ENC 1145: Writing About Digital Culture
Course Policy Sheet
ENC 1145-01 3:35-4:50 MW WMS 310
ENC 1145-03 5:15-6:30 MW WMS 310
Instructor: W. Nesbitt
Office: 329 WMS
Office hrs: 3:00-4:30 and Tues./Thurs.
e-mail: wcn5418@mailer.fsu.edu
I enjoy order, consistency, precision, and I am very detail oriented. If these things disturb you, drop as soon as possible.
Do not e-mail me your entire paper and ask me to "look over it." By the same token, do not e-mail me with broad questions such as "Can I talk about music?" E-mail me with specific, focused questions. At the end of the semester, do not e-mail me about your final grade.
First-Year Writing Courses at FSU teach writing as a recursive and frequently collaborative process of invention, drafting, and revising. Writing is both personal and social, and students should learn how to write for a variety of purposes and audiences. Since writing is a process of making meaning as well as communicating, FYW teachers respond to the content of students' writing as well as to surface errors. Students should expect frequent written and oral response on the content of their writing from both teachers and peers. Classes rely heavily on a workshop format. Instruction emphasizes the connection between writing, reading, and critical thinking; students should give thoughful, reasoned responses to the readings. Both reading and writing are the subject of class discussion and workshops, and students are expected to be active participants of the classroom community.
Course Goals: The purpose of this course is to develop research, reading, and writing skills which may be applied throughout your academic career. As in ENC 1101, you will be encouraged to treat writing as a process. As we focus on the different writing assignments, I will discuss various elements of organization, stylistic concerns, and, occasionally, even punctuation and grammar; some may be familiar, some not. Expect that my style of teaching may be different from your previous instructor.
In the past twenty-five years, American society has gone from typewriters to word processors, from 8-track tapes to CDs and DVDs, and from the physical space of the library as the storehouse of knowledge to the virtual space of the Internet, a new communication and information space accessible from a majority of homes. In the same way that the machine has become the favored medium of communication, so too should students become critical of the digital discourses which permeate their lives. In this class, we will engage in reading, writing, and reseach on the Internet, via e-mail, and within other electronic communities. As this class progresses, we will gain a sense of both the promise and the penalty of digital discourse, as well as an understanding of the effects that this new technology has had and will continue to have on our world. Most important, participating in and criticizing purely textual forms of communication in on-line environments will expand rhetorical abilities.
Unlike ENC 1101, we will focus on critical analysis of individual readings. Quite simply, whether you like the work or not is completely irrelevant. In writing for this class, you will never use I.
You should also be prepared to constructively evaluate and criticize peer work. You are expected to read all the readings for your own exposure and to make sure that we have plenty of material to discuss in class.
Much of the work of this course will lead toward skills in developing the major project for this course--your research paper. Reading strategies, argument methods, MLA style documentation and research methods are a few of the tools that you will learn, develop, and employ during the course of this semester.
Required Texts:
Buy the following two books:
The Longman Writer's Companion , by Chris Anson, et. al.
The Wired Society ed. Carol Lea Clark.
Requirements of the Course:
Attendance is a requirement (more than 4 absences is grounds for failure). What does "grounds for failure" mean? It means that if you miss more than four classes, I can flunk you at my discretion. Documentation of medical illness is not necessarily an excused absence, and I am under no obligation to excuse any absences due to sickness or any other personal misfortune. If you miss more than four classes due to illness, you can use that documentation to apply for a medical withdrawl. Each absence or lateness beyond the first (you do not get one each) will result in a deduction from your participation grade. Bring the appropriate text to class every day as I will randomly check from time to time. If you do not have the text for the day, you are absent.
Requirements:
1. A presentation, a prospectus, an annotated bibliography, a research paper, experiments, and a journal.
2. questions/quizzes
3. SUSSAI evaluations
4. Conference
5. Thoughtful, active, and responsible participation. This includes preparation for class.
Evaluation:
prospectus 10%
annotated bibliography 10%
questions/quizzes 15%
journal 15%
experiments 10%
research paper 25%
participation 15%
A note concerning Internet research. I don't care if all of your sources come from the Internet. However, this comes with several qualifiers: use established webpages such as those of universities, official institutions, well-known names, or magazines with a print circulation. Do not use some fool's webpage who claims to have a deep interest in your topic but spouts broad information without anything to back it up. Do not say, "I had to use this bad webpage from this unknown person because I couldn't find this information anywhere else." You can go to the same places the maker of the webpage went--books, periodicals, and established webpages. At least, half of your sources for the prospectus, annotated bibliography, and research paper should come from books or periodicals that also exist in print. The other half can be from known authorities whose words are not in print. Using a completely unknown author whose webpage is run out of his house is not acceptable.
