Syllabus

Course Overview
Imagine you enter a parlor. You come late. When you arrive, others have long
preceded you, and they are engaged in a heated discussion, a discussion too
heated for them to pause and tell you exactly what it is about. In fact, the
discussion has begun long before any of them got there, so that no one
present is qualifed to retrace for you all the steps that have gone on before.
You listen for a while, until you decide that you have caught the tenor of the
argument, then you put in your oar. Someone answers, you answer her!"
another comes to your defense" another aligns himself against you ... #he
hour grows late, you must depart. $nd you do depart, with the discussion still
vigorously in progress. %&&'(&&)
(( *enneth +ur,e, The Philosophy of Literary Form: Studies in Symbolic
Action. +er,eley- . of /alifornia 0, &123.
4nglish /omposition I provides an introduction to and foundation for the
academic reading and writing characteristic of college. You will learn to read
critically, write e5ective arguments, understand the writing process, and
craft powerful prose that meets readers6 expectations.
You will gain writing expertise by exploring questions about expertise itself-
What factors impact expert achievement7 What does it ta,e to succeed7
Who determines success7 Since personal investment yields better writing,
you can select an area of expertise meaningful to you %a hobby, trade,
profession, discipline, etc.) for your four ma8or writing pro8ects %see below),
which will be drafted and revised in sequenced stages.Your writing will be
central to the course as we create a seminar9wor,shop structure with peer
response and selected instructor feedbac,.
#hree overarching assumptions about academic writing will shape our wor,-
&) it is transferable" :) it is learnable" and 3) it is valuable. +eing an e5ective
academic writer involves as,ing meaningful questions and engaging in
complex dialogue with texts and ideas. #hese abilities are useful across
virtually all academic disciplines and they provide a valuable means for
ma,ing sense of non(academic experiences as well. 0erhaps even more
important, though, is that learning how to write e5ectively does not require
inspiration or genius, but hard wor,, re;ection, and feedbac,. #his means
that, with practice, dedication, and wor,ing with others, you can be an
e5ective academic writer. <ost importantly, academic writing o5ers you a
means of contributing your ideas to important, ongoing conversations, the
,ind of conversations +ur,e describes in the epigraph above.
Learning Objectives
Summari=e, analy=e, question, and evaluate written and visual texts
$rgue and support a position
>ecogni=e audience and disciplinary expectations
Identify and use the stages of the writing process
Identify characteristics of e5ective sentence and paragraph(level prose
$pply proper citation practices
?iscuss how to transfer and apply your writing ,nowledge to other
writing occasions
Thematic Overview
#his course invites you to gain writing expertise by examining expertise
itself. You will get to choose an area of expertise of interest to you %a hobby,
sport, art, discipline, career, etc.). #he texts with which we engage explore
broadly interesting ,inds of expertise %in sport, performance art, technology,
etc.), and also o5er models for our thin,ing about writing expertise. #he
driving questions of the course enable you to gain acumen about your
chosen area of expertise, but also sponsor our collective inquiry into writing
expertise- What factors engender achievement7 What does it ta,e to
succeed7 Who gets to determine success7 @ur inquiry wor,s twofold as a
means of encouraging you to thin, about expertise in an area or feld of
interest to you, but also about writing itself. #hese questions are central to
our wor, as writers- what does expert writing loo, li,e7 Aow does it vary
across felds and contexts7 What is at sta,e in defning writing as more or
less e5ective7
In the course6s frst unit, you will ponder debates surrounding talent and
achievement by writing a :(page critical review of ?aniel /oyle6s B#he Sweet
Spot.B In the second unit, you will build on these critical reading and writing
s,ills by explicating a visual image depicting your chosen area of expertise.
#he third unit o5ers you the opportunity to conduct research into how a
particular expert in your chosen area of inquiry gained his or her expertise"
you will be able to situate your case study alongside and9or against the other
theories of expertise we will read together. @ur fourth pro8ect invites you to
ma,e your ideas public by writing an op(ed %an opinion piece that appears
opposite the editorial page in print and online newspapers) about a
meaningful aspect of your chosen area of expertise. #hroughout the course,
we will focus on peer feedbac,, as well as the writing process, which includes
pre(writing, researching, drafting, feedbac,, revision, editing, and
proofreading. #o complement instructional videos, we as, that students
regularly participate in forums, post smaller assignments as instructed,
provide substantial peer review, and consider participating in the optional
live writing wor,shops %see below).
Writing Projects
Project One: Critical Review
The Uses and Limits of Daniel Coyle's "The Seet Spot!"
In this pro8ect, I will as, you to write a two(page critical review of
/oyle6s article, summari=ing the pro8ect in his terms, quoting and
analy=ing ,ey words and passages from the text, and assessing the
limits and uses of his argument and approach.
