Department
of English, Foreign Languages, and Journalism
English
108-04, 108-13, 108-15 College Writing and Research
Professor: Steven
Frogge
Office: Eder
Hall 222-T 244-3671 Office Hours: MWF 8-9 and 10-12
E-Mail:
Meetings: Section
04 Murphy 113 MWF 9:00
- 9:50 Final:
Friday, May 2 8:30-10:20
Section
13 Murphy 113 MWF12:00 - 12:50 Final: Wednesday, April 30 11:30-1:20
Section
15 Murphy 113 MWF 1:00
- 1:50 Final: Monday, May 5 11:30-1:20
Required Texts: Writing from Sources, 7th Ed.
by Brenda Spatt
Texts
from the Internet posted on Web CT
Books
on Reserve in Library: Patriotism, Ed. Igor Primoratz
For Love of Country? Ed. Martha C. Nussbaum
General Course Objectives
Hone
skills in the following areas:
1) Focus on
reading with the purpose of writing, pencil in hand to make notes.
You shall
practice annotating, questioning, analyzing, evaluating, and summarizing texts.
2) Challenge your point of view
In response to reading and
discussion, you shall test, discover, develop, and express your own points of
view in writing and discussion both in the classroom and on-line.
3) Focus on academic audiences and
scholarly purposes.
You will emulate readings that
we examine this semester, striving in your own writing to be accurate, clear,
and precise, avoiding clichés and generalities, including indefinite you.
Your papers must be free of offensive and bigoted speech as well as
colloquialisms, including text messaging styles. Your papers should be free of unbridled
emotion.
4) Effectively
present texts to readers.
Practice reporting
to readers what you have read through summarizing, quoting, paraphrasing,
synthesizing, and commenting on the texts you have read.
5) Expand on material in texts by
applying topic-generating strategies to your writing.
Develop in writing a discussion
that explores processes, reasons, causes, effects, problems, solutions,
definitions, classifications, illustrations, examples, or comparisons found in
or based on a text.
6) Develop revelatory thesis
statements.
Write thesis statements that are
not only focused and debatable and that forecast what will be discussed
throughout the whole paper, but also shed light on the subject about which you
are writing.
7) Write cohesive paragraphs.
Every paragraph should be
unified, expressing one and only one idea.
Typically, there will be a generalized claim followed by supporting
details. That is, there will be a topic
sentence followed by detail sentences that support the topic sentence. Oftentimes, the first part of the first
sentence of a paragraph shall consist of transitional material that logically
connects the sentence with the main idea expressed in the previous paragraph.
8) Research
efficiently.
Students
shall practice locating, evaluating, and recording sources.
9) Write a
research paper that incorporates multiple sources.
Students
shall learn to organize their sources and write a paper that effectively
incorporates those sources.
10) Properly
document the paper.
Students
shall use the MLA form, documenting sources and thereby avoiding plagiarism and
promoting honesty.
Grading
A 90 and above
B 80-89
C 70-79
D 60-69
F Below 60
Papers 60%
On-Line Journals and Discussions 10%
Homework, Class Work, and Quizzes 10%
Tests 10%
Oral Presentations 10%
Late Work/Missed Class Work
Late assignments will not be accepted.
In order to
improve student learning as well as to achieve compliance with federal
financial aid policies, Western has a mandatory attendance policy for all
100-level courses. You will be given an excused absence when acting as an
official representative of the university, provided you give prior written
verification from the faculty/staff supervisor of the event. All other absences will be deemed unexcused.
The maximum number of unexcused absences allowed for this class before March
19th, is five. Thus, if you have five unexcused
absences before the said date, you will be reported to the Registrar’s Office
and withdrawn from this class. The Financial Aid Office will reduce financial
aid as appropriate. Students will be
given an excused absence only when acting as an official representative of the
university, provided you give prior written verification from the faculty/staff
supervisor of the event. In addition to
the school’s attendance policy, it is my policy to allow no more than five
absences for the semester. I will fail
any student who misses more than five classes, excepting of course those who
have already dropped or been withdrawn.
Regarding tardy arrival to and early departure from class, every three
instances of greater than 10 minutes shall count as one absence.
