INSTRUCTOR: LAUREN PISANELLI
Email: lp314408@ohio.edu
Office: Ellis 08
Appointment
Required Materials
Textbooks: Writing about
Writing, Elizabeth
Wardle and Doug Downs
Other Readings on Blackboard
Supplies:
Composition Notebook for notes, quizzes, in-class writing, and activities
Folder or binder for all 1510 coursework and handouts
Highlighters
Introduction
Welcome to English 1510: Writing and Rhetoric 1. As the course
catalog states, this course is meant to provide “practice in composing and
revising expository essays that are well organized, logically coherent, and
effective for their purpose and audience.” In this syllabus, I’ll try to
explain how I’d like us to accomplish that and a whole lot more.
My first goal for this course is to help
you improve your understanding of what writing is, how it functions in various
writing communities and what you might need to do to successfully make use of
writing in the communities that you need or want to enter. By the end of the
semester, I want you to know as much as possible about writing and rhetoric. If
you know how writing works, and why it is working that way, then you have a
much better chance of developing the tools you need to use it to your
advantage. To do that, we need to study writing itself, and in the process of
doing so, we should come to see what makes writing so difficult and why we have
all struggled with or against it some, if not most, of the time. Writing and
reading aren’t subjects we master and then move away from; rather, they are
subjects that we continue to learn from and about no matter our age or level of
education.
In this class, you will
encounter a variety of texts on myriad subjects and exemplifying many genres.
You yourself will write several types, or genres, of texts, including an
analysis, a narrative, and an ethnographic research paper. Some texts will be
academic, while others will be more instructive. Struggling through some of
these articles is normal and expected. Together, we will be able to parse
through these texts to extract the essential points. Through application and
imitation of core concepts, you will begin to improve your understanding of how
writing works at the same time you learn new strategies for reading difficult,
complicated texts. Ultimately, these readings will also provide the subject
material and strategies you will use write your major essays of the course.
Your major course work
will include four major projects and at least one major rewrite of one of the
first three projects, as well as formal written responses to one peer paper for
each major project, which I will call a peer review. You will also be given
usually daily quizzes over the assigned text(s) to ensure close reading and
careful notetaking. Finally, class discussion is vital to our success in this
course. It’s also what will make the course interesting, enjoyable and
stimulating. Open class discussions and frequent group work will provide you
with further opportunities to investigate and apply some of the information
presented in the readings.
Course Work
Project
1: Rhetorical Analysis
Project 2: Literacy Narrative with Analysis
Project 3: Group Ethnography: Analyzing
Identity within a Discourse Community
Project 4: Reflective Argument Essay &
Writing Portfolio
Daily quizzes and process work to be completed
in class
Composition Notebook
You are required to purchase a composition
notebook and bring it and the day’s texts with you daily to class. This
notebook will serve multiple purposes. Outside of class, you should record any
notes on the class readings in your notebook. During class, you will want to
take notes during class discussions. For instance, if we do a close reading of
a specific passage, you’ll want to make a note of it; it is probably going to
be a good quotation in your essay! Moreover, I will frequently ask you to do
additional writing activities in-class, such as free writing exercises, reading
responses, brainstorming, outlining, or other process work for your projects. Occasionally,
I will collect your notebooks to see what you’ve written. The notebook is meant
to help you with organization and invention (how you come up with what you will
write), and it should also be convenient: everything you need will be in one
place!
Quizzes
On the days for which a text is assigned, you
will take an in-class quiz to ensure you have done close and careful reading. Quizzes
are in lieu of written homework, so expect them to be appropriately challenging
and to cover the entirety of the articles you read. Quiz length will vary, but the possible assessment outcomes are:
credit (check), half credit (check minus), and no credit (minus). Sometimes you might be absent or tardy, or will receive no credit; thus, each
student is allowed to make-up up to 2 quizzes. You must make up the quiz within
one week. After you’ve used up your 2 freebies, subsequent missed quizzes/no credits
will result in minor violations (see the Grading Contract). The quizzes are
designed to cover the essential points in the texts; questions will cover what
I think you should know having read the article closely. You will be allowed to
refer to notes from your composition notebook, so you are highly encouraged to
take detailed notes. If you are tardy, you will still have the same amount of
time to complete the quiz as the rest of the class, no exceptions.
The Ways We Will
Write and Rewrite
For each major
project, we will engage in extended processes of writing that will give you
opportunities to develop techniques for continuing to work with and improve
your texts. One of the most important parts of writing well involves the
persistence to keep writing and revising until you have the paper you want.
