ENG 105

In this course we will be focusing on your writing and how to improve it. Through the use of in-class workshops, multiple drafting, intensive reading and critical discussion, and library and Web research, we hope to prepare you for the types of writing most often encountered in college-level courses. Since the ability to write well is tied closely to the development of effective reading and analytical skills, we will supplement the very brief readings in the main textbook with a number of well-known, longer pieces of writing which all address, in some form or other, the large topic of "education" (conceived as broadly as possible). Weekly discussions of ideas will be supplemented by workshops which focus intensively on writing skills. Supplemental readings will be available online through the course website, but you may also purchase inexpensive paperback editions listed below under the required Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing, 2^nd Edition, which you must purchase.

Bean, John C. and John D. Ramage. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing, 2^nd Edition. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1997.

Arnold, Matthew. Culture and Anarchy. Ed. Stefan Collini. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1993.

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Confessions. Trans. J. M. Cohen. London: Penguin, 1953 [reprint].

Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Women. New York: Dover, 1996.

N.B. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing is available now at the ASU Bookstore. The other texts have just recently been ordered. I will notify you when they arrive at the bookstore. You should also purchase a handbook such as the Little Brown Handbook or, at the very least, make use of the Online English Grammar. I will append an extensive list of links for research to this syllabus within a few weeks. In the meantime, though, you should explore for yourself the extensive information sources available through the ASU Library. You may also find the extensive links on my website to be useful, although you should keep in mind that these are heavily weighted toward literary and historical sites.

Vigorous and regular class participation is crucial to success in this course. You must hand in all assignments on time and attend all classes. Failure to do so will definitely lower your final grade. You are also expected to have reading assignments completed by the date they are to be discussed.

Here is a more complete statement of the policy on late and/or missing assignments.

Date	Topic	Assigned Reading/Writing/Reports	Supplemental Material
M, 8/23	Introduction to the course	****
W, 8/25	Workshop	Read A&B, 3-39
M, 8/30	Autobiography	Read Rousseau, Confessions	The Rousseau Association; Eighteenth-Century Studies Sites; Great Books Index: Jean-Jacques Rousseau
W, 9/1	Workshop	Read A&B, 142-164
M, 9/6	No Class, Labor Day	****
W, 9/8	Autobiography	Rousseau cont./Workshop on autobiographies Write an autobiography (first draft due today)
M, 9/13	Classical argument	Read Plato’s Protagoras; read Wilde’s The Decay of Lying [Use ID and PW for access]	Here, Madam; The Perseus Project; The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy; Encyclopedia Britannica; Oscariana and the Oscar Wilde Random Quote Generator; The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde; Donna Haraway, "A Cyborg Manifesto"; Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"
W, 9/15	Workshop	Read A&B, 316-359
M, 9/20	Classical argument cont.	Plato; Wilde cont. Autobiography (final draft due today)
W, 9/22	Workshop	Write a classical argument (first draft due) Topics
M, 9/27	Informative Writing	Read Darwin, Origin of Species (excerpts: Introduction, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 10, Ch 15)	Science and Creationism: The View from the National Academy of Science; www.creationism.org; John Lynch's Darwinism course online syllabus
W, 9/29	Workshop	Topics for Informative Essay Finish discussion of Darwin; Read A&B, 194-214
M, 10/4	Informative Writing	Darwin and Wells cont. Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau Classical argument (final draft due)	Wells and his Worlds
W, 10/6	Workshop	Informative essay (first draft due)
M, 10/11	Analysis: Analyzing an image	Read Pater, "La Gioconda"; See in-class parodies (Coming soon). Read A&B, 215-237
W, 10/13	Workshop	****
M, 10/18	Analysis: Causality	Read Hume: From An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748): Sec. IV, Sec. V, Sec. VII, Sec. X. Read Coleridge, "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798; this is the 1858 edition at UVA). Read A&B, 288-315	The Samuel Taylor Coleridge Archive; Coleridge (portrait); A Coleridge Companion; The Hume Archives; Ty's David Hume Page
W, 10/20	Workshop: Analyzing Literature	A&B, 260-287 Informative essay (final draft due)
M, 10/25	Analysis cont.	A&B, 260-287
W, 10/27	Conferences Sign-up Sheet	Conferences: see sign-up sheet Bring ideas for research paper (Topics)
M, 11/1	Persuasion Internet Research Sample Test	Arnold, Culture and Anarchy (Essays I, II, and III)	Arnold on the Victorian Web
W, 11/3	Workshop	Analysis paper (first draft due) Topics	Guide to term paper research (ASU Library)
M, 11/8	Persuasion	Read Wollstonecraft, Vindication of the Rights of Women (excerpts)	Wollstonecraft websites
W, 11/10	Workshop	Note-taking, finding sources A&B, pp. 541-587
M, 11/15	Research paper	Oral reports begin: Adam York
W, 11/17	Research cont.	Oral reports: Justin Tang; Byron Bjore*
M, 11/22	Analysis paper (2nd draft) due.	Oral reports: Austin Miller; Sarah Tesar; Tuan Nguyen; Martin Lenardon
W, 11/24	"	Oral reports: Rachel Gross, Jennifer Danberg, Josh Sherwin, Nathan Shields
M, 11/29	"	Oral reports: Houston Todd*
W, 12/1	"	Research paper (first draft due) Oral reports: Sean Lynch, Jesse Brown, Albert Hong*, Jennie Bowler
M, 12/8		Oral reports: Nick Gramze, Omar Mahmood
W, 12/10	"	Oral reports: Carolyn Beal
M, 12/17		Research paper (final draft due)

Requirement	Percent of final grade
Essay 1 (autobiography)	15%
Essay 2 (classical argument) Topics	15%
Essay 3 (informative essay) Topics	15%
Essay 4 (analysis paper) Topics	15%
Research paper (Topics)	20%
Participation, attendance, various short writing assignments in-class and out, oral reports	20%