*General encyclopedias such as Compton's are not ever acceptable as a research source.
Talk to me about your research project before it is due. This research paper is not something to wait until the night morning before or morning of to do. I had several students last semester who did no work toward their research projects and, as a result, had nothing to turn in. However, they waited until after the final paper was due to talk to me. Both of them failed.
Prospectus 10%
In this two-page typed ds prospectus, I want you to write about what you think the world will be like in twenty years as a result of the impact of digital technology. As almost every facet of our lives is in some way affected by digital technology, you should have plenty of options to choose from. These should be your ideas; do not summarize someone else's article or book. The purpose of this paper is to make sure that you are developing an idea for your research paper. This paper will receive a flat letter grade.
Here are some things to keep in mind:
Wiht this assignment I am concerned primarily with content, and this is what I will respond to.
Develop an original title; the subject of your paper is not the title.
Originality.
Focus. I would like to see you develop a specific focus. However, you may end up talking about several topics and then narrowing your focus for the research paper. Only papers with, according to my definition, a very specific focus will get an A.
Introduction
(a) interest level (does the introduction pull the reader in?)
(b) thesis (an underlined or italicized thesis of one to two sentences that takes a position and attempts to argue something)
Integration of research with appropriate citations
(a)one source with four direct quotes used in the paper and appropriate ciation after each quote
(b)a second source with four direct quotes used in the paper and appropriate citation after each quote
(c) a works cited page with citation of each of the two sources
Use of Internet sources should follow the same guidelines as those for the annotated bibliography.
This assignment will receive a flat letter grade.
Annotated Bibliography 10%
Ten sources each source counts 10% 10X10=100
*For each grammar mistake, formatting mistake, missing header, and other such imperfections including but not limited to the aforementioned list, I deduct one point, out of one-hundred, from your annotated bibliography grade. Please number each source.
one source
Citation . . . . 1% (it is either correct or it is not)
annotation
a) summary/description of the work . . .2%
an okay summary will yield one point
a good summary will yield two points
b) incorporation into the summary of three direct quotes, not paraphrases, with page numbers . . . 3%
c) explanation of why it will
or won't be useful to your study . . . 2%
an okay summary will yield one point
a good summary will yield two points
length at least 50 words per source. . . 2%
If the length per source is under fifty words, you lose the whole two points. Usually, it will be impossible for you to give a good summary and a good explanation of usefulness in less than one-hundred words.
Here's a place you might start: Wired Magazine and The New York Times
Using a website more than once, a collection of essays more than once, or a class reading cannot count towards the ten mandatory sources.
Questions/Quizzes 15%
I expect you to have read the reading and be prepared to discuss it. I will expect you to compose a typed question that pertains to the reading. Questions such "why did we have to read this?" or "is the writer stupid?" are not acceptable. Questions may be inspired by content of the reading or may refer to a point in the reading that you did not understand. Questions should promote and encourage discussion. Do not use rhetorical questions, questions that answer themselves, or questions that ask for factual information about a person, a word, or a geographic location, although these are perfectly acceptable questions to ask in class. Expect to be called on to read your question. I have found that discussion tends to fail for one of two reasons: either the class doesn't understand the text, or the class hasn't read the text. In the former situation, we can discuss what you don't understand. In the latter situation, I will give in class quizzes of five or more questions calling for factual information that will count for the question portion of your grade.
Questions may not be e-mailed or turned in late. You may, however, give me your question early if you are going to miss an upcoming class. Missed quizzes cannot be made up.
Journals 15%
I will provide fifteen journal topics that you are free to write about in first-person. You will produce one double-spaced, typed page for each topic for a total of fifteen pages. Do not waste space with giving your name, the class, or the topic on every page. Instead, include the number of the journal topic, in bold, beside your first sentence; do not give the journal number its own line, or your entry will be too short. Use a header on each page with your last name. Here is an example:
4 If I could have one power in the world, it would be the power to travel through time . . .
At the start of your journal, you will include a cover page that will use the same type of heading explained at the bottom. The pages should be in a
notebook or folder of some type. If you hand me stack of typed papers that are not in some type of notebook or folder (i.e. the journal is simply stapled or paperclipped at the top), you will lose ten points. The journal will be due on the date stated on the syllabus. I suggest you that you do not wait until the night before to do fifteen typed pages of journal entries, but it's your life. Every missing entry will lose one point. Every entry under a half-page will lose one point. Every entry over half a page but under a full page will lose half a point. Fifteen entries that are fifteen pages long will result in a full fifteen points worth of credit. I will be reading, but probably not responding, to these, so don't cut and paste something you've already done for another assignment and use it for the journal.
