Missouri Western State College
Division of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Journalism ENG 104.03: College Writing and Rhetoric
Fall, 2000 Dr. Mike Cadden
Office: 309-J Murphy Hall
Office Hours: 12:30-2:00 T/Th; 10-12 W; and by appointment.
Office Phone: 271-4576
Class Time: 11:00 a.m. - 12:20 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays
Class Place: 211 Spratt Hall
E-mail: cadden@missouriwestern.edu
URL: http://www.missouriwestern.edu/eflj/faculty/cadden.asp (A copy of this syllabus
can be found on my website)
On the Course: ENG 104 is designed to help you write with more awareness,
clarity, and purpose. To those ends, I have arranged the course so that we
will be dividing our time between outside essays, in-class activities and
homework directed toward those essays, and workshops designed to increase our
awareness of the essay assignments. I think you'll find that class time and
homework are intimately related to the essays you'll be writing this term.
ENG 104 is a tough course. It is "tough" in the sense that it requires
a lot of work and a good attitude about a process that may have you stumble
before you write with confidence. Writing is hard work at any level; it never
gets easy, though you will get better at both understanding what you have to
do and executing those writing and revision tasks. Since, as I write above,
the in-class and out-of-class portions of the course are designed to help you
understand and succeed in completing each essay, your success hinges on your
willingness to be here, prepared and attentive.
Materials:
Rottenberg, Annette T. Elements of Argument: A Text and Reader.
Sixth Edition.
(See http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/rottenberg)
Ebest, Sally. et al. Writing from A to Z.
Composition Course Guide: http://www.missouriwestern.edu/eflj/genstud.asp
Suggested: A college-level dictionary and thesaurus.
Evaluation:
Essay Assignments: 60%
Workshops: 25%
Homework & Exercises: 15% Attendance: When you have missed class for the fifth time (2. 5 weeks) your
final letter grade will be lowered by one-third of a letter grade. For each
day you are absent subsequent to that your final letter grade will be lowered
by one-third.
The first four absences will be considered in terms of general participation,
which is always a factor in borderline final grades; you aren't given four
"freebies."
There will be no such thing as an "excused absence." If you have obligations
to fulfill that conflict with your successful engagement with this course,
please drop the course. If you feel as if you may have problems regarding work
or sports or other activities, please consult me early and we will discuss the
matter.
It will be your responsibility to find out what information was covered during
your absence. You are responsible for knowing about date or assignment changes.
Ignorance due to absence is no excuse.
Constant tardiness will be recorded and considered along with absences in my
final assessments.
Academic Dishonesty: All cases in which students pass off others' work as
their own will be referred to the Dean of Student Affairs.
Late and Missing Work: I reserve the right to refuse any late work.
Revision Policy: All essays may be revised at any time and may be resubmitted
by our last class period.
Policy on Students with Disabilities: Any student in this course who has a
disability which requires different contexts for either evaluation or
expression should contact me in the first few weeks of the course so that
those needs can be considered.
Calendar
Readings and exercises will be clarified daily. In cases where pages in
Rottenberg are listed for a class meeting, please have those pages read for
that day unless you are told otherwise.
Homework will be assigned when I think additional practice or completion of an
in-class activity is warranted. This is another reason for your attendance.
An absence is no excuse for a missed homework.
Aug. 22 T- Introduction to the course; exercise on five issues/stages
(handout).
24 H- Introduction to Webmail by Mr. David Carlile. 29 T- A brief discussion of the essay assignments in relation to each other.
Summary (Gilligan exercise)
31 H- Summary--summarizing "The Declaration of Independence" (Rottenberg 21-22)
by discussing claims and support (Rottenberg 51-56, 71-72, 152-174) Sept. 5 T- Claim, support, and warrant analysis: Griffon News; "Blessed
Mothers," "The Declaration of Independence." Claims of value and warrants
(Rottenberg 9-14, 60-63, 199-211).
7 T- An examination of claim, support, and warrant: "College Life vs. My
Moral Code" (Rottenberg 89-91). 12 T- The "so what" of essay #1: implications (or Part IV of the assignment)--
a return to the texts discussed above.
14 H- Workshop #1: 19 T- Workshop #2:
21 H- Essay #1 due; Essay #2 discussed: defining a debate in your major--
brainstorming categories of inquiry and beginning a test case for a class
model: choosing an issue (collect and focus). 26 T- Working through a model of essay #2 as a class: establishing a balanced
argument of claims and support (order).
28 H- Model continued: identifying warrants and drawing conclusions about them
(order, draft). Oct. 3 T- Workshop #3:
5 H- Workshop #4: 10 T- Essay #2 due; Essay #3 discussed; essay passage dialogue exercise.
12 H- Identifying a thread running through several texts: Read any three from
Chapter 16. 17 T- Sharing the claim, support, and warrant links in class on screen; Midterm
Grades Due.
19 H- Drawing conclusions-- "So what?" 24 T- Workshop #5:
26 H- Workshop #6: ; Last Week to Drop. 31 T- Essay #3 due; the inverted pyramid of revision and the set-up for
assignment #4; Joe Schlabotnik revises an essay.
Nov. 2 H- No Class (conference trip). 7 T- Paragraph and Sentence Revision.
9 H- Workshop #7: 14 T- Workshop #8:
16 H- Essay #4 due; The Essay Exam introduced. 21 T- Essay Exam: brainstorming class materials.
Thanksgiving Holiday 28 T- Essay Exam: question-writing workshop.
