ENG 101:Stretch
Writing is (still) a thinking skill

ALL SUBJECT TO CHANGE
          Get a seatmates phone number so you can check for changes if you have to miss a class.

Course Policies   Grading  Manuscript Preparation   Late Projects  Revision  Class Schedule  Webboard
Assignments:    WP1   WP2    Reflective Letter     WP3   Final Letter  Outcomes Statements


Fall 2002 line #'s Eng 101 87509  10:40-11:55 ECG G 227
Instructor:Judith Clayton Van
Office: Language & Literature, 548
Office hours: T/  1:30-2:30 TH  2-3 and by appointment
Office phone: TBA
e-mail: jvan@asu.edu
web address: http://www.public.asu.edu/~jvanasu


The Stretch Program
As you know, this is the "continuation" of your previous composition class--the first class in the Stretch sequence is WAC 101; the second is ENG 101. In effect, these connected Stretch Program classes "stretch" English 101 over two semesters, so students have the opportunity of extended experience at working with many and various ways of both reading and writing. Remember that your WAC 101 grades accumulated and will count as 50% of your ENG 101 grade (we'll discuss these as the semester gets started).

Course description:
This writing course may be unlike any you have enrolled in before, for our focus won't center on your finished "products" but rather the goal of the course is to help you to develop strategies for using writing to construct meaning—which in turn assists you in generating thought-provoking discourse for your intended reader. Current research indicates that writers must become well-versed in a variety of approaches to constructing the types of genres required in their college courses (now) and in the workplace (later).

When students are equipped with appropriate strategies for generating texts, they typically approach their writing with confidence and commitment. Additionally, students report that they find the writing process and the writing they construct both rewarding and pleasurable. Upon completing this course, you will have learned that all writing involves a recursive (and often messy) process of thinking and writing strategies often referred to as peer review, invention, prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing.
This semester, I’ll ask you to complete three major writing projects and two portfolio analyses—one in the middle of the semester, and the other in lieu of a final exam.
The Composition Program at ASU supports the Conference on College Composition and Communication’s Outcome Statement (preliminary version), which supports these "outcomes" for students:

Rhetorical knowledge: this covers the kinds of things students need to know about the writing situation, such as who the readers are and what kind of information they may be expecting from the text. By the end of their first-year writing courses, students should:
· be able to focus on a specific purpose
· be able to anticipate the needs of different kinds of readers
· be able to recognize the differences among kinds of writing situations
· be able to use the conventions of format, organization, and language appropriate to specific writing   situations.
· understand what makes writing types (like a book review, a project proposal or a research report) different

General reading, writing, and thinking skills: this covers general reading, writing, and thinking skills students must have to meet the demands of different kinds of writing situations. By the end of their first-year writing courses, students should:
· be able to use writing to record, explore, organize, and communicate
· be able to find, evaluate, analyze, and synthesize appropriate primary and secondary sources in order to meet the demands of different kinds of writing situations
· understand the general relationships among language, knowledge, and power.

Processes: this covers the processes students need to follow to produce successful texts. By the end of their first-year writing courses, students should know how to use:
· multiple drafts to improve their texts
· strategies like brainstorming, outlining, and focused freewriting in all stages of the writing process
· generating, organizing, revising, and editing strategies that are appropriate to the specific writing situation
· effective collaborative strategies to investigate, write, revise, and edit
· a variety of media, including particularly standard computerized media, in ways that permit them to make their writing acceptable to a wide variety of readers.

Conventions: this covers specific conventions, such as spelling and punctuation, that readers expect writers to control. By the end of their first-year writing courses, students should:
· control general conventions of spelling, grammar, and punctuation expected in standard written

English
· be able to document primary and secondary sources appropriately
· know how to check for conventions about which they are uncertain
· understand that different conventions are appropriate for different kinds of writing situations



Required texts:
Bean, John, C., and John D. Ramage. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing (all readings will be from this text, unless specifically indicated otherwise)
Rhetoric and Composition Committee. Guide to First-Year Composition; the latest edition is on the web at http://www.asu.edu/clas/english/composition/theguidetocomposition.html

 A college-level dictionary


Course Policies:
Attendance is mandatory. I know everyone has problems from time-to-time in getting to class. However, since our class uses a workshop approach where other members of the class suffer when you're not present (to comment on their work), absences will affect your final grade for the course. 10% of your course grade will come from your in-class writings (we do those right at the start of class) and your class participation. At 10% of the total grade, the "in-class writing/participation" grade is about.5% per class period. Put another way, you'll lose 1% of your grade for every two days you miss class--no matter what "excuse" you have for missing class. The 1% penalty may not seem like much, but a few missed classes will quickly move you down one letter grade.

Please note: if you miss more than four classes (more than 15% of the course), you will fail the course.  If you’re more than five (5) minutes late to class, you will be counted absent for that class period.

CLASS ETIQUETTE:
Please be on time and prepared. We will spend most of our classtime
in discussion and workshop. A portion of classes will also include traditional lectures and/or
oral presentations. Regardless of the class format, please be prepared, to listen, and to participate
appropriately.  Failure to do so is  distracting to other students and will not be tolerated: I may ask you to leave (which will  constitute an absence), or, if a problem persists, permanently withdraw the student from the class. Similar penalties will occur to students who commit other forms of rudeness: failing to turn off your cellphone,  failing to peer edit, offtask talking, writing, or reading, insulting other classmembers; persistently arriving late to class.
*NOTE: Just as it is inappropriate to read the newspaper during any class unless it is assigned reading, so it is inappropriate to reply to or read personal email during class, or to use the computer for other than class work specified for that day. You may be dropped from the class for failing to adhere to these policies.

COMPUTER CLASSROOMS:
No food or drink is allowed in computer classrooms. Coming to a computer class without your disk is coming unprepared. Coming without your assignement is coming unprepared. The printers in the classrooms are for very limited use.  Do not come to class expecting print your paper in class.
PRINTER:  Please copy and print your assingment well before the deadline in case you have computer problems or there are lines to use the computers in the dorms.
Also, do not say anything on-line, via email, or on Webboard that you wouldn't say in a public forum. Your password is available to teachers and administrators, so mind your on-line manners, e.g. libel, slander, use of language inappropriate to the classroom.

