COURSE POLICIES AND SYLLABUS
English 391, Section 1901: Advanced Composition–Travel Writing
THURS: 6:30–9:10 p.m., 0230 Tawes Fine Arts
Instructor: Mark Fitzgerald
Office: 1208 Tawes Fine Arts
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 6–6:30 p.m.
Contact Info:
Elms: https://myelms.umd.edu
Class Description
The intent of this class is to introduce you to travel writing and explore similarities and differences between travel journalism, travel literature, guidebook writing, and blogging. We will consider various audiences, places, and cultural point of views and actively learn through writing and research how to produce compelling destination articles, travel essays, memoirs, and advice pieces. We will also consider how place, people, reflection, memory, imagery, facts, and dialogue are synthesized into various works.
The course will focus on choices in writing, structures, and stylistic methods. We will discover ways to nurture a personal presence, a unique voice in our writing, exploring various subjects, audiences and purposes. We will also embrace the process of writing (including the planning, drafting, and revising stages) and look carefully at all stages of work that factor into producing a final, polished product.
Course Goals
On completion of a Professional Writing course, students will be able to:
• Analyze a variety of professional rhetorical situations and produce appropriate texts in response.
• Understand the stages required to produce competent, professional writing through planning, drafting, revising, and editing.
• Identify and implement the appropriate research methods for each writing task.
• Practice the ethical use of sources and the conventions of citation appropriate to each genre.
• Write for the intended readers of a text, and design or adapt texts to audiences who may differ in their familiarity with the subject matter.
• Demonstrate competence in Standard Written English, including grammar, sentence and paragraph structure, coherence, and document design (including the use of the visual) and be able to use this knowledge to revise texts.
• Produce cogent essays that identify issues, reflect the degree of available evidence, and take account of different points of view.
Course Materials
¨ 2014 The Best American Travel Writing; Theroux, Paul (editor); Wilson, Jason (series editor); Houghton Mifflin: 2014. ISBN: 978-0544330153. (Available at Bookholders: 7417 Baltimore Ave; 301-209-9313)
Attendance Policies
Attendance in this course is mandatory. However, as attending class can, in rare cases, be highly difficult, I will allow one no-questions-asked class absence per semester. While some coursework may be made up, classroom discussions and assignments account for a significant percentage of your grade in this course, and class participation, once missed, is an opportunity that cannot be restored. Semester grades can be negatively impacted by more than one unexcused absence. Also, please keep in mind that absence is not an excuse for not turning in work on time.
The University does excuse absences for certain reasons (illness, representing the University at certain events, religious observance, and the death of an immediate family member), provided the cause of absence is appropriately documented. If you have an anticipated excused absence, please let me know in writing as soon as possible.
For every medically necessary absence from class, you should make a reasonable effort to notify me in advance of the class. When returning to class, bring a note identifying the date of and reason for your absence and acknowledging that the information in the note is accurate. If you are absent more than once, I may require documentation signed by a health care professional. If you are absent on days when scheduled presentations or papers are due, you are required to notify me in advance, and upon returning to class, bring documentation of the illness, signed by a health care professional. If you must miss two consecutive classes for any reason—excused or unexcused—please contact me before the second class.
Also, you’ll find very quickly in the professional world that tardiness is not tolerated. I find it disrespectful to your classmates and me. Please do your best to be on time, and let me know if you have a class-related conflict. Remember that it is your responsibility to catch up on your own time, not the class’s. Thus, 2 late arrivals (or unexplained early departures) will convert to 1 absence.
The Use of Electronic Devices
The use of cell phones and blackberries is prohibited during class. Please: NO TEXTING IN CLASS! Also, it is not necessary to use a personal laptop during class. If, however, you would like to, you must sit in the front row and use your laptop only to take notes—not to surf the web or check and send messages.
Communication about this course:
Email is used to convey important information, and you are responsible for keeping email addresses up to date, and must ensure that forwarding to another address functions properly. Failure to check email, errors in forwarding, and returned email are your responsibility, and do not constitute an excuse for missing announcements or deadlines.
