English 301 - Advanced Composition
MWSC
Division of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Department
of English, Foreign Languages, & Journalism
TTH
12:30-1:50 MC 211
Instructor: Dr. Cynthia Jenéy
Office:
SSC 222K
Phone:
271-4447
Email:
jeney@missouriwestern.edu
Office
Hours: Mon. 12-1:00 | T Th 2:00-4:00 | By appointment
WebBoard: http://miranda.cailab.mwsc.edu:8080/~english301
Required Textbooks:
1. Cialdini,
David. Influence: The Psychology of
Persuasion.
2. Norman,
Donald. The Design of Everyday Things.
3. Spence,
Gerry. How to Argue and Win Every Time.
4. Williams,
Joseph. Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and
Grace.
Required Materials
-
A working,
steady email account to which you know the exact address.
-
3.5” PC-formatted floppy diskettes (2 or 3 at
least, labeled with your name & Eng. 301)
-
Pocket folder for handouts, etc.
-
Acco Binder for current event analysis
-
Notebook for notes, exercises, quizzes, etc.
Recommended:
-
A good college dictionary
-
A good style handbook (MLA, APA, AP)
Course
Objectives:
·
To study and practice the tools writers can use
to adapt their texts to various purposes and audiences.
·
To learn to analytically and critically respond
to the written discourse of others.
·
To practice revision with your writing and the
writing of others.
·
To improve your ability to write clear, graceful
prose.
·
To “take risks” and establish your voice as a
writer.
About the course:
This course will be conducted as a writing and critical reading workshop. We
will do some writing for nearly every class period, often using electronic
forum. You should print and/or save on disk all
of your posts to the electronic forum, as ach class meetings will frequently
open with in-depth critique and commentary on posts made to the forum that are
due that day. Always come with writing materials (including 3.5” floppy disks).
We will be reading and commenting on each other’s writing both as a class, and
in small groups.
Class meetings: Class meetings of upper
division courses are conducted under the assumption that students are
well-versed in the conventions of college classrooms and academic
environments. Come to class prepared,
and plan to participate and remain engaged with the materials for the entire
class period. In the unlikely and
unfortunate event that you find yourself unprepared, come anyway, but I expect
you to arrive doubly-prepared the next time. Should the situation become
chronic, you may wish to re-examine your priorities for the semester, as this
is a writing- and participation-intensive course. In short, this is not the
class to cut: you will be missed and counted absent.
This Syllabus: Read this syllabus very
carefully, and refer to it often. All information presented here is regarded as
part of your own knowledge. All answers to your questions about the class will
be based on an assumption that you understand the syllabus and seek further
clarification. The teacher reserves the right to alter this syllabus and to
make announced changes as need arises during the course of the semester.
Due Dates: Dates for handing in all
required assignments are listed in the course schedule attached. There is no
room in the semester calendar for late papers. I do not plan to be accepting
late papers, due to my current teaching load and conference schedule. Make a
note of all due dates now, and plan accordingly.
Attendance: A student with more than 4
(T-Th) unexcused absences will automatically be given a failing grade for the
course. It is your responsibility to
keep track of your own attendance in the class. Please see the student handbook
for the definition of "excused absence" (i.e., I do not wish to see
doctor's excuses or obituaries). If you
miss class it is your responsibility to contact a classmate (and of course
refer to this syllabus) regarding announcements, assignments, changes, class
notes, and additional readings or writing.
Students
who consult with me in advance of known conflicts will be given consideration
on a case-by-case basis. DO contact me in the event of unforeseen hardships and
illnesses. Serious efforts to complete the work for this class will be given
fair consideration, especially in cases of earnest dedication and hard work.
Note:
Weddings and trips to Baja do not
constitute “hardships” or “emergencies” – they are not relevant to this course.
Electronic Forum: Each student will be required
to post to the class WebBoard when class writing assignments are given. Posts
to the forum will be full-length critiques, summaries, analytical questions,
and commentaries, based upon the reading and writing assignments in the class.
All members of the class will have posting and reading access to the forum on
the web, but may also choose the additional option of receiving posts via email
(posts will always remain on the web site). Although the forum works
technically like an email listserv and
web-board, it is not to be used for “Yeah, man. I agree” type messages.
You
must have a stable email account
established in order to satisfy this writing requirement for the course. You
will need to use your MWSC email account for this forum. Expect the usual
glitches and snafu’s when first getting subscribed to the electronic discussion
group. I tend to use different technologies as time goes by, and as internet
services evolve. I will try to make it as painless and easy as possible for
you, but there is a certain amount of meticulous attention required at the
outset, in order to get the forum up and running efficiently for us all.
Assignments:
This course is an LAS Area of Focus
class for writing. The course meets the objectives for an LAS writing course through
formal writing assignments (the five essays) and informal assignments (short
daily writing and the journal).
Through practice, students will improve their writing. Through the study of,
and experimentation with, arguments, narratives, case studies, and published
ideas, students will become familiar with the diversity of texts available to
them as writers and as students of English.
There
will be five essays assigned during the semester. The final essay is a rather
substantial research-based term paper.
Early in the semester, I will give fairly specific assignments, but
later in the semester, you will have more freedom to choose your own topics.
Grades will be weighted as follows:
10% Paper #1 (required)
15%
Paper #2 (required)
10%
Paper #3 (required)
15%
Paper #4 (required)
20%
Paper #5 (required)
15% WebBoard participation (required)
15% Class presentations and
participation (required)
100% Total
A
note about the writing in this course: although we will all encourage each
other to be open and to explore ideas, experiences, thoughts, emotions, and
beliefs, essay assignments and the electronic forum posts shall be
considered public texts. Therefore I have a strict policy against writing
about any un-prosecuted crime or suspected illegal activity which you have
witnessed, or in which you have been involved. When in doubt, I will always err
on the side of safety.
