English 150: Writing and Research (Sections 24 and 26)
Instructor: Dr. E. Derek Taylor Office: Grainger 306
Fall 2014 Mailbox: Grainger, 1st floor
Office Hours: MTWF 3:00-4:00
E-mail: [email protected] Office phone: 434-395-2748
Course Description ENGL 150. Writing and Research. Writing and reading for a variety of academic purposes including in-depth research. Oral presentation required. Prerequisite to all other English courses. 3 credits. *Fulfills General Education Goal 2.
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
* Understand and adapt to rhetorical and contextual differences in tasks involving writing, reading, speaking, and listening
* Engage in academic inquiry using and evaluating a variety of sources, incorporating and documenting source material appropriately, and avoiding plagiarism
* Develop flexible processes for engaging in academic writing
* Develop knowledge of conventions for different kinds of texts and demonstrate substantial control of the conventions of Edited American English Reflect on and make judgments about their own texts and writing processes
Course Concept and Goals
This course is more important to you than you may at first suspect. It serves an immediate pragmatic function in preparing you to read in and write for a variety of disciplines that you will encounter as a college student. It serves a slightly less immediate, but still pragmatic, function in preparing you one day to succeed in a graduate program or profession of your choosing. But it is worth mentioning as well the vital, if introductory, role that this course plays in preparing you to become a "citizen leader" who will take part in shaping our collective democratic future. I can only write a sentence like that because I believe it in my bones to be true.
Course Policies
Tardiness, Absence Policy, Late Papers:
1. Students are expected to arrive for class on time. Consistent tardiness will not be tolerated.
2. Any student whose unexcused absences total 10% or more of total class meetings will have his or her grade lowered by one letter-grade. Any student whose absences, excused or otherwise, total 25% or more of class meetings will receive an “F” for the course.
3. Late papers will lose one letter grade per day unless prior arrangement is made.
Honor Code:
All work is governed by the Longwood University Honor Code. Written work must contain the pledge in writing and be signed. Students should read closely the section on plagiarism in the Longwood Style Manual.
Classroom Decorum:
All students are expected to behave civilly both to each other and to the instructor and to conduct themselves in a manner that encourages learning in the classroom. Email, voice mail, and the like will be considered as part of the participation grade, so students should think carefully about the tone and content of such messages.
Required Materials: Eric Link and Steven Frye, eds. Crosscurrents: Reading in the Disciplines. New York: Pearson, 2013.
Grading
* Process Description Essay (3 pgs.): 20 points
* Cause/Effect Essay (3 pgs.): 20 points
* Argumentation Essay (4-5 pgs): 25 points
* Artistic Analysis Essay (3 pgs.): 20 points
* Final Exam (Reflection Essay): 10 points
* “Connections” Presentation: 5 points
* Quizzes, Informal Writings, Participation: 5 extra points possible
A: 93-100, A-: 90-92, B+: 87-89, B: 83-86, B-: 80-82, C+: 77-79, C: 73-76, C-: 70-72, D+: 67-69, D: 63-66, D-: 60-62, F: 59 and below
Course Schedule All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day specified. I reserve the right to make changes to this syllabus by giving oral notice in class. Absence from a class meeting is never an excuse for being unprepared for the following meeting. Always bring your textbook to class—we will be making regular use of it.
Unit One: Writing in the Hard Sciences and in Business/Economics
Week 1
M. 8-25 Introduction to Course Concept and Course Policies
W. 8-27 Crosscurrents, Introduction to Chapter 5 (pp. 155-58); Levitt and Dubner, “Information Asymmetry” (pp. 191-95)
F. 8-29 Crosscurrents, Kellerman, “Leadership: Warts and All” (pp. 178-185); Burnham and Phelan, “Laughing All the Way to the Darwinian Bank” (pp. 197-201)
Week 2
M. 9-1 Class Canceled for Labor Day
W. 9-3. Crosscurrents, Introduction to Chapter 4 (pp. 77-80); Kuhn, “The Historical Structure of Scientific Discovery” (pp. 88-95); Olivia Judson, “The Selfless Gene” (pp. 132-141)
F. 9-5. Crosscurrents, Steve Denning, “Why Amazon Can’t Make a Kindle in the USA (pp. 205-209); In-class Writing: Describing a Process. Sign up for “Touching Base” conference