Conferences:
Please also note: several times during the semester we will cancel classes so we can hold conferences. If you miss a conference, you will be counted absent for the same number of classes that were canceled in order to hold conferences. For instance, if we cancel class for two days to hold conferences and you miss your conference, that "counts" as two absences. Also note: the class period before we start these conferences, you will be asked to bring in copies of your Writing Projects to share with your classmates, so they can comment on them and make suggestions on how to improve them. If you do not have copies of your Writing Project for your classmates on the day they're due, you will be counted absent for that day and cannot participate in conferences, therefore losing two (2) class participation points as well as being absent for both class periods.

Please also note that if you don't have a workshop copy on the day it's due for in-class workshops, you will not be able to participate and will lose one letter grade from your final Writing Project grade. And obviously, to pass this class all assignments must be completed, and please remember, too, that all writing for this class must be written for this class.

University Sanctioned Activities:
To accommodate students who participate in university-sanctioned activities, the Composition Program offers sections of this course at various times of the day and week. We have asked advisors across campus to help students enroll in appropriate sections. If you think that this course may conflict with a university-sanctioned activity in which you are involved--athletics or the debate team or whatever--please see me after class today. While transferring to another section may be the only viable option, let's discuss the possibilities.

Deadlines for Dropping the Course:
I want to underscore the published deadlines for dropping courses. The deadline for unrestricted withdrawal for any class you have enrolled in this semester is 9/20/02. The deadline for restricted withdrawal—meaning that the instructor of the class you wish to drop must indicate whether or not you currently have a passing grade in that class—is 11/1/02.
While I am optimistic that you will not elect to drop this class or any other class that you’re currently taking, it is important that you pay attention to these deadlines. The better informed you are about the options available to you as a student at ASU, the more likely you are to succeed academically. If you feel you would benefit from additional support in reading, writing, math, philosophy, or any other area of your academic life, please make an appointment to see me during office hours so that I can provide you with information about services available to you at ASU.


Grading:
Grading for Writing Projects will follow English Department standards, which are based on content, organization, expression, and mechanics. If you ever have a question about a grade and/or a comment I've made, please ask me about it. Remember that your grades from your WAC 101 class will accumulate and will count as 50% of your ENG 101 grade. We will talk individually about your WAC 101 grades, so you will know exactly where you stand starting your ENG 101 semester.
All sections of first-year composition follow a uniform grading policy, which is based on the university's 4.0 grading system. To compute the final grades, the following values are assigned to the standard letter grades of A through E:
· A................. 4.0
· A-............... 3.7
· B+.............. 3.3
· B.................3.0
· B-............... 2.7
· C+.............. 2.3
· C................ 2.0
· C-.............. 1.7
· D+............. 1.3
· D............... 1.0
· D-.............. .7
· E................ .3
· No paper = 0
Note that there is a marked difference between a failing paper and not turning one in. Since final grades are reported as whole numbers (there are no plus or minus final grades), the following scale will be used to determine the final grade. A student will receive a final grade no lower than the grade determined by the following formula:
· A = 3.5 - 4.0
· B = 2.5 - 3.49
· C = 1.5 - 2.49
· D = .5 - 1.49
· E = .49 and below

Required writing:
Learning Logs (one percent each).............................................….....…........10%
In-class writing, at the beginning of class/participation grade .......…........… 15%
Writing Project # 1: Rhetorical analysis  .............................….………….….15%
Writing Project # 2: Constructing an informative text....................…....……20%
Writing Project # 3: Constructing a persuasive argument........................…..25%
Partway through "reflective letter"………………………………...……...…..  5%
Final portfolio analysis.........................................................................……10%



Manuscript preparation:
Please consider every piece of writing you do for this class to be "public property." We will discuss your writing in both large and small groups. Several times during the semester, you will be asked to duplicate your Writing Project for your writing groups (approximately six copies). ALL VERSIONS of ALL Writing Projects, including learning logs, must be typed, double-spaced. Please do not use cover sheets (let's save trees) or binders.
The public nature of class writing and discussions: Part of becoming a good writer is learning to appreciate the ideas and criticisms of others, and in this course our purpose is to come together as a writing community. Remember that you will often be expected to share your writing with others, so avoid writing about things that you may not be prepared to subject to public scrutiny, or things you feel so strongly about that you are unwilling to listen to perspectives other than your own. This does not mean that you are not entitled to an opinion but that you adopt positions responsibly, contemplating the possible effect on others. In particular, please do not write about any criminal activity that you have knowledge of—as a witness, as a victim or as a perpetrator. This may seem like an odd thing to caution you about, but if you were to write about such activity, I may be legally required to report it to the authorities.

Class Procedures:
For every class period, there will be reading assignments. We will discuss and/or write about these texts in detail, so be sure to read them and annotate carefully, so please remember to bring your textbook to class each day.
For most class periods, you will have a Learning / Research Log entry. Each entry in your learning log should be dated and be about 200 words long (1 typed or 2 handwritten pages). Most often, you will annotate and respond to the readings in your learning logs. Learning Logs will be graded on a check+, check, and check- basis.

Note that this semester we'll use the same LL format you used in WAC 101, but about halfway through we'll start to focus on outside research (which you'll concentrate on in ENG 102).  To help you get ready for ENG 102, we'll start to incorporate outside research into WP#2, and your learning logs will then "shift" to become "research logs," so we'll call them LL/RL for this semester.
Generally, learning / research logs will move you up or down about one grade. That is, if most of your learning logs are check+, then they'll help you if you're close to the next higher grade. If many are check-, and you'd "between grades," you'd probably receive the lower grade for the class. Average learning logs, marked with a check, will keep you about the same. I strongly, strongly recommend that you put a lot of time and effort into your learning logs--and in the end, it will help you write better Writing Projects. LEARNING / RESEARCH LOGS MUST BE TURNED IN THE DAY THEY ARE DUE.

