Missouri Western State College

Division of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Journalism

ENG 104: College Writing and Rhetoric

Fall, 2002

Office Phone: 271-4576 E-mail: cadden@missouriwestern.edu

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.

Suggested: A college-level dictionary and thesaurus.

Evaluation:

Essay Assignments: 60%

Workshops:  25%

Homework & Exercises:  15%

Academic Dishonesty: All cases in which students pass off others’ work as their own will be referred to the Dean of Student Affairs. Students also run the risk of failing the assignment as well as the course, depending on the magnitude and nature of the offense. If you are unsure about how you are using sources, please check with me.

Late and Missing Work: I reserve the right to refuse any late work.   

Revision Policy: All essays may be revised at any time, however many times that you like, and may be resubmitted by our last class period. Homework may be revised up until one week after it is returned. Workshops may not be revised.

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. 

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.

Final Exam:

Section 08: Tuesday, Dec. 10, 11:30 am – 1:20 pm

Section 63: Thursday, Dec. 5, 8:30 am – 10:20 am

• Explain what didn’t go so well for you in the essay.

• Ask questions about things that you are still unsure of even after submitting the essay.

• Point to places to which you want me to pay special attention as I read.

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. Consider this an exercise in (and an opportunity for) setting the mood with which you want me to read your essay.

This first assignment focuses on the "debate" section of our book (as will the second) and asks you to consider the assumptions (warrants) that writers make about their subjects and audiences.

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 included under that debate by focusing on the following issues in the following parts:

Part I: In your introduction, provide us with some context (preview the place of publication, the author’s biography in the book, and features of each essay) and a sense of your own purpose (what are you proposing to do here?) You want to avoid beginning with the summaries in Part II.

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 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? Are there any interesting contrasts or comparisons? 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!)

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 construct 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.

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).

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.