Week 3
M. 9-8. Class canceled for “Touching Base” conference; bring Brainstorming Report to conference.
W. 9-10. Introduction to Library Research
F. 9-12. In-class workshop for Process Description
Unit Two: Writing in History, Communications, and Cultural Studies
Week 4
M. 9-15. Due: Process Description Essay. In-class discussion: Arguing about History and Culture
W. 9-17. Crosscurrents, Introduction to Chapter 10 (pp. 517-520); Bruce Catton, “Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts” (pp. 541-545)
F. 9-19. Crosscurrents, Introduction to Chapter 8 (pp. 367-70); Susan Willis, “Disney World” (pp. 417-22); William Deresiewicz “Faux Friendship” (pp. 435-443)
Week 5
M. 9-22. Crosscurrents, Susan Linn, “Marketing, Media, and the First Amendment: What’s Best for Children?” (pp. 424-431); In-class writing: Cause/Effect
W. 9-24. In-class discussion: Logical Fallacies; sign-up for “Touching Base” conference
F. 9-26. Class canceled for “Touching Base” conference; bring Brainstorming Report to conference
Unit Three: Writing in Political Science, Education, Sociology, and Philosophy
Week 6
M. 9-29. In-class workshop for Cause/Effect Essay
W. 10-1. Crosscurrents, Introduction to Chapter 6 (pp. 211-214); Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (236-243)
F. 10-3. Due: Cause/Effect Essay. Class Discussion: Reading the Editorial Section
Week 7
M. 10-6. Crosscurrents, Thomas Jefferson, “The Declaration of Independence” (pp. 219-23); Caitlin Flanagan, “How Serfdom Saved the Women’s Movement” (pp. 243-251).
W. 10-8. Crosscurrents, Introduction to Chapter 7 (pp. 263-65); Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The American Scholar,” (pp. 281-288); Christina Hoff Sommers, “The War Against Boys” (pp. 295-303)
F. 10-10. Crosscurrents, Introduction to Chapter 9 (pp. 445-48); Robert Orsi, “When 2+2=5” (pp. 508-14); Plato, “The Apology” (pp. 457-65)
Week 8
M. 10-13. Class Canceled for Fall Break
W. 10-15. In-class writing: Argumentation; Sign-up for “Touching Base” conference
F. 10-17. Class Cancelled for “Touching Base” conference; bring Brainstorming Report to conference
Week 9
M. 10-20. Class Canceled for conferences
W. 10-22. In-class workshop for Argumentation Essay
F. 10-24. Class Discussion: On Art and Truth
Unit 4: Writing in Literature, Music, and Art
Week 10
M. 10-27. Due: Argumentation Essay. Research in the Humanities
W. 10-29. Crosscurrents, Introduction to Chapter 11 (pp. 579-82); Kate Chopin, “The Storm” (pp. 641-46); Virginia Woolf, “Shakespeare's Sister” (pp. 592-95)
F. 10-31. Class Discussion: What is Poetry?
Week 11
M. 11-3. In-class discussion: Sonnet Analysis
W. 11-5. Class Canceled
F. 11-7. Class Canceled for “Touching Base” conference; bring “Brainstorming Report”
Week 12
M. 11-10. In-class workshop for Artistic Analysis Essay
W. 11-12. Crosscurrents, James Tiptree, Jr., “The Last Flight of Doctor Ain,” (pp. 610-615); David Mamet, “Political Civility,” (pp. 214-218); in-class discussion: Interdisciplinary Thinking
F. 11-14. Before class, watch this in preparation for in-class discussion of “The Joys (and Pitfalls) of Powerpoint”
Week 13
M. 11-17. Class canceled for “Touching Base” conference; bring “Brainstorm Report”
W. 11-19. Due: Artistic Analysis Essay; In-class workshop for Presentations
F. 11-21. Presentations
Week 14
M. 11-24. Presentations
W. 11-26. Class Canceled for Thanksgiving
F. 11-28. Class Canceled for Thanksgiving
Week 15
M. 12-1. Presentations
W. 12-3. Presentations
F. 12-5. In-class workshop: Preparation for Final Examination
Week 16
M. 12-8. 3:00-5:30: Final Examination for section 24
F. 12-12. 8:00-10:30: Final Examination for section 26
Instructor: Dr. E. Derek Taylor Office: Grainger 306
Fall 2014 Mailbox: Grainger, 1st floor
Office Hours: MTWF 3:00-4:00
E-mail: [email protected] Office phone: 434-395-2748
Course Description ENGL 150. Writing and Research. Writing and reading for a variety of academic purposes including in-depth research. Oral presentation required. Prerequisite to all other English courses. 3 credits. *Fulfills General Education Goal 2.
