ENG 103: Writing about Writing
Fall 2018/Spring 2019/Spring 2020/Fall 2020
Chapman University
Class Meeting Day(s) & Time(s):
Mondays and Wednesdays: Synchronously through Zoom at 12:00 – 12:50 pm.
Fridays: Asynchronously (online Discussion Board Post only)
Office Hours: Fridays from 11 am -1 pm or via appointment
Email Address: DStrasberger@chapman.edu
About ‘Writing about Writing'
“Writing About Writing” is a course designed to help students learn how writing works. Through critical reading and engaging in multiple writing projects, including blogging, writing through drafting, and peer workshops, students will explore and develop their own writing and rhetorical practices and consider how those practices can be applied beyond this course.
Course Description
Writing seminar devoted to rhetorical understanding and competence in a variety of specific academic contexts. Students may choose their area of concentration from a range of writing genres, each with its own sets of expectations, forms and purposes. Attention will focus on student writing in differing discourse communities, but all sections of English 103 address rhetorical effectiveness in composition. Students may select from courses that foreground Writing in Electronic Environments, for example, or Writing about Literature, Composing the Self, Writing in Academic Environments among many other options. Some sections of this course may be offered as hybrid courses or online only. (Offered every semester.) 3 credits
General Education Learning Outcomes
WI/Written Inquiry: Students establish active, genuine, and responsible authorial engagement; communicate a purpose—an argument or other intentional point/goal; invokes a specific audience, develop the argument/content with an internal logic-organization; integrate references, citations, and source materially logically and dialogically, indicating how forms of evidence relate to each other and the author’s position; and compose the text with: a style or styles appropriate to the purpose and intended audience, a consistent use of the diction appropriate to the author’s topic and purpose, the ability to establish and vary authorial voice(s) and tone(s), a choice of form(s) and genre(s) appropriate to purpose and audience (forms may be digital and/or multimodal), and rhetorically effective use of language.
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Learn and use key rhetorical concepts through analyzing and composing a variety of texts
- Gain experience reading and composing in several genres to understand how genre conventions shape and are shaped by readers’ and writers’ practices and purposes
- Develop facility in responding to a variety of situations and contexts calling for purposeful shifts in voice, tone, level of formality, design, medium, and/or structure
- Use composing and reading for inquiry, learning, critical thinking, and communicating in various rhetorical contexts
- Read a diverse range of texts, attending especially to relationships between assertion and evidence, to patterns of organization, to the interplay between verbal and nonverbal elements, and to how these features function for different audiences and situations
- Locate and evaluate (for credibility, sufficiency, accuracy, timeliness, bias and so on) primary and secondary research materials, including journal articles and essays, books, scholarly and professionally established and maintained databases or archives, and informal electronic networks and internet sources
- Develop a writing project through multiple drafts
- Develop flexible strategies for reading, drafting, reviewing, collaborating, revising, rewriting, rereading, and editing
- Experience the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes
- Learn to give and to act on productive feedback to works in progress
- Reflect on the development of composing practices and how those practices influence their work
- Develop knowledge of linguistic structures, including grammar, punctuation, and spelling, through practice in composing and revising
- Understand why genre conventions for structure, paragraphing, tone, and mechanics vary
- Gain experience negotiating variations in genre conventions
- Practice applying citation conventions systematically in their own work
In addition, students completing this Written Inquiry GE will compose texts that:
- Establish active, genuine, and responsible authorial engagement
- Communicate a purpose—an argument or other intentional point/goal
- Invoke a specific audience
- Develop the argument/content with an internal logic/organization
- Integrate references, citations, and source material logically and dialogically, indicating how forms of evidence relate to each other and the author’s position
- Compose with rhetorically effective use of language, form and genre, voice and tone, and style
Required Text and/or Technology Resource:
Downs, Doug, and Elizabeth Wardle. Writing About Writing: A College Reader, Bedford/St. Martins, Fourth
Edition, 2020.
