ENGLISH 101

Section K

MWF 11:00 - 11:50 Breis 13

W 12:00 - 12:50 Lab Breis 14

Instructor: Trisha Brady

Office: Kirby Hall #204

Office Hours: MW 9:30 – 10:30; M 5:00 - 6:00.

E-Mail: trisha.brady@wilkes.edu

AIM: Rubeebuzz

Mailbox: Located outside the English Office, Kirby Hall #214

You can find the syllabus on the My Courses Blackboard

http://www.oocities.org/rubeebuzz/index.html (Research Links, Syllabus, and Assignments)

Course description:

The theme for this course is Rhetoric, Representation, and Creative Protest in the Public Sphere. In addition to talking about how to construct strong arguments and papers, we will discuss how America’s government and laws have been imagined and represented by various authors as well as how they have been critiqued by individuals and groups often excluded from the democratic process or considered to be inferior. Through a focus on initiatory speech and action, we will consider how oppressed peoples and individuals have used forms of creative protestation to overcome injustice and to educate others about social problems.

We will begin our course by discussing the elements of argument. Then, we will read and discuss Thomas Jefferson’s "Declaration of Independence" and Henry David Thoreau’s “Resistance to Civil Government.” Both texts embrace democratic principles and have warrants that guarantee the right the revolt. We will also read excerpts from William Brown's slave narrative, which represents the harsh experience of slavery, and discuss the way the fugitive slave embraced his or her right to revolt. Then, we’ll discuss various texts of the Women’s Suffrage Movement and the Civil Rights Movement to further our discussions of civil disobedience and creative protest. Finally, we will consider music as a medium of creative protest. The assigned texts will allow you to polish your reading skills while providing general topics for your essays. Because the readings for this course are varied, short, and few, I will often require you to re-read an essay for class or as part of a revision assignment. These texts offer the course continuity and will serve as a point of departure for your writing.

In addition to reading and discussing diverse texts, you will be required to read and respond to student papers written for this course. English 101 is designed to teach you strategies for writing and reading texts. Your course work and readings are structured to familiarize you with the following operations: definition, summary, analysis, synthesis, critique, and argument. The complexity of the writing assignments will increase gradually throughout the term as you develop your critical, organizational, and rhetorical skills. This writing course emphasizes recursive reading and writing strategies. In other words, we will return to the texts that we read throughout the term, again and again, in an effort promote the revision and development of the papers you write during the semester. Much of your time will be spent reading and workshopping the texts/papers you and your peers produce in this class. In addition, you will be introduced to research methods and will write a research paper for this course using proper documentation of sources.

We will have several writing workshops throughout the term. The purpose of the workshops is to focus our attention upon the texts you write for the course and to address common writing issues. Generally, I choose the paper that will be used for workshop. The student author of that paper will remain a mystery to the class; he or she will be an anonymous author during the workshop. A paper workshop will always be announced in advance and will focus, mainly, upon issues of content, organization, coherence, and MLA citation. You will be required to read a student paper, which I will pass out to you, for paper workshops. In workshops, we will read an anonymous student’s paper and have a discussion about the strengths and weaknesses of the paper while we discuss strategies for revising the paper for the final portfolio. Additional workshops on organizing information, explicating quotes, grammar, sentence and paragraph construction, as well as documentation, will be given in class and in the lab, throughout the term. I will usually provide a handout for these workshops on the day of the workshop or we will build a discussion around a student text.

In this course, you will be required to write informal but typed homework or response papers, and a total of four formal essays. Additionally, you will be required to revise and extend three of your formal essays for the final portfolio. One of those revisions will extend a previous paper into an eight - ten page research paper.

Texts

· Course packet (I will distribute)

· Little, Brown Compact Handbook (available at the bookstore)

· A World of Ideas (available at the bookstore)

Supplies:

• Any good dictionary. If you do not currently own one, this is a good time to invest in one. There are many available in the bookstore. (I recommend Webster’s or American Heritage.)
• A full-sized notebook for writing assignments in class. OR, a 3 ring binder with loose-leaf paper.
• A sturdy folder in which you keep all your work for the class AND a disk or drive on which you save all your writing (including multiple drafts).
• A pocket folder in which you put the cover letter, all drafts, and final version of each assignment when you hand it in.

