Instructor Assignment Statements

Reading Logs

All reading logs are to be at least one page, single-spaced in length covering an article from a journal in your discourse community. You should summarize the article in three to five sentences and then analyze the article. What were its strong points? Weak points? Was the language easy to understand? Was the article structured in an easy to follow manner? Would you go to that journal again? You should critically examine the article and how it fits into your discourse community. Merely stating that you enjoyed the article and would use the journal again does not constitute a reading log.

CS Options

Throughout the semester you will be asked to read segments of the CS book and then choose an option. You should choose the option you find the most interesting and then complete it. The length for these taks will vary, but you should fulfill them to the best of your ability. Like everything else for Eng 145, the CS options should be computer generated. Both the CS options and the RL will be graded on a four point scale for 40 possible total points.

To view this whole syllabus see Writing Strategies Approach

THE (DREADED) PAPERS

You will be nominally responsible for SIX papers in this class. But that is somewhat misleading. You will be doing two major research papers (a "literary" research paper during the first eight weeks (we'll spend a lot of time discussing just what is meant by "literary") and a substantial piece of research rising out of your own academic interests in the second eight weeks). These papers will normally be 5-8 pages and include extensive research/bibliographies. The other four papers will be smaller research-type papers: inquiries, abstracts, annotated bibliographies, forum analyses, position papers and involved responses to issues arising out of this class. A lot of this type of writing will arise out of your own interests and questions you have about the class. Please note that the six papers will not be the only writing you will be doing in this class. There will be extensive in class writing, drafting of longer papers, exercises and responses. Remember: this is a writing class. We will, needless to say, be doing a lot of writing!

Please type all of your papers. All of your major papers must be done on the Macintosh computers. The computers are a major resource and should be used as often as possible. Other than some in-class assignments and some informal exercises, all work handed in for me to look at must be typed, there will be no exceptions and you will be docked 1/3 a grade and asked to rewrite anything that is handwritten.

Please keep all of the work you do this semester, exercises, in-class and out of class writings, in a folder to be turned in on the last day of class. I will look the folder over as a whole, and part of your grade will be determined by what kind of over-all progress you made this semester.

To view this whole syllabus see First, What Is Similar and Dissimilar?

English 145 -- Sequence of Writing Assignments

Essays

--The sequence of essays for this course is designed to culminate in a relatively involved final paper which will build on (and perhaps, in part, subsume) the earlier writings. The aim of this culminating effect is to offer you the opportunity for a more in-depth study of the discourse practices of a given academic community and to foster comprehensive discussions of the issues you have chosen to explore.

1) interview summaryi--Sometime during the first few weeks of this course, you will be asked to set up a meeting with a professional who might offer you some insight into the issue which is to become the focus of the course project. The writing which corresponds with this exercise asks you to list the questions you devised to facilitate the discussion and to summarize (one of the general strategies addressed in Bazerman) the information acquired during that conversation as well as your reaction to it. (5%)
2) characterization of discourse communityi--In that the notion of discourse communities is a central tenet of this course, we will begin studying various discourse communities as a class very early in the semester. Once you have had considerable practice at collaboratively distinguishing between "public" and "academic" discourse conventions, you will be asked to characterize the discourse practices of the specific community you have chosen to enter. The assignment leading to this particular writing is one which asks you to study various articles from prominent academic journals which address that issue and to write a characterization of that discourse community based on a forum analysis. Though later in your research you will be encouraged to read in journals outside the discipline explored for this particular assignment, you will be expected in the final project to demonstrate awareness of the conventions which help to define the writing practices of the academic community targeted as your primary audience. (5%)
3) defining a term or concepti--This writing assignment challenges you to practice another one of the general strategies addressed by Bazerman; that is, you will be defining a term or concept from the articles you have been studying to that point. Community of Voices provides several examples of developing definitions from context which will be helpful in preparing you for this assignment. This exercise becomes particularly significant as one looks ahead to the final project in that, even if the problematic term or concept addressed in this assignment is not utilized in the final paper, the skill of defining from context is crucial to presenting sound academic arguments and likely will be employed in the final paper. (10%)
4) Characterizing a Perspective I--This essay is the first leg of a pair of assignments designed to help you gain a more "comprehensive" vision of the issue you are investigating. At this point in the essay sequence, you will begin to distinguish and articulate various viewpoints concerning the issue you have chosen to research. This exercise will require you not only to summarize passages from various articles that espouse a certain perspective, but also to react to that perspective as you consider it in the context of the argument to be presented in the final project. (15%)
5) Characterizing a perspective II--This assignment will entail the same process as is required in essay four, but you will be asked to consider a perspective different from that which you characterized in the previous paper. Of course, not all controversies are limited to two perspectives, but for purposes of essays four and five, you will be asked to "pick and choose." (15%)
6) Final Project--Sustaining an academic argument--The final project will be a ten-to-fifteen-page academic argument in which you articulate and defend a position regarding the issue you have been investigating for the entire semester. It is expected that you will make use of ideas and arguments addressed in previous writings and therefore will be prepared to present a cohesive and somewhat comprehensive discussion of your own convictions on the subject. As has been encouraged in essays three and four, you will be expected to demonstrate knowledge of various perspectives on the issue you chose to explore as you forward your own position. Furthermore, you will be expected to demonstrate relatively advanced awareness of and an ability to employ effectively the conventions of your respective discourse community. (20%)