ISBN-13: 978-1319195861
WiFi, computer or table with camera and speaker, headphones
Weekly Schedule:
Mondays: In-Class Activities. For most Mondays there will be small group activities or in-class assignments. You should come in engaged and ready to participate with other students.
Wednesday: In-Class Discussions. Often for Wednesdays, we will discuss readings as a class. This might include breaking off into break-out rooms for discussion. All students should read and be prepared to be called upon during class.
Friday: Asynchronous Discussion Board Posts. These posts will be ready by Thursday mornings. Students must do the readings to prepare, go through the presentations and respond to the discussion board post. The post should be due Fridays at 11:59 pm. If peer comments are required (which will occur later in the semester), those are due the following Monday by 11:59 pm.
Attendance
As this course is discussion- and workshop-based, attendance is pivotal to the success of the course. An absence not only negatively affects the student’s own learning process, but also each of their peers. Therefore, each student is expected to come to class and to do so on time (within the first 5 minutes of the start of class). More than six absences will lower a student’s by 10%, and drop further after additional absences. However, in this digital age, issues arise. If there is any reason, technical or otherwise, please email me and I can excuse the absence if necessary.
Absent students are responsible for all readings and assignments for any missed class. A student should email me about their absence within 24 hours of the end of the class to receive any updates missed during that session.
Preparation
Showing up to class is only one part to the success of the course. It is also important that each student comes to class prepared, reading all assigned texts before the start of the class, bringing all relevant materials to every session, and stays awake and alert the entire class period. Neglecting to do so will negatively affect your participation grade.
Class Etiquette
In this virtual world, expectations for the classroom are different. Students are not required to turn on their video during class, nor are they required to turn on the mic to speak. You are encouraged to turn do so during break-out rooms, but again are not required. Class participation can take many forms, including messaging on Zoom. The one request is that an avatar is posted in place of the video, so the screen will not appear blank.
Late Assignment Policy
All assignments are expected to be submitted on time. For every class period an assignment is late, it will receive an automatic 10% reduction on the grade. Note: If assignment is posted at 12:00 am after it is due, that will count as a single class period.
Assignments and Grades
- Class attendance is expected. Being a participation-based course, class discussion and workshops are vital to each student’s success. Missing more than six classes will result in a deduction of the final grade.
- Students are responsible for all administrative procedures: adds, drops, withdrawals, etc.
Area of Evaluation
Percent
Asynchronous Assignments: 15%
Group Presentation: 10%
Open Letter: 10%
Self-Narrative: 15%
Threshold Concept Exploration: 15%
Final Portfolio and Presentation: 20%
Class Participation: 15%
A = 4.0 (excellent)
A- = 3.7
B+ = 3.3
B = 3.0 (very good)
B- = 2.7
C+ = 2.3
C = 2.0 (satisfactory)
C- = 1.7
D+ = 1.3 (unsatisfactory)
D = 1.0
D- = 0.7 (minimum passing)
F = 0.0 (failing)
Area of Evaluation
The grades will be determined by each of the following:
Friday Asynchronous Discussion Posts: 15% of the grade
Instead of virtual class on Fridays, we will be completing Discussion Board posts. This allows students to share their views with the rest of the class and engage in conversation about topics through a forum.For each post you are required to write, at minimum, 250 words. All posts are due by 11:59 p.m. on the Friday of the week assigned. If there are peer responses are requested for that week, they will be due the following Monday by 11:59 pm. Peer responses are 100 words each.
Group Asynchronous Presentation: 10% of the grade
The class will break up into small groups. Each group (of three or four students) will be assigned a reading over the semester and will be required to a Friday Asynchronous presentation. This will include a discussion board activity for the class to complete. We will discuss this further in class.
Open Letter: 10% of the grade
The Open Letter assignment is a letter that is addressed to a specific person where a writer will attempt to convince the reader to change their mind about a specific subject. It would be addressed to someone you know, or to a political figure, and should take a firm stance on a topic related to the chosen person.