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
* Understand and adapt to rhetorical and contextual differences in tasks involving writing, reading, speaking, and listening
* Engage in academic inquiry using and evaluating a variety of sources, incorporating and documenting source material appropriately, and avoiding plagiarism
* Develop flexible processes for engaging in academic writing
* Develop knowledge of conventions for different kinds of texts and demonstrate substantial control of the conventions of Edited American English Reflect on and make judgments about their own texts and writing processes
Course Concept and Goals
This course is more important to you than you may at first suspect. It serves an immediate pragmatic function in preparing you to read in and write for a variety of disciplines that you will encounter as a college student. It serves a slightly less immediate, but still pragmatic, function in preparing you one day to succeed in a graduate program or profession of your choosing. But it is worth mentioning as well the vital, if introductory, role that this course plays in preparing you to become a "citizen leader" who will take part in shaping our collective democratic future. I can only write a sentence like that because I believe it in my bones to be true.
Course Policies
Tardiness, Absence Policy, Late Papers:
1. Students are expected to arrive for class on time. Consistent tardiness will not be tolerated.
2. Any student whose unexcused absences total 10% or more of total class meetings will have his or her grade lowered by one letter-grade. Any student whose absences, excused or otherwise, total 25% or more of class meetings will receive an “F” for the course.
3. Late papers will lose one letter grade per day unless prior arrangement is made.
Honor Code:
All work is governed by the Longwood University Honor Code. Written work must contain the pledge in writing and be signed. Students should read closely the section on plagiarism in the Longwood Style Manual.
Classroom Decorum:
All students are expected to behave civilly both to each other and to the instructor and to conduct themselves in a manner that encourages learning in the classroom. Email, voice mail, and the like will be considered as part of the participation grade, so students should think carefully about the tone and content of such messages.
Required Materials: Eric Link and Steven Frye, eds. Crosscurrents: Reading in the Disciplines. New York: Pearson, 2013.
Grading
* Process Description Essay (3 pgs.): 20 points
* Cause/Effect Essay (3 pgs.): 20 points
* Argumentation Essay (4-5 pgs): 25 points
* Artistic Analysis Essay (3 pgs.): 20 points
* Final Exam (Reflection Essay): 10 points
* “Connections” Presentation: 5 points
* Quizzes, Informal Writings, Participation: 5 extra points possible
A: 93-100, A-: 90-92, B+: 87-89, B: 83-86, B-: 80-82, C+: 77-79, C: 73-76, C-: 70-72, D+: 67-69, D: 63-66, D-: 60-62, F: 59 and below
Course Schedule All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day specified. I reserve the right to make changes to this syllabus by giving oral notice in class. Absence from a class meeting is never an excuse for being unprepared for the following meeting. Always bring your textbook to class—we will be making regular use of it.
Unit One: Writing in the Hard Sciences and in Business/Economics
Week 1
M. 8-25 Introduction to Course Concept and Course Policies
W. 8-27 Crosscurrents, Introduction to Chapter 5 (pp. 155-58); Levitt and Dubner, “Information Asymmetry” (pp. 191-95)
F. 8-29 Crosscurrents, Kellerman, “Leadership: Warts and All” (pp. 178-185); Burnham and Phelan, “Laughing All the Way to the Darwinian Bank” (pp. 197-201)
Week 2
M. 9-1 Class Canceled for Labor Day
W. 9-3. Crosscurrents, Introduction to Chapter 4 (pp. 77-80); Kuhn, “The Historical Structure of Scientific Discovery” (pp. 88-95); Olivia Judson, “The Selfless Gene” (pp. 132-141)
F. 9-5. Crosscurrents, Steve Denning, “Why Amazon Can’t Make a Kindle in the USA (pp. 205-209); In-class Writing: Describing a Process. Sign up for “Touching Base” conference