Reading Log

--You will be expected to keep a record of all your reading toward the final project beginning with the articles you study for that exercise which asks you to characterize the conventions of your chosen discourse community. Entries for all articles should include a summary of the ideas presented and a response to those ideas, ranging anywhere from a critique of the author's convictions regarding a particular issue to a discussion of how that particular article might work into a given essay assignment. At the minimum, the reading log should consist of ten entries, and it will be completed at your own pace according to your rate of progress toward the final project. Procrastination should not be a problem, since some of the earliest writing projects will be based on independent readings within your targeted discourse community. The reading log will be collected at the middle and end of the semester (5 logs each time). For purposes of my grading the reading log and for checking the accuracy of citations in the final project, you should include, with its corresponding entry, a xeroxed copy of each article studied. The reading log will be judged according to the apparent quality of the summary and the depth of thought evident in the response to the ideas presented. (20%)

To view this whole syllabus see Language and Its Function in Our Lives

Paper One - A definition of your particular discourse community encompassing a summary, synthesis, and critique of your field of study. Due: September 10, 1993
Paper Two - A forum analysis covering two different journals in your field. Due: September 24, 1993
Paper Three - A nonbiased synthesis of a controversial issue currently plaguing your discourse community. Due: October 8, 1993
Paper Four - An analysis of an issue in the field covering how this issue relates to other fields and how popular culture views the problem. Be sure to cover stereotypes associated with the problem. Due: November 10, 1993
Paper Five - A persuasive paper covering a controversial subject in your discipline different from the topic of paper three and four. Due: October 22, 1993
Paper Six - The research paper - The project should be appropriate to your discipline and relate to the topics you have covered in the first five papers. A one page proposal is due October 29, 1993 discussing your paper. Since you are the expert about your discipline, I am leaving the topic of the research paper up to your discretion but reserve the right to veto any topic which would not fulfill the requirements of the research paper. Due: December 10, 1993
November 17, 1993 is the last day I will accept revisions of the first five papers unless arrangements have been made prior to November 15, 1993.

Reading Logs
- 9/1/93 Chapter One Critical Strategies
- 9/8/93 Chapter Two
- 9/15/93 Chapter Three
- 9/22/93 Chapter Four
- 9/29/93 Chapter Five
- 10/6/93 Chapter Six
- 10/13/93
- 10/20/93
- 10/27/93
- 11/3/93
To view this whole syllabus see Situated in Academic Conversations