Grading:
I expect papers to have a clear thesis, reasonable organization and
development, focused paragraphs, and sentence-level competency. During the
course of the semester you should integrate the stylistic features we have been
practicing. I also reward experimentation. If you want to try an unconventional
approach to the essay, please do so. It is a good idea to see me with a draft and
to explain what you are attempting, so I will know that when I grade your
paper.
Academic honesty: “Since honesty in the
classroom is required, cheating, plagiarism, or knowingly furnishing false
information to the college constitutes a violation.” Policy Guide II, B, C. In
short, the work you turn in should be your own.
Disabilities: Any student in this course
who has a disability that prevents the fullest expression of abilities should
contact the MWSC Special Needs Office as soon as possible so that we can
discuss alternative ways to satisfy class requirements: Coordinator:
Lois
E. Fox
Location:
SS/C Building, Room 202
Office
Hours: 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday
Phone:
(816) 271-4330
August
T 20 Introduction;
syllabus; email; intro to WebBoard.
Th
22 Introduction & Overview.
Practice WebBoard. Assign WebBoard post for Williams, Lesson One.
Assign Paper #1 (Literacy Narrative/Analysis).
T 27 Williams,
Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace
Lesson One. Assign WebBoard post for Williams,
Lesson Two. Discuss Literacy Narrative; example
literacy narratives (handouts/URL’s). Sign-up sheet for
Williams presentation groups. Workshop time for
groups.
Th
29 Williams, Lesson Two 14-37. E-Forum
post due (bring hard copy printout of your post). Workshop time for
groups. Groups give assignment for Williams 3 &
4 (exercise or WebBoard post).
September
T 3 Williams,
Three & Four Group presentations. E-Forum post due (bring hard copy
printout of your post). Groups
give assignment for Williams 5 & 6 (exercise or
WebBoard post).
Th
5 Williams, Five & Six Group
presentations. E-Forum post due (bring hard copy printout of your post). Groups
give assignment for Williams 7 & 8 (exercise or
E-forum post). Paper #1 Literacy
Narrative/Analysis Due.
T 10 Williams,
Seven & Eight Group presentations. E-Forum post due (bring hard copy
printout of your post). Groups
give assignment for Williams 9 & 10 (exercise or
WebBoard post). Assign Paper #2
(Current Event Analysis).
Th
12 Williams, Nine & Ten Group
presentations. Groups give assignment for Williams 9 & 10 (exercise or
WebBoard
post). Hard copy printout optional. Assign Essay #2
Case Study.
T 17 Cialdini.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.
Introduction (ix-xiv); Chapter 1 (1-16)
[Read ahead—the next sections are long].
Th
19 Cialdini. Chapters 2 & 3
(17-113). WebBoard post due.
T 24 Cialdini.
Chapters 4 & 5 (114-207).
Th
26 Cialdini. Chapters 6 & 7
(208-272). WebBoard post due.
October
T 1 Cialdini.
Epilogue (273-280).
Th
3
Spence. How to
Argue and Win Every Time Chapters 1, 2, 8 (1-31; 113-134).
T 8 Continue
Spence. How to Argue and Win Every Time
Note-Chapters 1, 2, 8 (1-31; 113-134).
Sign-up sheets for group
presentations on Spence chapters (7, 9, 12, & 13 MUST be done, other 4 are
optional)
Bettelheim’s struggle for meaning
(handout). Connecting contemporary social problems with ancient stories.
Paper #2 Current Event Analysis (research paper)
Due. Assign Paper #3—Case Study with Myth.
Th
10 LIBRARY DAY (meet in Library)
T 15 LIBRARY
DAY (meet in Library)
Th
17 STORYTELLING DAY Bring copy of a
tale. (telling stories &
identifying their arguments) Assign working
draft of Paper #3 (case study with myth/fairy tale)
as WebBoard post.
T 22 Folk
Tales. Looking for the Argument in the stories. Tolkein, Eliade, Leví-Strauss
(lecture/handouts).
Bring copy of a tale. Spence, Chapter 6 (74-99) prejudice. Group workshop,
as time allows.
Th
24 Spence. Group workshops a) read
& respond to drafts, b) plan presentations. Working draft (posted on
WebBoard) due. Groups 7 & 9 Groups give assignment for Spence 7 & 9 (exercise or WebBoard
post).
T 29 Spence. Chapters 7 & 9 Group
presentations. Groups give assignment for Spence 12 & 13 (exercise or
WebBoard
post).
Th
31 Spence. Chapters 12 & 13 Group
presentations. Groups assign exercise or WebBoard post.
Paper # 3 Case
Study Due. Assign Paper #4 – brief proposal.
November
T 5 Spence.
Group presentations. (exercise or WebBoard post).
Assign WebBoard: URL collections of e-zines on the
web, and descriptions of them.
Th
7 Spence. Group presentations (if
needed). WebBoard: URL collections due.
Norman. The
Design of Everyday Things. Preface. Chapter 1.
Web-surfing and e-zine reading, if time allows.
T 12 Norman.
Chapter 2. WebBoard. Discuss term paper.
Th
14 Norman. Chapter 3.
T 19 Norman.
Chapters 3& 4. Paper #4 Brief
Proposal Due. Assign Paper #5
(e-zine usability analysis).
Th
21 Norman. Chapter 5. E-forum post due.
T 26 Norman. Chapter 6. E-forum post due.
Th
28 THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
December
T 3 Norman.
Chapter 7. E-forum post due.
Th
5 11:30 – 1:20 Paper #5 Usability Analyisis Due.