Composition 1a/b Fall 2015 Ruesch
Composition 1a/ 1b Fall 2015
Class location –Pearlman 202
Gordon Ruesch, Instructor -- 781 325-8136
Office/Tutorial Hours: M W Th 10-11and 12-1, and by apt.Where?Tutorials and meetings will usually be in the Library foyer, left of main entrance.Time slots will be specified weekly in Google docs. "sheet."
Academic Writing, with a focus and textual analysis and argument
Weighing the ethical, environmental, and cultural implications of emerging technologies will be our semester’s focus. In writing assignments developed from readings on emerging developments in science and technology (other areas too), we will hone skills forlucid close reading and interpretation, incisive unpacking of essay arguments, judicious inspection of claims and warrants, precise restating and representation of essay arguments, and persuasive assembling of our own argument. My aim as instructor is to work closely with each writer, encourage progress toward a new personal-best writing. Of most value, I think, is the opportunity to discuss individually with you writing projects from early developmentto final states of revision; as well, many writers find that individual conversations clarifying challenging texts make the analytic, interpretive writing seem doable. Last broad motive to mention: our course should demystify academic writing and activate your confidence that faithfully enacting writing-process stages will reliably reveal your intelligence and insight at their best. I an intent on coaching you toward level of polish and sophistication that by far surpasses your comfort-zone of high school mastery.
Our semester’s goal will be mastering the academic writing process: we will brainstorm, test audience reaction to tentative pre-writing theses, draft strategically, get big-picture feedback, revise globally, then get close feedback for achieving sentence-level precision of expression By rigorously engaging critical thinking and argumentation skills, writers will become practiced in the university-level writing skills that secure academic success—and, increase chances of affecting what happens to the world, to human culture, on this generation’s watch.
Required Course Texts
- Writer’s Help--E-Handbook[four-year access card](Bedford) and Writing in Response(together,a one-package combination)
- Write Now!2014-2015 Author: Brandeis -- Copyright Year: 2015
[Find these two listings (three items, required in all UWS and Composition sections,in the bookstore's UWS shelving, bottom row, hundreds of copies.]
- Undeniable--Bill Nye ( 8 Sept. avail.)
- The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2015--Ed. Rebecca Skloot (6 Oct. avail.)
[Initial readings will be indicated for printing from web or distributed in class. Because our focus on "close reading" depends on using hard-copy texts annotated by hand and used in class, readings cannot be accessed solely on screen; you must print them out.]
- A Good English-English Dictionary
Course Design and Rationale
Course Focus on Writing Process
College writing (any writing) is not merely about recording one’s thinking according to a certain academic rubric. Rather, it is about a way of finding out what we think. That is, it is a process we use to closely inspect our reasoning, a means of moving toward greater clarity in our thinking even when we start (as we often do) in a fog, anxious and uncertain. Trusting ourselves to start writing without knowing quite where we are going can be scary; certainly we feel better when we devise a provisional plan, a set of preliminary steps before we start out. We’ll work at trusting the writing process to help us find out what we think and what we have in mind to say.
A Word about Course Texts and Focus:
We will explore our course theme, “Innovation, Effects, and Ethics,” through assigned readings selections fromThe Best American Science and Nature Writing, as well as other contemporary sources. Our readings cover a broad range of compelling issues arising chiefly from science developments; our primary concerns, meanwhile, are with the practice of writing, careful reading, critical analysis, and argumentation.Through these readings, we’ll be honing writing skills by scrutinizing, then practicing punctuation, paragraph structure, argumentation, and response to counterargument. We’ll also rely onour Writer’s HelpE-Handbook and the accompanying Writing in Response.
Oral Presentations and Readings:
Facilitating class discussion in our friendly, low-anxiety seminar format helps us gain confidence and comfort invaluable in semesters to come. After choosing selections from a sign-up sheet, student partners will be responsible for leading discussions on individualreading selections. Partners will meet outside of class to devise discussion strategies that draw classmates into focused, insightful discussion of readings,
Key Course Skills
We’ll also observe requisite protocols for incorporating and crediting source support and develop a sense of possible variations in essay structure, sentence form, and paragraph organization well beyond the five-paragraph high school formula. Writings assignments of graduated complexity will help hone skills in summarizing, paraphrasing, properly crediting sources, knowing when to quote or paraphrase, developing effective thesis-first introductions, devising effective paragraph structure and variation, using transition devises to link paragraph sections smoothly, and especially, editing for clarity and precision, honing proofreading and critical skills through peer review exercises.