Save all the writing you do during the semester. You can clear your files in December. Until then, you never know what may prove to be useful during a revision. If you compose and revise on a computer, periodically print out and save on disk versions of your draft so that you have a record of its process. Also, I recommend saving your work on two disks (a disk you use and carry and a backup disk) because files can be lost due to viruses as well as damage to a disk. Keep a copy for yourself (either on disk or a hard copy) of all major assignments handed in to me. In addition, keep all drafts on which you have received comments from me, or your classmates.

Your work for this course must be typed. If you have not yet begun to use a word-processing program, now is the time to begin. (I use and recommend MSWord. You can purchase discounted software from UB Micro.) In a course like this, where you are expected to revise regularly, you will make your life easier by doing your revisions on a computer. If you need help with a word-processing program, see me immediately.

Course Requirements and Grading Policy

Grading Policy: This is a workshop course in writing in which class activities are essential to your development as a writer. In-class activities will include free-writing, consultations and discussions with members of your workgroup, and critiquing and editing of your workgroup's papers. The success of the course— and your successful performance in it—depends upon your participation and contributions, both spoken and written. Your final grade will be based upon class participation and formal writing assignments, including a final portfolio consisting of three revised drafts and a formal research paper (8-10 pages).

Below is the how the percentage grades assigned on essays translate to the Wilkes University 4-point grade scale:

90-100 = 4.0 75-79 = 2.5 60-64 = 1.0

85-89 = 3.5 70-74 = 2.0 59 & below = 0.0

80-84 = 3.0 65-69 = 1.5

Grading Breakdown:

Attendance/ Participation: 10%

Writing Assignments (three 5-page essays): 50%

Short Response Papers/ Homework Assignments: 10%

End of Term Portfolio (substantial revisions of three essays including the research essay): 10%

Research Essay (8-10 pages): 20%

The Wilkes University English faculty have endorsed and agreed upon the following objectives for ENG 101:

1) Rhetorical Knowledge

By the end of ENG 101, students will have

• Developed an awareness of the purpose for individual writing acts
• Demonstrated an ability to produce written texts that sustain a unifying focus
• Demonstrated an ability to produce written texts that contain coherently-structured and logically-ordered sentences and paragraphs
• Demonstrated an ability to control surface features such as syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling
• Demonstrated an ability to adopt appropriate voice, tone, and level of formality appropriate to different rhetorical situations and genres
• Demonstrated an ability to assess and accommodate the expectations of different audiences and rhetorical situations
• Demonstrated an ability to present an argument in writing, with use of evidentiary examples
• Demonstrated an ability to document another writer’s written work and ideas, in a manner appropriate to relevant academic or professional disciplines

2) Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing

By the end of ENG 101, students will have

• Demonstrated an ability to use reading and writing for the purposes of inquiry, learning, critical thinking, and communicating
• Demonstrated their practice of writing as a series of process-oriented steps, including locating, evaluating, analyzing, integrating, and synthesizing appropriate primary and secondary sources
• Demonstrated an ability to integrate their own ideas and those of others, situating themselves within a greater field of academic discourse
• Demonstrated an ability to use instructional technology in support of critical thinking, reading, research, and writing

3) Process

By the end of ENG 101, students will have

• Produced multiple drafts and revisions in the process of creating and completing a successful written text
• Practiced different strategies for generating, revising, editing, and proof-reading
• Practiced writing as an open process that involves revision, re-thinking, and re-invention
• Practiced engagement in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes
• Developed an ability to critically examine and comment on other students’ writing through peer review of other students’ written work
• Demonstrated an ability to critically examine, respond to, and revise their own writing through independent review of their own written work
• Demonstrated an ability to use instructional technology in support of inventing, drafting, critiquing, and revising their own written work
• Demonstrated, through both writing and discussion, an ability to self-reflect on their own writing process and development as writers

Plagiarism: To submit someone else’s work as your own is plagiarism. This includes borrowing work from other students, professional writers (including the introductory synopses that accompany many of the essays we will read), or instructors—basically from any source—without properly acknowledging the author. The proper methods for documenting written and media sources can be found in any Writer’s Manual. This is extremely serious. Plagiarized papers earn an F. The university’s recommended penalty for repeated plagiarism (this means after the first time) is failure for the course. If you ever have any questions about this, please see me. See handout.