This will be a (minimum of) 500-word Open Letter, which uses two outside sources, properly referenced, to support the argument. Though addressed to a specific person, it should be aimed at a broader audience to create a point.
- First Draft Due – 9/18 at the beginning of class
- Second Draft Due – 9/25 at the beginning of class
- Third Draft Due –10/4 by 11:59 pm
Self-Narrative: 15 % of the grade
Write a personal narrative where a perception has changed. Perception is the way someone thinks or understands a subject, whether it be someone or something. This is developed through past experiences, feelings, and preconceived notions; for example, two people that read the same story or look at the same picture can have two completely different interpretations on the subject.
The essay will be a (minimum of) 1000-word personal narrative explaining an anecdote that changed how the narrator perceived someone or something. Instead of being a mere play-by-play of what transpired, the paper should engage critically with the anecdote and how the perception was changed through this experience.
- First Draft Due – 10/14 at the beginning of class
- Second Draft Due – 10/21 at the beginning of class
- Third Draft Due –10/25 by 11:59 pm
Threshold Concept Exploration: 15% of the grade
This project is to expand on a chapter concept and dive deeper into the subject. Concepts such as Discourse, Discourse Communities, and Rhetorical Situations are examples of various subjects you can explore. This assignment is designed to work on analysis skills, displaying your ability as a writer to look at both sides of a subject and to take a firm stance.
This will be a (minimum of) 1000-word Research Paper, using the original text and two additional outside sources (one could be another reading from the course). The paper will examine the subject thoroughly, make a case for and against the point you are trying to make.
In the nature of being multimodal, you also have the ability to present this assignment as a presentation, such as a powerpoint, prezi, or weebly website. If so, the work put in should be the equivalent to 1000 words (though the presentation can be more concise, but still needs to thoroughly explore the information.
- First Draft Due – 11/11 at the beginning of class
- Second Draft Due – 11/18 at the beginning of class
- Third Draft Due – 11/22 by 11:59 pm
Final Website and Presentation: 20% of the grade
At the end of the semester, each student will create a website to display the work you created over the semester (we will work on creating one together). The website should include the Self-Narrative, Open Letter, and Threshold Concept Exploration, with each of the drafts submitted for class. Save every draft submitted in this class. This is designed for each student to have evidence growth throughout the semester. The organization and submission of this portfolio will be worth 5% of the final grade.
You are required to choose (a minimum of) one major assignment to edit and post on the website. Please meet with me if you want to do any edits over the semester to improve your final grade for each major assignment. We will set up one-on-one meetings the week before the final.
This should also include reflections on Writing Center Visits. Each student is required submit their work to the Writing Center 3 times over the course of the semester, preferably once for each major assignment. (See resources on the bottom of the page.)
Students will be required to write a 250-word reflection on the feedback from the visit, so it is important to go not just for grammar edits, but also for guidance in other various forms. It is suggested that each student staggers these visits throughout the semester. The visits to the writing center will be worth of 5% of the grade.
In addition, it should include a final Reflective Essay. This essay, from 500 to 1000 words (or equivalent through the presentation) should reflect upon the work done over the course of the semester, including the readings, blogs, drafting, workshops and revisions. This will help students to critically assess where they stand at the end of the semester, what they have improved on, and what they still need to work on improving. This will be 5% of the final grade.
Each student will also give a 5 to10 minute presentation during the assigned Final Exam Period for the class. The presentation will be worth 5% of the final grade.
- The Portfolio will be due on the date of Final Exam, am to, along with the Presentation. Be present for the Final Exam. Missing the Final will result in a zero on both the reflection and presentation (10% of the overall grade).
Class Participation: 15% of the grade
In this course, class participation is a vital tool to the success of each and every student, especially within the virtual form. It is important that each student comes to class prepared and ready to participate. This means each student should participate in the class discussions, small group discussions, and peer workshops. The goal is to learn to critically analyze the texts, develop skills in constructive criticism, and helping peers to do the same.
