-ups, cookies, and access through a firewall. If those terms mean little to you, find a friend to help -- but wait until a problem shows up. In most cases, your computer will let the course open without any difficulties.
Please be aware that the webpages for the course need more than the small screen of a smart phone. You are adding unnecessary difficulty if you use less than a full screen.
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Papers, feedback, and exercises are not graded individually. This is meant to encourage experimentation, and to shift the ‘worth’ of a piece of writing away from an associated grade to its perceived effect on readers, namely (for now), on myself and your fellow students. When given, a grade combines a sense of how your work compares with your peers and how it compares with your own previous work. Substantial improvement as measured against yourself counts for more than any pre-existing, static excellence at writing.
Grades are based on the first attempt you make for each course activity. Some assignments are important for establishing methods for the course and you may be asked to re-submit if your submission is inadequate. The majority of students absorb the lessons without difficulty, and that level of attention and accuracy is rewarded in the grading. Any re-submissions are required but will not change the initial grading.
You will be graded on three lessons at a time, with one grade letter applying to all three lessons. Grading is based on the quality of writing and evidence of improvement (70%), the completion of all assignments, readings, and exercises (15%), and the quality of participation in discussion and feedback (15%). Continued failures to follow instructions (including the identification of coursework by filename and subject line) will affect the grading. Inadequate computer and/or internet skills that hamper your participation could also have an effect. The final result reported to the university at the end of the course will combine the weighted results for each grading.
- SESSION STUDENTS: each grading period will be processed during the following week
Grading Weight First Lessons One, Two, Three 20% Second Lessons Four, Five, Six 15% Third Lessons Seven, Eight, Nine 25% Fourth Lessons Ten, Eleven, Twelve 15% Fifth Lessons Thirteen and Fourteen
(including the final rewrites)25%
You are entitled to a B+ for your final grade if you do all the work, do it with care, and if you are helpful to others in the group. B+ is the average grade for this course. Grades lower than B+ result from carelessness, lack of participation, casual/superficial thinking, and disregard for the value of rewriting. Note that attitude affects a grade of C or below more than writing ability.
An A or A- can't be earned by effort alone. They are given to reward superior ability and/or superior improvement, and must always be supported by active participation. Superior writing shows clarity, organization, polish, language skills, confidence, imagination, energy, and insight. An A student isn't afraid to experiment, and occasional disappointing results will not seriously damage the grade.
FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS
Your ability to write is influenced by your ability to read. Instructions are given throughout this course that are detailed and complete, and must be followed carefully. Unlike on-campus courses, the exchanges of coursework depend entirely on abstract, but critical, elements like filenames and subject lines. Errors complicate the running of the course and introduce delays and confusion that often affect other students.
Inaccurate reading and failures to check your work against the instructions will result in lower grades, especially if the problems persist. On the positive side, practicing care with the instructions will
help make all your reading more perceptive
improve accuracy in your own writing
allow us all to concentrate on the development of our writing, rather than the apparatus that delivers it
If you don't understand any instruction, or feel an instruction is missing, it is your responsibility to ask about it by direct email to the instructor.
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This course is a mixture of private work and public workshop, and depends on active members who co-operate to improve the writing skills of everyone. Participation in discussion and class exercises, and generous feedback for other students, are surefire routes to better writing and a better grade.
Until now, distance courses have been conducted by mail and have been, by necessity, private. However, online access takes this course closer to the conditions of a classroom -- which is public and social. If you are reluctant to have your writings and your comments aired within a group, if entering the give-and-take of a seminar is not suited to your temperament, you may want to consider a mail-based composition course. See Courses by Correspondence for details.
SESSION STUDENTS: Coursework must be submitted on time (see full explanation in "Timetable" above). To match an attendance policy that applies to an on-campus course, you are allowed to miss three deadlines for submissions during the course. Submissions for those three deadlines must be completed by the time of the next deadline and will be graded, but will not receive instructor feedback. The three missed deadlines could result from any reason, including illness, and you do not need to explain them. However, any missed deadlines beyond the three will reduce your grading. I'd recommend that you submit coursework always on time in order to keep the allowance for three missed deadlines available in case of illness or unexpected circumstances. Please note that, since the finals involve grading that is submitted directly to the Registrar, you may not use one of your three allowed missed deadlines at the end of the course. Submissions later than the scheduled time for the final will not be accepted.
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We are interested in your writing. The ease with which text can be imported electronically brings its own temptations and dangers; use other writers only as support or points of departure for your own ideas and expression. Work which is copied directly from someone else's writing (or which has been altered in minor ways) must be identified, and must not overwhelm your own approach and your own voice. Sources used without acknowledgement ("plagiarism") will cause your work to be rejected, will affect your grade, and could result in failure. In addition, writing which has been (or is intended to be) used for credit in another course is not permitted.
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Check with the contacts below for information that applies to your own situation. In general, the requirements are as follows:
Ohio University degree students: junior status and completion of a first year composition course.
Students not in Ohio University degree programs: native-level proficiency in English and previous completion of a college-level English composition course. The junior level prerequisite can sometimes be waived.
PLEASE NOTE: This course is not intended for English-language acquisition. You may be asked to withdraw if your English language abilities prevent a concentration on advanced writing skills.