Peer Review:
As part of this process, I will ask you to bring
in a hardcopy of a complete and polished draft to share with another
student. This draft is not a “rough draft” but a paper that you have written,
polished, revised, and carefully proofread until it is of sufficient quality to
show to others. We’ll use these drafts for in-class workshops and in-class peer
reviews. Each of you will respond to one of your peer’s drafts by writing a
formal, written review; I will collect and assess these peer responses once the
project is due as part of your coursework.
Peer Review Etiquette:
The peer review is an essential step in the
writing process. It is so important, we devote an entire day 4 times during the
semester to in-class peer review. This is not a day to skip. See the grading
contract for the consequence of an absence on peer review day. If you know you
will be absent, let me know in advance, or at least ASAP. Furthermore, do not
come to class without a hardcopy of your essay. Printer problems are not a
valid excuse. You are adults and need to be responsible. We meet late enough in
the day that there should be no excuses.
Revision: I
will ask you to use what you learned from in-class workshop and the feedback
from your peer reviewer to rewrite and or revise your paper, and once
again edit and proofread it carefully after you’ve reworked it to your
satisfaction, to produce a substantially revised paper that you will turn in to
me for feedback. I strongly recommend that you arrange to meet with me to
discuss my feedback outside of class, and, if you choose, you may rewrite or
revise each paper once more before you turn it in as part of your final
portfolio at the end of the semester. I will require that you substantially
rewrite or revise at least one of the first three projects for the final
portfolio. To get credit for your major projects, you will need to complete
each step of the process on time and to the best of your abilities.
Cover Letter: All versions of essays submitted to me must also include a cover
letter that contextualizes your piece and considers the rhetorical situation. Letters
explain the strengths and weaknesses of the project in order to orient me as I
approach your text. These should be carefully and thoughtfully constructed.
Cover letters should include the following criteria, with each point comprising
its own paragraph (remember, this is a letter, not one single paragraph; the
length should reflect that):
1.
Explanation of the
main purpose you wanted to accomplish with the project
2.
Description of why
you thought your project would be effective
3.
Explanation of
changes you made after peer review and why you made those changes, or, why you
did not take your peer’s recommendations
4.
Discussion of the
parts of your essay you think work well and which parts you think could improve
as well as anything you would like specific feedback on.
5.
Reflection on what
you’ve learned about writing—what it is, how it works—and how your own writing
has changed/improved through the current project.
Safe Assign: Although peer review drafts
should be printed out and brought to class, the first drafts you submit for my
feedback need to be submitted through SafeAssign on the course Blackboard page.
Cover letters and works cited pages should be included in the same file as your
essay; the reflective cover letter should be presented before the essay, and
the works cited after the essay. Drafts and revisions submitted for feedback
need to be .doc, .docx or other compatible files since I will use Microsoft
Word to give you feedback. If you
do not have MS Office, the library and other campus computers do.
**** Make sure to
save and back-up all your work since you will need everything as part of your
final project and portfolio. When you make changes as part of revision, save
them as a new file (change the name of the file to include the version number)
so you will have your original text and all subsequent versions to show how the
paper has changed. Keep all your work for the class in a single folder. And, of
course, keep all returned coursework until the end of the semester.
Responding
To Your Writing
My
goal in responding to your writing is to provide feedback that helps you 1.) get
better at navigating writing situations and 2.) write the best paper you can in
the current writing situation. One of the most important
roles I play during the semester is a (not the) reader of your
work, and I will work diligently to offer genuine and thoughtful feedback for
you to consider and build from as you draft and revise. I take a lot of time to
read each sentence and every idea of yours, and I expect you will do the same when
you review my comments. If you are unclear about any comments or suggestions,
please let me know. I will ask questions, identify areas for further
development, and challenge and provoke your thinking rather than simply telling
you what to “fix” – that is not my style, nor is it my intention. I want to
help you grow as a writer, not get you to conform to
what you think I want. Try your best to write for yourself first: you
are the author; I am the reader.
Most
of my feedback will come in the form of open-ended questions and thoughtful suggestions,
but I will also point out 1.) problems where the text isn’t working for the
current writing situation and 2). general problems and patterns that require your attention. The
hope is that with time and attention, your self-editing skills will improve as
you comb your texts with these problems and patterns in mind – coupled with a
better understanding of your own writing and revision processes, you will grow
more capable and confident when navigating many different writing situations.
My focus in giving
feedback is primarily on the major elements and issues of the text – what we
call “global concerns,” but I will also pay attention, albeit much more
minimally, to surface features (grammar, punctuation, spelling, syntax, style,
etc.) – what we call “local concerns.” I will suggest that you dramatically
rework the text rather than simply trying to “fix” it or make corrections. This
is what revision is all about, re-visioning your ideas, organization,
development, etc. so the text can take a different shape. Be patient; writing
is hard work, and it rarely comes easily to anyone – even professional writers
and scholars.