Disposition of Papers:
Please also keep a copy of any Writing Project you turn in, for your own files. You'll need them for the mid-term and final portfolios in ENG 101, and also if you want to file a grade appeal. Please also note: when you turn in the final version of any Writing Project, you must also turn in all earlier versions, including notes, outlines, etc.
 

I will not accept Writing Projects unless all earlier versions are turned in at the same time as the final version. Note also that half of the grade for each writing project comes from your "process" work--the invention and other activities that I'll ask you to write about . . . so if you want to impress me with how hard you've worked on a Project, you're going to want to turn in everything, right?



Late Writing Projects:
Do not turn your Writing Projects in late, unless you negotiate with me BEFORE the due date--NEVER on the same day a Writing Project is due. Writing Projects that are late will be marked down a full letter grade for each day they are late. As with the attendance policy, I will not vary on deducting for late Writing Projects, no matter what "excuse" you might have.
Plagiarism is stealing. Plagiarism is cheating yourself and someone else. The consequences are severe, including failure for the assignment, probable failure for the course, disciplinary referral to the Dean, and possible expulsion from the University. Whenever you borrow a phrase, sentence, paragraph--or even an idea stated in your own words--from any outside source (news writing, magazine, TV show, book) without giving credit to that source, you have plagiarized. For more information, see the Guide to Composition. If you have any questions about how to acknowledge someone else's words or ideas, see me.
 


Revision:
The first version of each essay will be discussed in small group workshops and I will comment on your writing in conference. You then will revise this essay into a final draft, often working through several workshop versions, using the suggestions you received as a starting point for the final version. Remember: writing is never "done" the first time; (re) vision means (re)seeing . . . (re)cognizing . . .
Please feel free to say anything you wish in class; I will. At the same time, I will respect you as adults and will expect you to treat the others in the class the same way. This might seem a minor point, but we will be doing a lot of commenting on each others' Writing Projects, and it's important to always be considerate as well as honest. I call on everyone equally, whether you raise your hand or not, so know in advance that you will be expected to talk in class.

Class Schedule
All subject to change . . .it's your responsibility to keep current with class activities
Week One: Day 1: Tuesday, 8/27: 
In-class: introductions; syllabus; in-class writing: what are your goals and hopes for this class, this semester? How do you think you might go about accomplishing those goals? That is, what do you do plan to do this semester (that perhaps you didn't do last semester, to make sure you accomplish what you want to this spring? What is your plan of attack, so to speak, for this class?) 
Final Day of drop/add Sept. 1.
Day 2: Thursday, 8/29:  Assignments due: read 22-36In-class: in-class journal writing: what brainstorming method (several are discussed in your reading for today) do you find the most useful? Why? Give at least one specific example of when you used one of these methods and how it was useful to the writing you were working on. Also: Cooperative learning and the goals for this class; discuss readings for today; do "doubting and believing" page 39-40; assignment handout for WP#1 (See webpage) *(Bring advertisment to class next Tuesday).
Week Two: Day 3: Tuesday, 9/3: 
assignments due: read 215-223; also LL/RL#1 answer the three questions on page 216 under "Exploring image analysis"; also: bring in a full-page magazine advertisement for discussion; also read "How cigarette advertisers . . ." on page 232;  
In-class: in-class journal writing: trade advertisements and do the excercises on page 220. Discuss how we'll move from analyzing an advertisement to textual analysis of student writing
Day 4, Thursday, 9/5: 
assignments due: bottom of 108-top 123; also: read the 1st three stories (see webboard); also LL/RL#2: which of these stories is the most effective in terms of making a logical appeal to the reader? Give examples to show what you mean. Which of these stories is the most effective in terms of making an ethical appeal to the reader? Give examples to show what you mean. Which of these stories is the most effective in terms of making an emotional appeal to the reader? Give examples to show what you mean. 
In-class: in-class journal writing: in terms of what WP#1 asks for and of the stories you read for today, which story do you think would "fit" the best? Why do you think so? Give specific examples from the text to show what you mean. Also: Discuss LL/RL#2; coop and discuss the stories that seem to be the "best" for one reason or another; also: in-text citations; also: discuss rhetorical reading per 108--123
Week Three 
Day 5, Tuesday, 9/10: 
read the last stories for our assignment(see webboard); also LL/RL#3: which of these stories is the most effective in terms of making a logical appeal to the reader? Give examples to show what you mean. Which of these stories is the most effective in terms of making an ethical appeal to the reader? Give examples to show what you mean. Which of these stories is the most effective in terms of making an emotional appeal to the reader? Give examples to show what you mean. 
In-class: in-class journal writing: in terms of what WP#1 asks for and of the stories you read for today, which story do you think would "fit" the best? Why do you think so? Give specific examples from the text to show what you mean. Also: Discuss LL/RL#3; coop and discuss the stories that seem to be the "best" for one reason or another; in-class writing time to get started on WP#1; in-text citations
Day 6, Thursday, 9/12: 
assignments due: WP#1 version 1 (6 copies); also: LL/RL#4: what research have you done for WP#1 that was effective for you and helped you to move the project along? What hasn't been helpful? Any ideas on why? What can you do to improve your research process next time? 
In-class: in-class journal writing: Workshop WP#1; set-up group conferences
Week Four 
Day 7, Tuesday,9/17 Conferences in my office
Day 8, Thursday, 9/19: group conferences in my office(Unrestricted Withdrawal Deadline 9/20)
Week Five 
Day 9, Tuesday, 9/24 
Assignments due: Writing Project 1 version 2 
In-class: in-class journal writing: what would you like your classmates to look at and comment on for this workshop? Remember that the more specific you can be, the more helpful your classmates will be with their comments; workshop WP#2
Day 10, Thursday, 9/26: 
Assignments due: WP#1 final (15%); also LL/RL#5: how are you feeling about WP#1? What is the best part? Why? What part(s) would you like to spend more time on, if you could? 
In-class: in-class journal writing; get started on WP#2 (see webpage); invention activities
Week Six 
Day 11, Tuesday, 10/1: 
Assignments due:  read 194-201; also: LL/RL#6: decide on a topic or topics that you think you might want to write about for WP#2 and list the topic or topic on the top of a sheet of paper; under it, list what you already know about the topic and what questions you still have about it, what you'd like to know, what you perhaps don't understand about it, and so on--in other words, work not only to list what you already know but also to problematize and complicate the topic or topics. 
in-class: in-class journal writing: answer question #3 on page 201 about "Behind stone walls." Also: Share and coop LL/RL#6: how can you help your classmates (1) with more information about their topic or topics, and (2) what other questions can you think of to complicate/problematize the topic? Also: guided in-class research time either on the Internet or at the library; in-text citations
Day 12, Thursday, 10/3: 
Assignments due: 
In-class: meet at Hayden Library. We'll meet right inside the front doors by the pay phones.  I'll take attendance and we'll go on a tour.  This is an important class day, so please plan to attend and be on time.
Week Seven 
Day 13, Tuesday, 10/8 Assignments due: LL/RL#7: discuss your "research method" that you used both in-class last Tuesday and on your own last Thursday: what worked?  What helped?  What will you do differently next time? Also: bring copies of two essays you found about your topic 
In-class: in-class journal writing: share your two sources with a classmate; he or she will comment on them per the questions on page 554; discuss the shift for the LL/RL; discuss bias in all language; discuss evaluating sources; in-class research time
Day 14, Thursday, 10/10: 
no class: research day; remember that you need at least two sources for WP#2 (and only one can be from the Internet) 
 