30 H- Essay Exam: final questions and conditions chosen; course evaluations. Final Exam: Tuesday, December 5, 11:30 a.m. - 1:20 p.m.
English 104 Essay Assignments Dr. Cadden
Essays #1-5 (60% of Final Grade)
Models and examples will be provided when appropriate. All essays are to be accompanied by a letter from you to me. Really, a
letter--addressed to me and written informally. You will use this letter to
any number of things. Consider a few:
o Explain what went well for you in the essay. o Explain what didn't go so well for you in the essay.
o Ask questions about things that you are still unsure of even after submitting
the essay.
o Point to places to which you want me to pay special attention as I read.
o Tell me about what you plan to do with this when you have more time for
continuation/revision.
o Tell me general concerns or ask specific questions about the class that you
don't want to come to my office to talk about.
Do I expect you to do all of the above each time? No! Tell me what you want
to or think you should, but there surely must be something on y our mind as you
prepare to send this my way. Essay #1
This first assignment focuses on the "debate" section of our book (as will the
second) and asks you to consider the assumptions that writers make about their
subjects and audiences.
Here's what you do: In Rottenberg there are six debates highlighted throughout
the book (see table of contents). I want you to choose one of those debates
and analyze the two positions by focusing on the following issues in the
following parts:
Part I: In your introduction, provide us with some context (preview the
contexts and features of each essay) and a sense of your own purpose (what are
you proposing to do here?)
Part II: Write a critical summary of each essay that includes somewhere a
statement of each essay's thesis (claim) and principal support. You should
recognize that the thesis may not be simply stated as a position "for" or
"against" the subject of X; it will likely be more specific and narrow than
that. Even though your writer is "against abortion," what is his or her
specific argument against it?
Part III: Identify the explicit and implicit warrants in the essay as they
relate to both audience and subject. What do these essays assume about their
respective subjects or audiences?
Questions to ask about subject matter: I'm reading the debate about gun control
, but what other subjects are discussed about which the writer might be making
assumptions? Well, they might discuss the 2nd amendment, human nature and
violence, kids and guns, gangs, the Brady Bill, etc. Do they address these
things? Do their statements show some assumptions that they hold?
Questions to ask about the implied audience: What sort of word choices does
the writer make? (Examine whether the language imply a particular profession,
education level, regional affiliation, etc.) Does tone of voice imply an
audience? Does the writer appeal to fears, beliefs, values that a certain
group might have? Does the writer write about a group and does that mean he
or she isn't writing to that group?
Part IV: So what? Evaluate the assumptions made in and across the essays.
Can you draw any conclusions about the assumptions as they compare across the
essays? Does the audience implied by the essay match with the assumptions
made about any subjects? Do the two essays assume different audiences but
deal with the same points? Find something significant about how any of the
assumptions compare regarding audience or subject.
Does this sound like a lot of work? You betcha. Better start yesterday
morning! (Yesterday afternoon might be too late!) Essay #2
This second essay asks you to define a debate going on in your own major.
While you had to analyze how debates are formed, you haven't yet had to name
the debate itself.
For this assignment you will need a few materials: the Missouri Western State
College Catalog, 2000-2001; the course handout for your major, available in
your department or in the counseling office; other materials that your
department publishes that explains the majors or sub-specialties that the
department offers. You are also invited to interview or speak informally with
your advisor in your departments (or a faculty member with whom you happen to
get along) to pick their brains (ouch) about the major.
Once you have carefully explained the debate in a balanced, even-voiced, and
fair way (as you did in essay #1), you will then draw some conclusions about
that debate regarding the subject and audience warrants. Even though they are
your own crafted positions, what assumptions/warrants are made by each side
regarding both their subject(s) and the audiences?
Lastly, you'll tell us what position you prefer and why. In the process of
explaining your own position you'll comment on the significance of examining
both the arguments and the assumptions/warrants behind them in making that
decision.
Part I: Define and explain the debate you've found/created.
Part II: Present the positions of each side of this debate in a well-balanced
fashion.
Part III: Analyze the assumptions/warrants each side makes about both audience
and subject.
Part IV: Take a position on the debate yourself based on the assumptions you've
seen above. Do certain implausible assumptions held by one argument turn you
off? Essay #3
This essay moves us from debate to dialogue. In a dialogue there are multiple
perspectives, points of view, interests, contexts-we see that an issue like
"abortion" isn't simply a matter of "pro" and "con" but that it is the forum
for a variety of questions and issues.
Choose three or more essays from Part Three of the book (Chapters 12-19, with
the exception of chapter 16). You will define and explain the focused issue
that you have found that unites these essays and discuss the complexity of the
issue yourself.
Part I: Identify the thread or focus that unites the essays you've chosen and
put it in the form of a question.
Part II: Point to the idea's development and presence across/among the essays
and explain how each essay treats that issue/idea in contrast to the others.
Part III: Comment on the significance of this/these contrast(s). Essay #4
Choose one of the first three essays in order to revise. The advantage here
is that you will start from an essay that you've already "begun." The grade
you receive on essay #4 will replace the grade of the essay you've chosen to
revise, so there's no sense in automatically choosing an essay on which you've
already done well (I give you all credit for figuring out all the angles!)
What you will submit with that revision is the original with my comments and
the latest version.
If you do not submit a complete version of assignment #4 I will take that to
mean that you are replacing your highest essay grade with an "F" through an
act of revision.
Essay #5: Essay Exam
Subject yet to be determined.
The Essay Exam: Tuesday, December 5, 11:30 a.m. - 1:20 p.m.
|