Writing Quantities
This class calls for a minimum of 25 pages of “original” writing (6,250 words). You may not submit papers you’ve written for other courses to fulfill an assignment. Page counts should be based on the final revisions of each major assignment. The final paper should include at least 2,500 words of writing.
Assignments and Grade Breakdown
¨ Advice Article, a five-page essay that offers advice to a broad audience about what to do and see in a certain city or town: 20%
¨ Immersion Essay, a seven-page immersion piece into a favorite destination: 20%
¨ Travel Memoir, a 12-page memoir that reflects back on a stretch time spent in a particular place: 25%
¨ Presentation, a ten-minute presentation offering insights into a place you’ve traveled to and its people: 15%
¨ Participation, Reflective Writing Assignments, In-Class Writing; Peer Reviews; Quizzes on readings; Verbal Contributions: 20%
Deliverables
All out-of-class assignments must be submitted to me in hard copy. They must be typed in a 12-point font and appear professional. Please proofread your work carefully before turning it in. Assignments must be handed in at the beginning of class, and in person. Please do not leave papers on my desk or with office staff, or attempt to email me any of the major assignments listed above. If it is absolutely necessary for you to turn in a paper other than the traditional way, please email me with as much advance notice as possible so we can work out a solution.
Late Papers
I will subtract a letter grade from the paper for each day it is late. Students who do not show up for peer review will lose 5 points off their final drafts. I prefer to receive all major assignments in hard copy. Please come to class and submit your work in person.
Revisions
If applicable, I may allow you to revise one paper. You must have my approval to do this. You will be required to submit the original graded paper with the revised version by the end of the term. I will average the two grades.
The Literal Side
As upper-level college students, you’ve probably already experienced several different types of communication. In the electronic realm, for instance, you have realized that the emails you send to your friends from home contain a different level of formality than the ones you’ll send to potential employers and future co-workers. In this class, we’ll practice becoming adept at communicating with each other in a professional manner. In other words, emails sent to your classmates and your instructor will use correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization, as well as proper salutations. I’ll do my best to answer emails that follow these guidelines in a timely fashion, but it may take a day or two. As I teach several courses, please include “English 391” or “Travel Writing” in your subject line.
Academic Integrity and Honor Pledge
The University has a student administered Code of Academic Integrity and Honor Pledge, which prohibits students from cheating on exams, plagiarizing papers, submitting the same paper for credit in two courses without permission of both instructors, buying papers, submitting fraudulent documents, and forging signatures. You are expected to understand and follow this code: “I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment.” —University of Maryland Student Honor Pledge. Allegations of academic dishonesty will be reported directly to the Student Honor Council: http://www.shc.umd.edu.
Disability Support
If you have a documented disability you should inform me within the add-drop period if academic accommodations will be needed. Please provide me with a copy of the Accommodations Letter and ask for my signature on the Acknowledgement of Student Request form. We will plan together how accommodations will be implemented throughout the semester. To obtain the required Accommodation Letter, please contact Disability Support Service (DSS) at 301-314-7682 or .
Copyright notice
Class lectures and other materials are copyrighted. They may not be reproduced for anything other than personal use without written permission from the instructor. Copyright infringements may be referred to the Office of Student Conduct.
Academic accommodations for students who experience sexual misconduct
The University of Maryland is committed to providing support and resources, including academic accommodations, for students who experience sexual or relationship violence as defined by the University’s Sexual Misconduct Policy. To report an incident and/or obtain an academic accommodation, contact the Office of Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct at 301-405-1142. If you wish to speak confidentially, contact Campus Advocates Respond and Educate (CARE) to Stop Violence at 301-741-3555. As ‘responsible university employees’ faculty are required to report any disclosure of sexual misconduct, i.e., they may not hold such disclosures in confidence. For more information, visit http://www.umd.edu/ocrsm/.
Diversity
The University of Maryland values the diversity of its student body. Along with the University, I am committed to providing a classroom atmosphere that encourages the equitable participation of all students regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, national origin, race, religion, or sexual orientation. Potential devaluation of students in the classroom that can occur by reference to demeaning stereotypes of any group and/or overlooking the contributions of a particular group to the topic under discussion is inappropriate.
Emergency protocol
If the university is closed for an extended period of time, the course will continue online via Elms so we don’t fall behind.