Class Participation
All students are expected to participate in class discussion.
I reserve the right to lower a student’s final grade by one
letter for every three instances of any of the following:
* Talking or
text messaging or otherwise failing to participate in class work.
* Engagement
in anything other than listening when fellow students read or speak to the
class
Automatic Failure of the Course
Grade of F
* Cheating/Plagiarism
* Failure to hand in any of the 3
major papers.
Grade of FA
* Failure to attend the Final Exam.
* More than 5 absences, the 6th
occurring after Midterm. (If the 6th
absence occurs before Midterm, then the student shall be administratively
dropped from the class.)
Papers
For each paper, we will as a class discuss possible topics and
develop a class list of topics. You should
select a topic and develop it into a thesis statement. You should make every effort to incorporate
material developed during in-class and on-line discussion and writing into your
papers. You must write with the “General
Course Objectives” above in mind. All
drafts must be turned in by the beginning of class on the due dates specified
below.
Due Dates
1. Single
Source Paper: 750 word, double-spaced,
1-inch margins, 1 source
Initial
Draft Monday,
January 30
Second
Draft Monday,
February 11
2. Multiple
Source Paper: 750 word, double-spaced,
1-inch margins, 4 sources
Initial
Draft Friday,
February 29
Second
Draft Monday,
March 17
3. Research
Paper: 2,500 word, double-spaced, 1-inch
margins, 10 sources
Topic
Proposal Monday, March
31
Initial
Draft Monday,
April 14
Second
Draft Friday,
April 25
Research
As a class we will study the topic of Patriotism. All of our readings with the exception of those
in our textbook on writing and research will relate to this subject. We will look at a selection of classic
discussions of patriotism from the ancient Greeks and Romans as well as some by
writers from the Renaissance and Enlightenment.
We will also examine more contemporary readings. There will be both individual assignments and
group projects.
There are benefits to focusing as a class on one general topic:
1. Research, rather than being a
closed, individual experience, becomes one in which students can through
discussion and group work build on each other’s insights.
2. We have the opportunity to gain
confidence and expertise in writing about a subject with which we will be
well-acquainted.
3. Peers are
able to offer meaningful feedback about a subject of which all students are
knowledgeable.
Academic honesty is required in all academic endeavors. Violations of academic honesty include any
instance of plagiarism, cheating, seeking credit for others’ work, falsifying
documents or academic records, or any other fraudulent activity. Violations of academic honesty may result in
a failing grade on the assignment, failure in the course, or expulsion from the
University. When a student’s grade has
been affected, violations of academic honesty will be reported to the Provost
or designated representative on the Academic Honesty Violation Report forms.
Please see the Student Handbook and Calendar for specific activities
identified as violations of this policy and the student due process procedure.
Plagiarism is claiming another’s words, writing
structure, images, or ideas as your own.
Homework
Keep pace with the reading schedule. Not only should you expect quizzes on
readings, but discussion, journal writing, in-class work, tests, and our
research papers will be based on our reading assignments. Success in this class is achievable only to
those who complete their reading assignments, for everything we do in this
class, other than library training, grows out of the readings.
On-Line Journals and Discussions
On-line journals and discussions are based on our readings. Students should write in a way that is
appropriate for academic discussion. A
student should practice writing in paragraphs, stating a claim and then
supporting it. As will be clear in the
instructions for each on-line writing assignment, students will be writing in
reaction to readings and classmate comments on readings.
When participating in a threaded discussion, please be polite to
classmates. When writing in response to
a text or a prompt or a classmate’s comments on a text, please write in full
paragraphs that begin with language which moves the discussion forward. Here are some possible ways to begin
commenting:
In addition to the reason that you provided, I would add that
_________________.
Perhaps a possible cause for _________________ would be
____________________.
A possible effect of __________________ would be ____________________.
An interesting problem that arises from __________ is
____________________.
Another way of viewing _____________ would be _________________.
Perhaps a solution to the problem of ___________________ would
be ____________________.
If _____________ means ___________ then
______________; however if it means ______________, then ______.
Perhaps ___________________ is actually a type of ____________
rather than a type of ________________.
An example of __________________ would be ____________________.
