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| English 216, Persuasive Writing about Public Issues, Fall 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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English 216
Persuasive Writing on Public Issues Arizona State University Fall 2008
COURSE OBJECTIVES: English 216 studies the circulation of public arguments that affect the lives of all citizens. Arguments are rooted in beliefs, and beliefs are rooted in communities that are important to believers. Students will be asked to track the ideologies of arguments—the premises that make up belief systems and the connections made between and among them. Students will then use this mapping to generate possible positions that may be taken on public issues. The course combines readings and discussions of the theoretical dimensions of argument—questions about probability, the nature of assertions, the worth of evidence—with the practical study of how to invent, arrange, style, and deliver persuasive discourse. Class meetings will consist of discussions of readings, examination and dissection of public arguments, and workshop sessions where students generate and read their own and their classmates’ writing. Throughout this course, students will:
Because writing classes are performance courses that depend upon student attendance for both the class and the student’s success, this policy is non-negotiable. All absences count equally, irrespective of the cause and students who exceed the allowed number of absences cannot pass the course and will fail with a grade of “E.” For Fall and Spring semesters, classes that meet two days a week, the maximum number of allowed absences is four (4). Also, students who are chronically late to class, leave early, sleep through class, engage in off-task activity, or are not prepared to participate in the day's class work will be penalized for each such occasion and these penalties will adversely affect the students’ final grade. I encouraged each of you to speak with me at any time about your projects and your standing in the course. 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.
ATTENDANCE: FIRST WEEK OF CLASSES According to university policy, students who are registered but do not attend any of the first week of classes may be dropped.
If I need to cancel class because my car broke down, or if I am ill, etc., I will try to get someone to post a sign. I also will try to email you all, before class. However, if you come to class and I am not here by the time 15 minutes has elapsed (from when class is to start) , please assume that class is cancelled. GRADING Grading for Writing Projects will follow English Department standards, which are based on content, organization, expression, and mechanics. To compute final course grades, the following values are assigned to the standard letter grades of A through E:
MAJOR PROJECTS
The four paper assignments will be posted on the Blackboard site, and they will also be discussed in detail in class. Workshops and other in-class exercises will be announced in class, ordinarily one or two days ahead of time. Ordinarily workshops and in-class activities produce writing that I include under the header “in-class writing.” I do not grade such work, but I do record its completion. “Participation” means that you are prepared for class by having done the assigned reading, for example, and that you take part in class discussions, workshops, and other in-class activities. Good writing happens during revision. Consequently I urge you to begin working on writing assignments for this class as soon as they are assigned. A few minutes’ work, undertaken on several occasions prior to the due date, will get you to thinking about the issue you are interested in arguing, and give you time to do adequate invention and research. The more drafts you produce, the better writing will be. You may revise the first major assignment once after you hand it in for my evaluation. If you achieve a better grade on the revision, the better grade erases the original grade. Acceptable revisions must reconceptualize the entire argument, however; revisions that merely respond to comments made by me or other readers will not receive better grades. When you hand in a revision, please attach a copy of the original with my comments on it. After the first assignment, you must present me with a compelling argument in order to receive permission to revise. Generally, when I evaluate arguments, I look for the following features: a clearly stated claim; evidence that the writer is aware of the kind of case to which her claim commits her; evidence of thorough and careful invention; thorough and effective presentation of acceptable data in support of the claim; effective use of ethical, pathetic, and logical appeals; inclusion of necessary arguments and refutations and their orderly, effective arrangement; effective delivery, including clear and persuasive writing that is attractively formatted and free of mechanical error. These general considerations may be modified by specific requirements imposed by given assignments. LATE WRITING PROJECTS Generally speaking, I expect all work to be turned in on time except in the most extreme circumstances. However, as a rule, I try not to penalize students for late work when something unexpected prevents completion of a particular assignment on time. However, I accept no unexcused late work. You must receive permission to turn in a late assignment without being penalized; if you fail to do so, your grade will be lowered 1 full letter grade for each day that assignment late. Also note that I will never give permission to turn in an assignment late on the day it is due. So if you come across a problem, talk to me ahead of time. Also, you may not email me a copy of your paper unless prior permission from me has been received. I am not sympathetic to work that has not been reviewed in workshop unless its author has been excused from those class sessions for some reason. Late homework, activities and participation in Blackboard activities will not be accepted and cannot be “made-up.” KEEP COPIES OF ALL YOUR WORK A writer never gives her or his only copy of a text to anyone. Save both a hard copy and an electronic copy of each draft of each text you write for this course. This means you will need to form the habit of duplicating a document before making changes to the new version. Keep hard copies of your work for this course, along with any comments you receive on it, in a binder or folder. Save electronic copies of all drafts of all your writings on a usb drive or back-up disk, or learn how to post them to your personal space on the ASU servers. You will need these copies to complete your work for this course—since when you turn in a revised version of an essay, I will ask you to track and reflect on the changes you have made in moving from one draft to the next. THE PUBLIC NATURE OF THE CLASS WRITING AND DISCUSSION: Please consider every piece of writing you do for this class to be "public property." 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. Arguments will happen in this class—frequently. At times our discussions may become heated. If (when) this occurs, I expect all of us to treat one another with courtesy and respect. The political theorist Chantal Mouffe encourages citizens to think of participants in civic argument as agonists rather than antagonists. Agonists have a stake in an argument, of course, but they realize that those who disagree with them have equally important stakes in the outcome. Rhetorical theorist Janet Atwill reminds us that argument does not actually occur unless all parties treat one another with respect; if this condition is not present, something other than argument is going on—most likely competition, threats, or even coercion. These will not be tolerated in class. CLASSROOM PROTOCOL Please read the editorial pages of the State Press on Tuesday and Thursday before coming to class, and bring the newspaper to class every day we meet. Please bring Ancient Rhetorics to class every day that we discuss work contained therein. Please complete reading and writing assignments before class meets on the day they are due. Workshops may take place during all or part of any class meeting. Dates for workshops will always be announced in class at least one class meeting prior to their occurrence. The class calendar is subject to change; changes will be announced and discussed in class. All writing for this class must be written for this class To pass this class all major writing assignments must be completed, and note that all writing for this class must be written for this class. Reusing a paper you wrote for another class, or back in high school, constitutes academic dishonesty. ACADEMIC DISHONESTY In the “Student Academic Integrity Policy” manual, ASU defines plagiarism as “using another's words, ideas, materials or work without properly acknowledging and documenting the source. Students are responsible for knowing the rules governing the use of another's work or materials and for acknowledging and documenting the source appropriately.” You can find this definition at: http://www.asu.edu/studentaffairs/studentlife/judicial/academic_integrity.htm#definitions Academic dishonesty, including inappropriate collaboration, will not be tolerated. There are severe sanctions for cheating, plagiarizing and any other form of dishonesty. The policies and procedures listed here are a supplement to those listed in the ASU Writing Programs Guide The policies and procedures listed here are a supplement to those listed in the ASU Writing Programs Guide
TEACHER CONFERENCES: I will cancel class at least once during the semester to hold individual conferences with each of you. In addition, you should try to visit with me in my office several times during the term to discuss your papers and your class performance. 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 DISABILITY RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS: ASU complies with all federal and state laws and regulations regarding discrimination, including the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). If you have a disability and need a reasonable accommodation for equal access to education at ASU, please contact Disability Resources for Students at 480-965-1234. Please feel free to discuss the special accommodations with all of your teachers. PROBLEM SOLVING: 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. And remember: You are accountable for all University, College, Departmental, and Writing Programs policies, whether you have read them or not! |
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