Week Eight 
Day 15, Tuesday, 10/15: 
assignments due: 
In-class: journal writing; examine model papers for WP#2
Day 16, Thursday, 10/17: 
Assignments due: WP#2 version 1 
In –class: workshop WP#2
Week Nine 
Day 17, Tuesday, 10/22, Peer edit WP # 2   
Day 18, Thursday 10/24 
Evaluation of resourses, more on research.  Be sure to have your sources with you.
Week Ten 
Day 19, Tuesday, 10/29/2002: 
Assignments due: WP#2 version2 posted  
to Webboard by the beginning of class time, or before.  Failure to do so will constitute an absence. 
Mid-term  due. 
In-class: prepare to conference WP#2 online.  Discuss webpage presentataion, and editing of essays. 
November 1: Restricted Withdrawal Deadline 
 
Day 20, Thursday, 10/31/2002 
Group conferences on webboard. 
WP2V2 must be posted by or before classtime Thursday. 
WP2V2 must be edited by Friday at 5:00. (see Webboard)
Week Eleven 
Day 21, Tuesday, 11/5/2002: 
In class webpage workshop 
 
Day 22, Thursday, 11/7/2002: 
assignments due: Writing Project #2 final (20%); also LL/RL#8: tell me how you are feeling about writing this Writing Project. What is the best thing about your Writing Project? What would you like to spend more time on? If you had to select the best idea in the Writing Project, what would it be? The purpose of this learning log is to ask you to step back a little from your writing and study it and think about it. 
In-class: in-class journal writing; get started on reflective letter 
Week Twelve  Day 23, Tuesday, 11/12:   
In-class: get started on WP#3—see assignment handout on webpage
Day 24, Thursday, 11/14/2002: 
Assignments due: read 316-23; also do ONE of the questions on 323, in “For writing and discussion”—make a list of as many “because clauses” as you can think of 
In-class: Invention activities for WP#3; in-class research time; hand around “lists of because clauses” and add to them
Week Thirteen 
Day 25, Tuesday, 11/19: 
Assignments due: read 324-335 
In-class: in-class journal writing; discuss ethos, logos, and pathos; answering objections; in-class examples of argumentative readings from the text (6 copies on Thurs.)
Day 26, Thursday, 11/21/2002: 
Assignments due: WP#3 V1 (6 copies) 
In-class: workshop WP#3; (no group conferences).
Week Fourteen  
Day 27, Tuesday, 11/26: WP# 3 Workshop
Day 28, Thursday 11/28 
Happy Thanksgiving.  Have a good day, but remember, only three days to complete your work. 
Week Fifteen  
Day 29, Tuesday, 4/23/2002 
Assignments due: WP#3 version 2 
In-class:  journal writing; workshop WP#3 
December 4: Restricted Complete Withdrawal
Day 30, Thursday, 4/25/2002: 
Assignments due:; also LL/RL#9: tell me how you are feeling about writing this Writing Project. What is the best thing about you/r Writing Project? What would you like to spend more time on? If you had to select the best idea in the Writing Project, what would it be? The purpose of this learning log is to ask you to step back a little from your writing and study it and think about it. Also: read 193-201; Also: Final portfolio version 1 
In-class: in-class journal writing: what grade do you think this WP deserves? Why? Also: Discuss/coop readings; get started on final portfolio--go over assignment handout; brainstorm possible topics; do "for writing and discussion" page 201; discuss "Not Guilty" page 198 
 
Week Sixteen 
Day 31, Tuesday, December 10 /2002: 
assignments due: Writing Project #3 final (25%); also: portfolio final (10%); last class day 
 In-class: departmental evaluations
Happy Holidays !!
ENG 101 Stretch:
Semester plan and Writing Project assignments
This semester, I'm going to ask you to complete three formal writing projects and two "reflective portfolios," much as we did last semester in WAC 101.
Before we get started with the formal Writing Projects, we'll spend several class days reviewing some of what we did last semester, especially in how we might go about complicating or problematizing a question or issue or problem. Then we'll discuss some of the basics of rhetoric (we started this last semester): how humans use symbols (like language) and how we can use /words and other symbols to get our message and ideas across to a particular audience in a particular situation at a specific point in time. To help us understand how humans work to get their messages across, we'll start with advertising and see what we can learn how ads function to influence us (sometimes when we don't even realize it); then we'll move to see how texts "work."

