Syllabus
ENG 102, sections B and F, Spring 2007
Rhetoric and Writing, 3 credit hours
Professor=s Name: Dr.
Telephone Number: 706-368-5638 Email: ejohnson@berry.edu
Office
Hours: MWF 9-10 and 11-1, TH 9-9:30 or
other times by appointment
Website:
http://fsweb.berry.edu/academic/hass/ejohnson
Course Description: First-Year Seminar in
Critical Inquiry and Writing, 3 semester hours. Continued development of the
thinking and writing skills begun in ENG 101 with emphasis on multiple modes of
critical inquiry and research to develop arguable perspectives within
particular cultural contexts and conversations. The course will also address
the rhetorical concepts of persona, ethos & pathos, argument structure,
counterargument, logical fallacy.
Prerequisites: A grade of C- or better in ENG 101. A grade of C- or better is required to pass out of
this course.
Textbooks:
They Say, I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein
What’s language got to do with it? by Keith Walters and Michal Brody
Any
usage handbook: Come by the Writing
Center to see samples
Any
college dictionary: American Heritage and Oxford
American, for example
A
Berry College theme folder (light blue)
Purpose of the Course,
Assessment Measures, and Student Learning Outcomes: This course fulfills the general-education
competencies of Clear and Analytical
Reasoning and Effective Communication.
The purpose of the course is to prepare students to become
knowing and productive participants in academic, cultural, or civic discourse.
Students will learn to use multiple and sustained modes of critical inquiry to
build arguable perspectives within particular cultural contexts and
conversations. These modes might include writing to learn, report, review,
criticize, clarify, convince, persuade, or negotiate. In addition, students
will be coached in the rhetorical concepts of persona, ethos & pathos,
argument structure, counterargument, and logical fallacy. By the end of the
course, students will be able to summarize, evaluate, and synthesize multiple
sources in order develop a critical perspective and advance a thesis of their
own. Students will also receive guidance in the evaluation and appropriate documentation
of print and non-print sources (e.g., online databases, world wide web, film,
photography, television, etc.).
By the conclusion of the term, students will
·
be
able to write accurate and comprehensive summaries of complex readings on a
course theme;
·
be
able to define, evaluate and synthesize diverse perspectives on a course theme
in at least two genres or modes of written inquiry;
·
develop
paragraphs written in different modes or styles, which may include description,
process analysis, comparison/contrast, synthesis, evaluation, analysis,
observation, persuasion;
·
be
able to use secondary research as support and counterargument as well as to
provide a critical context for their own perspectives;
·
be
able to evaluate sources—including web-based and other non-print sources—for
degrees of credibility, bias and rhetorical effectiveness;
·
have
advanced their capabilities as described in the outcomes for 101.
Because ENG 102 is based on a thinking-into-writing model
where much of the writing is preliminary to the production of finished work,
pre-writing, drafting and writing to revise represent a good deal of the work
of the class and could include, exercises, invention notes, group work, peer
reviewing, in-class writing, essay drafting, and so forth. By the end of the
term, however, students should have completed at least 25-30 finished pages of
at least 5 finished pieces (no more than one of which may be composed and
revised in class), two of which must be expository in form and a third
research-based.
Special
Requirements:
You will be required to
write three essays and a research paper this semester. Essays must be typed, double-spaced. Essays are due at the beginning of class on
the due date. If you turn the essay in
late, it will drop one letter grade, losing one additional letter grade every
week that it is late. Avoid printer and
diskette mishaps by completing the assignment the day before. You will receive
separate assignment sheets detailing the requirements and due dates for writing
assignments.
Rough drafts and invention notes must be turned in along
with each essay. These notes and drafts,
along with other short writing assignments, must be brought to class when
assigned as homework. You are expected
to do class readings and homework before you come to class. I will give quizzes over the reading
assignments. Participation in
collaborative writing exercises is essential.
