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College Writing I, “Writing and Intellectual Prose”

The central goal of this course is to support your continued growth as a writer, giving you tools for argument and analysis that will support both your academic and professional careers. Much of this growth will take place through a process of drafting and revising, as well as a lot of talk about writing. Together we will work to build on and expand your good ideas, to make choices about language, and to ultimately connect with others—writers and readers—so that we can all learn more fully from each other. Ultimately this sort of writing work roots us more firmly to ourselves, to who we are and what we think, to our communities, the places and cultures that shape us, and to our sense of hope, for who we want to be and what kind of change we would like to see in the world around us. Writing is relationship.

Required Texts

 Lunsford, Andrea, et al. Everyone’s An Author: With Readings, 2nd edition. New York: W. W. Norton, 2017. (custom MSU edition)  Bullock et al. The Little Seagull Handbook. New York: W.W. Norton, 2014. (note updated MLA insert will be provided by the publisher for Fall 2016 semester).

*It is essential that you bring the texts to class. Be prepared to write in them, to make notations, and to underline or highlight.

Course Scope

This three-credit course is a general education requirement. As it represents the first course in a two-course sequence (College Writing I and College Writing II), your success here is essential to your continued progress through the sequence and ultimately towards your college degree. All incoming first-year students begin with College Writing I. However, in order to meet a diversity of needs, the First-Year Writing (FYW) Program offers an additional hour of “workshop” support outside regularly scheduled course meetings. All students are eligible for the workshop. At the start of the semester, you will complete an in-class writing assessment that will be reviewed by a team of FYW instructors, as well as a survey so we can learn more about your experiences and needs as a writer so far. Ultimately, students selected for the workshop will be notified in the second week of classes; workshop support sessions will begin in week three of the semester. More details are below.

What We Will Do

This is a writing-intensive course designed to develop thinking and writing abilities through frequent writing assignments based on critical response to intellectually challenging questions and readings. Over the course of the semester, we will read a variety of texts by a fairly diverse group of writers, approaching them in three modules. Each module will begin with reading and proceed with a sequence of essay or project drafts, culminating in a final essay or project, due at the end of each module, one of which will involve outside research. During the reading portion of each module, you will have homework and in-class activities aimed at developing your reading and writing skills. You should expect to spend roughly eight hours a week outside of class time on your course work for this class. Expect to share your writing and your ideas with the class, so only write what you feel comfortable sharing. You will receive feedback on your writing from peers and from me and will revise your work based on this feedback. Your final course work will be the creation of a portfolio.

Course Outcomes

At the conclusion of the course, students should be able to:

 Generate central claims about intellectual ideas that are of significance, interest, and distinction

 Support central claims with appropriate evidence and analysis

 Organize prose in a sequence that maximizes rhetorical effectiveness

 Integrate ideas and information from sources into one’s own prose using appropriate introduction, quotation, summary, and paraphrase

 Develop facility with multimodal composing

 Document sources in MLA style using in-text citations and a works cited list

 Analyze the ideas of others with accuracy and insight

 Understand and correct surface-level writing problems such as appropriate pronoun use, agreement (pronoun and antecedent, subject and verb), transitions, and sentence structure

Course Requirements & Grading

Your course work will be weighted as follows (see below for exceptions):

 Course Citizenship, Homework, and Midterm Review: 15%  Module 1 Final Draft: 15%  Module 2 Final Draft: 20%  Module 3 Documented Project Final Draft: 20%  Final Portfolio: 30%

Course Citizenship

Being that this is not a lecture course, your active engagement is required. To be actively engaged in the classroom means being on time and prepared to discuss the day’s reading by having done the assigned work and having all necessary materials in class. Part of good course citizenship includes raising questions about the texts, responding to others' questions, proposing interpretations, and making connections between our assigned texts. In order to meet the requirement, you must contribute to the work of the day (including class discussion, peer review, group work, and in-class writing assignments). Texting or consulting your cell phone or other device—even briefly—takes you out of the class and negates participation for the day. Your active engagement is what will make our classroom meetings dynamic, interesting, and illuminating. Also, please be aware that the use of laptops is not permitted unless cleared by the professor for a particular activity. For workshop students, your course citizenship grade will include workshop attendance and participation.

Homework & Participation

Both the reading and written homework assignments are important aspects of the course and are listed on the semester schedule. Discussion boards will occur via Canvas, and students should make sure to have access to their work during class as well. Due before the beginning of class, the discussion boards are a place for you to start thinking about the readings we will be discussing; then after class, students have a chance to respond directly to peers in order to see other perspectives on similar topics and texts. For clarity, please follow standards for punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and paragraphing when composing posts. Discussion boards will be graded on a 5-point scale (3 points for initial post, 2 points for peer response).