The first Writing Project will be a rhetorical analysis of a number of student texts that were written for the final WAC 101 assignment--the autobiography that focused on an event or series of events that in some way changed the writer, helped to make the writer who he or she is now, today.  There are several reasons why I want you to construct such an analysis, including
· The Writing Project asks you to focus on texts in terms of comparing, analyzing, and synthesizing their information--tools you'll need in ENG 102
· In school and in your future life and career, any communication (whether oral or written) must deal with the rhetorical aspects of what you're trying to get across to a particular audience at a specific moment in time, and this project will help prepare you for that work; this Writing Project asks you to really think about and consider what it means to "meet" the criteria of an assignment from a rhetorical perspective
Since you're working with texts, you'll have to cite properly, so this is a chance to continue to work on learning how to cite correctly

The second Writing Project asks you to construct an informative paper, one with (perhaps) a surprise for the reader. This project asks you to start with a problematic question, just as you did last semester, but to push your questions even further with some outside research. There are several reasons I'm asking you to construct such a project, including
· The Writing project asks you to get started with outside research (print, Internet, interviews, surveys, etc.) to support your ideas and claims.  In ENG 102 you'll focus on research, so this assignment, like WP#3 this semester, helps you move in that direction
· You'll start to work with proper citations, but now from a wider range of sources
· The Writing project asks you to start constructing a "research journal," or what we'll call "Learning Log / Research Log" (LL/RL), where you'll move away from responding to readings, etc., as you've been doing in your LLs to keeping track of and reflecting on your research activity, discussing things such as what's been effective for you in your research, what's been a problem, thinking about how you might work more efficiently in the future, and so on
 

Then I'll ask you to construct a partway-through reflective letter, where (as you did last semester) you'll reflect on and discuss all the work we've done so far in this class.  We've made this into LL#5 for this semester.
The third Writing Project asks you to select a question, issue, or problem that perplexes you and to take a stand on one aspect of that problem or issue.  This project also has a research component, where you'll go to the library and look on the Internet and perhaps interview some others about your topic.  As with the other writing I'll ask you to do, there are several reasons I want you to construct such a project, including
· The Writing Project asks you to "push" a question or problem to places where you might not have even considered, by collecting research on that area
· You'll work with proper citation from a range of texts
· This Writing Project, with its "research log" component, provides a wider base for your reflection--reflection that will help you understand not only what you've done but why you've being doing it

Finally, I'll ask you to construct an end-of-semester portfolio that will focus on two areas:
· A longer and more complex and detailed reflective letter, where you'll again discuss everything we did over the course of the semester
· A detailed and in-depth revision plan of one of your Writing Projects (you select which one, and it can be from WAC 101 or ENG 101)
 
 
 