Evaluations
The Professional Writing Program relies on its own evaluations, which are distributed during the last two weeks of the semester. We also encourage you to participate in the online evaluation of courses through CourseEvalUM.
General Note
To succeed in advanced composition requires a mastery of the process of writing: learning and developing skills that will assist you in communicating highly specialized content to a variety of audiences. I expect that for most of you, this class will take a significant amount of time and energy, and you may have inferred from these pages that I have rather high expectations in regards to your dedication to this course. It is likely that an effort on your part to meet—and exceed—the requirements set forth for you this semester will result in a positive outcome for all of us.
Semester Schedule
The following represents the potential syllabus of class activities and reading assignments. It is subject to change based on the dynamics of this particular class, as well as the inevitable unplanned-for events and opportunities; all amendments will be announced in class and/or communicated over email.
Week 1
Thursday, 1/26: Introduction to the course. Discuss travel writing. Sequence of assignments; understanding audience & purpose; establishing a professional ethos. Discuss readings and in-class writing. For next class, read Thomas Swick’s “A Moving Experience” (233-240).
Week 2
Thursday, 2/2: Simplicity and style. Rhetorical appeals. Quiz and discussion on reading. Discuss advice article. In-class writing. For next class, read Elif Batuman’s “Poisoned Land” (1-12).
Week 3
Thursday, 2/9: Audience, exigence and exposition. Usage and coherence. Discuss advice article. Quiz and discussion on reading. In-class writing. For next class, read Julia Cooke’s “Amigos” (13-27).
Week 4
Thursday, 2/16: Advice article drafts due for peer review. Discussion of problems: four basic questions. Review & editing techniques. Quiz and discussion on reading. In-class peer review. For next class, read Janine Di Giovanni’s “Life During Wartime” (28-36).
Week 5
Thursday, 2/23: Advice articles due. Organizing, drafting and revising. Examples and analysis. Quiz and discussion on reading. In-class writing. For next class, read Arnon Grunberg’s “Christmas in Thessaloniki” (42-54).
Week 6
Thursday, 3/2: Place and identity. Reading to write. Discussion of destination essay. Quiz and discussion on reading. In-class writing. For next class, read Michael Paterniti’s “This Must Be the Place” (109-123).
Week 7
Thursday, 3/9: Discussion of immersion essay. Quiz and discussion on reading. In-class writing. For next class, read Stephanie Pearson’s “Love in the Time of Coca” (124-133).
Week 8
Thursday, 3/16: Soliciting information from sources. Cultural immersion. Developing scenes and reflection. Group discussion. For next class, read David Sedaris’s “Now We Are Five” (165-175).
Week 9
Thursday, 3/23: NO CLASS: SPRING BREAK
Week 10
Thursday, 3/30: Immersion essay drafts due for peer review. Voice and style. Quiz and discussion on reading. In-class peer review. For next class, read Peter Selgin’s “My New York” (176-194).
Week 11
Thursday, 4/6: Immersion essays due. Knowing your process. Narrative and description. Quiz and discussion on reading. In-class writing. For next class, read Bob Shacochis’s “Sun King” (195-203).
Week 12
Thursday, 4/13: Gaining confidence and trusting your instincts. Discussion of travel memoir. Individual Conferences. Revisions: global and fine. Quiz and discussion on reading. In-class writing. For next class, read Gary Shteyngart’s “Maximum Bombay” (224-232).
Week 13
Thursday, 4/20: Facts and memory. Readability and rewriting. Discussion of travel memoir. Quiz and discussion on reading. Presentations. For next class, read Patrick Symmes’s “Born on the 9th of July” (241-255).
Week 14
Thursday, 4/27: Presentations. Decisions in writing. Fine tuning. Discussion of travel memoir. Quiz and discussion on reading. For next class, read Sean Wilsey’s “Open Water” (280-298).
Week 15
Thursday, 5/4: Presentations. Estrangement and nostalgia in memoir. Larger contexts and bigger pictures. Quiz and discussion on reading.
Week 16
Thursday, 5/11: Travel memoir due. Presentations. Quiz and discussion on reading. Final remarks.
1