Research Paper 25%
Your paper will take one of the topics from your prospectus and explore that topic more fully. Like the prospectus, the research paper will concern itself with the impact of digital culture on a particular topic and explore how digital culture will shape this topic in the next twenty years. You will use research to back up your assertions. I will expect a great deal of creativity with this project since we can only make educated guesses about the future impact of digital technology.
Towards the end of the semester, we will workshop this paper in class. I will pass a copy of the syllabus around that will double as a sign-up sheet; I will keep the presenters and presentation dates updated on the syllabus so that you may refer to it on-line You will have a copy of your research paper, at least six pages, for every class member. The copies will be divided as follows: approximately 75% of the copies (3 out of 4) will be sent via e-mail and about 25% (1 out of 4)will be printed out. Copies will be printed out and/or e-mailed before you come to class. Everyone must have either a printed copy or a copy via e-mail to respond to, and I will expect each class member to alternate between choosing a hard copy and a online copy; pick a typed copy to respond to about every fourth time. For the sake of simplicity, e-mail everyone in your class a copy so that we do not have to figure out ahead of time who will be responding to what type of copy. The two links under participation and attendance will have everyone's e-mail address. We will take a few moments to read over this paper silently and write or type responses. Write or type your name at the end of the essay. Then, we will share our responses, ask questions, and give suggestions as a class. The purpose of workshop is not to tear people's esssys to shreds, nor is it to simply compliment them. Ideally, we will give a mixture of response that will point out possible flaws and areas of difficulty, strong points and good ideas, questions and opinions. We will address content and research issues first and, if time permits, lesser issues such as grammar. Any trading of presentation dates between class members must be approved ahead of time by me. If you do not have copies on your assigned day for everyone, you lose thirty points right off the top on your research project. Even if you do not present, I will need to see a copy of your paper or I will not accept your final research paper. I will continue to subtract ten points per day that I have not gotten your preliminary paper. With your research paper, I will want to see a clean copy of the draft you brought in for workshop so that I can see what changes you have made. A research paper that is essentially unchanged from the draft you brought in for workshop will not be acceptable.
Remember, the research paper should do more than spout research, summarize, and restate commonly know positions; the research paper should question, analyze, synthesize, make new points, and fresh conclusions. I should see at least four to five quotes or paraphrases per page.
Grammar . . . 7%
Title . . . 3%
Introduction
(a) interest level 5%
(b) underlined or italizied thesis 5%
Conclusion . . . 10%
Overall Content (this includes such things as use of examples, voice, originality, analysis, detail, focus, the absence of "filler," and using new information rather than information that is commonly
known). . . 20%
Transitions . . .5%
organization . . .5%
use of research (this includes integration of research, citations, and amount of research in the paper). . .28%
Also include a works cited page. If you do not, you will lose ten points. The works cited page does not count toward the minimum required length of six pages.
For the works cited page, you are not limited to only the works you have in your annotated bibliography. I expect that you may uncover some new sources while writing the paper. I will, however, find any works cited page than does not use
at least some of the works from the annotated bibliography to be suspect. I should see at least as many sources on your works cited page as there are pages in your paper. With your research paper, I will want to see a clean copy of the draft you brought in for workshop so that I can see what changes you have made. A research paper that is essentially unchanged from the draft you brought in for workshop will not be acceptable.
Participation/Attendance 15%
I keep a running mental list of who participates and how much. At the end of the semester, I use this list to figure out two-thirds of your participation grade. The other third of your participation grade will come from your classmates; The first class after your paper has been workshopped, you will have read through your classmates written and verbal response and produced a rating, O through 5, for each classmate. Someone who gives no response or is absent will receive a O. Obviously, you will not give yourself a grade. The hyperlinked particpation lists farther down will have the names of presenters. These ratings will not be shared with anyone but myself and should not be made of the basis of whether you like the responder and/or whether you agree with his or her comments. These rating should reflect the quantity, quality, and specificity of verbal and written feedback. You may print out this list here (section 1) or here (section 3) and handwrite a number inside of the brackets.
