Missouri Western State College
School of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Department of English, Foreign Languages,
and Journalism
Spring, 2004
Dr. Mike Cadden
Section 13: 2:00
pm –3:20 pm, T/Th, 104 Murphy Hall (JGM)
Office: 222-F Eder Hall (SS/C)
Office Hours: 8:30-9:30 am, 11:00 am -12:30 pm T/Th; 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm W; and
by appointment.
Office
Phone: 271-4576
E-mail: cadden@missouriwestern.edu
URL:
http://www.missouriwestern.edu/eflj/faculty/cadden.asp(This syllabus is on my
website)
On the Course:
In ENG 108 we’ll be getting
better acquainted with the practices of developing and defining our ideas in
writing, but we’ll also spend some time working on strategies for finding
material and incorporating the voices and thoughts of others in our
writing. We’ll have research essays,
workshops, and an exam along the way.
ENG 108 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.
See the English Department web
site for a more complete description of ENG 108: http://www.missouriwestern.edu/eflj/eng108.asp#Course
Spatt,
Brenda. Writing From Sources. 6th
ed. New York, NY: St. Martins, 2003.
Suggested: A college-level dictionary and thesaurus; a college level language
handbook (the department’s default book is Hult, Christine A. and Thomas N.
Huckin. The New Century Handbook.)
MLA Citation information provided by Diana Hacker and Bedford/St.Martins Press: Hacker, Diana. Research and Documentation Online. Bedford/St. Martins. 20 Dec. 2003. <http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/humanities/sample.html>
Attendance: The MWSC Policy Guide states
that "each instructor will determine and make known to the class the
requirement for attendance" (45). I can assure you that your presence in
class will improve your grade: we discuss and work on the assignments in class,
so missing class means almost certain confusion on what are demanding
assignments. I will not accept absence as an excuse for ignorance. In
short, if you’re not here, you’re going to suffer through other assignments
directly and indirectly. I will not formally assign a number of absences to
failure; I’ll allow those things will be related naturally. Be on time, please.
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 that 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.
Evaluation:
Essay Assignments:
70%
Workshops: 20%
Participation:
10%
Jan. 20 T- Introduction to the
course: syllabus, discussion of five writing stages, the essay assignments in
relation to each other, and workshops.
22
H- Above continued and an introduction to WebCT and our use of it this
semester.
27
T- Summary and paraphrase introduced; Spatt 38-46; 93-104; handouts.
29
H- Summary and paraphrase used in your text; Spatt 110-11.
Feb.
3 T- Other ways to incorporate voice; Spatt 68-92.
5
H- Incorporation issues and practice continued.
10 T- Incorporation issues and practice continued; Works Cited—on the use of MLA style. See Diana Hacker site <http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/humanities/sample.html>
12
H- Workshop 1:
17
T- Workshop 2:
19
H- Essay #1 Due; Essay #2 explained; Finding subjects, narrowing the
subject, and collecting data; finding the variety of resources and evaluating
their relative usefulness; Spatt 140-46, 237-40.
24
T- Collecting and focusing both subject and data; MWSC resources discussed.
26
H- Collecting and focusing both subject and data continued.
March
2 T- Introducing the rhetorical proposal—laying a contingent foundation.
4
H- Working through potential models--focus
9
T- Working through one model in particular--order
11
H- Issues of revision (adapting the rhetorical proposal); returning to Works
Cited (acknowldeging sources) Spatt 366-92.
Spring Break
23
T- Workshop 3; Midterm Grades Due tomorrow.
25
H- Workshop 4.
30
T- Essay #2 Due; Essay #3 explained—Selecting a topic from the essays in
Spatt and narrowing/expanding.
April
1 H- Final Exam (April fools!); tomorrow is the last day to drop a class (no
kidding. Really. No, really). Topic choice and narrowing continued. Return to the rhetorical proposal
(identifying purpose/context).
6
T- Researching—strategies and resources (Library seminar with Ms. Christy
Zimmerman); Spatt 240-70.
8
H- Locating sources—time in the library.
13
T- Sharing ideas as a class—rhetorical proposals.
15
H- Final review of citation and incorporation of sources.
20
T- Workshop 5:
22
H- Workshop 6:
27
T- Essay #3 Due; Essay Exams: concept introduced; Spatt Appendix D.
29
H- Essay Exam continued.
May
4 T- Evaluations; all revisions due.
Final Exam (in our regular
classroom): Thursday, May 6: 2:00 – 3:50 pm
English
108 Essay Assignments Dr. Cadden
All
Essays are to be posted under the appropriate heading on our WebCT site.