The Instructor’s Role
I see myself as your writing coach, trying to encourage you toward your best performance. I need to encourage, inspire, sometimes cajole, even coerce. I need to be able to see your strengths as a writer and also help you achieve your improvement goals (each writer will help me identify individual goals in the first tutorials of weeks three and four.) I also will help you advance toward your personal best by offering close analysis of your writing at the global level (big picture: content, thesis, structure, argumentation; local level: sentence mechanics, rhythm, word choice, grammar. At my best, I need to encourage you to discover a legitimate confidence about your best. I need to help each of you glimpse the next level of excellence within your reach, then help you motivate you. I can’t get you there, but I can guide you toward on how best you can get yourself there, and, how after this semester, you can sustain your growth as a writer and continue to reach for a new writing level of personal best.
Syllabus/Assignments Outline
We’ll undertake three major papers, along with a host of shorter exercises. The major papers prepare writers for UWS expectations, as described on the Brandeis web page:
Close-Reading Essay
The close-reading essay requires students to slow down and read their given text(s) carefully, whether those texts are a work of art, a public space, or another piece of writing. The goal is to recognize the move from observation to analysis in the writing process.
Lens Essay
With the lens essay, students will take a piece of critical or theoretical writing and use it to examine another text in order to create an analytical dialogue between the two texts.
Extended Essay with Multiple Sources
In this more elaborate culminating exercise of the semester’s skills, writers will develop a focus of interest from the semester’s reading to explore, interrogate, and develop a line of critical inspection and discovery. Topic focus and scope of inquiry will be negotiated individually in tutorial with the instructor, then gradually developed and sharpened at designated progress checks. Using skills acquired in the previous essay assignments, including careful close-reading, textual analysis through a given theoretical or critical lens, and crafting a strong argument, students will integrate their selected source-text illumination to create a polished and thesis-driven final essay.
How Much Work?
We will be writing every week, sometimes for a new assignment, sometimes for a revision, or for one of the many preliminary exercises accompanying each major paper (total: two major papers and one longer final project, an extended essay with multiple sources). You should expect to write a lot. The pace and workload must be manageable, certainly, so I’ll look for a reasonable timetable once I see how people are doing. If we were to do only a modest writing load, you’d agree, the gain in skill would be correspondingly modest; conversely, a full workout gets us gains in competence, confidence, and academic success that stand to be great.
Keeping a portfolio: Keep all your in-class writing in the left pocket. Keep all drafts and revised versions of assignments in the right pocket. Bring it to class according to announcement.
Keeping a reading journal: Recording your reading reactions and perceptions on points of key significance makes you an active, not passive reader, better preparing you to contribute to focused discussion. It also promotes the act of reflecting on what you read, and enhances your recall of textual “cruxes” and key points that may be useful for writing later on.
Your reading journal may be handwritten, entered into a notebook (or separate pages collected in a notebook). You’ll be expected to record some perceptions about each class reading; Write complete connected sentences—paragraphs, even!—but not a listing of items. The length of your entry for each reading is up to you; extremely brief entries, however, will not receive assignment credit.
Using Writer’s Help Online: Before class, in preparation for each “Five-Minute Skills Review” segment, as well as for other topics announced in class, students need to consult Writer’s Help . Students will sometimes be asked to do Writer’s Helpreview exercises and send the results to the instructor via Writer’s Help.
Academic Integrity
Composition Seminar aims at providing guidance on avoiding academic dishonesty by demonstrating and practicing proper source citations and avoiding illicit use (unquoted, uncredited use) of Internet material. Students who submit work incorporating uncited language not their own (that would include work written by mentors, friends, genius siblings, internet Wiki-pickings) will enjoy no benefit of the doubt, so, as a moral and as a practical matter, honesty is essential. Please think carefully if you find yourself confused about what is or is not honest, or if you find yourself tempted by deadline pressures, a desire for A’s, etc. Anyone taking the plagiarized way out should expect Draconian (flunk/leave) consequences.
Attendance and Grading
Class attendance is required. Missing class means missing discussions on which writing assignments depend. Should an emergency arise, please notify me before class by email or telephone. Necessarily, students who are late or absent learn less and take lower final grades. Missing three sessions means automatic email to the academic dean. Course grades come from quizzes, in-class exercises, from class preparation and participation, and, primarily, from grades on writing. Revision is encouraged, but must be negotiated after we discuss your revision plans. (Revision does not equal fixing grammar; we will work extensively on big-picture rethinking, provision of convincing support, clear argument structure, and careful line editing for clear, concise expression.) If you for whatever reason find yourself in difficulty, please alert me early. There is a good chance you'll find me helpful.
Grade Components
35% grade = Quizzes, attendance, class participation, in-class writing, use of tutorials, class presentations
35%=Close-Reading and Lens Essay Revisions
30%=Extended Essay with Multiple Sources
Learning Disabilities Act
“If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately.”
Specification of readings and assignments will follow shortly.
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