English 101, Section 010 Syllabus

WritingCollege, Writing Life

MWF 8:40-9:30

Fall 2008

BoiseStateUniversity

Instructor: Heather Jennings

Email:

Office Hours: MW 9:30-10:30 or by appointment

Office Location: LA 209 (The LA or Liberal Arts Building faces the campus library.)

Office Phone: 426-

Course Description:

You probably come to English 101 with different ideas about what this course will be about, and to make sure we are all on the same page, I will tell you right away what it is about. This class is mostly about writing. We will think about what it means to write and to be a writer and we will work on writing strategies that you will be able to use for the rest of your time in college and in “real” life. We will be writing a great deal, reading about writing, and talking about writing. It is important to remember that writing, just like any other skill -- skateboarding, singing, playing “Rock Band”, cooking, etc.—is something in which you can keep on progressing. Each of you comes to this class with different writing experience and skills. During this class, you will explore how you can draw on your own experiences and skills to improve your writing and to know yourself better. My goal is that by the time you leave this class, you will be more confident and skillful in using writing to communicate with others in all different situations, both in school and out.

Course Goals:

The BSU First-Year Writing Program’s competencies for English 101 are that students will demonstrate that

  • they can produce writing that has a clear focus, a purpose, and a point and which demonstrates audience awareness.
  • they can produce writing in a format appropriate to its purpose.
  • they can use revision to extend their thinking about a topic, not just to rearrange material or “fix” mechanical errors.
  • they can organize, develop, and support their focus with evidence gathered from their experience, their reading, their observations, or their conversations with others, and this is appropriate to the particular genre in which they are writing (e.g. narrative, argument, etc.)
  • they can articulate the rhetorical choices they have made, illustrating their awareness of a writer’s relationship to the subject, a text’s purpose, and audience.
  • they can use a variety of strategies for generating ideas for writing, for planning and organizing material, for identifying purpose and audience, and for providing useful feedback to peers during the writing process
  • by the end of the course, they can produce prose without mechanical errors that distract readers from attending to the meaning and purpose of the writing.
  • they understand the purpose of citation and documentation practices using print and online sources even though they may not show mastery.

Class Texts and Materials:

Lunsford, Andrea. The Everyday Writer. 3rded. Boston, MA: St Martins, 2006.

WritingCollege, Writing Life Ed. Instructors of First-Year Writing at BoiseStateUniversity. Boston, MA:

Pearson, 2007.

Class Website:

Class Work and Projects:

Workshops and Collaboration I will not lecture during our times in class. Instead, class meetings will have a workshop-style format. We will discuss each other’s writing, share ideas, and consider readings. For you to get what you need to out of this class, you will need to be present in both mind and body for each class meeting.

Informal Writing and Reflection In this class, we will practice reflective writing, or writing as way of thinking on paper. These writing times will usually link to the unit project and provide you with material for the more formal assignments you will turn in to me. Sometimes you will also use writing to reflect on your own writing and your progress in this course.

Formal Writing—Unit Projects Our semester is divided into four units. For each unit, you will write two explorations, give feedback on other students’ work, make research and reflection notes, submit a rough draft of your final project, and turn in a final unit project of 5-7 pages in length.

Formal Writing—Final Portfolio In the final weeks of the semester, you will choose two of the four unit projects to rewrite and revise. You will then turn in these revised papers as your final portfolio. All semester long, you can be working on pieces that can be revised for your portfolio. Thus, you will have plenty of opportunities for feedback and revision before you make a selection of pieces to include in your final portfolio.

Course Policies and Expectations

Grading:

Unit 1 Project10 points (full credit), 5 points (partial credit), or 0 points (no credit)

Unit 2 Project10 points (full credit), 5 points (partial credit), or 0 points (no credit)

Unit 3 Project10 points (full credit), 5 points (partial credit), or 0 points (no credit)

Unit 4 Project10 points (full credit), 5 points (partial credit), or 0 points (no credit)

Participation10 points

Final Portfolio50 points (graded on an A-F scale)

______

100 points total possible

Notice that the unit projects are not given a letter grade. Instead, if you meet all the requirements for the project, you will receive full credit; if you meet some of the requirements, you will receive partial credit; if you do not meet any of the requirements, you will receive no credit. Most of your grade is based around your final portfolio, giving you all semester long to revise and improve what you write.

Also, note that you cannot skip any unit projects. You must turn in all unit projects in order to pass this class.

Participation and Absence Policy:

Plan on being present in both body and mind, ready to participate in class and respond to readings every day. Please be on time to class and stay until the end of the class period. You are allowed up to three absences without penalty. After three, your absences will affect your grade. If you are gone for two weeks or more of class time (6 or more classes), you will fail the class.

Late Work:

Late work will not be accepted except in rather extreme emergencies. If a true disaster or emergency comes up, talk to me as soon as possible about whether I will accept a late assignment from you. Under normal circumstances, a missed assignment will result in a failing grade on that assignment.

Academic Honesty:

Plagiarism is using someone else’s ideas and calling them your own. Don’t plagiarize! Don’t use or copy part of someone else’s paper and turn it in as your own work and ideas. Plagiarism will result in a failing grade on the assignment or in the course.