Essay
#1 (20%); 4-5 pages:
Your first essay task for ENG 108 is focused on the issue of
incorporating others’ voices into our own writing. So, for this assignment we need an excuse for trying to
synthesize other texts into one of our own.
We’ll be a bit eccentric about this, though I hope we can have fun!
Choose
a number—preferably a number under 200.
Go to the MWSC (or your local) library and pick four print texts at
random. These might be magazines,
newspapers, academic journals, children’s novels, popular magazines, cook
books, owners’ manuals, or books on any subject. They should, however, represent a variety of sources rather
than being all, say, popular magazines.
Photocopy the page that corresponds with the number you’ve chosen. You should have four pages, each from a
different source. You’ll turn in those
copies the day your essay is due.
Your
mission is to try to synthesize those seemingly unconnected pages. The point isn’t so much that synthesis as it
is the use of other texts in your own writing; in fact, you might be quite
silly in your discussion of the four sources—as part of a murder mystery, a
message from Mars, a new fad or New Age religion, as an argument about why the
world is going to the dogs, a description of a new political philosophy,
etc. While the main point isn’t what
you discuss, the paper should hold together with some
purpose. Are there common denominators
among them? Shared issues? Points of connection? The goal is to try to
use those voices in as many ways as you can.
I’ll assess your versatility as someone incorporating these different
voices. We’ll be discussing those
strategies in some detail in class.
Essay
#2 (20%) 4-5 pages: This second essay asks you to construct
an argument about something relevant to MWSC. You could pose an
argument about the construction of your major, General Studies, student
government, the fraternity/sorority system, parking, why I deserve a raise, the
use of campus space, campus safety, Griffon News issues--anything specific
to MWSC.
For
this assignment you will need to draw on relevant MWSC documents—both print and
electronic. You might interview
relevant individuals as well. Three
different types of sources will need to be used in the
essay, though you may end up using more than three sources. The sources are to be referenced in the
paper and cited in a works cited page at the end of the paper using MLA documentation.
Essay
#3 (20%) 5-7 pages: Your third essay is an address or
extension of an essay from Spatt’s book.
You’ll notice a good many essays included in Writing from Sources
on a variety of topics. I want you to
use those essays as a collection of topics from which to choose one. The essay can directly address one other
essay’s argument, or you can simply use that essay as a reason to begin
discussing a related issue. In either
case, you need to employ outside material to bolster your
argument/discussion. Whether you take
on Ian Frazier’s ideas about life on Native American reservations or simply use
his essay as an opportunity to discuss a related issue regarding reservation
life or management, you’ll have to incorporate that essay and two other sources
on the subject as you define and refine it.
The sources are to be referenced in the paper and cited in a works cited
page at the end of the paper using MLA documentation.
Essay
#4 (10%): Essay Exam: subject and format to be
determined.
Grading Criteria for Writing in Dr. Cadden’s English
Courses:
A: 90-100 pts.
B: 80-89 pts.
C: 70-79 pts.
D: 60-69 pts.
F: 59 pts. and below
The
high end of each range (~7-10) should be considered “plus”; for example, 88 is
in the B+ range.
The middle of each range (~4-6) should be
considered a solid letter grade; for example, 75 is a solid C.
The
low end of each range (~0-3) should be considered “minus”; for example, 92 is
in the A- range.
“A”:
General Qualitative Description:
Excellent, Superior, Outstanding.
Conception: Your idea should contain
some new, perhaps surprising, element, some angle that is uncommonly thoughtful
and insightful. You are not rehearsing other people's ideas, and you are going
beyond an average reading. You expose and challenge the explicit and implicit assumptions
of the text. If you are incorporating research, you will have WORKED your
sources--using what supports your argument, and acknowledging and dealing with
what challenges it.
Organization: Your organization should be
flawless and should match your content. You should anticipate, address, and
work through opposition to your argument and build a strong case for your
own. You should employ evidence with
regularity and in appropriate circumstances. If you are incorporating research,
you will spend some time positioning your argument in the context of the larger
conversation.
Style: Your presentation should be artful. You have
obviously paid attention to the way your language sounds as well as what it
says. You have found a way to make your
presentation style match the content of your paper (other than a groovy font
style!), perhaps through a sustained metaphor, or a particularly apt example
that you carry through and refer to in the entire paper.
Grammar and Mechanics: Your paper should be absolutely
clean and free of grammatical and mechanical errors of a rudimentary nature,
though you may have a few problems with complex functions of grammar. You should never avoid complex language in
order to avoid errors, in other words.