Workshops: When we are not discussing the texts of professional authors we will devote much time to the discussion of student writing. As you can see from the schedule, we will include at least one group workshop every week. Unlike peer review sessions (which involve only you and a partner) and focused lab activities, these workshops will direct the attention of the entire class on particular issues of writing. These sessions aim to make the process of writing and revision part of an ongoing discussion involving all of the members of the class. By considering the strengths and weaknesses of anonymous student texts we will have the opportunity to consider various aspects involved in the writing/revision process. In these sessions we will often consider many broad issues including: organization, textual support, textual analysis, the use of quotes, and aesthetic concerns; but we will also attend to more localized, sentence-level concerns as well (word choice, sentence structure, and MLA citation). By becoming actively involved in these group workshops—whether we are discussing your paper or that of a classmate—you will gain new critical insights and strategies to apply to your own revision work.

In this course, in other words, the instruction of writing will principally emerge out of the various moments of difficulty, challenge, and success presented by particular student works throughout the semester. The essays chosen for workshops are not, therefore, meant to be taken simply as models of success or failure; they should be viewed as representative of the complex sort of writing issues that many students in the class are grappling with at any given time.

Lab Work: On lab days, we will meet in the writing lab (Breiseth 14). Often these meetings will allow important opportunities for pre-writing, drafting, and responding to specific writing and revision prompts. Always bring class texts, hard copy drafts, and a computer disk or drive to these meetings to facilitate your work.

Essays: This course will require three 5-page essays responding to course readings, along with a final 8-10 page research essay (using 5 secondary sources). Essay grades will be based on the following criteria: 1. the presence of a recognizable and substantial thesis or central claim; 2. the development of that claim through adequate textual analysis (including the extensive use of quotes); 3. the quality of organization throughout the essay; 4. the relative grammatical and mechanical correctness of prose.

It is important that you turn assignments in on time. If, however, for some reason you require an extension, please let me know in advance with an email request that includes a reason for the extension. Extensions are granted and denied on a case by case basis. All papers should be typed, double-spaced, of the required length, with standard 1inch margins (margins like these), use 12 pt font, Times New Roman, and carefully proofread for spelling and punctuation errors. Additionally, all papers must include the proper parenthetical citation of sources and a ‘works cited’ page (both should follow MLA format).

You will receive both a grade on each draft you turn in and comments from me. These comments are intended to help you rethink and develop various aspects of your papers. Please take advantage of this feedback—and let me know if you have questions about my comments.

Finally—always keep extra copies of your papers! Save all the writing you do during the semester. You can clear your files in December. Until then, you never know what may prove to be useful during a revision. If you compose and revise on a computer, periodically print out (or save on disk) versions of your draft so that you have a record of its process. Keep a copy for yourself (either on disk or a hard copy) of all major assignments handed in to me. In addition, keep all hard copies (including response papers) on which you have received comments from me or your classmates (I will ask for these to be included as part of your final portfolio).

Response Papers: Along with most assigned readings on the syllabus, I have indicated that a short response paper should be turned in on the day of the discussion. These should be typed (double-spaced) but informal (not in standard essay form, with an introduction, etc.) and no more than a page in length. Use these responses as a way to focus your engagement around particular moments of interest or difficulty (you might choose a short passage that intrigues you or reminds you of an idea from another class text; you might want to use some responses to ask questions about things that seem confusing or difficult; you may even want to attempt to summarize arguments that you are having difficulty with). I encourage you to use these responses as a way of testing out and recording questions and comments that could be added to our group discussions. Since these are informal assignments, principally intended for you as reading notes, they will receive only sparse comments from me. But together, these homework assignments will constitute 10% of your final grade.

