English 104 Syllabus

Missouri Western State University, Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Department of English, Foreign Languages and Journalism

English 104: College Writing & Rhetoric

Spring 2010

Instructor: Amy Chastain

Office: Eder Hall 213

Email: amichelechastain@yahoo.com

Office Hours:

T 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

TH 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Required Texts

Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled -- and More Miserable Than Ever Before by Jean M. Twenge

The Hip Hop Reader by Tim Strode & Tim Wood

Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman’s Guide to Why Feminism Matters by Jessica Valenti

Easy Writer: A Pocket Reference by Andrea Lunsford

Flash drive

Course Goals

College Writing

• Active, analytical reading and critical writing
• Practicing writing in various forms (examples include: academic essay, email, speech, web site, blog, video, digital communication)
• Engaging in close reading of texts (being able to read a text and comment on it analytically or rhetorically, e.g. audience, context, purpose)
• Practicing critical thinking and critical writing activities, e.g. critical response journals, academic essays, blogs, peer responses
• Locating, evaluating, and using scholarly sources within academic prose; Engaging in research-based argument (attribute, document, and incorporate others’ ideas in one’s own text)
• Practicing organizational methods in writing
• Learning Written Standard American English conventions (spelling, grammar, editing, use of a style manual, MLA style)
• Learning and practicing a variety of processes including invention, drafting, and revision strategies (multiple drafts reviewed with feedback by peers and/or instructor)

Rhetorical Awareness

• Writing for various contexts, purposes, and audiences (rhetorical writing)
• Attention to audience awareness and the use of language or graphics to appeal to specific audiences (the various tools of persuasion)
• Understanding and use of rhetorical terms such as rhetoric, ethos, pathos, logos and kairos
• Understanding how context affects the construction of a text; creating texts with attention to context
• Practicing style in order to enhance communication

Grading Policy

Inquiry Journal 80

Project Proposals 100

Portfolio 535

Writer Critique 35

Essay 1) 100

Essay 2) 100

Essay 3) 150

Essay 4) 150

Peer Review 40

Writer Critique 40

Community Critique 50

Student Led Class 50

Letter to the author(s) 75

Points Total 1000

Blog

At the beginning of the spring academic year, you will create an account with www.blogger.com. You will submit any work you do for this course to their blog such as formal writing assignments, journal entries, the portfolio and writers notes. Think of it as an online working portfolio. Any feedback you receive will be posted to the blog unless you request to have such feedback privatized in which case, the professor will submit her comments by email only.

Aside from the individual blogs students will create, a classroom blog has been created where you may view the syllabus, the schedule(s) for each formal writing assignment and guidelines as such, journal entries, helpful tools, sites and videos. Furthermore if you have any questions in regard to formal writing assignments, the professor encourages you to ask them on the classroom blog because others may have a similar question. You can do so by using the commenting feature.

Assignments:

Inquiry Journal: Due to your blog, you will be asked to construct a journal response every other week in response to the readings. Do not ask me about the length of these assignments. Write about something you found interesting. I want to hear what you have to say in response to the reading. Analyze it. Remember to write about one theme you found interesting or shocking in the week’s reading in regard to your life. There should be an even balance between the author’s ideas and your own. An example of what I expect to be written can be found in the semester’s schedule.

Essay Requirements:

Project Proposals: You will be required to submit project proposals for each essay you write this semester. Project proposals will be written in memo format and will be submitted by class time of the due date by email. For instance, if we meet at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, the project proposal should be in my email inbox by this same time. I have provided a mock project proposal for each essay outlined in the semester schedule. There you will find how you need to organize the project proposal and which questions to address. While we will discuss this more specifically in class, upon the impending deadline, feel free to email me or ask questions in class for clarification.

Saving and Sending Project Proposals and Essays: This class may be different than any class you may have taken in the past. I don’t accept hard copies of homework assignments, project proposals, or essays (e.g. excluding the portfolio). When you save the document that you will submit to me by email, I ask that you save it as your last name and subject of the document (e.g. chastain pp1.docx or chastain essay1.doc or chastain bib.rtf). Saving these as subject specific, identifying names will allow me more ease and less time and less confusion to provide you with more immediate feedback. You may have noticed that I provided examples saved as different formats. These are formats that I can open. Before you send the email, make certain that you have saved the file in a format that I can open; otherwise, I cannot grade it and you will not receive credit or feedback on the assignment. Secondly, make certain that you have attached the assignment. I cannot open and will not accept files saved as .wps, also known as Word Perfect. In case you have difficulty logging into your account, I will allow you an opportunity to bring in this work on a flash drive. In this event, I ask that you do this prior to class time. As long at the room is available at 1:50 or 1:55, I will be in the classroom at this time. I will create a folder that you can save this to. Since I am allowing you the opportunity to do this, I prefer emailed assignments.