Grading
Nothing
is designed to get in the way of education like grades. Grades are primarily
used to rank and judge and, for the most part, provide little information about
whether or not you actually learned anything. The best solution I’ve found so
far is to try and remove the anxiety of grades for both of us by using a
grading contract. The gist of the contract is that I guarantee a grade of at
least a B to everyone who meets the terms of the contract, and, in return, you
promise to fulfill your side of that contract with an emphasis on doing your
best to learn what we are trying to learn. Students who violate the contract (1
major violation or 4 minor violations) will see their promised B grade reduced
to a C, and so forth. The only way to improve your grade beyond a B, is to
impress me with the quality of the work you do both during the quarter and in
the final portfolio project. If you have violated the contract, superior
writing can still raise your grade: if you’re down to a C, you could still get
a B. The grading contract, then, largely makes grading automatic, up-front,
and, I hope, less stressful, which should allow us to worry less about grades
and more about learning how to best take advantage of writing in school, work,
and life – furthermore, the grading contract puts you in charge of your
success.
Course
Policies
· I frequently use e-mail to send out reminders and communicate
important information about the class. You are responsible for checking your
school account regularly.
·
Please never email me asking
me what you missed if you were absent. Rather, contact a fellow classmate. Check
the syllabus, contract, assignment sheet, and/or blackboard before emailing me
a question.
· Your work in this class is always public. Don’t submit writing you
don’t feel comfortable letting others see.
· All drafts must be typed, double-spaced, 12-pt. Times New Roman
font, with proper MLA citations, headings, and a works cited page. I will not
give feedback on papers that do not meet this requirement until it is fixed.
· Peer Review drafts must be polished and ready for classmates’
feedback on the assigned dates to get credit. You must bring in a print out of
your project to receive credit.
· Please refrain from cell phone usage during class time; when you
are in my class, you should be attentive and engaged. Laptops will only be
permitted on peer review or workshop days. You can/will take notes in your
composition notebook.
· It is paramount that you arrive to class on time, prepared, and
ready to discuss the reading of that day. Frequent tardiness is unacceptable
and has consequences. The first thing I do is take attendance; if you are not
there when I do take attendance, you will be marked absent.
· Being prepared for class involves reading the texts closely and being
prepared to discuss relevant topics in class. Close reading of a text involves
highlighting key passages, being able to point to them during class
discussions, and taking notes. This class lives or dies based on class discussion. I
expect everyone to contribute something to the class discussion each meeting,
even if it is a question or concern.
·
You MUST bring your text(s)
and composition notebook to class daily. If you are assigned a PDF available on
Blackboard, you MUST print it and bring it to class that day. Coming to class
without these texts is the equivalent of an absence.
· I will not accept late assignments. If you know you will be
absent, we can make arrangements for you to turn in an assignment early. Giving
me a heads up before-the-fact is helpful and sometimes necessary; giving me an
excuse after-the-fact is problematic.
· You’re responsible for ensuring that your attachments, uploaded
files, etc. work and are not corrupt. A corrupt file constitutes a major
violation, so be pro-active about this possibility for error.
·
Everyone in our class must
remain civil and courteous at all times. We will often have opportunities to
share our opinions and beliefs, but no racist, sexist, heterosexist, ableist or
any other negative communication harmful to an individual or group will be
tolerated. Whether something is offensive or not will be determined by the
people whom it might offend or their advocates.
· Your continued enrollment in this course constitutes your
acceptance and understanding of the policies outlined in this syllabus and all
attached OU or English Department policies and your commitment to adhere to all
policies and employ your best efforts to accomplishing course objectives and
outcomes
Plagiarism
Cheating—whether
by claiming another’s ideas or work as your own (fraud) or making up or
falsifying information (fabrication)—will result in a course grade of F and a
report to the OU Office of Community Standards. You are at all times
responsible for handling sources ethically by acknowledging the author and
source of directly borrowed ideas and language in your writing.
Academic Dishonesty: Plagiarism is defined by the Ohio
University Student handbook as a Code A offense (10); this means:
[a]
student found to have violated any of the following regulations will be subject
to a maximum sanction of expulsion, or any sanction not less than a
reprimand…Plagiarism involves the presentation of some other person’s work as
if it were the work of the presenter.
A faculty member has the authority to grant a failing grade. . . as well
as referring the case to the director of judiciaries.
Please,
if you are not sure how to avoid plagiarizing, see me or a trained writing
center tutor.