An illustration of ___________________ would be
____________________.
Perhaps _____________________ might be compared with
_____________________.
While I agree with you that __________, I wonder if in the case
of _________if it might be explained as ________.
This seems to relate to the similar ideas expressed by
_________________ in _______________________.
Quizzes on
You may or may not be quizzed on reading assignments. The answers on a particular quiz should be
obvious if you have completed the reading assignment. The quizzes are meant to reward you for
having kept pace with the reading schedule.
Quizzes might be on-line or in-class, depending on my sense of what is
needed. Students will have only one
chance to take a given quiz and there will be no make-ups of in-class quizzes.
Teams
Students will sometimes work together in teams. Acting on reading and research assignments,
teams will collect and evaluate sources. All teams will present their findings
to the class.
Tests
There will be a midterm and final test on our readings. A study guide will alert students as to what
questions to expect.
Oral Presentations
Students are expected to present their papers to the class. A student will introduce the theses and title
and discuss what he or she found most compelling about the topic chosen. The student should briefly mention any
sources that were useful and that which presented the greatest challenge in
composition and/or interpretation.
Finally, the student should read a brief excerpt or excerpts from their
paper, explaining how the selection(s) fit into their paper as a whole. There will also be one formal group
presentation on a reading covered by the group making the presentation. Listeners are expected to take notes and be
prepared to ask questions of the presenters.
Assignment and Special Event Schedule
All assignments are due before the
beginning of class on the date specified.
1/14 Introduction
to the Course
1/16 Read
“Summarizing Sources” (59-79) in Writing
from Sources
Read
“Pericles’ Funeral Oration” and the Melian Dialogue
from Thucydides’ History of the
Peloponnesian War
1/18 Read
“Developing an Essay Based on a Source” (193-200) in Writing from Sources
Read
“The Mytilenian Debate” from Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War
1/21 No Class: Martin Luther King Day
1/22 Summary of
“When Teaching the Ehtics of War is not Academic” due
1/23 Read “Quoting
Sources” (96-133) in Writing from Sources
Read
“Sayings of Spartan Women” from Plutarch’s Moralia; “Crito”
by Plato
1/25 Read “Paraphrasing Sources” (135-61)
Read “Preliminaries: Qualities
Required in the Guardians” (2.3), “Guardians and Auxiliaries” (4.1-3), “Women
and the Family: The Rules of War” (6.3) in The Republic by Plato
1/28 Read Excerpts
from Aristotle’s Ethics and Politics
1/30 Initial Draft
for 1st Paper Due
Discuss 1st
Paper
2/1 Group
Conferences
2/4 Group
Conferences
2/6 Group
Conferences
2/8 Discuss 1st
Paper
2/11 1st
Paper Due
Read “Multiple
Source Essay” (241-9) in Writing from
Sources
Read
Read
excerpts from Polybius’ History and
2/13 Read excerpts from Burkhardt’s
The Civilization of the Renaissance in
Italy, Machiavelli’s, The Prince
and The Discourses, Shakespeare’s Richard II, Lao Tse’s Tao Te Ching,
Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, and
Clausewitz’s On War
Develop
Team Names
2/15 Read “Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism”
(3-17), “The Illusions of Cosmopolitanism” (71-77), and “Neither Patriotism nor
Cosmopolitanism” (122-24) from For Love
of Country? Martha C. Nussbaum, ed. on reserve in the library.
2/18 Read “Cosmopolitan Patriots” (21-29),
“Universality in Culture” (45-52), and “Democratic Citizenship” (66-71) from For Love of Country? Martha C. Nussbaum,
ed. on reserve in the library.
2/20 Read “Humanity and Citizenship”
(111-18), “Why Democracy Needs Patriotism” (119-21), “Spheres of Affection”
(125-27), and “Reply” (131-44) from For
Love of Country? Martha C. Nussbaum, ed. on reserve in the library.
2/22 Group Presentation on “Loyalties” by
Andrew Oldenquist (25-42) and “Patriotic Gore, Again”
(121-39) by David McCabe from Patriotism,
Igor Primoratz, ed.
Group Presentation on “Is Patriotism a
Virtue? (43-58) by Alasdair MacIntyre and “Patriotism
and ‘Liberal’ Morality” (59-86) by Marcia Baron from Patriotism, Igor Primoratz, ed.