Email: You will be expected to check your email three to five times a week. I understand that this may not be in your routine; however, this class operates much like a job. You are expected to show up on time, do the work and participate in class discussion and in turn, you should receive a passing grade of a C. If the context is modified to fit the work place, you are expected to do these same duties and in turn, you are compensated. Depending on what level of the kind of work you choose to do may strengthen or weaken your grade much like a job. That said, to remain informed, I ask that you check your email quite frequently. At the beginning of the semester, I am provided with your MWSU accounts. These are the accounts that I will email you at; however, if there is another email account that you check frequently, then you will need to provide me with that at the beginning of class the first week.

Annotated Bibliography: For the third essay that you will write, you will be asked to complete an annotated bibliography. Many of you may not have heard of an annotated bibliography. This is something that many researchers use to help establish what it has to add to their argument. Don’t worry. Like the project proposal, we will discuss this more specifically in class as time approaches. However, I have provided links below if you would like to read about it in more detail. In the O/P drive, you will find three examples of bibliographies that I have written for three different classes.

Writing Annotated Bibliographies:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/01/

Cornell University Library:

http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/ref/research/skill28.htm

Peer Review: For each essay you write, you will be asked to exchange papers with a peer (e.g. Since there are 25 students total, there will be 11 groups of two and one group of three). You may choose to work with this same group throughout the semester. The idea that I have in mind for peer review is a place where you are comfortable enough to share your writing with others. I assign points for peer review, but it is important to keep in mind that just because you participate in peer review does not mean that you will receive the points. I expect every person to provide helpful feedback. These comments that you provide should be about the writing, not the writer. I expect every person to respond the way that I respond. I understand that you are students and that you may not feel qualified to provide feedback, but remember we are all writers. We are all qualified to provide feedback. Think about it—your ideas are important. You may not feel qualified, but you have thoughts and ideas about what we read. We want to hear what you have to say.

I will provide time and dates for peer review. On the days that we will engage in peer review, you are expected to bring two to three drafts of your essay. Expect for your peer to write on your draft. You will turn this in with the final draft in hard copy format. Remember the final draft will be submitted to me electronically, but the rough draft with your peer’s comments will be submitted to me in hard copy the day that the final draft is due. Furthermore, I will ask that the peer’s name who peer reviewed your draft be at the top of the page.

Blogging: Furthermore since each person in this class will have a blog, it is your choice if you wish to share your writing (e.g. on the blog) with this same person or others. I will post the links to our blogs on the class blog during the first week of class. In doing so, if you wish to remain blogging buddies, you have the opportunity to engage your peer in comments about the writing.

Writer Critique: This assignment is very important. This will be submitted in hard copy with the rough draft on the day the final draft is due for critique. Here you will write to me in letter format how you revised from your peer’s comments. In detail you will tell me what problems arose, what your strengths and weaknesses are. I want to know specifically how my comments can help you. You should answer the question, “What can I do?” Remember “I” is me. Keep in mind that this class is different. What I am most concerned with, in this class, is not the grade, but how I can help you become better writers. Theoretically, this will help your grade. Since I am concerned with helping you become better writers, I will not assign letter grades for the essays when you submit the final draft for critique. You will receive a prospective grade (e.g. which you will receive for the portfolio unless you choose to revise). The idea in assigning a prospective grade will allow you an idea of what grade you will receive in the course. This class is created on the basis of revision. Each writer, therefore, will be expected to revise from the rough draft to the final draft to the draft that you will submit for the portfolio. Since points will not be assigned to the final draft for critique, keep in mind that the writer’s critique will be graded. Points will not be automatically assigned just because you do the assignment.

Essay(s): The essays have been carefully designed to fit the course requirements in place to help you become better writers. The essays follow the order that I have listed below.

1) Audience Awareness

2) Analyzing a text that employs ethos, pathos or logos

3) Incorporating Voices

4) Kairos

We will discuss the essays more specifically upon impending deadline. For clarification, please address such questions either via email or in class.

Portfolio Requirements: The final exam in this course will not be an exam that you take during week of final exams; instead, because this course is built around revision, you will be asked to revise the essays you have written over the course of the semester beginning with the rough draft to the final draft due for critique and lastly, the draft due for the portfolio. You will be critiqued on what you have written and how you have revised from the other drafts.

Writer Critique: Like the writer critique due with the final drafts that you submit for critique, this critique will serve as a cover letter to your portfolio. You will address how you revised the first three essays (e.g. You will not have the opportunity to revise the last essay because it is due the day the portfolio is due). To begin this letter, you will write to us, in letter format, how and why you decided to write each essay. For instance, what prompted you to write about the objectification a 1950s ad or why did you choose to analyze pathos in Cosmopolitan’s January issue (e.g. cover)? What was the idea in mind when you chose to investigate how the movie “The Other Guys” uses language, which refers to women, as an insult? What was your rationale when you decided to create a slam poem celebrating your reproductive rights?

