English 215
Line #
Strategies for Academic Writing
Arizona
State University
Spring 2001
(click here
for MS Word version)
||Objectives||Texts||Requirements||Projects||Grading||Policies||
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COURSE
OBJECTIVES:
The mission of ASU’s Writing Programs is to introduce students to the
importance of writing in the work of the university and to develop their
critical reading, thinking and writing skills so that they can successfully
participate in that work. Writing is intellectual work, and the demands
of writing within the university community include the need:
- to synthesize
and analyze multiple points of view;
- to articulate and support one’s
own position regarding various issues; a
- to adjust writing to multiple
audiences, purposes, and conventions.
Students
in our courses are expected to engage the ideas encountered in academic and
serious public discourse, to develop complex ideas and arguments through serious
consideration of different perspectives, and to connect their life experiences
with ideas and information they encounter in classes.
English 215 is an advanced interdisciplinary
writing course emphasizing critical reading and thinking, argumentative writing,
library research, and documentation of sources in an academic setting. Practice
and study of selected rhetorics of inquiry (for example, historical, cultural,
empirical, and ethnographic) employed in academic disciplines, preparing students
for different systems of writing in their academic lives. Throughout this
course, students will:
- significantly improve
their academic writing;
- develop an understanding of
how members of a particular discipline conceive of and engage in the rhetorical
practices of that discipline;
- demonstrate understanding
of the key conversations, the forms, and the conventions of writing in
a particular discipline;
- gain experience in the construction
of knowledge within a discipline and practice using its discourse;
- read critically and analyze
rhetorically writings from a particular discipline and use those lenses
to frame their own discourses;
- write in the different forms
and styles of a particular discipline; and
- develop techniques for conducting
research on the Internet and with other electronic databases.
- REQUIRED
TEXTS/SUPPLIES:
Hult, Christine. Researching and
Writing Across the Curriculum. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1996.
University Policies: Student Academic
Integrity, Sexual Harassment, Class Disruption, and Student Code
of Conduct. Located at:
http://www.asu.edu/vpsa/studentlife/
2 new 3 1/2" disks
An ASUrite account
Subscription to and participation
in this section's WebBoard
Stapler and staples (standard size
-- trust me on this one) OR binder clips
copy cards for use in the library
- Course
Requirements and Grading
| Project1 Inquiry in the Disciplines
|
15% |
| Project 2 Writing in the
Disciplines |
20% |
| Project 3 Researching in
the Disciplines |
30% |
| Project 4 Reflecting on the
Disciplines |
10% |
| Oral Presentation of Research
|
10% |
| WebBoard Participation |
5% |
| Attendance, Conferencing & Participation
|
10% |
Attendance
and Participation:
Because so much of your learning will take place in class,
you must attend on a regular basis to receive credit for this course. If you
miss more than FOUR (4) class meetings, you cannot pass this course. This is
a Writing Programs policy and is non-negotiable. This means that there is no
such thing as an "excused" absence. There are only `absences.'
"Attendance" means being present, on time, awake, and prepared for the entire
class period. A student who is chronically late to class, leaves early, sleeps
through class, engages in off-task activity, or is not prepared to participate
in the day's class work will not receive attendance and participation credit.
Further, I may cancel classes at least once this semester to hold mandatory
conferences with you. If you miss a conference, you will be counted absent (as
if from class). Beyond this policy, I expect students to make every effort to
attend all meetings and to miss class only in rare and unavoidable circumstances.
Should you arrive after I have called the roll, it is your responsibility to
ensure that I correct the roll at class end.
Note #1: To accommodate students who participate in university-sanctioned
activities, the Writing Programs Office 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, the debate
team or another--please see me after class today. Transferring to another section
may be the only viable option, but we should discuss it.
Teacher Conferences:
You must visit with me in my office at least twice during the term to discuss
your papers and your class performance. I will schedule the first conference.
The second conference will be scheduled by YOU. Please take this opportunity
to let me get to know you a little better. I also encourage you to visit your
other professors during their office hours. Your conferences with me will be
figured in your final grade.
Classroom Protocol:
We will spend much of our class time in discussions and workshops. A portion
of some classes may also include lecture. Regardless of the class format, you
are expected to be prepared, to listen, to contribute, and to participate in
an appropriate fashion. Among other things, this means no off-task use of your
computer.