 ENG 101 Stretch, Writing Project #1: Rhetorical analysis
Over the past 2500 years, many scholars have offered definitions of the term "rhetoric." For this project, consider three definitions of the term:
· Aristotle: "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion" (Rhetoric I, ii, 26-27).
· John Genung: "the art of adapting discourse, in harmony with its subject and occasion, to the requirements of a reader or hearer" (The Practical Elements of Rhetoric. Boston: Ginn, 1886, 1).
· I. A. Richards: "a study of misunderstanding and its remedies" (The Philosophy of Rhetoric. New York: Oxford UP, 1936, 3)
These definitions, offered by three well-known rhetoricians, point to some of the factors that writers need to consider to be rhetorically effective. First, all three note that writers need to bridge any gaps that exist between readers and themselves. In this project and in subsequent ones in this course and in the next course (English 102), we'll ask that you spend lots of time discussing your projects as they develop. Through this ongoing dialogue, you will learn more about what your readers need and want if they are to understand what's on your mind. The first two definitions of "rhetoric" also suggest that there are diverse settings and purposes for writing, each presenting writers with different demands. Remember that rhetoric isn't just using words to create the effect you want in an audience, but also the study of how those words "work" . . . as if we learn how something works, then we can use it not only more easily but also more effectively the next time we face a similar situation, a similar audience, and so on.
As noted above, Writing Project #1 will be a rhetorical analysis of a number of student essays that were written for an ENG 101 assignment. There are several reasons why I want you to construct such an analysis, including
· The Writing Project asks you to focus on texts in terms of comparing, analyzing, and synthesizing their information--tools you'll need in ENG 102
· The Writing project asks you to really think about and consider what it means to "meet" the criteria of an assignment from a rhetorical perspective (in school and in your future life and career, any communication (whether oral or written) must deal with the rhetorical aspects of what you're trying to get across to a particular audience at a specific moment in time, and this project will help prepare you for that work)
· Since you're working with texts, you'll have to cite properly, so this is a chance to get started on learning how to cite correctly
You'll need to buy a text with the student essays in it, titled OurStories, from the ASU Bookstore.
The focus of this WP asks you to construct a paper in which you explain, with examples, which text or texts in OurStories is the most effectively written . . . and why you think as you do. So, first, I'll ask you to read and we'll discuss all of the essays in class, to give everyone a sense of what they're about (some came from our class last semester, and some came from other WAC 101 classes). To get you started, then, we'll do the reading and a good deal of group work and discussion about the essays.
Then I'll ask you to compare the text(s) you think are the most effectively written to what the assignment called for--that's the criteria you'll use on which you'll base your argument, your position.
In essence, you'll be selecting one or two of the essays from OurStories and explaining (citing from those stories, of course) why they're effectively written.
Getting started
Perhaps you remember this quotation (think of it as a note you might find, say, on the floor outside your classroom):
Meet me here tomorrow at the same time with a stick this long.
Now, I expect everyone can read what's on the note, but can you understand and explain what the words mean?
If you can't understand and explain the note, why can't you?
Well, as we know, writing is different than speaking, as when the speaker and listener are together and someone has a question, she can ask about it . . . but in writing, the writer and reader are usually separated, so questions cannot be asked. Writing, therefore, must carry all of its context, everything the reader needs to know, with it.
So you might start by asking yourself, as you're reading through the essays in OurStories: which of these essays does the most effective job of
· telling the whole story with enough detail and information so you see what the writer is trying to get across?
· Giving me everything I need to see so I can understand what the writer is saying?
· Giving me word-pictures that help me really visualize?
· Helping me to understand the significance of the event or events to who the writer is now, today?
Then you'll want to compare the stories to what the assignment asked for: which or these stories (and you might want to focus on more than one) best "fits" what the assignment asked students to do? Here are some important sections of the criteria for last semester's assignment:
Expectations
· Think about your audience: Your classmates and the instructor are the obvious audience for the writing you'll construct for this project, and we want to learn about you and to learn from you, so we can more effectively handle similar situations. Consider the kinds of information we need to know, then, to understand your story: what kinds of dialogue and description and illustrations and details and examples do you as the writer need to provide, so we can see what you went through? So that we can see and understand how you've changed and what you've learned? So that we can clearly understand how significant this event or series of events was to who you are now, today? Remember that significance is a key word here, for unless you can explain why this event is important to you and to who you are, then people might just say, "So what? Why are you telling me?"
· Think about the length: Think about the length for this writing project in terms of what you want to show your readers: something that was significant to your life. That is, don't think of it in terms of page length but rather just take the words and pages you need to show us what you're trying to get across.
· Content is the main thing: Ask yourself: Is the significance of the event clearly conveyed through the use of concrete description and appropriate narrative strategies? Is there enough detail so the reader will feel the same way about your subject as you do? Have you constructed the story to show rather than tell the reader about your subject and why it's been significant to who you are now, today? In what ways and details and examples do you provide the reader some insight into who you are because of this event or series of events?
· Think about a good organizational scheme: Are the parts of your writing arranged into the best order for maintaining the reader's interest and in showing significance? Why?
· Consider your sense of expression: Is the language clear, concrete, and specific? Do you avoid clichés? Does the language seem natural rather than forced?
· Look at your usage: Are spelling and mechanical errors rare?
Another way to examine and discuss which text(s) you think are the most effectively written is to compare them to some of what last semester's Invention Activities asked for. Here are some of the invention activities from the assignment; how well does the writer(s) of the text(s) you think are effectively written answer some/most/all of these questions?
· What happened, exactly? Can you give me precise details about the time and place, the weather, who was involved, what they were wearing, what they said, what you said and did, and so on? Try to hit on all the questions a newspaper might ask: who, what, when, where, why, and how.
· How did this event or series of events affect you? In what ways have you changed because of what you learned from them? What do you do now, today, differently because of what you learned? Can you give specific examples of (problems, relationships, situations, etc.) that have come up since the event or events and what you do differently than you used to?
· How "significant" is this event or these events in relation to other events in your life that you might write about? Put another way, what makes you think that this might be a good area to focus on, instead of others in your life? Why?
· Always work to show rather than to tell about the significant event or events; consider what your audience would need to see for that person to share your impression, to really see in what ways that you're writing about was significant to who you are now, how you act now, and so on.
Here are some other areas you might want to consider and discuss and to provide examples from the text(s) to illustrate what you mean:
· How did the writer construct his or her text, in terms of organization, to make sure that the event or sequence of events were clearly described?
· In what ways does the writer help his or her reader "see" the event(s) as the writer can?
· In what ways does the writer make sure that there is enough information (details about the place, the people, the situation, and so on) so that a reader can understand it well enough, even though he or she hasn't experienced the same thing(s)?
· What words / sentences / paragraphs in the text helps the reader really see and understand why the event or events were significant to the writer and who he or she is now, today?
· In what ways does the writer effectively use dialogue?
· What did the writer do in order to make his or her descriptions effective?
· In what ways does the writer show rather than tell?
· What is the best part of this paper? That is, what's the clearest to you, what can you see? In what ways has the writer constructed the text to help you see the place clearly? What specifically makes the writing "work" for you?
· What can't you see? That is, which part(s) could use more details?
· In what ways has the writer shown the significance of the event or series of events? What specifically does the writer have on paper to show the significance?
Final  (15%)  Please see the stories at  http://www.public.asu.edu/~jvanasu/wacstories02.html 
English 101 Stretch:
Writing Project # 2: Constructing an informational (and perhaps surprising) text
The writing project:
For this writing project, you will be investigating your choice of a major.  In what field will you major? Why?  What are the job prospects?  What kinds of people do the type of work you hope to do?  What is their salary?  What kind of life do the lead?  You will look at many sides of your chosen major or profession.  This is something you all are likely genuinely interested in and that you'd like to spend some time thinking about and doing some research on. What you focus on should be a question, problem, or issue within your major or field, that you may already know something about and that you'd like to learn more about, or you can find the issues within the profession or major that will make you want to investigate more.  If you have no idea what to major in, your preliminary research should help you make a decision.  If you have several different ideas, or way s to go, pick one, and see if after investigating your options you are still interested in majoring in the field.

Your purpose is to construct an informative text that explains the issue or problem or question in some detail, to an audience who's interested but who may not know much about the subject you're working with. And while it's not required, your paper will be even more interesting if you discover something odd or unusual or surprising about your topic. You'll find that the readings and other information in the Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing focuses on this "surprising" aspect of the paper, and I hope that information will help you really try to discover something unusual or unique or surprising about your subject.

Rhetorical Considerations:
Rationale for the project: Although research projects are typically expected to be completed within one academic semester (or less) most of us who become vested in a project often "live" with it for months if not years before bringing it to completion. This Writing project will give you the chance to get started with some outside research on a topic that you're interested in . . . and which you might want to continue to focus on for the rest of the semester--that'll be your choice. So here's a chance to explore a little, without making a major time and work commitment.

Audience: we might know a little about your topic, but you're on the way to becoming an expert . . . so help us see why you find it interesting, what's unusual about it, what made you select it, what we ought to know about the subject (and why we need to know it).