SESSION STUDENTS: For information, contact:
Pam Brown, Director
Term-Based Programs
Haning Hall 205
740-593-2583
1-888-551-6446 (toll-free)
740-593-0452 (FAX)
web: www.ohio.edu/OUonline
email: OU.Online@ohio.eduINDEPENDENT STUDY STUDENTS: For information about policies and procedures, visit the Independent & Distance Learning website, in particular the "World Wide Web Courses". If you have questions and can't find answers, please ask directly by email to independent.study@ohio.edu.
Fees
- For current information, see Fees and Policies at the Independent & Distance Learning website.
How to Enroll
Independent & Distance Learning Forms
Click here for downloadable forms:
- Enrollment Application (both electronic and print version)
- Request for External Student Program Information
- Extension Request Form
- Transcript Request Form
You need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to be able to print these forms, but a download link to the free reader is provided.
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Go to David Sharpe's Homepage for full contact information. The best method is by email via
If any of the course is not functioning properly for you (and especially if a procedure that was working suddenly STOPS working), please contact both the instructor (by email) and OHIO Information Technology (OIT). An exception is the eBook, which has its own technical support (see information given in the lesson when the eBook is ordered).
OIT Service Desk
- by phone
- 740-593-1222 (Mon-Fri 8am-5pm)
- by web
- 24/7 Customer Service Portal
For administrative questions
SESSION STUDENTS
Pam Brown, Director
Term-Based Programs
Haning Hall 205
- by phone
- 740-593-2583 or
- 1-888-551-6446 (toll-free)
- by fax
- 740-593-0452
- by web
- www.ohio.edu/OUonline
- by email
- OU.Online@ohio.edu
INDEPENDENT STUDY STUDENTS
- Independent & Distance Learning
The Independent & Distance Learning office is located in Haning Hall on the main Ohio University campus in Athens, Ohio. We're open 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through Friday. You may reach us:
- by mail
- Independent & Distance Learning,
- Ohio University,
- Haning Hall 018,
- Athens OH 45701
- by phone
- 740-593-2910 or
- 1-800-444-2910 [in U.S. only]
- by fax
- 740-593-2901 (see also Using our fax service)
- by web
- www.ohio.edu/independent
- by email
- independent.study@ohio.edu
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Ever since owning my first computer (in 1981), I have mixed together almost equal parts
of writing and computing-for-the-sake-of-writing. That mix becomes more
relevant and volatile every year. I first became an English instructor at
O.U. in 1988, and in the years since, I have taught Junior Composition, Freshman Composition, and Fiction Writing. Then in 1994, I
began teaching additional classes as a senior lab instructor for Computer Science
(Computer Literacy, CS120). The two teaching interests came together in 1995 when I
developed a composition course called Writing and Computers. Half of the class time relied on traditional classroom
techniques, while the other half used a computer lab as a workshop for real-time composing
and critiquing, both individual and collaborative. The direct result was this
online course, which went into operation in 1996. Currently I teach a Junior-level
version of this course on campus (now called Writing and Rhetoric II), and Writing and Film for freshmen.
I have a Masters in Fiction Writing from Brown University and a Masters in Literature from the University of Alberta, and I am the author of thirty published stories and poems, plus a non-fiction book entitled Rochdale: The Runaway College.
If you want to see more, please visit my homepage.
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If you absorb the content and methods of the course successfully, at the end you should be able to --
1) Write:
- write for specific purposes, audiences and situations;
- show ability to quote, paraphrase, summarize, analyze, synthesize, and critique;
- compose original arguments using rhetorical strategies, such as appeals to ethos, logos, pathos;
- show ability to utilize and/or analyze visual texts along with alphabetic texts;
- practice writing in a variety of genres (i.e. researched arguments, literary analyses, memoir, memos, reports, proposals, etc.);
- approach writing as a recursive process;
- use various activities to generate ideas for writing, including class discussion, group work, debates, focused learning logs, freewriting, etc.
- use informal writing as a tool for developing critical thinking;
- revise at both global and local levels;
- use correct documentation, grammar, spelling, and punctuation;
- compose a minimum of 20 pages of formal, graded writing, not including revised writing.
2) Read:
- read a variety of texts and genres, such as articles from academic journals and popular magazines, visual texts or film, creative writing (i.e. poetry, memoir, literary journalism) and student texts;
- differentiate between primary and secondary sources;
- analyze and/or evaluate texts according to the audience, purposes, and writing situations;
- understand and use a variety of concepts or theories to analyze different texts (i.e. use of metaphor or symbolism, concepts from film studies, feminist theory, etc.);
- understand and use rhetorical concepts (ethos, logos, pathos, kairos) to analyze texts;
- read own texts reflectively to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas needing improvement;
- respond to peers' texts constructively at both global and local levels.
3) Research:
- search a variety of academic databases using appropriate and effective strategies;
- evaluate the quality and validity of sources using clear criteria (i.e. online sources, journal articles, etc.);
- understand plagiarism and how to avoid it;
- document sources correctly using an assigned documentation style or a documentation style from the students’ field (i.e. MLA, APA, Chicago);
- demonstrate ability to develop a good question for research (i.e. open-ended, current or relevant, focused, etc.).
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