In addition to the formal texts student papers will analyze and explore, we will also be reading texts about the reading and writing process. Students must come to class ready to discuss these texts, thus they need to come prepared with detailed notes and questions. I will be checking these notes on such texts regarding reading and writing process, a point per text (8 points in total).

In-class discussion will also greatly contribute to our understanding of texts and various perspectives of the topics. Thus, it’s important for us all to contribute and share our views. In class participation will amount to 27 points in total for the semester, a point a class.

Formal Writing Assignments

Three formal assignments are required, one for each module on the syllabus. Each module assignment will ask you to develop an argument that grows out of your analysis of assigned readings and consideration of the topics covered; specific assignments will be distributed in advance. The first two will be traditional argumentative essays; the third will be a multimodal project that requires some outside research and appropriate integration of secondary sources, including digital materials. Each essay will undergo revision and rewriting, with the assistance of peer review, instructor feedback, and your own further thinking. All essays will adhere to MLA format for research papers, including documentation. Only final drafts receive a letter grade; however, credit for the rough drafts will be factored into the final essay grade. More specifically, there will be penalties for short, late, or missing drafts and for short or late essays, or for drafts that show minimal revision.

Papers that are not submitted the due date/time will be lowered. All work should be submitted, as it is better than a zero. However, all work must be submitted by the last day of classes; I cannot grade what I do not have. Writing is a process and in order to do well in this class, students must complete all steps. These steps must be submitted in a timely fashion via Canvas in order to receive comments from the instructor or peers—students will miss opportunities to receive comments on drafts if submitted late. See below for details.

 Exploratory Drafts: Exploratory drafts will be graded on a 4-point scale, which includes a review summary. Late Exploratory Drafts are eligible for partial credit, but are not eligible for instructor feedback. Late Exploratory Drafts must be submitted before the next draft is due.

 Middle Drafts: Middle drafts will be graded on a 6-point scale (2 points of which will account for online peer review). Late Middle Drafts will receive one full point deduction for every day the draft is late. Late Middle drafts will not be eligible for peer review. Late Middle Drafts must be submitted before the next draft is due.

 Final Drafts: Late Final Drafts will receive half a letter grade deduction for every day the draft is late. Final Drafts turned in more than one week late will be graded on a pass/fail basis and will not receive instructor feedback.

 Portfolios: Late portfolios will only accepted in the case of a documented emergency.

Drafts

Drafting and revising are critical to success in this class, and to that end, substantial work between drafts must be evident. If you were given notes during a peer review, or comments from me, their effect on your writing should be apparent. Spell-checking, addition, and format changes alone are not enough to constitute a revised draft. For a draft to receive full credit, it must meet the requirements outlined on the essay assignment (length, topic, format, and so forth). You should also keep and back up all drafts for work on your revisions and your final portfolio; keep all feedback received as well.

Portfolio

The portfolio takes the place of a final exam and receives its own grade, but does not change the grades originally earned by the formal writing assignments. The portfolio will be due at a class meeting during our scheduled final exam period; the university requires us to have a full class meeting at that time. You will be required to hand in the newly revised version and the original, graded version of the essays you select for your portfolio, so be sure to save your work. Specific details will be provided in the portfolio assignment.

Grading Criteria & Grades

 See "Student Writing Assessment" for grading rubric and descriptions of A, B, C, D, and F essays  Your course grade will be calculated using the percentages described above with the following exceptions: excessive absence, missing work, and submitting plagiarized work (see detailed program policies below)

Missing Work

First-Year Writing Program policy dictates that, in order to be considered for a passing grade in the course, students must submit all three final drafts, the midterm review, and the portfolio.

Further Information and Helpful Links Do We Have your Name Right?

If the name you go by is different from how your name is listed on Canvas, please use the following link to update to your preferred name in HawkSync.

A Note on Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns are the parts of speech that can take the place of persons or things. They are classified into three persons—first, second, and third—and each can be singular or plural. In class we will often refer to you using the first-person plural (as “we/ours”) and in second-person (as “you/yours”). We will have on-going conversations about which third-person pronouns (as “ze/zirs; per/pers; she/hers; he/his”) we should use for each other and for the writers that we read in class. If we are using the wrong third-person pronouns to refer to you, please let us know. Feel free to send me an email and/or reach out to Brian Edwards, Coordinator of the LGBTQ Center, at [email protected]; or swing by the LGBTQ Center located in the Student Center Annex Room 110 for strategies for discussing pronoun usage.