When you use someone else’s ideas or use a quote that they wrote, tell where you got that information. We will discuss how to do this properly during the semester. If you include a commonly known fact in your paper—for example, that Boise is the capital city of Idaho or that Hillary Clinton ran for the presidency—you don’t need to give a source. If you are confused about when to cite and when to not, ask!

Research Practices:

You may do some informal research this semester—interviews, observations, surveying classmates, etc. You must do this research safely and you cannot do research on or participate in any illegal activities. You must protect the privacy and confidentiality of your research subjects, and the information you gain can only be used inthis class.

Civility:

Please show respect to your fellow students during class discussions, even if you strongly disagree with their ideas or points of view. When we discuss controversial issues, it is important to listen carefully to what the other person is saying, as well as to carefully consider the other person’s point of view, and to present your ideas without belittling the other person.

Please do not use your cell phone, laptop, or ipod during class time. These can distract from group activities and interfere with other students’ learning, and there is plenty of time to text OUTSIDE of class. Repeated problems with texting or similar activities will affect your participation grade.

Expectations:

It is my responsibility as an instructor to be as clear as possible about my expectations, the work for the course, and the assessment procedures I use. And here’s my expectation for you: it’s your responsibility to contact me at any time if you’re confused, overwhelmed, unsure of my expectations for a particular assignment, or for any other reason. Please make sure you talk to me before work is due, not just afterwards. I’m always happy to talk through an assignment, brainstorm ideas, consider possibilities, give you resources, and discuss your work with you—that’s part of what I do!

Writing and Learning Support:

The WritingCenter BoiseStateUniversity has an excellent WritingCenter, and it’s free for all students. The WritingCenter is a fabulous resource for you in your first-year writing courses and far beyond. When you visit the WritingCenter, a Consultant will work with you at any stage: generating ideas, developing your ideas, revising a draft, and so on. The WritingCenter’s phone number is 426-1298; it’s located at LA 200. Call to make an appointment especially during rush times (midterms and end-of-semester).

Access Services/Documented Disabilities If you have a documented disability that might affect your work in this course, please let me know and we’ll discuss how to best meet your needs in the context of this course. If you have any questions, please contact the Office of Disability Services at 426-1583.

Important Dates

You will receive a much more detailed course schedule for each of the four units.

Monday August 25 / First class meeting
Wednesday August 27
Friday August 29
Monday September 1 / NO School; Labor Day
Wednesday September 3
Friday September 5 / * * Last day to add or drop classes without a W * *
Monday September 8
Wednesday September 10 / Unit 1 Rough Draft Due, Response Workshop (Required attendance)
Friday September 12 / Unit 1 Project Due; Begin Unit 2
Monday September 15
Wednesday September 17
Friday September 19
Monday September 22
Wednesday September 24
Friday September 26
Monday September 29
Wednesday October 1 / Unit 2 Rough Draft Due, Response Workshop (Required attendance)
Friday October 3 / Unit 2 Project Due * *Last day to drop classes or completely withdraw * *
Monday October 6
Wednesday October 8
Friday October 10
Monday October 13
Wednesday October 15
Friday October 17
Monday October 20
Wednesday October 22
Friday October 24
Monday October 27
Wednesday October 29 / Unit 3 Rough Draft Due, Response Workshop (Required attendance)
Friday October 31 / Unit 3 Project Due; Begin Unit 4
Monday November 3
Wednesday November 5
Friday November 7
Monday November 10
Wednesday November 12
Friday November 14
Monday November 17
Wednesday November 19
Friday November 21 / Unit 4 Project Due
Nov 24-28 / NO CLASS – Happy Thanksgiving!
Monday December 1 / Begin formal reflection and revision for Final Portfolio
Wednesday December 3
Friday December 5
Monday December 8
Wednesday December 10
Friday December 12
Final Meeting Time: / Final Portfolio Due

Heather Jennings’s Daily Plan for Unit 1

Engl 101, Section 010

Date / Time / Activities
M
8/25 / 8:40 / Welcome class. Introduce myself, put my name and class on the board.
8:45 / Pass out syllabus. Read through overview, books for the class, computer/tech requirements, overview of assignments, and policies. Will need notebook or binder, WC WL book for each class.
8:55 / Take roll.
9:00 / Have students open to a blank sheet of paper. Explain that we are going to do in a half hour what we will explode over the course of the semester.
1)Write authority list.
2)
9:27 / Wrap up. Remind them to bring their paragraphs and authority lists to class on Wednesday.
Stuff to Bring:
Syllabus, books. / Notes:
Date / Time / Activities
W
8/27 / 8:40 / Get into a circle. Have students introduce themselves by reading their authority lists, or their paragraphs. Take roll and ask questions during this process.
9:00 / Hand out Unit 1 Syllabus. Explain what explorations are. Read through exploration assignment. Begin exploration.
9:30 / Collect explorations. Remind them of reading.
Stuff to Bring:
Unit 1 syllabus. / Notes:
Date / Time / Activities
F
8/29 / 8:40 / Welcome! Take roll. Try to build on authority lists from Wednesday. Divide students into groups as I do this.
8:45 / Groups discussion on reading. Have prompt question written on board.
8:55 / Re-group for discussion of reading.
9:05 / Freewrite: Practice what Ballenger preaches. Divide page in half. Take two quotes, lines, ideas from our reading and write on one half of page. Respond to them in second column.
9:15 / Review syllabus
9:25 / Introduce exploration #2. Remind students of reading AND exploration.
Stuff to Bring: / Notes:
Today’s reading “The Importance of Writing Badly.”