We will discuss this in more detail upon impending deadline.

Revision (and Essays): This portfolio’s very basis is revision. I expect each and every writer to take the writing process seriously. In order to become a better writer, what all writers do is revise. This is part of the learning process. We all write shitty drafts at first. And hopefully, the skills you walk in with are added to when you leave this class. That being said, the lessons you learn about audience awareness, the rhetorical triangle, which includes ethos, pathos, logos and kairos, will add to the context of the essays. Because I am allowing you the opportunity to revise, I expect to see these skills carefully thought out and employed in each essay.

The portfolio should be in this order:

1) Writer Critique

2) Essay 1 – Audience Awareness

3) Essay 2 – Analyzing a text that employs ethos, pathos or logos

4) Essay 3 – Incorporating Voices

5) Essay 4 - Kairos

Community Critique: The community critique will be the last letter you write before the semester ends. This will be due on the final exam day. The community critique will be written in letter format. Here you will reflect about your experiences in English 104, which will detail your experiences in reading and writing. If you have become a better reader and writer, how has this course helped you become a better reader and writer? How did the text(s) we read help you or introduce you to new ideas? What have you learned from the lessons of audience awareness, ethos, pathos, logos and kairos and lastly, incorporating voices?

Student Led Class: This will be your opportunity to lead the class in a lesson or activity. I ask that you do not use any PowerPoint presentations. You will have 20 to 25 minutes to construct a lesson in accordance with the week’s readings. For further guidance, I ask that you contact me by email or schedule a conference with me. The objective of this lesson is to provide some new thought to what the readings include. I have provided some examples of student led classes below (e.g. that others have done in the past).

1) Rebels and Prisons in Hip-Hop: Three students previewed two hip-hop videos in class. One video included a mainstream rapper; the other included a video of an underground hip-hop artist. The students asked us to make note of the lyrics. What was being rapped about? They also asked us to take a visual inventory of the images in the videos. We compared and contrasted the two videos.

2) Unbranded/Schools for Sale: Three students created a game-show like atmosphere. They found a buzzer they could use and had students line up in front of the classroom. Instead of a traditional style lecture, they recreated the classroom. The other students would call out answers as the three students asked questions.

3) Female Chauvinist Pigs: A student brought in different examples of how women are influenced to change their bodies. She brought in images and short videos of labiaplasty, toe-shortening surgery, breast ironing, plastic surgery, and foot binding.

4) Hip-Hop Revolution/Minstrel: A student brought in images of prominent African American men and also popular mainstream images of 50 Cent and Little Wayne. The objective was to see who recognized the images. The student talked at length afterwards about what each figure had to contribute to the African American community and lastly, he included the class in a discussion about how and why we recognize mainstream figures rather than prominent African American men like Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton.

Letters to the Author(s): The lessons in audience awareness, ethos, pathos, logos and kairos, and incorporating voices should lend help with this assignment. This will be written in letter format. You will have until the time we begin the book until one week after the time we finish the book to write the letter. Remember your audience. You may choose to investigate the author before you begin to write the letter. You will need to identify yourself and the reason why you are writing to the author. In which case, you are probably wondering why you are writing to the author at this moment. You will identify yourself as a student in a rhetoric and composition classroom. You are writing the letter to inform that author of your thoughts in response to the text. Whether you agree or disagree with the author’s ideas, you will respectfully communicate your ideas in relation to the text. You will draw support for your argument from the text in which case you introduce specific details and incorporate quotes from the author’s book.

Conferencing

You will be required to meet with me one time during the semester. Conferences will be held the second and third week of classes in order to prepare you for the writing process and the semester. Since this conference is around the same time as the first writing assignment you will be asked to bring your project proposal and/or rough draft with you. During this time, you and I will talk about the essay and what we can do to help you become a better writer. Therefore, I will ignore any disruptions. These conferences will be held in my office, not in the classroom. Furthermore, if your cell phone goes off, you will be excused and an absence will stand. It is considered rude and inappropriate behavior when you are meeting with someone to answer a phone or text. This is college and I expect you to act like adults. Before you enter the conference, turn off your phone, or leave it at home or in your car.

Because this is the only required time that you meet with me one-on-one this semester, I do welcome that you schedule a conference with me to either discuss your work this semester or a private matter. If my office hours do not fit with your schedule, please talk to me about a time that works for you.