Group
Presentation on Read “In Defense of ‘Moderate Patriotism’” (87-104) by Stephen Nathanson, “Patriotism Is Like Racism” (105-12) by Paul Gomberg, and “Is Patriotism Like Racism?”
(113-19) by Stephen Nathanson from Patriotism, Igor Primoratz,
ed.
2/25 Group Presentation on “What is so
special about Our Fellow Countrymen?” (141-65) by Robert E. Goodin
and “Cosmopolitan Respect and Patriotic Concern” (167-85) by Richard W. Miller
from Patriotism, Igor Primoratz, ed.
Group Presentation on “Patriotism: Morally
Allowed, Required, or Valuable?” (187-99) by Igor Primoratz
And “Civility and Civic Virtue in Contemporary
2/27 Group Presentation on “Patriotism: A
Brief History” (201-15) by Mary G. Dietz and “The Case for Covenanted
Patriotism” (233-57) by John H. Schaar from Patriotism, Igor Primoratz,
ed.
Group Presentation on “Constitutional
Patriotism” (217-32) by Attracta Ingram and
“Patriotism Is not Enough” by Margaret Canovan (273-94).
2/29 Initial Draft
for 2nd Paper Due
Discuss 2nd
Paper
Midterm
Test
3/3 Group Conferences
3/5 Group
Conferences
3/7 Group
Conferences
3/10 No
School-Spring Break
3/12 No
School-Spring Break
3/14 No
School-Spring Break
3/17 2nd
Paper Due
Discuss 2nd
Paper
Read
“Writing the Research Essay (411-35)
3/19 Training
Session in Library
3/21 Read short excerpts from Locke’s “3rd
Letter on Toleration”, Montesquieu’s
The Spirit of the Laws, Diderot’s
“Observations sur le Nakaz,”
and Voltaire’s Philosophical Dictionary
3/24 Read Paine’s The Crisis (1) and excerpts from Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France and Paine’s Common Sense
3/26 Read
“Give Me
3/28 Read Jefferson’s The Declaration of Independence, and Adams’ Thoughts on Government and letter “To Abigail Adams” (1775 July 7),
two of Abigail Adams’ letters “To John Adams,” 1775 June 18 and 1782 June 17,
Benjamin Rush’s “On Patriotism” and letter “To John Adams” 1811 July 20, and
Morris’s “I Am an American” from The
Records of the Federal Convention 1800.
Read excerpts from Jefferson’s letter “To
Elbridge Gerry, 26 January 1799 and
3/31 Topic Proposal
Due
4/2 Read
“Acknowledging Sources” (455-89) in Writing
from Sources
Read Hume’s “Of Public Credit” and excerpts
from Mill’s On Liberty, Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson, and Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictionary
4/4 Read excerpts
from Tocqueville’s Democracy in America
4/7 Read “Finding
Sources” (305-58) in Writing from Sources
Read Thoreau’s “Civil
Disobedience”
is the
4th of July”
4/9 Read
“Evaluating Sources” (359-410) in Writing
from Sources
Read
Tolstoy’s “What Is Patriotism?” and Kennedy’s “Inaugural Address”
4/11 Read selections from poets: Tennyson’s
“Charge of the Light Brigade;” Holmes’ “Old Ironsides;” Whitman’s “I Hear
America Singing” and “O Captain, My Captain!” Brooke’s “The Soldier;” Owens’
“Anthem for Doomed Youth,” “Greater Love,” and “Dulce
et Decorum Est; ”Lazarus’ “The New Colossus;” and
Lindsay’s “Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight” Listen to patriotic and
anti-patriotic songs TBA—perhaps Bob Dylan’s “With God on our Side” and Toby
Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue”
4/14 Initial draft
of research paper due
Discuss
research paper
4/16 Group
Conferences
4/18 Group
Conferences
4/21 Group
Conferences
4/23 Discuss
research paper
4/25 Research paper
due
Discuss
Final exam
4/30 11:30-1:20 English 108-13 Final Exam
5/2 8:30-10:20 English 108-04 Final Exam
5/5 11:30-1:20 English 108-15 Final Exam