Week 3
M. 9-8. Class canceled for “Touching Base” conference; bring Brainstorming Report to conference.
W. 9-10. Introduction to Library Research
F. 9-12. In-class workshop for Process Description
Unit Two: Writing in History, Communications, and Cultural Studies
Week 4
M. 9-15. Due: Process Description Essay. In-class discussion: Arguing about History and Culture
W. 9-17. Crosscurrents, Introduction to Chapter 10 (pp. 517-520); Bruce Catton, “Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts” (pp. 541-545)
F. 9-19. Crosscurrents, Introduction to Chapter 8 (pp. 367-70); Susan Willis, “Disney World” (pp. 417-22); William Deresiewicz “Faux Friendship” (pp. 435-443)
Week 5
M. 9-22. Crosscurrents, Susan Linn, “Marketing, Media, and the First Amendment: What’s Best for Children?” (pp. 424-431); In-class writing: Cause/Effect
W. 9-24. In-class discussion: Logical Fallacies; sign-up for “Touching Base” conference
F. 9-26. Class canceled for “Touching Base” conference; bring Brainstorming Report to conference
Unit Three: Writing in Political Science, Education, Sociology, and Philosophy
Week 6
M. 9-29. In-class workshop for Cause/Effect Essay
W. 10-1. Crosscurrents, Introduction to Chapter 6 (pp. 211-214); Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (236-243)
F. 10-3. Due: Cause/Effect Essay. Class Discussion: Reading the Editorial Section
Week 7
M. 10-6. Crosscurrents, Thomas Jefferson, “The Declaration of Independence” (pp. 219-23); Caitlin Flanagan, “How Serfdom Saved the Women’s Movement” (pp. 243-251).
W. 10-8. Crosscurrents, Introduction to Chapter 7 (pp. 263-65); Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The American Scholar,” (pp. 281-288); Christina Hoff Sommers, “The War Against Boys” (pp. 295-303)
F. 10-10. Crosscurrents, Introduction to Chapter 9 (pp. 445-48); Robert Orsi, “When 2+2=5” (pp. 508-14); Plato, “The Apology” (pp. 457-65)
Week 8
M. 10-13. Class Canceled for Fall Break
W. 10-15. In-class writing: Argumentation; Sign-up for “Touching Base” conference
F. 10-17. Class Cancelled for “Touching Base” conference; bring Brainstorming Report to conference
Week 9
M. 10-20. Class Canceled for conferences
W. 10-22. In-class workshop for Argumentation Essay
F. 10-24. Class Discussion: On Art and Truth
Unit 4: Writing in Literature, Music, and Art
Week 10
M. 10-27. Due: Argumentation Essay. Research in the Humanities
W. 10-29. Crosscurrents, Introduction to Chapter 11 (pp. 579-82); Kate Chopin, “The Storm” (pp. 641-46); Virginia Woolf, “Shakespeare's Sister” (pp. 592-95)
F. 10-31. Class Discussion: What is Poetry?
Week 11
M. 11-3. In-class discussion: Sonnet Analysis
W. 11-5. Class Canceled
F. 11-7. Class Canceled for “Touching Base” conference; bring “Brainstorming Report”
Week 12
M. 11-10. In-class workshop for Artistic Analysis Essay
W. 11-12. Crosscurrents, James Tiptree, Jr., “The Last Flight of Doctor Ain,” (pp. 610-615); David Mamet, “Political Civility,” (pp. 214-218); in-class discussion: Interdisciplinary Thinking
F. 11-14. Before class, watch this in preparation for in-class discussion of “The Joys (and Pitfalls) of Powerpoint”
Week 13
M. 11-17. Class canceled for “Touching Base” conference; bring “Brainstorm Report”
W. 11-19. Due: Artistic Analysis Essay; In-class workshop for Presentations
F. 11-21. Presentations
Week 14
M. 11-24. Presentations
W. 11-26. Class Canceled for Thanksgiving
F. 11-28. Class Canceled for Thanksgiving
Week 15
M. 12-1. Presentations
W. 12-3. Presentations
F. 12-5. In-class workshop: Preparation for Final Examination
Week 16
M. 12-8. 3:00-5:30: Final Examination for section 24
F. 12-12. 8:00-10:30: Final Examination for section 26