Writers Workshop

Some of you may have come from English 100 where you met once a week with a group of writers and a student assistant. This was a required time for you to meet. However, this semester, I am creating a scheduled time to meet. If you are interested in meeting with me and fellow writers, please let me know. My schedule is fairly open on Mondays and Wednesdays and Tuesdays and Thursdays after class. While we may not meet each week, I am interested in creating a space where you can seek further feedback about your writing. Since there are many of you in this course, I don’t have the luxury of time of looking at each and every rough draft; therefore, I don’t look over rough drafts. BUT, if you do wish for specific feedback, I ask that you attend a workshop time or more privately, schedule a time to meet with me either during my office hours or at another time, if those don’t work for you. I would be more than happy to help you with a specific concern (e.g. thesis statement, support or an intro paragraph). I will take a list of those interested in meeting. We will not meet each week unless requested. These are times meant to help you with your writing assignments. Most sessions will around an hour. We will be working on outlines, organizing drafts, and ideas that may trigger new thoughts.

Missed/Late Assignments

In regard to formal writing assignments, you may turn in one and one only late paper upon approval by the professor and this may only be approved before the due date of the assignment. If you wish to extend the due date of a paper, you must provide a written request in the format of a letter or email and have spoken to the professor about the matter in person. Only after I have complied with this request will an extension be granted. Only one extension may be granted for each student. This request may not be used for the last paper. Failure to request an extension will result in immediate failure of the course.

I will not accept late assignments unless as designated above. If you miss an in-class writing assignment, in-class work, or a pop quiz, it cannot be made up.

Academic Honesty

Academic honesty is required in all academic endeavors. Violations of academic honesty include any instance of plagiarism, cheating, seeking credit for another’s work, falsifying documents or academic records or any other fraudulent classroom activity. Cheating and plagiarism are not acceptable. If I find evidence of cheating or plagiarism, you have the burden of showing that the paper has, in fact, been written by the student. You should keep thorough evidence of his/her writing processes for all papers so that h/she can meet this burden of proof. You will receive a grade of F (0 points) for any paper, assignment and/or exam showing evidence of cheating and/or plagiarism. If you plagiarize a paper, you forfeit the right to revise that paper; if you cheat on an exam, you will not be allowed to retake the exam. If you are found of plagiarizing a paper, assignment and/or exam a second time, you will receive a grade of F in English 104. Violations of academic honesty will be reported to the Provost or the designated representative on the Academic Honesty Violation Report Forms. Please see the Student Handbook for specific activities identified as violations of this policy and the student due process procedure. This handbook is also available online at http://www.missouriwestern.edu/handbook/index.pdf (page 26).

Attendance Policy

The attendance policy will be enforced, even if you have a passing grade in the course. Furthermore, the maximum number of absences allowed before the midterm report for this class is three. Thus, when you have four absences, you will be reported to the Registrar’s Office, who will automatically withdraw you from this class. The Financial Aid Office will reduce financial aid as appropriate. For further assistance, please visit http://www.missouriwestern.edu/catalog/academicpolicies.pdf (page 22).

Tardiness will not be accepted. Even if you are more than five minutes late (e.g. more than three times), you may remain in the course that day, but an absence will stand. You will not be informed of this absence; this is your warning.

If you miss a class session, you are responsible for all material covered and assignments given during your absence. If you miss a course meeting, than I fully expect that you to follow the course schedule and/or to contact a peer to receive a full review of what was conducted in class. I will not waist class time reviewing what happened the day before, because you missed the course. It is your responsibility to be in class. Taking class time to review the day’s events prior only takes away from the other writers’ learning experience.

Civility and Cooperation

Missouri Western requires all students to help maintain good conditions for teaching and learning. We will treat our classmates, instructors, and student assistants with civility and respect, both inside and outside the classroom. Students who violate this policy may, among other penalties, be counted absent and asked to leave. I encourage you to review the Missouri Western student handbook for further information. This handbook is available online at http://www.missouriwestern.edu/handbook/index.pdf (page 28).

Cell Phone Etiquette: Many of you are attached to your cell phones; perhaps, we might refer to it as your umbilical cords. However, this course only meets twice a week for three hours total; therefore, I will require that everyone's cell phones are turned off, not turned on silent, and placed in front of you. I too will follow this policy. At the beginning of each course meeting, I will ask each person to remove their phone, place it in front of them and turn it off. My phone, like yours, will remain in front of me or on the desk. If your cell phone vibrates or goes off, then you will be asked to leave class and an absence will stand.

Student Disability

Any student in this course who has a disability that prevents the fullest expressions of abilities should contact Missouri Western’s Special Needs Coordinator Michael Ritter for possible certification of special needs and expert recommendations for assistance. Contact the professor personally as soon as possible so that the two of you can discuss class requirements.

Michael Ritter, Disability Services Coordinator

Phone: (816) 271-4330

Email: mritter@missouriwestern.edu

Center for Academic Support:

For additional help with your writing, please visit the Center for Academic Support. There is no cost for using CAS services.

Phone: (816) 271-4524

Hearnes Center, Room 213

Monday – Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Monday – Thursday evenings from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.