Participation in workshops, participation in class discussions, timely arrival to class, and preparation for class affect your grade. If you do not bring the appropriate text(s) to class you face losing points.
STAPLE ALL PAPERS IF YOU WANT CREDIT.
Late paper: For each week day a major assignment is late, I deduct ten points. If your paper is more than three days late, don't even bother turning it in. I don't except minor assignments late. I don't care if your computer froze, your disk melted, or the printer in the library exploded; you either have the paper on time or you don't--the reasons don't concern me. This is a personal problem.
Late person: If you are not in class by the time that I have finished calling roll, you will be absent. On quiz days, I will probably call roll immediately after the quiz. Whatever your excuse is, I am not interested in hearing it. The reason for your lateness is a personal problem.
Personal responsibility issues: Consult your syllabus frequently, I may or may not, probably not, remind you of what is due. The whole reason I have made a syllabus for you is so that I do not have to constantly remind you of what is due. If you cannot print out and keep up with a syllabus, you may want to reconsider your career path. Also, do not plan on using the computer classroom printers and paper to print out your work; this is your responsibility and should be done before you come to class.
I can't stand cellular phones. If your cell phone or pager goes off during class, you will be marked absent. Turn off such devices before you walk into my class. This policy is not open to modification, negotiation, or explanation. If you have a problem with this, drop the class.
Reading/Writing Center: The Reading/Writing Center offers one-on-one help for students with their writing, whether they need help with a writing problem, need assistance understanding what their teacher wants, or just want to do better with their writing assignments. The Center is staffed by teaching assistants who are trained in writing and teaching. Make an appointment by calling ahead (644-6495) or stopping in (WJB 230). Remember, they are not proofreaders, but they will show you how to proofread.
Plagiarism is grounds for suspension from the university as well as for failure in this course. It will not be tolerated. Any instance of plagiarism must be reported to the Director of First-Year Writing and the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Plagiarism is a counterproductive, non-writing behavior that is unacceptable in a course intended to aid the growth of individual writers. Plagiarism is included among the violations defined in the Academic Honor Code, section b), pargraph 2, as follows: "Regarding academic assignments, violations of the Academic Honor Code shall include representing another's work or any part thereof, be it published or unpublished, as one's own."
A plagiarism education assignment that further explains this issue will be administered in all First-Year Writing courses during the second week of class. Each student will be responsible for completing the assignment and asking questions regarding any parts that he or she does not fully understand. Stealing the ideas of another is thievery, plain and simple. I will do my utmost to see that plagiarizers are punished to the fullest extent possible.
Gordon Rule: Succesful completion of all writing in this course and a final course grade of C- or better will allow you to satisfy the Gordon Rule requirement. The university requires you to write 7,000 words, but you will be writing much more than that in any 1101 or 1102 English course.
Type all papers. I refuse to go blind this early in life.
Students with disabilities needing academic accomodations should in the first week of class 1) register and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) and 2) bring a letter to me from SDRC indicating the need for academic accomodations. Atheletes and other individuals who miss school due to unavoidable school related activites need, in advance, to provide signed documentation on letterhead informing me of any absences that they will incur due to participation in such activities in sports games or band performances.
Format and Heading:
The single-spaced heading, placed in the upper left hand corner of the first page, will adhere to the MLA format for headings. Here is an example:
Mustaine Dave (lastname firstname)
ENG 1102-07 (course prefix, number, and section number)
Mr. Nesbitt (Instructor's name)
20 March 2002 (numerical day month year)
Title
The first sentence of your paper.
Paper will be typed and double spaced unless otherwise undicated. A page number shall appear in the upper right hand corner of all pages except the first (i.e. last name 2). The title will be centered and capitalized but will not be bolded or italicized, and, as shown in the above example, one, and only one, blank line will both precede and succeed the title. Use 12 pt. type in the font of Times New Roman with one-inch margins surrounding the paper. If you decide to deviate in anyway from this format, you will lose at least ten points.
A note about conferences: Twice during the semester, I will set aside conference time. As I have doctoral prelims this semester, the conferencing times will be announced when I have a date for prelims set. I recommend that you talk you me about your presentation as well. Also, my office is hard to find; find it before you plan on coming to talk to me.
A final word: Please don't come to me in the final days of the semester and tell me that you have to make such and such a grade or you will lose your scholarship/car/mind. This is a personal problem. The time to make a dedicated, concentrated effort is early in the semester. Also, if your grade is in danger don't ask me to give you an incomplete, drop you, or withdraw you from the course because it is not in my power to do those three things.
return to the main page