Portfolio: The portfolio will include a 2-page statement reflecting on the work you have submitted. The letter should also give an account of the progress you feel you have made over the course of the semester (Do you feel that you have grown as a writer and reader? What new strategies or approaches may have helped in this?) . With this letter you will include all drafts of your papers (including response papers) as well as three new drafts that you feel represent your best work as a writer. All of these materials should be collected in a folder with pockets. The portfolio is due on the last day of class, December 4.

Attendance and Participation: Because this class is primarily concerned with the critical discussion of student texts, it is essential that you attend regularly and participate. Your responses to the writings of other students are very important—and your own work will benefit from the observations and comments of others. I encourage everyone to try to add to our conversations. We’re not looking for ‘right’ answers here, but serious, critical thought. Participation will, in the end, be a factor in your grade (10%). Students may miss no more than two unexcused absences. Five or more unexcused absences may result in failure of the course. Note: Even if you do have doctors’ notes for several missed days, you might be asked to consider withdrawing from the course. In short, if you find yourself missing too many classes because of illness, a family emergency, or any other unforeseen circumstance, contact me about it as soon as possible.

Tardiness: If there is a reason why you might need to be late for class occasionally, let me know. Otherwise, be on time! If you join us late you could be marked absent or possibly miss changes made to the schedule of assignments. But most importantly, your late entrance will disrupt the work of the class.

Writing Center: The Writing Center (Breiseth Hall 018, 408-2753) provides free one-on-one instruction to students who seek additional support in honing their writing and revising skills. You may either call or stop by the writing center to make an appointment. The Writing Center offers appointments on a first-come, first-served basis, so you should plan ahead and reserve times well before your papers are due. The Writing Center also offers an online tutorial service as well as terrific range of writing resources for students (see, for example, the “Writing Guides” link) at: http://www.wilkes.edu/writing/

Your Feedback: Let me know how the class is going for you. I would really appreciate any input you might have to offer in response to class assignments, discussions, the texts we’re using, or my teaching methods. What seems to be going well? What could be improved? Feel free to email me or leave a note in my box (Kirby 214). And you are always welcome during my office hours. I look forward to hearing from you.

Course Schedule (may be revised as needed)

Always bring your texts to class, even on lab days. You will need your Little, Brown Compact Handbook for every writing workshop and lab session.

Mon. 8/25: Introduction and writing assignment.

Wed. 8/27: Bring your texts, Course packet and anthology, to class, always. We will discuss “Understanding Argument” and focus our attention on defining the following terms: claim, support, and warrant. I will introduce Jefferson’s The Declaration of Independence. In class, we will read The Declaration of Independence and you should answer the following questions in your reading notes: What is Jefferson’s claim? What support does Jefferson use to substantiate his claim (Jefferson uses two types of support: factual evidence and appeals to his audience)? Give examples of each. How does Jefferson move from support to claim (warrant)? Who is Jefferson’s intended audience? To whom is The Declaration of Independence addressed? Who is Jefferson speaking for, representing?

Wed. 8/27 Lab: Research: Has the Declaration of Independence been referenced in the news or political speeches lately? Have the presidential candidates been referencing and quoting Jefferson? Let's search the web to find out. What is the difference between a soft and hard internet source? Which newsgroups, databases, and websites should you search? Choose one source that mentions the Declaration or discusses how it has been referenced in the past two years. Write three paragraphs summarizing your source and discuss whether its significance to a discussion of what the Declaration means to people in America and around the world, today, or a discussion of how we respond to or reference the Declaration, today.

Fri. 8/29: Discussion of the “Declaration of Independence” continued. Homework: Begin reading Thoreau’s “Resistance to Civil Government”/“Civil Disobedience” for Wednesday and answer the following questions: Is Thoreau’s text still relevant? What, in your opinion, is his most significant claim? What is his warrant? How does he support his claim? What concrete examples of injustice does he give?

Mon. 9/1: No class.

Wed. 9/3: Discuss Thoreau and the reading questions. Handout: Essay #1, due 9/17. I will introduce essay 1. Topic proposal due 9/10.