Prompt Questions:

1)Why does Ballenger say it is important to give yourself permission to write badly?

2)What is one technique or idea about writing that you can apply to your own writing to improve it?

3)Have you used the internet to do research for writing papers or to find information for other reasons? How do you evaluate what you find?

Date / Time / Activities
W
9/3 / 8:40 / Welcome class. Collect Exploration #2. Take roll. Take time to review students’ names. Discuss results of exploration #2.
8:50 / Freewrite on today’s reading:
“Writing can make pain tolerable, confusion clearer and the self stronger” (125 of reading).
Explore answers to one of these two questions:
1)Why do you think writing can do these things?
2)Describe a time when this statement has been true for you.
9:00 / Discussion on reading and freewrite.
Additional ideas to cover:
What was it that allowed this teacher to connect with her students? Why do you think it was through writing?
The author thinks that writing is important to everyone. Why? What good things does she believe come out of it? Have you experienced those things? Can you add others?
9:15 / Divide into groups and choose a group scribe. List on butcher paper all the types of writing people in your group did in 24 hours.
9:20 / Post up the different types of writing. Begin discussing the different types of writing and why they were different, if time.
Stuff to Bring:
Butcher paper, markers. / Notes:
Today’s reading: “Write for your Life” p. 125
Date / Time / Activities
F
9/5 / 8:40 / Welcome class. Take roll.
8:45 / Choose four students to stand up and read aloud the Four goals of writing at BSU (WC, WL page xv and xvi).
8:50 / Compare these goals to lists that students made on Wednesday of the kinds of writing they are doing. They are already meeting these goals, and must just continue improving in them. (Need some prompt questions for this exercise.)
9:00 / Introduce Unit 1 Project. Review requirements.
Brainstorm ideas for getting started, based on Ballenger’s and Murray’s essays.
9:20 / Give students last ten minutes of class to start “Getting the Writing Done” and brainstorm ideas for their final essays. Remind them to bring their Everyday Readers for Monday.
Stuff to Bring: / Notes:
Today’s reading: “Getting the Writing Done” by Murray, 103.
Date / Time / Activities
M
9/8 / 8:40 / Welcome class. Pass out sheet for signature to show they’re present.
8:42 / Review formatting requirements for Unit Project
8:47 / Discuss purpose of workshop—learning and thinking is a collaborative process. Audience awareness. Different points of view you haven’t considered. Assumptions you make because you know what you meant, though others might not have.
Goals:
  • To learn to give helpful feedback.
  • To learn to accept feedback and use it.
  • To learn to ask editing questions to yourself, to “workshop” your own papers.

8:50 / Brainstorm questions/strategies for workshop
Have you had bad experiences w/ others giving you feedback? Good? What made them that way?
Hand out short essay that meets the requirements of the assignment to students. Choose a student to read it aloud. Others make notes on essay.
As a group, list feedback ideas on the blackboard.
9:20 / Based on your experiences here, let’s make a list of questions by which to evaluate others’ essays in our workshop on Wednesday. List questions on board.
9:27 / Any final questions on workshop? Remind students that it’s a mandatory attendance day and to bring Everyday Writers.
Stuff to Bring: / Notes:
Date / Time / Activities
W
9/10 / 8:40 / Welcome class. Collect all rough drafts and pass out evaluation sheets. Divide students into pairs. Explain what you are going to do:
1)Read one essay aloud. The other can jot notes about the essay while listening.
2)Together, draft a neatly-as-possible (at least legible!) written letter to the essay writer, answering the questions on our handout and giving any other tips you think would be helpful.
3)I will let you know half-way through your time, and the other person can read the second essay aloud and repeat the process.
4)When finished, attach your letter to the rough draft and return to its author at end of class.
Stuff to Bring:
Handout with questions we brainstormed that students need to answer in their letter. / Notes:
Walk around to pairs to make sure they’re making progress, give suggestions, etc.
Date / Time / Activities
F
9/12 / 8:40 / Welcome class. Collect Unit 1 Projects. Congratulations on finishing their first unit!
8:45 / Divide into groups. Genre-exploration project. Have each group list as many genres as they can think of (??) Need more ideas for this.
8:55 / Pass out and review Unit 2 assignment sheet.
Stuff to Bring: / Notes:
Date / Time / Activities
M
9/ / 8:40 / Welcome class.
Stuff to Bring: / Notes:
Date / Time / Activities
9/ / 8:40 / Welcome class.
Stuff to Bring: / Notes:

“To Be or Not to Be a Writer”