For help with editing errors I will refer you to a
writing handbook and/or the Writing Center. We will not spend class time on
grammar and punctuation. Berry assumes
you have mastered these already and that class time is best spent helping you
learn how to think and apply your thinking to essay writing. You must take control of this aspect of
writing, spending however many hours it takes outside of class to overcome your
difficulties. Mechanical errors in
grammar, punctuation, and spelling will affect your grade. Use your spell-checker!
Grading:
For
essays, A+ is 98, A is 95, A- is 92, B+ is 88, B is 85, B- is 82, etc.
For
final grades, A+ is 97-100, A is 93-96, A- is 90-92, B+ is 87-89, B is 83-86,
B- is 80-82, etc. Components of the grade are as follows:
15% Essay 1 5% Quizzes
15% Essay 2 5% Homework/ Classwork
15% Essay 3 5% Class Participation
30% Research paper 10% Summaries
(2)
Schedule of Class
Sessions: See attached.
Bibliography: See textbook.
Methods of Instruction: This class will include lecture, discussion of
student writing (both full class and peer review), discussion of readings,
quizzes, writing exercises, and library workshops. If a cultural event that is relevant to the
course topics occurs during the semester, students will be able to earn extra
credit by attending and writing a summary of the event.
Attendance Policy: Attendance will count toward
your class participation grade. Homework
and quizzes may not be made up without a documented excuse. In addition, any student who misses more than
2 consecutive class meetings without contacting the professor will be dropped
from the class and reported to the financial aid office. Students who miss class are expected to keep
up with their work. You must get in
touch with a classmate to find out what was done in class and what
assignments are due. BE ON TIME. I will
spend the class time on several Fridays meeting with individual students to
work on Essay 2. Attendance at your
appointment time with a completed assignment is required.
Academic Integrity: In this
course, students are encouraged to
discuss their writing with others and to give one another advice for improving
their writing. Unless the instructor
specifically notes that an assignment will be private, all written work is
subject to review for the benefit of the entire class. Names will not appear on student work used
for class demonstrations.
Please consult the College Catalog for a statement
of the college’s policies on academic integrity. Sources
must be documented according to the instructions for each essay assignment.
Tutorial Availability: All
English 101 students are expected to make use of the Writing Center. Information on hours and procedures is
reprinted below from http://www.berry.edu/academics/humanities/english/writing/
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Writing Center: Evans 233 |
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Hours: Mon-Thurs 9-3, Friday 9-1: Call or stop by Evans 233 to make an
appointment. EVENING HOURS Sun-Thurs 7-9 in Memorial
Library. Writing consultants are located
on the second floor in the Seminar Room toward the middle of the building and
are available on a first come, first served basis.
What kind of help does the Writing
Center offer? As one of many free support services offered to
students, the Berry College Writing Center is available to help you with the
writing you do for any course. The Center is staffed by friendly,
experienced peer consultants who have taken a course in tutoring and have been
successful writers in their own classes. They can help you with any part
of the invention or drafting process: from brainstorming and organizing ideas,
to revising for complexity and quality of thought, to editing your paper for
format and grammar. In essence, they will help you to think through your
ideas and to see your paper from the perspective of a real yet sympathetic
reader.
What happens at the Writing Center? Typically, a
student will make an appointment with the Writing Center and meet with a
consultant for 30 minutes or so. The consultant will ask you about your
assignment, where you are in the drafting process, your sense of your paper,
any concerns that you would like to address, and where you would like them to
focus their reading and response. By the end of the session, you will
leave with several concrete suggestions for revision and a better understanding
of your paper’s structure and content. One thing consultants do not do,
however, is simply proofread papers; rather, their goal is to help you develop
the revision skills needed to do well on both current and future
assignments. It is therefore helpful if you visit the Writing Center
early in the drafting process and, perhaps, return again to work on final
editing and formatting concerns.
When is the Writing Center open? Writing
consultants are available in Evans 233 on Monday-Thursday from 9-3 and Friday
from 9-1. And we now have evening hours at a satellite station in the
Memorial Library: Monday-Thursday and
Sunday from 7-9 P.M. To find us in the library, look for the signs
directing you to the “seminar room” located on the second floor toward the
middle of the building. Consultants are available during these evening hours on
a first-come-first-served basis.