Topic Proposal Guidelines

As part of the process work for each of your major essays, you will submit a topic proposal to me. Your topic proposal should be between ½ and 1 (typed) page, and it should consider the following questions:

1. What is your topic? Remember that it should be focused.

2. What is your working thesis? *Note that as you write, your thesis may change. This is normal – you can always tweak your thesis.

3. What are some passages that support this topic/thesis?

4. What are some questions you hope to answer in your essay?

5. How do you plan to organize your essay? Create a rough outline that shows its

organization. Remember that this may change as your thesis evolves.

Wed. 9/3 Lab: Constructing a proposal and developing a working thesis. Thesis workshop.

Fri. 9/5: We’ll discuss Thoreau and the issue of slavery as well as his controversial support of the abolitionist and terrorist John Brown. Homework: Read excerpts from William Brown’s slave narrative in your packet—complete text is available online--and answer the following discussion questions: How does Brown represent slavery? Which episode in the narrative stands out most to you and why?

Mon. 9/8: We will talk about Brown’s narrative and the Fugitive Slave Act. Additionally, I will introduce the King texts..

Homework: Read Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream.” Do the following writing exercises: Choose a quote from the essay that you find compelling. Quote the passage and explain its significance. Write a paragraph and discuss the significance of the claim while noting how King supports that claim. Questions: How does King’s speech revise and elaborate upon the warrant of Jefferson’s Declaration? How does King use and deploy Thoreau’s notion of civil disobedience?

Wed. 9/10: Proposal due. We will discuss King and the concepts of civil disobedience and creative protest in “I have a Dream.” Homework: Begin reading King’s “Love, Law and Civil Disobedience.” How does King define love? What is the principle of the student movement? Note King’s discussions of just and unjust laws. How do you know if a law is a just law?

Wed. 9/10 Lab: Go to the MLK papers project website at http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/mlkpapers/ and read chapter two, "Morehouse College," from King's autobiography. Dr. King reflects on reading Thoreau as a freshman in college. Modeling King's text, reflect on your own encounter with Thoreau as a college student. Email your response to me: trisha.brady@wilkes.edu.

Fri. 9/12: Class Cancelled. I will be at a conference in Pittsburgh, PA. HOMEWORK: Finish reading “Love, Law and Civil Disobedience.” Take reading notes as you read. Mark significant and confusing passages for discussion. What terms does King define in this essay? List and define each key term.

Mon. 9/15: We will discuss King’s “Love, Law and Civil Disobedience.”Homework: Finish paper 1, due Wed. 9/17.

Wed. 9/17 : Submit paper 1. We’ll discuss photographic essays and documentary photographs. In class, we will explicate images from the Civil Rights Movement and the 'Man on the box' image from the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. We’ll go over the second paper on visual texts and contexts, due 9/29. Proposal due 9/24. Homework: Read excerpts from "The Photographic Essay ..." by Mitchell in your course packet (on Agee, Barthes, and Said).

Wed. 9/17 Lab: Search for and select a photo (a documentary photograph) that you would like to write on. (I suggest finding a suffrage or Civil Rights Movement photo from the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, or a photo from a newsgroup. Try to write a description of the image and what it captures. Then, try to explain the meaning of the photograph, the rhetoric of the photograph. What does the image say? What does the photographer want you to see? How does the photographer direct your focus, your gaze? Can you decipher the image without captions or surrounding text?

Fri. 9/19: Discuss Mitchell's essay. Finish drafting Essay #2 and read Stanton’s “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions.” How does Stanton revise the claims and warrants of the Declaration? What is her rhetorical strategy? Is it effective?

Mon. 9/22: Discuss Stanton’s “Declaration …” HW: Read Chapter 1 from Nancy Isenberg’s Sex and Citizenship in Antebellum America. Take note of how Isenberg explicates quotes from Stanton’s “Declaration of Sentiments” as well as how she uses research sources to give us a historical context for Stanton's text.

