ENG
1000:
Exposition and Argumentation
Literacy and Life: How to Write, Read, Learn,
and Live
NOTE: This course will not be taught by Ms. Friedman in Fall 2007
Texts
There are two required books for this class, available at the University
Bookstore:
- The Norton Field Guide to Writing
- Considering Literacy: Reading and Writing: The Educational Experience
These books are also available on Amazon, but if you go that route, make sure you will receive your books in time for class. To facilitate this, the first two days of class will be based on readings which I will make available on the Blackboard site. When I provide electronic readings, I expect that you bring some paper-based form to class to annotate and make reference to.
Purpose
and General Structure of the Class
English 1000 is one of the foundation courses of MU's General Education
Program. This means the MU faculty and administrators believe that the
ability to write and read well is essential to a college education. In
fact, MU believes so strongly in the importance of writing that it requires
two writing courses beyond ENG 1000 (i.e., the Writing Intensive requirement).
The main purpose of this course, then, is to help you improve your abilities
to read critically and write effectively in preparation for your other
college courses and your life after graduation.
Our time together will be devoted to
- learning and practicing strategies of critical reading
- learning
and practicing techniques of effective, academic-level writing, including
aspects of argumentation, organization, and style.
The major written work will consist of three formal papers of increasing length (including both an initial submission and a revised, final submission). In addition, there will be short, informal writing and other assignments.
Course-specific Guidelines
Grade
Breakdown
|
70% |
Formal Writing |
||
|
30% |
Final |
|
|
| Draft (10%) | |||
| Presentation (5%) | |||
|
20% |
Paper
2 (4-5) |
|
|
| Draft (5%) | |||
|
20% |
Paper
1 (3-4) |
|
|
| Draft (5%) | |||
| 20% |
Informal Weekly Writing |
||
|
10% |
Class Attendance, Participation |
||
Formal
Papers
Formal writing in this discipline must conform to a consistent citation
format (MLA, Chicago, etc.), in 12 point clear font, double-spaced, with
1 inch margins. Work is due by 10 AM on the specified due date, via the
Blackboard site's "Paper Assignments" turn-in. We will run a
test prior to the first submission. Extensions on formal paper assignments
(including drafts and proposals) will only be granted with more than 48
hours' notice.
Late work without a prior extension will not be accepted.
A complete grading rubric is included in this syllabus. Remember: I grade you on the work I see, not on your good intentions. I expect that you will have personally proofread (and ideally, had someone else read over) your formal writing prior to handing it in. Egregious grammar errors, typos, improper citation, formatting errors, etc. are unacceptable on formal writing assignments, as they imply sloppy thought and hasty writing. Papers with such errors will be marked down a letter grade.
The week after each draft submission, you will be responsible for attending scheduled conference times with me in lieu of class attendance. This is your chance to get one-on-one attention about your work, and if you fail to attend it will count as an absence.
Informal
Weekly Writing
(rubric adapted from Devoney Looser)
On weeks where we meet as a group, you will write once a week in response to each other and to our assigned readings, using Blackboard. Your responses should be at least 250 words in length and should demonstrate that you have read and carefully thought about the assigned reading.
You will be assigned one of three due dates - either Sunday, Tuesday, or Thursday at 9 PM (in other words, the night before one of our class periods.) You should use this forum to:
- ask substantive questions about the text assigned for the next class
- to make connections among texts
- to identify the central arguments of a given piece
- to identify what you see as important themes and issues
I am less interested in what you liked or disliked about the reading (although that may be relevant to your response) than in what issues you found central and why. You might also think of these pieces as useful practice for your formal writing.
As we proceed, I will point out questions and responses that I think are particularly strong (and you can check some out from a prior class here), so that you may consider them as models for your future work. I will also provide additional feedback about your individual progress in this area when you request it. Each week, I will grade your online contributions as excellent (A/90-100), good (B/80-90), satisfactory (C/70-79), poor (D/60-69), and not adequate (F/below 60). You will be able to keep track of your grades via Blackboard.
Late work in this category will be accepted up to one week afterward but will not be graded higher than a C. Missed work is automatically recorded as an F. Multiple weeks of missing questions and responses will jeopardize your ability to pass the course.
Previously
taught:
Fall 2006
MWF 10-10.50 (Middlebush 11) - see reading schedule here
Fall 2005
Section 19: MWF 9-9.50 (Geology 105)
Section 22: MWF 10-10.50 (Geology 109)