Required Work
- 6 Topic Papers (750-1250 words each = 3 to 5 pages)
- 1 Major Paper (1500-2500 words = 6 to 10 pages)
- 3 Interviews With Writers Or Researchers In A Chosen Field
- Class Participation
- Journal Entries
The details:
Each of the topic papers will be written over the course of two weeks. During that period you will write several drafts of each paper on the Macintosh computers and present them to your peers and to me for commentary. We will read the papers looking to see if there are ways that you can better anticipate the needs of your audience and improve your papers. Everyone's input is important; thus, you should anticipate being able to develop ways of commenting and criticizing appropriately which give the writer a sense of how successfully the paper works for a particular audience, and for a particular occasion. The papers will have a research orientation with a particular community and forum in mind.
The major paper will offer you the opportunity to use some of the work you have done over the course of the semester to write a more in-depth essay. This assignment will mimic what you will be required to do during the course of the semester, and even during your undergraduate studies (that is, to pick, research, and write about, with some depth, a particular topic in a field which a particular course represents). It too will have a research orientation, and it can be considered a kind of culminating piece of work which can reflect the learning and the effort you have put forth during the semester. We will talk more about it as the semester progresses.
Given the class's orientation toward research I have included opportunities to conduct interviews of experts knowledgeable about the writing in a field you may be working on. These can be with professors you have already had classes with; they can be with graduate students you may know; or they may be with individuals outside the university community. In any case, they should and will be with individuals who can tell you something about writing in a field you are investigating. The idea of interviewing someone in a position of power may seem daunting, for you may have never done it before. Realize, though, that personal interviews can often help us make our research process more efficient as the person we are interviewing reveals insights about the process which are based on their experience, and which, therefore, we may not have considered. The interviews are also a chance to practice a skill which you will need to have available upon graduation, mainly the skill of interviewing in the process of seeking employment. For this necessity, interviewing techniques will be crucial, and you will have a chance to practice here.
The class participation part of your grade will be based upon your effort in responding appropriately to drafts of others' writing (appropriateness being based on your efforts to help others improve). Your ability to have work completed on time will also factor in. The journal entries aspect of the class entails keeping a journal throughout the semester which includes the short assignments I may give you and any other material which you add to it. I will collect these at the end of the semester for evaluation.
All work for the class should be kept on 3.5 "floppy" disks, and any paper work should be kept in a folder. It happens from time to time that disks malfunction, and so you should have an extra disk available to keep copies of your work. I may ask to see folders of work from time to time, and so you should keep a folder of your printed work available and organized. All work for the class must be done on Macintosh and must be printed either on Imagewriter or Laserwriter printers. Work done on other systems may not receive a grade.

Grading Concerns
We will be following the guidelines for grading which are outlined in Stipes (see the handout I gave out in class). You can expect a similar grading and response style as you have seen in English 101. This means that great care must be taken on your part in writing your papers to receive high marks. The grading breaks down the following way:
- Topic Papers 50%
- Major Paper 25%
- Interviews 10%
- Class Part. 10%
- Journal Entries 5%
Course Outline
- I. Introduction - 3 weeks
- II. Exploration of discourse in the humanities - 2 weeks
- III. Writing a topic paper for the humanities - 2 weeks
- IV. Exploration of discourse in the sciences - 2 weeks
- V. Writing a topic paper in the sciences - 2 weeks
- VI. Exploration of discourse in the social sciences - 2 weeks
- VII. Writing a topic paper in the social sciences - 2 weeks
- VIII. Writing a final paper of 1500-2500 words - end of sem.
Details:
We will spend the first part of the course learning terminology and practicing the skills which will be useful during the rest of the course. Then, we will spend four weeks in the humanities, four weeks in the "hard" sciences, and four weeks in the social sciences before you write your final paper to close the course. In each of the areas of investigation you will be allowed to choose 1 field on which to investigate and to write an investigative paper and a topic paper. For instance, in the humanities, you may choose the field of history; in the sciences, physics; in the social sciences, psychology. For the investigative paper you will investigate the discourse of a particular field and write a paper using MLA documentation on what you have found. For the topic paper, having looked at several forums, you will choose a topic relevant to at least one forum and write a paper using the documentation style appropriate to the forum or the field. The final paper can be an extension of a topic paper you have already written, or a new topic which arose during the course of your investigation and writing. The journal can be a useful place to keep track of and explore useful topics. In order to understand the writing in the particular field you are working in you will organize and conduct an interview with an expert in the field you are working in to gain insight into writing to and for the field. The insights from the interview can become part of the investigative paper and will be conducted prior to or during the period you are working on the investigative paper.
To view this whole syllabus see Humanities and "Hard" Sciences: Spring

Journals:
You will be submitting journals on both a regular and spontaneous basis. You will turn in at least one informal, type-written page each day marked with and asterisk (*) at the beginning of class. That page may be about anything that is defensible as something pertaining to this course. Such things might include a reaction to a recent class, reading, or written response to me regarding your last journal or essay. I leave this up to you. The journal is important, though, for keeping our writing minds active and pressure-free.
To view this whole syllabus see "from-to"

Return to Instructor Sample Syllabi English 145