“B”:
General Qualitative Description: Above average, Good, Commendable.
Conception: Your idea will be better than
average, but you may have overlooked or not
acknowledged or interrogated the assumptions that inform it. The claim/idea is ambitious and, for that
reason, may have gotten away from you.
You will be rewarded for being ambitious even if you fall a bit short.
Organization: Your organization will be
strong, but the signaling might still be a bit
Awkward; you may find yourself using a lot of directional
phrases because your argument doesn't flow naturally. (Ex. "As I said
earlier..." "Firstly, secondly, thirdly...") Here too the organization will match the
content rather than being formulaic.
Style: It's clean, readable, there's a consistent sense of
voice, and there aren't any places
where a reader has to go back and reread a sentence just to
understand its structure.
Grammar/Mechanics: Very few (almost no) errors of a
rudimentary nature.
“C”:
General Qualitative Description: Competent, Average, Fine.
Conception: Your idea for
your paper should reflect that you have read, thought about, and paid attention
to the way we have talked in class about similar issues. Your main point should
be clearly stated and defended with appropriate evidence. You should remain focused
on your topic throughout your paper, and you should have thoroughly examined
the aspects of your topic from your perspective. Your ideas should be
internally consistent. There won’t be
anything terribly surprising, daring, or unusual here.
Organization: Your paper should have a
logical, clearly identifiable organization. Each
paragraph should address only one aspect of your topic, and
when you change aspects, you start a new paragraph. Transitions between paragraphs should be competently handled. Your
strategy, that is, how you manage the interweaving of your idea and your
organization, should be standard and straightforward. For instance, if you follow a traditional pattern of an
introduction that includes a flagged thesis statement ("in this paper I
will..."), then proceed with evidence and close with a restatement of the
initial problem. That's a standard, straightforward organization--a C strategy.
Style: Your style should be clear and readable.
Grammar and Mechanics: Your paper should not contain
many distracting errors in grammar or mechanics. Minimally, you should have run a spell-check program, and you
should know the difference between a complete sentence, a fragment, and a
run-on.
“D”:
General Qualitative Description: Incompetent, Inadequate, Below Average.
Conception: Your idea will be immediately obvious to a
casual reader--a no-brainer—yet it will be presented as news. It will likely also be not quite clear what
it is that you are really saying. Split
focus on more than one thesis or issue is likely.
Organization: Perhaps you
split your focus (which means you start out talking about one thing and shift
to another) which means that you are covering several or many issues in short
paragraphs. You jump from one idea to
the next with no logical strategy or transitions. If there is no plan, or if
you don't stick to the plan, this is faulty organization. It may be evident that there wasn’t ever
really a structural strategy at all.
Style: Unclear language, usually. This may also be a matter of using the wrong
words for your ideas. Simply put, the
language is in bad shape.
Grammar/Mechanics: Consistent problems in sentence
structure with little sign of proof-reading.
“F”:
General Qualitative Description:
Unacceptable.
(The most common cause of an F is a failure to adequately
address the assignment. For instance, if I specify that this assignment is to
be researched, or if it is to address a certain topic in a certain way, you
have to at least complete the assignment.)
Conception: No clear idea governs the words
on the page.
Organization: No plan is evident, much less
achieved.
Style: Incomprehensible most or all of the time.
Grammar/Mechanics: Consistent problems with
rudimentary mechanical matters.
*******************
The four major areas of concern discussed above (conception, organization, style, and mechanics) will be considered separately, when that is possible. I may find that it is difficult or even impossible to assess conception if the style and mechanics are at the “F” or “D” levels. It may well be the case that your organization is a real problem while conception, style, and mechanics are all quite good. The ultimate assessment, then, will be the combined consideration of all four areas. Any challenges to my assessments need to employ the above issues in those challenges.
I cannot assess
effort. Note that I do not say that I will
not assess effort; nobody can assess effort unless, perhaps, he or she is there
watching you work. I assume that you all work very hard on your writing. I can only assess the final product.
I do not give grades
based on your perceived needs. If you
need a “B” in the course to keep your GPA up for a scholarship, loans, or
admittance into a program, then be sure you perform at a “B” level.
I do not give grades
on the basis of your sense of identity or personal academic history. I assess each piece of work on its own
merits. Just because you consider
yourself an “A” student does not mean that you will do “A” work each time; just
because you consider yourself a “C” student doesn’t mean that you won’t do “A”
work. Try to separate your performance
from your identity.