English 419b-001: Non-Fiction Prose Fall 2004 Chavez 307 |
SYLLABUS Click here to go directly to the class schedule Texts: Recommended: Word Processing Program (with spell checker) A Handbook for writers Goals: 1. Use material from your life to explore in writing issues related to ideas; use your own experience as one way to create a persuastive argument. Ethos/Logos. 2. Understand the writing process, by attending to pre-writing, draft writing, revision, and editing. 3. See writing as a form of thinking and argument (rhetoric) as well as a form of self-expression. 4. Sharpen your reading ability, including particularly the ability to read and evaluate your own writing as well as the writing of others. 5. Develop your writing ability in general; become a more competent, effective, efficient, and persuasive writer. Requirements: A few brief exercises, workshop sessions, and in-class presentations. Class attendance: Since this is a skills course, class participation is essential. More than three absences lower your grade and make passing the course doubtful. At least one conference: Office hours T/Thurs. 10:45-noon. Mid-term examination: Tuesday, Oct. 19 Final examination: Portfolio due Tuesday, December 14, 10:00 a.m. A Note on Planning Time for This Class Every paper must be completed, submitted on time , and then revised and resubmitted on time . We must have your papers in class so that we can work with them in small groups. Late papers will ordinarily not be accepted. A final revision will occur before you place all of your papers in a binder or portfolio. At the end of the term, you will hand in this binder, containing every paper and exercise; a reflective introduction to the portfolio will be the first item in it. You cannot receive credit for the course unless all papers are included, appropriately revised. Be sure to plan your time so that you keep up with the writing assignments. Also, be sure to read the brief reading assignments carefully before class and come to class prepared to discuss them, with particular attention to the ways they are related to the writing assignments. A Note on Submission of Papers Option 1: Papers should be printed (double spaced, 12 point) on one side of the page only and with wide margins. Keep this principle in mind: leave enough room for your instructors to make comments between the lines as well as in the margins. Number the pages, except the first, and put your name on the top right of each sheet. Title pages are not necessary. The finished paper should be folded in half the long way and endorsed near the top of the outside fold with the following information: Your name, the assignment (for example, Essay 1), English 419b, date submitted, and date re-submitted if a revision. Always include originals with revisions. Option 2 (Preferred): Post your papers as email attachments to emwhite@u.arizona.edu, using as subject line English 419, the assignment (as Essay 1), Draft Number. Use (or convert to) Microsoft WORD. The paper will be posted back to you with comments using the Comment function of WORD; usually, a comment will appear on your screen when you place your cursor over the yellowed words. Use this option only if you are SURE that your computer is free of viruses. When you post a revised copy, describe in your post the changes that you have made. A Note on Grades The first submission of a paper should not be a "first draft" or a "discovery draft"; it should be as finished as you can make it, and will often represent several drafts past the first. It will be scored on a six-point scale (with six as best), with particular attention to the structure, thoughtfulness, and development of ideas. The second submission should reflect new thinking and should show responses to questions raised about the first submission; it should in addition be carefully edited. Keep in mind that editing is not the same as revision. This resubmission will be graded on either the six-point or the usual A to F scale. All papers are to be revised, particularly the best ones, which are likely to be the most promising ones. Thus each essay will have two separate grades. Your final course grade will be determined by a portfolio review at the end of the course. I will weigh the papers in the last half of the course most heavily and consider carefully your demonstrated ability to revise and improve your work. Your class attendance and participation will also influence your grade. Since we do regular workshops, which depend on you being present with your work in hand, you probably will not receive a passing grade if you miss more than three classes or come to class late or unprepared. A Note on the Public Nature of This Personal Writing We tread a fine line in this class between the public and the private; our writing is about the personal but for a public purpose: the essence of modern rhetoric. Thus everything you write must be considered public and might wind up duplicated for class discussion. As with email, you should consider the possibility of your writing appearing somehow on page 1 of the local newspaper. That said, we should all make every effort to keep the writing of the class within the class and to protect the writing-in-progress of each other until the author wishes it to be published.
Tuesday, Aug. 24 Introduction to the course Thursday, Aug. 26 Tuesday, Aug. 31 Using experience as evidence Thursday, Sept. 2 Using experience as evidence Tuesday, Sept. 7 Collaborative Peer Workshop Thursday, Sept. 9 Ethos in the service of logos Tuesday, Sept. 14 Thursday, Sept. 16 Tuesday, Sept. 21 Collaborative peer workshop Thursday, Sept. 23 Writing single-source papers Tuesday, Sept. 28 Cognition Issues: Thinking about Thinking Thursday, Sept. 30 Thinking About Knowing Tuesday, Oct. 5 Knowing About Political Issues: Civil Disobedience Thursday, Oct. 7 Personal experience as evidence Tuesday, Oct. 12 Peer Workshop Thursday, Oct. 14 Impromptu Writing Strategies Tuesday, Oct. 19 Mid-term examination Thursday, Oct. 21 Tuesday, Oct. 26 How Does Family Heritage Affect Who We Are? Thursday, Oct. 28 What does family history mean? Tuesday, Nov. 9 Family history and the source paper Thursday, Nov. 11 Veterans' Day: No Class Tuesday, Nov. 16 Research: Responsible Use of Sources Thursday, Nov. 18 Preparing the portfolio Tuesday, Nov. 23 Citation Format Thursday, Nov. 25 Thanksgiving Day. No Class Tuesday, Dec. 7 Ethos serving Logos Tuesday, Dec. 14 “FINAL EXAMINATION”: 10 a.m.
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