Wed. 9/24: Discuss Stanton and Isenberg. HW: For Friday, Bring your draft copy of paper two to class on Friday for peer-review. Also, write 3 paragraphs discussing young women and their role models, today. Topic is open. Guys, if you have trouble with this one, consider interviewing a woman. Questions to get you started: (Girls, do we have female role models?) What types of women are visible in the public sphere? Do they challenge established gender-roles? Do we admire any of these women? Why? What types of women do we encounter in our everyday lives? Do we admire these women? Do they challenge established gender- roles?

Wed. 9/24 Lab: Proposal due. During lab, write a one page letter of self-evaluation to bring to submit with your second paper. How has your writing improved? What issues would you like for me to address in a workshop? What are your goals for this course? When you finish the letter, start drafting your three paragraphs on young women and their role models, today.

Fri. 9/26: Peer-review of paper two. Mini-workshop on paragraphing. Bring your Little, Brown Compact Handbook.

Mon. 9/29: Paper 2 due. Discussion: young women and their role models, today. Handout: Paper 3, due 10/24. Paper 3 proposal due 10/20. Read short excerpt from The Republic by Plato, which is titled “The Allegory of the Cave” and answer the assigned reading questions, which will help you start drafting your response paper, due 10/13

Wed. 10/1: Discuss Plato's "The Allegory of the Cave" the reading questions I assigned in class.

Wed. 10/1 Lab: Writing Prompt on Plato's allegory and the role of the student.

Fri. 10/3: Library tutorial. (K is 10/3 or 10/1; E2 is 9/29 or 10/1)

Mon. 10/6: Discuss Plato and the pursuit of the good. Write a 2 page response paper to Plato’s “Allegory ….” Topic is open. Refer back to your reading questions and our class discussions to help you get started. Due 10/13

Wed. 10/8: Discussion of Plato's allegory and the matrix of the material world. HW: Begin reading excerpt from Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.

Wed. 10/8 Lab: Work on drafting your response papers.

Fri. 10/10: Fall Break!

Mon. 10/13: Plato responses due! Discuss Douglass. How does Douglass describe the process of his enlightenment? Does he echo any of the same terms Plato uses? HW: Read excerpts from Niccolo Machiavelli’s “The Qualities of the Prince.” If Machiavelli read Plato's cave allegory, whose behavior and qualities would he applaud, the student who leaves and returns to the cave, or the puppeteers casting shadows on the cave wall? Are the qualities Machiavelli desires in a prince the same qualities we desire in a leader? We will talk about the importance of appearances and examine campaign ads by Obama, Paul, McCain, and others in class.

Wed. 10/15: Discuss Machiavelli and do the reading questions I assigned in class, which address questions about means and ends and ask you to compare and contrast King and Machiavelli.

Wed 10/15 Lab: Workshop paper 2: Writing a strong introduction and thesis paragraph. Bring your Little, Brown Compact Handbook.

Fri. 10/17: Discussion of Machiavelli and campaign ads continued. HW: Read Bloom’s “Music.” I will give you a reading quiz.

Mon. 10/20: Paper 3 proposal due. Discuss Allan Bloom’s “Music.” We’ll flash to the past to provide a context for Bloom’s text while discussing the filthy fifteen list and the P.M.R.C. HW: Read Kathleen Higgins’ “The Music of Our Lives.” Write a reader response paper, 2 pages in length, to Higgins or Bloom, due 10/27.

Wed. 10/22: Discuss Higgins and the soundtracks of our lives. Analyze Higgins' essay. Is her critique of Bloom successful? Why or why not? Can music form a community?

Wed. 10/22 Lab: Reflect on a music event in your life, a listening experience or a concert. Does your experience prove or disprove a claim or claims made by Higgins or Bloom? Zero in on a claim or two by one author and use your personal experience to support or critique his or her claims about music and youth culture. Email me your freewrites at the end of class.