Length: the length of your paper depends on your own interpretation of your rhetorical situation: what information do you need to provide to us, to get your message across?
Sources: you need at least two (2) outside sources for this project, to quote from to help expand your base of information about the topic you're focusing on

Writer's Journal/Day book:
Obviously an assignment of this kind cannot be completed without the writer maintaining an extremely detailed log of his or her questions, hunches, research strategies, source material/citations, findings, and reflections. You should create a log of your process.
This log will be the most important part of the project for you will rely on it heavily as you begin to draft the story of your research endeavors. Each writer will have a unique approach to creating the research log. While it may begin as a seemingly linear process, allow yourself the opportunity to respect the "chaos" that will surely occur as you grapple with information and analysis. Your log should resemble an elaborate note-taking ritual. Do not recopy your notes (unless you do this for your own sense of clarity); rather, reflect on them and allow your writing and work --even in a disheveled form -- to represent your hard work and thinking/creating processes.
You can also use your journal for invention work--for generating material for your projects. For this part of the journal, engage in the informal kinds of writing described in A & B. I'll also share with you other kinds of informal writing that will help generate material. Second, use the journal as place to reflect on your work in the course--invention, peer discussions, drafting, reading, revising, editing, thinking. You might consider a dialectical journal in which you record and generate on one side of the page and reflect on the other side of the page. Dialectical journals help writers to develop the habit of using writing to reflect. For this project, use the journal to complete the invention work described below, to record comments and questions that peers offer, and to reflect on the project as it emerges.

Expectations of you the writer:
You are expected to work closely with your instructor and classmates through the entire process of creating your project. Upon completion of the project, your work should clearly demonstrate several hours of work on the project per day. Your expertise, excitement about your work, and interest in your project should be clearly evident. Anything less than what's described in this section will be considered substandard college work.
 final version  (20%)
 


ENG 101 Stretch, Partway-through reflective letter
This "partway through" the semester letter is one that discusses your change (and, we hope, your growth) as a writer over the course of the semester. The "rhetorical considerations" section and others below provide more detail, but the idea here is to both explore and demonstrate in what specific ways you have further developed your reading, writing, and thinking skills as you "wrote your way" through the first part of this class.

Rationale for the letter
Following this assignment prompt, you will find a draft "outcomes statement" that composition faculty from all over the United States have constructed. The purpose of this document is to specify the kinds of knowledge and skills that students should acquire by the end of the first-year composition sequence. Because only some of that knowledge and some of those skills will be evident in any given project that you complete for the course, you need to provide a sampling of all your work in this course to demonstrate what you've accomplished as a reader, writer, thinker, learner. In general, this letter provides you an opportunity to illustrate how make informed choices as a writer.

Rhetorical Considerations
One purpose for this letter is to demonstrate that you have acquired rhetorical knowledge. Second, you should also demonstrate that you have further developed your reading, writing, and thinking skills. Third, you should demonstrate that you know how to use composing processes. Finally, as the outcomes statement suggests, you should demonstrate that you have gained further control over conventions of written language, especially by showing in your compositions what you are doing . . . and why you're doing it (that is, what's your rhetorical purpose?).  So: what can you give me copies of (Learning Logs, Drafts, comments, commented-on papers, invention activities, etc.) and comment on to show what you've learned?

The Project
To complete this letter and the final portfolio for this course, you will need to save your written work throughout the semester--invention work, drafts of projects, "final" versions of projects, the post-composing reflections on each project, journal entries, written peer responses, and the like. However, you do not need to submit all of your written work with your letter. Rather, you need only submit copies of whatever you consider necessary to demonstrate that you have accomplished the goals specified in the attached outcomes statement.
For this letter, I'm asking you to submit a letter addressed to me in which you explain what you've chosen to include in the portfolio and what each item in the portfolio demonstrates--so if you include some of your learning logs, discuss them in relation to the questions below. You'll want to include an early version and the final version of WP#1, and you'll want to discuss it in detail in terms of the questions below, and so on.
For your letter, you need to be as detailed as possible, using examples from your writing Projects #1 and #2 as well as the other work we've done to illustrate your growth as a writer, what you've learned from the invention, peer review, and other activities, and from the final "production" of the first writing project. Your letter should also include a paragraph or two in which you look to the future, commenting on how you plan to use your rhetorical knowledge and your composing skills in your academic, professional, personal, and/or civic lives.

Final edited version   (5%)


English 101 Stretch:
Writing Project # 3: Constructing a persuasive text
The writing project:
For this writing project, please choose a question, problem, or issue that you are genuinely interested in and that you'd like to spend some time thinking about and doing some research on.  This is an extentions of the topic you worked on for WP#2.  What you focus on should be a question, problem, or issue that you discovered in your earleir research.

Your purpose is to construct a persuasive text that takes a position or stand on some aspect of the issue or problem or question, and tries to convince an audience who's interested but who may not know much about the subject that your position is the right one to take.

Rhetorical Considerations:
Rationale for the project: Although research projects are typically expected to be completed within one academic semester (or less) most of us who become vested in a project often "live" with it for months if not years before bringing it to completion. As with WP#1, this Writing Project will give you the chance to get started with some outside research on a topic that you're interested in . . . and which you might want to continue to focus on for the rest of the semester--that'll be your choice.  So here's a chance to explore a little, without making a major time and work commitment.

Audience: we might know a little about your topic, but you're on the way to becoming an expert . . . so help us see why you find it interesting, what's unusual about it, what made you select it, what we ought to know about the subject (and why we need to know it).  You also want to explain with facts or statistics or testimony or evidence why your position is the correct one, and why we should adopt your ideas.

Length: the length of your paper depends on your own interpretation of your rhetorical situation: what information do you need to provide to us, to convince us that your approach/ideas/position is the correct one?