Links to Resources

First and foremost your concerns about your writing course should be brought to the professor of your course. If concerns persist, see Dr. Jessica Restaino ([email protected]), Director of First-Year Writing or Dr. Jennifer Holly-Wells ([email protected]), Associate Director. Schedule Module 1: Education & Social Class

Homework Class In-Class Goals/Activities for Students

⚯ Reading: “Reading Rhetorically” (chapter 3, 25-39 EanA) Graff, Gerald. “Hidden Intellectualism” 1 ✎ Diagnostic Essay (in class) (957-962 EanA) Read Syllabus on Canvas; bring any questions to class; ✎Writing/Discussion Post Post Discussion Board Introductions

⚯ Reading: Rose, Mike. “Blue Collar Brilliance” Introduction to Syllabus (1033-1042 EanA) 2 Analytical Reading Skills: “Meeting the Demands of Academic Writing” Discuss Graff and also reading practices and habits. (chapter 4, 40-52 EanA) Annotations. Active reading (27-32 EanA) ✎Writing/Discussion Post: Rose & Graff Reading Response DB

⚯ Reading: Barry, Lynda. “The Sanctuary of School” (856-861 EanA) Understanding Argument & Analysis: Staples, Brent. Discuss Graff and Rose annotations and responses. See “Why Colleges Shower Students With A’s” “Characteristic Features” (44-52EanA) 3 (1065-1068 EanA) Distribute Module 1 Essay Assignment: ✎Writing/Discussion Post: Discuss how to understand an assignment (81EanA) Barry & Staples Reading Response DB ☞ Bring or have access to: A copy of your Diagnostic Essay for class. *Post to Canvas and bring copies to class Initial Topic & Idea Development & Organization: Discuss Barry and Staples readings and student responses. ✎Writing: Use your work so far (thinking, Draw connections between the students’ initial ideas and the discussion, reading, and writing) to develop readings. your Exploratory Draft for Module 1. 4 Discuss & Develop Working Central Claims: Work with central claims (share diagnostic essay with partner ☞ Bring or have access to: and identify writer’s claims) (85 EanA) Exploratory Draft for Module 1 for class. *Post to Canvas and bring copies to class Writing as a Process: Brainstorming, freewriting, and outlining (79-85EanA)

Module 1 Exploratory Draft Due ⚯ Reading: 5 Intro to Reading: “Synthesizing Ideas” (chapter 24-26, Synthesizing, Paraphrasing, Plagiarism(505-534 EanA) 505-534 EanA) ⚯ Reading: “MLA Style” (chapter 27, 535-590 EanA) and check your citations Peer-Review: ✎Writing: Use your Exploratory Draft Discuss effective peer review and quoting; engage in peer review 6 and peer comments to develop with Exploratory Draft for Module 1 your Middle Draft for Module 1. *Consult Little Seagull to support proper format for quotations ☞ Bring or have access to: Middle Draft for Module 1 for class. *Post to Canvas and bring copies to class

Module 1 Middle Draft Due ⚯ Reading: Basic Paragraph Structure: “What’s Your Style” (chapter 29, 641-651 EanA) 7 Discuss organizing and supporting your argument (share Exploratory Draft essay with partner and identify paragraph ✎Writing: structures) (46-48; 86 EanA) Post comments for Peer Review Monday

Intro to Style & Clarity of Prose (641-651 EanA) ✎Writing: Understanding & Interpreting 8 Use peer and instructor feedback to Feedback; Revision (87-88; 238-239 EanA) revise Middle Draft and develop your Final Draft for Module 1. ⚯ Reading: Sengupta, Somini. “Why Is Everyone Module 1 Final Draft Due Focused on Zuckerberg’s Hoodie?” Intro to Module 2 (228-230 EanA) Read one of the readings in class: Sengupta, Somini. “Why Is Canedy, Dana. “The Talk: After Ferguson.” Everyone Focused on Zuckerberg’s Hoodie?” (884-888 EanA) (228-230 EanA) Walker, Alice. “Oppressed Hair Puts a 9 Ceiling on the Brain.” (1088-1091 EanA) Chung, Nicole. “What Goes Through Topic Discussion: Your Mind: On Nice Parties and Discuss identity, individuality, assigned identity, and aspects of Casual Racism.” (Tumblr EanA) identity in terms of readings and discussion posts ✎Writing/Discussion Post: Sengupta, Canedy, Walker, & Chung Reading Response

Module 2: Identities & Lived Experience ⚯ Reading: Sandberg, Sheryl and Adam Grant. “Speaking While Female.” (366-368 EanA) Distribute Module 2 Essay Assignment: Diaz, Junot. “The Money.” (912-916 EanA) Hinds, Andy. “I’m Considering Becoming a 10 Discuss identity and intersection/inter- connectedness of aspects of identity per essay Sports Fan-- How Do I Pick a Team?” assignment (963-967 EanA) ✎Writing/Discussion Post: Sandberg, Diaz, & Hinds Reading Response