This section will also be designated for smaller assignments. These are credit/no-credit assignments will include drafts of writing assignments, Meta-moments, and any other extra assignments during class time. Credit will be designated for timeliness and meeting of assignment’s criteria. Students may be asked to improve on the assignment if it does not meet the criteria. At the end of the semester, the credits will be added up at the percentage will reflect the credit’s average.
**I will happy to discuss participation grades with any student throughout the course of the semester**
Additional Resources:
The Writing Center will be open for undergraduate writing support in a digital format only for Fall 2020. There are two modes of feedback students can utilize: 1) Synchronous, digital meetings with tutors, with an appointment or on a “walk-in” basis, via Knack, and 2) Asynchronous, digital feedback from tutors via the email platform. The Writing Center is open between the second week of classes and the last week of classes (not during finals week) each semester. For more information on both modes, please visit the Writing Center webpage: https://www.chapman.edu/wilkinson/english/orgs-publications/writing-center/index.aspx
Class Recording Statement
In this class, software will be used to record live class discussions. As a student in this class, your participation in live class discussions will be recorded to assist those who cannot attend the live session, or to serve as a resource for those who would like to review content that was presented. These recordings will be made available only to students who are enrolled in the class, and only during the period in which the course is offered. All recordings will become unavailable to students in the class shortly after the course ends. Students who prefer to participate via audio only will be allowed to disable their video camera so only audio will be captured. Please discuss this option with your instructor.
Chapman University’s Academic Integrity Policy
Chapman University is a community of scholars that emphasizes the mutual responsibility of all members to seek knowledge honestly and in good faith. Students are responsible for doing their own work and academic dishonesty of any kind will be subject to sanction by the instructor/administrator and referral to the University Academic Integrity Committee, which may impose additional sanctions including expulsion.
Please see the full description of Chapman University's policy on Academic Integrity at www.chapman.edu/academics/academic-integrity/index.aspx
Chapman University’s Students with Disabilities Policy
In compliance with ADA guidelines, students who have any condition, either permanent or temporary, that might affect their ability to perform in this class are encouraged to contact the Disability Services Office. If you will need to utilize your approved accommodations in this class, please follow the proper notification procedure for informing your professor(s). This notification process must occur more than a week before any accommodation can be utilized.
Please contact Disability Services at (714) 516–4520 if you have questions regarding this procedure, or for information and to make an appointment to discuss and/or request potential accommodations based on documentation of your disability. Once formal approval of your need for an accommodation has been granted, you are encouraged to talk with your professor(s) about your accommodation options. The granting of any accommodation will not be retroactive and cannot jeopardize the academic standards or integrity of the course.
Chapman University’s Equity and Diversity Policy
Chapman University is committed to ensuring equality and valuing diversity. Students and professors are reminded to show respect at all times as outlined in Chapman’s Harassment and Discrimination Policy. Any violations of this policy should be discussed with the professor, the Dean of Students and/or otherwise reported in accordance with this policy.
Religious Accommodation at Chapman University
Your instructor will provide a course syllabus at the beginning of each term that specifies dates of exams and due dates of assignments. It is the responsibility of each student to review these syllabi as soon they are distributed, as well as final examination schedules (within the first three weeks of the semester) and to consult the faculty member promptly regarding any possible conflicts with major religious holidays where those holidays are scheduled in advance and where those holidays constitute the fulfillment of their sincerely held religious beliefs. Upon the timely request of one or more students, your instructor will work with student(s), whenever possible, to accommodate the student(s) using reasonable means, such as rescheduling exams and assignment deadlines that fall on major religious observances and holidays. Please see the full description of Chapman University's policy on Religious Accommodation at https://www.chapman.edu/about/our-family/leadership/provosts-office/religious-accomodation.aspx
Student Support at Chapman University
Chapman University is committed to ensuring equality and valuing diversity. Students and professors are reminded to show respect at all times as outlined in Chapman’s Harassment and Discrimination Policy. Any violations of this policy should be discussed with the professor, the Dean of Students and/or otherwise reported in accordance with this policy.