Fri.: 10/24: Paper 3 due! We will discuss our freewrites and listen to and explicate songs, T.B.A. in class. HW: Read “The Imaginative Mind and the Role of the Listener” by Aaron Copland. Why does Copland privilege the responses of the amateur listener? Writing and listening exercise: listen to a song and write a journal style response. Note the time of day, your mood, and comment on your surroundings. Write down all of your observations about the musical text and your emotional and physical responses to the music after you listen to the song. (If you are not sure about how to talk about the musical text, look at the lay terms Copland uses at the close of his text. These adjectives are common to all amateur listeners.) Bring this writing exercise to class.

Mon. 10/27: Responses due. Handout paper 4, due 11/14. Proposal due 11/13. We’ll discuss Copland and your listening experiences. Do our experiences of music prove or disprove Copland's claims? HW: Read Kurt Cobain’s essay “Music as Energy” in your course packet. Do you agree or disagree with Cobain's claims about music?

Wed. 10/29: Discuss Cobain. Listen to and explicate selected Nirvana lyrics. HW: Read excerpt from Tricia Rose's Black Noise, “‘All Aboard the Night Train’ Flow, Layering, and Rupture in Post-industrial New York.” What terms does she introduce and define?

Wed. 10/29 Lab: Revision Workshop: adding new research sources to an essay. Bring your Little, Brown Compact Handbook!

Fri. 10/31: Discuss Rose. Homework: start reading the second excerpt from Tricia Rose’s Black Noise, “Prophets of Rage.” What terms does she introduce and define? How does she structure her argument in this chapter? In your reading notes, create an outline of her argument.

Mon. 11/3/: Proposal due. We will discuss Rose’s claims and examine the way she analyzes and explicates musical texts to support her claims about hip hop and rap.

Wed. 11/5: Rose discussion continued. Hip-hop music as creative protest: Can we extend Rose’s claims to other genres of music? Homework: Select a revision of a paper you have been working on and bring it in for peer review on Fri.

Wed. 11/5 Lab: Follow my thread and respond to the writing prompt I will post to the Discussion board: The Sound of Generation Y.

Fri. 11/7: Bring your Little, Brown Compact Handbook! Peer review of a revision. Handout: Revision Research Paper Outline, assignment.

Mon. 11/10: The rhetoric of the next President of the United States. In-class text/speech handout.

Wed. 11/12: The music of an election. Revision Research Paper Proposal and Tentative Thesis Statement Assignment, due Wed. 11/12. Post to Discussion board, for this class. I'll explain how to do this.)

The paper proposal consists of an introduction to your issue and an explanation of the position you intend to take on this issue in your paper. The proposal consists of two paragraphs and a tentative thesis statement:

In your first paragraph, introduce your issue. Give a rough background of the issue you intend to address, or an explanation of a conflict, or the reasons for tension between two groups; whatever suits your issue best. DO NOT express any opinions in this paragraph.

In the second paragraph, explain your position on your issue. State where you stand on the situation you have just explained, and give your opinion about the issue you have raised.

Then, write a tentative thesis statement that incorporates the core information of the two proposal

paragraphs: what your issue is and the position on that issue you are going to argue for in your paper.

Fri. 11/14: Paper 4 due. Workshop: Drafting the Research essay: revising and extending a previous paper. Bring the Little, Brown Compact Handbook!

Mon. 11/17: Bring your Little, Brown Compact Handbook. MLA citation and grammar workshop: common errors.

Wed. 11/19: Workshop: adding new sources and content to your paper.

Wed. 11/19 Lab: Use keywords (and invent new ones) to research your topic at Wilkes' library web pages. Search Project Muse and JSTOR. Browse and quickly read the texts you find. Choose the two most relevant sources and email your search results to yourself.

Fri. 11/21: Revision Workshop.

Mon. 11/24: Revision Workshop.

Wed.: 11/26: Thanksgiving Break.

Fri. 11/28: Thanksgiving Break.

Mon. 12/1: Writing about a scene from a film. Film clips from Iron Jawed Angels and The Matrix

Wed. 12/3: Writing about a scene from a documentary. Film clip: footage of King's "I Have a Dream" speech and the March on Washington.