11 Introduce Rhetorical Triangle & ✎Writing: Develop your Exploratory Draft for Module 2. Fallacies (389-402 EanA): ☞ Discuss readings in terms of emotional, ethical, and Bring or have access to: logical appeals Exploratory Draft for Module 2 for class. *Post to Canvas and bring copies to class Module 2 Exploratory Draft Due ✎ Introductions & Refining Central Claim Writing: Develop your draft based on the feedback

Statements: from the class activity. 12 Share Exploratory Draft essay with partner and Start collecting materials for the identify introduction and central claim strategies Midterm review. (383-389; 678-681 EanA) ✎Writing: Introduce the Midterm Review Develop your Midterm Reflection Assignment. Assignment

Further Development & Strategies for ✎Writing: Develop your Middle Draft for Module 2. 13 Supporting an Argument (419-441 EanA) Discuss strategies for approaching Midterm *Post to Canvas and bring copies to class Reflection Assignment Submit your Midterm Review Module 2 Middle Draft Due & Midterm Review Due ✎Writing: 14 Conclusions (681-683 EanA) Peer Review online for Middle Draft for Module 2 Peer-Review: Engage in peer review with Middle Draft for Module 2 Further Synthesizing, Quoting, ✎Writing: Paraphrasing, Plagiarism, & MLA (505-534; Use peer and instructor feedback to 15 535-590 EanA) revise Middle Draft and develop Developing Style & Clarity of Prose (670- your Final Draft for Module 2. 686EanA)

Module 2 Final Draft Due ✎Writing/Discussion Board: 16 Intro to Module 3: Post Font w/Mood creations and reply to your group Review Fitting Font w/Mood exercise

Module 3: The Documented Project Discussion of “Designing What You Write” (chapter 33, 743-761 EanA) ⚯ Reading: In class: share “Font with Mood” creations “Designing What You Write” 17 Return to “Designing” chapter for discussion of how (chapter 33, 743-761 EanA) to add/build on “Font with Mood” creations given chapter ideas about images, color and what students have done so far

18 Introduce Module 3 Documented Project ⚯ Reading: Module 3 Documented Project Assignment. ⚯ Reading: Assignment "Writing in Multiple Modes" (chapter 34, 763-779 Documented Project assignment discussion, ✎Complete: brainstorming, asking questions “Self Assessment Survey” in “Academic Research Explained” on Canvas.

Library visit—room 203 ⚯ Watch: 19 “Nuts and Bolts” library module.

✎Writing: 20 ⚯ Reading: Using 356 EanA as a guide, compose and “Designing a Proposal” (340-351; 352-372 EanA) submit your Proposal to Canvas, bring copies to class

Proposal Due

Suggestion for practice: Break class up into four focused reading groups (gr 1= “A precise description of the problem; gr 2= “A clear and compelling solution to the problem….etc) ☞ Bring: 21 and ask each group to identify the most significant Your Proposal and notes for your project idea to next class terms and ideas in the assigned section. Discuss “Talk It”/project ideas (using 356 EanA as a frame or guide for these conversations); students pair up and talk through their ideas of each part of their project (as per 356 EanA) while their partner takes notes

✎Writing: Group Meetings: Exploratory Draft of Documented Project Documented project group meetings (using project (at least partial—digital piece and half of 22 assignment, “expectations and requirements” as process narrative); submit on Canvas guide), organized according to shared/overlapping before next class meeting themes or topics ☞ Bring: A laptop to next class if you have one

✎Writing: Module 3 Documented Project Revising and Building: Work with peer Exploratory Draft Due feedback Partial Drafts Peer Review (should include ✎Writing: 23 digital piece and at least half of process narrative); Middle Draft of Documented Project due on instructor “check ins” during peer review (students Canvas before next class meeting should bring laptops if possible or class should be ☞ Bring: scheduled for computer classroom) Laptop to next class meeting for continued draft work Module 3 Documented Project Middle DraftDue ✎Writing: 24 Documented Project Draft work (instructor Writing and Revising: revise Documented choice: conferences; computer classroom review Project drafts; give peer review feedback online and revision work; open discussion and sharing of project drafts for continued work)

✎Writing: In-class Presentations: Writing and Revising: finalize Documented 25 Documented projects (again, use assignment project “expectations and requirements” as guide) ⚯ Reading: Final Portfolio Assignment Module 3 Documented Project Final Draft Due(upload to Canvas) Discuss Portfolio ✎ : 26 Assignment (requirements, goals); all students Writing should bring to class drafts and comments on Portfolio preparation/essay revision essays 1 and 2 *Bring Little Seagull to class for consultation on issues related to grammar, format, and citation

Portfolio Prep

27 *Bring Little Seagull to class for consultation on issues related to grammar, format, and citation

Portfolio Prep

28 *Bring Little Seagull to class for consultation on issues related to grammar, format, and citation

Exam Period Portfolio Submission