Writing & Rhetoric II

English 308J

Instructor: David Sharpe
Ohio University, Athens OH

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www.ohio.edu/sharpe/eng308

SYLLABUS

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As with all English 308J courses, this one is primarily intended to improve your writing skills -- but you will do so while developing strategies for using computers in the writing process. Language proficiency from basic grammar to stylistic polish will be emphasized as a platform for higher concerns of structure and insight. Computers will be used as both content and tool. Assignments will be drawn from a range of styles and forms: descriptive, personal essay, narrative, investigative, comparative, persuasive, analytical, and interpretive. Critiquing of papers will examine style, structure, and logic as in any composition course.

• During the quarter, you will produce twenty pages of strong, clear, polished writing in four formal projects and several in-class activities. Rewriting of each project is expected, though formal grading of those rewrites won't take place until the end of the quarter. In addition, you'll be writing short memos, and adding suggestions to papers by other students in the class.  A final rewrite of each paper takes the place of a final exam.
  • IMPORTANT: Projects are due at the start of the class -- in most cases, by Tuesday at 12 noon.
  • All papers must be prepared with a word-processing program.  If this is a problem, please see me individually.
  • Because word-processing allows great variation in formatting, the number of pages is approximate and translates roughly into 300 words per page. Graphics and large fonts are disregarded in the word count.  The total amount written for the course will reach 6,000 words.
     
• When asked as part of a class exercise, you will add constructive corrections and suggestions to examples of student work. In some cases, you will be asked to write a paragraph addressed to the writer that summarizes your reactions.
   
• In addition to the formal projects, you will complete a number of in-class exercises.
   
• In preparation for class discussion on assigned material, you may be asked to write short reaction memos that will be handed in.
   
• The readings in this course will be assigned as we go, and each reading is essential.  Your best effort is asked for, not total recall.  Short quizzes will show me that the reading has been done.  Readings for the next class will be listed in Announcements at the start of each lab in the course website.  Please note that announcements are NOT sent via Blackboard.
   
• Problems in grammar and usage must be worked on as they are pointed out. We will confirm your grammatical abilities with the help of The Everyday Writer by Lunsford. Continued grammatical errors will affect your grade.

• the standard for word processing will be Word.  WordPerfect, Works, and Open Office will not be adequate.  You can prepare drafts in any program, but final versions will need to be either done in Word (available in all labs on-campus) or saved in Word format.  Until Word 2007 is standard on campus, please notice whether you need to save your work in Word 2003 format for use on your own computer (use File / Save As to convert your document, if necessary).

Three absences (six hours total) will be permitted, but each absence thereafter will lower your final grade -- after all other factors have been counted -- by one-third (e.g., B to B-). Absences beyond three will be noted REGARDLESS OF THE REASON. You cannot do the work and participate in the class if you are not there, and even 'legitimate' reasons (illness, university functions, etc.) cannot replace what is missed. I would strongly advise you to keep your absences unused in case of unforeseen, future emergencies. If you must be absent, you are still responsible for whatever you missed, including finding out what is required and submitting, before the next class, any work that is due. In particular, you will need to do any reading quizzes and exercises from the missed class, before the start of the next class. Please contact me if you need to miss more than one class in a row.

Classes begin promptly; three late arrivals will count as an absence.  Assignments are due at the beginning of class, and late assignments will be graded lower -- or not accepted at the discretion of the instructor. Papers that are late because of an absence will be due before the start of the next class. Excuses based on ill-planned use of computers will not be accepted: leave enough time to respond to possible hardware/software glitches, and always make backups of both your document file and your disk.

Portable devices such as cell phones and music players (iPod, MP3) should be switched off during each lab. Please do not use earphones while working on exercises and projects.

The course will be conducted as a mixture of seminar, tutorial, and workgroup, with everyone expected to contribute to the betterment of each person's writing and computing skills. Energetic participation in discussion and class activities, generous critiques of other student work, and a team approach to solving difficulties in the new medium -- all of these are surefire routes to better writing, a better class, and a better grade.

Projects and lab 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.

You will be graded three times:

Each grade will reflect the following considerations: the quality of writing and evidence of improvement, the completion of all assignments and readings, and class participation. Each late assignment will lower the interim grade by one-third (e.g., B to B-) and may not be accepted at all, at the discretion of the instructor. Each interim grade refers to its own time period and the final grade is calculated by simple addition of the points.

You are entitled to a B for your final grade if you do all the work, do it on time, do it with care, and if you are helpful to others in the class. Grades lower than B result from carelessness, lack of participation and/or attendance, 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. A few 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 damage the grade. Rewrites may not always be better, but they must be different.

You must work with your own writing. The ease with which text can be imported electronically brings 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 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 and could result in failure.

If you absorb the content and methods of the course successfully, at the end you should be able to --

1)  Write:

• show ability to paraphrase, summarize, analyze, critique, and synthesize;
• fit writing to specific purposes, audiences and situations;
• compose original arguments; write persuasively, analyze audience;
• compose a minimum of 20 pages of formal, graded writing, not including revised writing;
• show ability to utilize visual expression along with alphabetic texts (optional);
• learn tools for writing in a variety of voices/genres;
• recognize the value of rewriting and seeing your writing through another's eyes;
• use formal/informal writing as a tool for critical thinking;
• use informal writing as a bridge to formal/public writing;
• be aware that writing is self-representative, that readers will judge you;
• learn correct documentation, grammar, and punctuation;
• focus on revision both locally and globally;

 2)  Read: 

• be exposed to a variety of readings, such as cultural, theoretical, visual, professional, and student texts.
• position own writing in relation to other texts;
• identify and use rhetorical concepts (ethos, tone, logos, pathos, style);
• analyze and/or evaluate texts according to the audience, purposes, and writing situations;
• identify examples of a given genre by its core properties or conventions;
• read as a writer to improve one's own writing;
• read for structure; understand the intention of particular structures in texts;
• identify and use primary and secondary sources;
• understand the connection between reading and writing critically;

 3)  Research: 

• understand the processes involved in searching for sources on academic databases;
• demonstrate ability to work with a variety of academic databases to locate appropriate sources;
• evaluate the quality of sources using clear criteria; understand the differences between articles in magazines and peer-reviewed journals; 
• demonstrate ability to evaluate the quality of on line sources;
• understand the difference between primary and secondary sources;
• understand plagiarism and how to avoid it;
• document sources correctly in an assigned documentation style or in students’ field (MLA, APA, Chicago);
• demonstrate ability to develop a good question for research (open-ended, focused).

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