Sources: you need at least four (4) outside sources for this project, to quote from to help expand your base of information about the topic you're focusing on
 final version (25%)
 
 

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ENG 101 Stretch:
Final reflective letter + revision plan
This final semester letter is one that discusses your change (and, we hope, your growth) as a writer over the course of the semester. The "rhetorical considerations" section and others below provide more detail, but the idea here is to both explore and demonstrate in what specific ways you have further developed your reading, writing, and thinking skills as you "wrote your way" through the first part of this class.  The second part of this assignment asks you to consider how you'd go about revising one of your writing projects.

Reflective letter overview:
The final Reflective letter + Revision Plan Project for this semester has two components:
· First, a cover letter that discusses your change (and, we hope, your growth) as a writer over the course of the semester. The "rhetorical considerations" section and others below provide more detail, but the idea here is to both explore and demonstrate in what specific ways you have further developed your reading, writing, and thinking skills as you "wrote your way" through this class.
· Second, a revision plan that explains specifically how you'd go about revising one of the Writing Projects you constructed during the semester. Keep in mind that you do not do the actual revision; rather, you discuss what you would do if you had the chance to revise the propjet. Please include the final version of the text with my comments and then, attached to these, a detailed discussion of how you are seeing this paper differently and how you would go about revising it now. Be sure to comment on audience, purpose, goals, and so on for the essay and provide specific examples of what changes you'd like to make.

Rationale for the letter
Following this assignment prompt, you will find a draft "outcomes statement" that composition faculty from all over the United States have constructed. The purpose of this document is to specify the kinds of knowledge and skills that students should acquire by the end of the first-year composition sequence. Because only some of that knowledge and some of those skills will be evident in any given project that you complete for the course, you need to provide a sampling of all your work in this course to demonstrate what you've accomplished as a reader, writer, thinker, learner. In general, this letter provides you an opportunity to illustrate how make informed choices as a writer.

Rhetorical Considerations
One purpose for this letter is to demonstrate that you have acquired rhetorical knowledge. Second, you should also demonstrate that you have further developed your reading, writing, and thinking skills. Third, you should demonstrate that you know how to use composing processes. Finally, as the outcomes statement suggests, you should demonstrate that you have gained further control over conventions of written language, especially by showing in your compositions what you are doing . . . and why you're doing it (that is, what's your rhetorical purpose?).  So: what can you give me copies of (Learning Logs, Drafts, comments, commented-on papers, invention activities, etc.) and comment on to show what you've learned?

The Project
To complete this letter and the final portfolio for this course, you will need to save your written work throughout the semester--invention work, drafts of projects, "final" versions of projects, the post-composing reflections on each project, journal entries, written peer responses, and the like. However, you do not need to submit all of your written work with your letter. Rather, you need only submit copies of whatever you consider necessary to demonstrate that you have accomplished the goals specified in the attached outcomes statement.
For this letter, I'm asking you to submit a letter addressed to me in which you explain what you've chosen to include in the portfolio and what each item in the portfolio demonstrates--so if you include some of your learning logs, discuss them in relation to the questions below. You'll want to include an early version and the final version of WP#1, and you'll want to discuss it in detail in terms of the questions below, and so on.
For your letter, you need to be as detailed as possible, using examples from your writing Projects #1 and #2 as well as the other work we've done to illustrate your growth as a writer, what you've learned from the invention, peer review, and other activities, and from the final "production" of the first writing project. Your letter should also include a paragraph or two in which you look to the future, commenting on how you plan to use your rhetorical knowledge and your composing skills in your academic, professional, personal, and/or civic lives.
 
Final    (10%)

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Outcomes for First-Year Composition (Draft--July 1998)
The following document is the result of the collective effort of writing teachers from a variety of colleges and universities. These teachers worked together to agree on what students should know and be able to do at the end of first-year writing courses at the college level.
These writers of this document have functioned as an ad hoc committee of the national organization of Writing Program Administrators. The document is currently in a draft stage and is awaiting final responses and revisions before formal endorsement by the Writing Program Administrators Executive Committee. We will update the document here as it is revised and evolves.
The knowledge and skills are divided into four categories.
1. Rhetorical knowledge: this covers the kinds of things students need to know about the writing situation, such as who the readers are and what kind of information they may be expecting from the text.
2. General reading, writing, and thinking skills: this covers general reading, writing, and thinking skills students must have to meet the demands of different kinds of writing situations.
3. Processes: this covers the processes students need to follow to produce successful texts.
4. Conventions: this covers specific conventions, such as spelling and punctuation, that readers will expect the students to control.
The document provides only general descriptions of what students need to know and be able to do. It does not define standards or precise levels of ability. These have been left for specific institutions to define and assess.
Rhetorical Knowledge:
By the end of their first-year writing courses, students should q be able to focus on a specific purpose, be able to anticipate the needs of different kinds of readers, be able to recognize the differences among kinds of writing situations, be able to use the conventions of format, organization, and language appropriate to specific writing situations, and to understand what makes writing types (like a book review, a project proposal or a research report) different.
General Reading, Writing, and Thinking Skills:
By the end of their first-year writing courses, students should be able to use writing to record, explore, organize, and communicate, be able to find, evaluate, analyze, and synthesize appropriate primary and secondary sources in order to meet the demands of different kinds of writing situations, and to understand the general relationships among language, knowledge, and power.
Processes:
By the end of their first-year writing courses, students should know how to use multiple drafts to improve their texts, strategies like brainstorming, outlining, and focused freewriting in all stages of the writing process, generating, organizing, revising, and editing strategies that are appropriate to the specific writing situation, and effective collaborative strategies to investigate, write, revise, and edit. Students should be able to use a variety of media, including particularly standard computerized media, in ways that permit them to make their writing acceptable to a wide variety of readers.

Conventions:
By the end of their first-year writing courses, students should control general conventions of spelling, grammar, and punctuation expected in standard written English, be able to document primary and secondary sources appropriately, know how to check for conventions about which they are uncertain, and understand that different conventions are appropriate for different kinds of writing situations.
This draft was revised by Irvin Peckham Last updated July 18, 1998.