Wed. 12/3 Lab: Some Guidelines for Reading Essays and Developing Arguments from Texts, excerpted from Guidelines for Reading and Arguing
By Stephanie Hawkins

As you begin the process of developing your research paper, you'll encounter many essays written in academic or specialized discourse. In many instances the topic will be a sensitive one, or one that generates many conflicting opinions. You may find that you hate the way a certain writer uses language, or you may disagree violently with the position of the writer. It's important to note the intellectual or emotional conflicts you feel as you read these texts, since these feelings will generate your own opinions and develop into a thesis for your own argument. It's important, also, not to let your dislike (or even your enthusiasm) for a particular source prevent you from looking at the source objectively and from trying to understand it on its own terms. As readers of academic discourse, a discourse that at times may feel alien to our own ways of speaking or writing or thinking, it's essential that we develop ways of engaging more fully with what the writer is trying to say. Other times-especially those times when we find ourselves completely "turned off" by what the writer is saying and how the writer is saying it-we need to disengage from the text and look at it objectively.

Think about academic discourse as a conversation. Your sources, whether books or articles, are pieces of writing in which a variety of people speak at once. As a writer you too are going to engage in the conversation-at first you may feel isolated by the advanced language or intimidating tone because this is all new. But if you think of each source as a conversation, containing a variety of different voices discussing and debating a specific issue or topic, the task will feel less daunting.

Lab assignment:

The following are suggestions to help you become a part of the conversation and to help you use sources to create a conversation of your own.

Choose a source or a primary text you are using in your paper and do the following:

Ask yourself what it is about a certain passage that moves you or elicits an emotional response. Then, identify language, tone, or the ideas that arouses the strong feeling.

In your journal or notes, jot down the passage (direct quote, paraphrase or summary) and then next to it write down the feelings, ideas or questions that it generates.

Now, try to write a paragraph about the passage and explain how it uses emotional appeals to engage the reader.

When you're having difficulty getting interested in the source try the following:

Find one place, a quote, an idea that seems related to your topic of interest. Jot it in your notebook or journal and try to get in touch with what that idea might be saying to you about how you currently think about your own topic. How can the idea lead you into a different way of thinking about your topic? If that writer were with you and could talk to you, what would you say? What would you ask? What would you want her/him to explain or develop?

Think about what other sources you have read might say to that source. Put different sources in "conversation" with each other. (We talked earlier about what Dr. King might say to Thoreau about non-violent protest, and about what Bloom might say to Higgins about rock music.) Try to create a dialogue, using Plato's model. Literally, put two sources or voices in conversation with each other and see what happens. Please post these to the discussion board. And yes, have some fun with this assignment.

Fri. 12/5: Strategies for proof-reading and polishing your prose. MLA citation workshop. Bring your Little, Brown Compact Handbook!

Mon. 12/8: Portfolios due in class. You must submit your portfolio in person, to me, in class.

Behavioral Expectations in the Classroom

Classroom "etiquette" expectations should include:

• Attending classes and paying attention. Students should not ask an instructor in class to go over material they missed by skipping a class or not concentrating.
• Not coming to class late or leaving early. If a student has to enter a class late, he or she should do so quietly and should not disrupt the class by walking between the class and the instructor. Students should not leave class unless it is an absolute necessity.
• Not talking with other classmates while the instructor or another student is speaking. If a student has a question or comment, he or she should raise a hand, rather than starting a conversation about it with a neighbor.
• Showing respect and concern for others by not monopolizing class discussion. Students must allow others time to give their input and ask questions. Students should not stray from the topic of class discussion.
• Not eating and drinking during class time.
• Turning off electronic devices including cell phones, pagers, and beeper watches.
• Avoiding audible and visible signs of restlessness. These are both rude and disruptive to the rest of the class.
• Focusing on class material during class time. Sleeping, talking to others, doing work for another class, reading the newspaper, checking e-mail, and exploring the Internet are unacceptable and can be disruptive.
• Not packing bookbags or backpacks to leave until the instructor has dismissed class.

Cell phones must be turned off or set to vibrate on the lowest setting. We should not hear a cell vibrating in a purse, bag, pocket., etc., during class.

Laptops must be stowed. You will not need your laptop in class and are not permitted to use it during class.