Course Work:
You must come to each class prepared to write, to share your drafts with others,
and to revise what you have already written. This means you must work steadily
both in class and on your own. You should plan to spend two to three hours outside
of class for every hour in class. Writing classes frequently require more time
from students than many other classes do. All final drafts of papers must be
typed or wordprocessed and double spaced. Place your name, my name, course title,
date, and title of the Paper at the top of the first page. Be sure to number
each page and to staple all the pages together. Keep all your writing for this
course, including in-class and out-of-class working notes, drafts, revisions,
final drafts, workshop responses, and journal entries. At the end of the semester,
you will review your work to analyze and evaluate your progress. (I strongly
urge you to backup all your work. It could be disastrous for you gradewise if
you cannot produce evidence of your work at semester's end.) All major projects
must be completed in order to pass the course.
Academic/critical essays:
We will be writing critical, academic essays this semester—essays that present
some sort of an argument and that try to persuade readers to "see it the
writer's way." To help you better understand what I'm asking you to do
in these essays, keep the following in mind: The critical/ academic essay
grapples with ideas and complexities,
rather than presenting untheorized information, experi-ences, details;
weaves together multiple texts, playing
them off of one another and working with them rather than pasting them into
a paper;
is claim-driven—makes a point/claims;
has a purposeful trajectory. though not necessarily presenting a single
assertion or argumentative stand;
may or may not contain personal experience\the
choice is the writer's.
Since each writer's needs are unique,
this course will provide lots of individual attention and feedback from me
as well as from other students in class. I also encourage you to seek reactions
to your ideas and drafts from people outside of this course. Consider soliciting
advice from family, friends, and roommates. To plagiarize is to present as
your own any work that is not exclusively your own and violates the University
policy on Academic Integrity. Plagiarism of all or a portion of any assignment
will be severely penalized.
This class will also introduce you to several aspects of computer research
and pedagogy. We will frequently be doing class exercises and collaborative
work on computer. You do not have to have expertise on the computer to succeed
in this class, but you will have to work frequently on computer-aided assignments.
If you do not have a computer at home, you'll want to visit theASU
computing sites on campus.
There are several locations. Although the Computing Commons is the biggest
site, it is also the most busiest. So, it's a good idea to explore and visit
the smaller sites as well.
If you're interested in free software or connecting your home computer to
ASU's system, please contact the Computing Assistance folks on the second
floor of the Computing Commons, or simply dial 965-6500. They have answers
to the most difficult computer questions. These are also the people to call
if you would like to get Internet access at a small fee (usually $10-$15).
Grading
Criteria
- Essays 75% (15%, 20%, 30%,10% respectively)
- Oral Presentation 10%
- WebBoard Participation and Quality
of Responses 5%
- Attendance, Conferencing & Participation
10%
NOTE: As a rule, I try not to penalize
students for late work when something unexpected prevents completion of a particular
assignment on time. HOWEVER, students who make it a practice to turn in work
late should expect that as much as a letter grade will be deducted at the end
of the semester from their final grade. In addition, a paper that is more than
one week late may be dropped as much as one letter grade. Late in-class and
take-home assignments will not be accepted for credit. Again, All four major
projects must be completed in order to pass the course.
The Public Nature of the Class Writing and Discussion:
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 community
of writers. Remember that you will often be expected to share your writing with
others. Avoid writing about things that you may not be prepared to subject to
public scrutiny or that 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 effects on others, that you take responsibility for your words
and for engagement with the words of others.
PROBLEM SOLVING:
All of us struggle with our limits, and I sometimes suspect that no one is more
conscious of that than students in writing requirement courses. Keep in mind,
as you set your priorities, that I am very moved by students who visibly struggle
with their limits.
I encourage you to also see me during office hours, e-mail me, or make an appointment
anytime you wish to discuss issues connected with this class and/or your performance.
Students frequently tell me that the most helpful feature of the class was coming
to my office and discussing their writing projects and/or classroom concerns.
Please discuss concerns with me while we still have options. I tend to be generous
with students who take the initiative to consult with me about concerns while
they are still `situations,' i.e., not-yet-crises, and downright testy with
those who permit things to slide until a crisis is unavoidable.
If anything arises about which you want an opinion or advice other than mine,
please contact the Writing Programs Associate Director at 480/965-3853 or see
our Administrative Assistant in LL314.