Academic Misconduct Info for Students:
Classroom Accessibility
Please
let me know as soon as possible if you need an accommodation in order to work
successfully in this class. This classroom strives for full accessibility, and
it is not necessary for you to have an official accommodation letter from
Disability Services in order to request changes to the classroom that will
better serve your needs as a student, although you are encouraged to explore
the possible supports they can offer if you are a student with a disability.
Both able bodied students and students with disabilities are encouraged
to suggest any improvements to the learning environment. We’re all in
this together!
Self-Advocacy
This
classroom strives to be an inclusive space in which all students, both
able-bodied and those with disabilities, have the right to expect that their
individual needs will be met. To this end, students with specific needs
are encouraged to act as self-advocates, actively working with the instructor
to identify barriers to the student’s full participation in the classroom.
Self-advocates do not wait for someone else to speak for them. They
identify deficits in the classroom environment and engage productively with the
other members of the classroom to remedy those deficits. Opportunities
for self-advocacy might include identifying a need to have class notes made
available online, negotiating an extension on a due date, or letting the
instructor know she needs to speak more slowly and distinctly in lecture.
It should be noted that not all requests can be met, and that requests
for significant changes to the contract laid out in the syllabus—such as
exemptions from the attendance policy—will require the self-advocate to make a
compelling argument of need, show an ongoing willingness to engage meaningfully
in the work of the class, and identify the ways in which the accommodation can
be managed without harm to either the student or the classroom community.
Course Outcomes
Enter
Conversations and Communities of Writers
Be introduced to readings and writing as the active
production of meaning in conversations through texts (including texts in
different modes: audio, visual, digital). Students should begin to be able to:
· Analyze
purpose, audience, and genre of complex texts as part of larger ongoing
conversations.
· Make
important connections between multiple texts within conversations and identify
gaps, contradictions, problems, inconsistencies, etc. that indicate possible
writing topics.
· Summarize
the main purpose and reasoning of source texts, synthesize multiple texts as
part of an ongoing conversation, and articulate a contribution to that
conversation.
Be introduced to the ways writing emerges in writing
communities. Students should begin to be able to:
· Analyze
writing communities to discover their genres and conventions.
· Analyze
how conventions determine what readers expect regarding who is authorized to
write, what topics are relevant, what types of evidence are considered valid,
and how writers “should” write (genre, decorum, style, level of formality,
grammar, punctuation).
· Produce
original texts that use conventions and genres in rhetorically effective ways.
· Situate
arguments within ongoing relevant conversations within specific writing
communities.
Be introduced to research as an ongoing process of
knowledge production through conversation. Students should begin to be able to:
· Discover
a relevant and timely issue within a particular writing community.
· Discover
databases and other research tools for finding sources from that community
relevant to an inquiry about a selected issue.
· Analyze
how knowledge is constructed by conversation among source texts.
Analyze
and Use Genres
Be introduced to genres as descriptions of
conventional social actions. Students should begin to be able to:
· Analyze
genres to discover their relevant features and relate those features to
rhetorical practices in specific writing communities.
· Use
and/or alter genre features to successfully negotiate writing situations.
· Practice
applying experience with one genre to composing in a different genre.
Reflect
on Writing Technologies
Be introduced to how writing is always mediated by
technologies. Students should also be able to:
· Become
more comfortable in the use of diverse media and technologies to compose texts
· Read
texts in various media and multiple modes to analyze how those modes enable and
constrain meaning.
· Analyze
the affordances of specific technologies and media to choose media appropriate
for various audiences and purposes.
Practice
Processes & Reflection
Be introduced to writing as a flexible process.
Students should begin to be able to:
· Return
to invention and re-thinking at various points in the process in order to
revise texts.
· Take
selected writing projects through multiple drafts to create and complete an
effective text.
· Work
collaboratively with peers to provide and use feedback for revision.
· Develop
strategies for generating, revising, editing, and proofreading, and adapt them
to a variety of writing situations.
Be introduced to reflection as a means to use
knowledge about writing to analyze and improve writing and writing processes.
Students should be able to:
· Analyze
and critique their own writing for effectiveness in particular writing
situations.
· Apply
acquired knowledge about writing to improve writing and writing processes.
· Write
knowledgeably about writing practices and processes.
Explore
Identity & Writing
Be introduced to how identity emerges through
writing. Students should begin to be able to:
· Analyze
texts in terms of how authors negotiate identity and difference within
particular communities.
· Analyze
how certain conventions and genre features may mask, but not erase the
performance of identity in writing and how conventions often privilege certain
identities over others.
· Use
writing as a means of exploring and performing identities in the context of
conversations within various communities.