Project Two: Exlicating a !isual "mage
In your second pro8ect, I will as, you to develop a two(page explication
of a visual representation of your chosen feld of expertise. I will as,
you to apply /oyle6s and /olvin6s ideas, and the forum conversations
by classmates, to examine how expertise in your chosen area is
represented and how it re;ects, modifes, and9or challenges ideas
about expertise- Aow is expertise represented visually7 What does the
image suggest about what it ta,es to be an expert in this feld7 Aow is
expertise being defned in this image7
Project Three: Case Stu#y
In this pro8ect, I will as, you to extend your wor, with 0ro8ects @ne and
#wo by researching additional scholarship about expertise in your
chosen area, reading more texts about expertise theory through a
crowd(sourced annotated bibliography %a collection of resources, with
summaries, posted by all students), and applying those to a particular
case study %example) of an expert or expertise in your feld. I will as,
you to extend these scholarly conversations through a C(page case
study in which you can articulate a position about expertise or an
expert in the area of inquiry you have chosen.
Project $our: O%E#
Since the academic ideas are often made public %and arguably should
be), I will as, you to write a two(page @p(4d about a meaningful aspect
of your chosen area of expertise- What aspects are important for
others to consider7 What advice would you have for people desiring to
become an expert in this area7 What are the politics and cultures
involved with establishing and defning expertise in this particular
area7
Writing Wor&shos
Successful writers regularly discuss their ongoing pro8ects with other writers
and readers. We have arranged the opportunity for you to do this through
peer response, but we also invite you to do so in one of the following ways-
participating in the optional, live writing wor,shops" volunteering your
writing to be provided as an example in our instructional videos or to be
given audio feedbac, by one of our consultants as a model for feedbac,"
and9or as,ing others in your life to provide you feedbac, on drafts in
progress. Student writing should be treated with respect and generosity,
even as we o5er strategies for revision.
Particiation
@ur wor, this term depends on the exchange of ideas and the cooperative
e5ort of each member of the class. >eading and responding to othersD wor,
helps you become a stronger writer.
'ow Will $ee#bac& Wor& in this Course(
Your four writing pro8ects will be assured feedbac, because they are to be
posted through EWriting 0ro8ects and 0eer Feedbac,,G which is an oHcial
0eer $ssessment #ool from /oursera. #hose of you unfamiliar with this aspect
of the /oursera platform will see that once you submit an assignment, the
system assigns every personDs essay to other specifc students in the class,
who then respond to that particular essay.
#here are other smaller writing assignments that ta,e place in the Forums.
We depend on you as a community to try to comment on others6 wor,.
0lease note that these assignments are desiged to prepare you for the
writing pro8ects, so they are worth completing even if you don6t get
immediate feedbac,.
)eeing a Writing Port*olio
I strongly recommend that you create a portfolio of your writing for this
course. Include in it copies of your writing pro8ects %drafts and fnal versions),
self(re;ections, feedbac, you have received, and a sampling of your
comments to other writers and your discussion(forum contributions. #his
material will provide evidence of your accomplishments and help you grow
as a writer. It will also serve as an archive of your wor, since your wor, may
not continue to be available through /oursera after the course ends. #o set
up a portfolio, consider using an online space such as Ioogle ?ocs or
?ropbox in case you should ever want to share your portfolio more easily
with others.
+ra#ing
#he frst three writing pro8ects are designed to allow you to improve your
writing through peer feedbac, before the fnal evaluation. First, you will
submit a draft of your wor,. #hen during the feedbac, stage, you will read
the writing of three colleagues and give written feedbac,. #he third step is to
incorporate the feedbac, and create the fnal version. You and your
colleagues will then use a rubric to score four other pro8ects. $fter you
receive this score, you will submit a short self(re;ection to thin, about how
to improve your writing moving forward. #he fnal pro8ect has a compressed
schedule %quic, turnarounds are a priority in public forms of writing such as
@p(4ds). In this fourth unit I invite you to ta,e responsibility for securing
feedbac, on a draft and reading others6 drafts before submitting the fnal
version.
#he grading brea,down is designed to give you credit for all of these steps
and not 8ust a grade for the fnal product. Your grade will be determined
using the following percentages %2'J is a passing grade)-
0ro8ect ?rafts :'J
0eer Feedbac, :'J
0ro8ect @ne Final Kersion &'J
0ro8ect #wo Final Kersion &'J
0ro8ect #hree Final Kersion &LJ
0ro8ect Four Final Kersion &'J
Self(>e;ections &LJ
You have &' late days that you can apply to the Self(>e;ections if needed.
#he writing pro8ects and peer feedbac, cannot be submitted late. 0lease
note, if you do not complete the peer feedbac, stage you will receive an
automatic :'J penalty on your writing pro8ect.
Citing Sources, -ca#emic 'onesty, an# -voi#ing Plagiarism
#he process of academic writing often requires us to draw upon the ideas,
interpretations, and words of other writers. ?one properly, with appropriate
citation and recognition of an authorDs wor,, employing othersD ideas serves
as an essential ingredient in crafting our own arguments. For specifcs on
citing sources, please visit @WM. $ppropriating the wor, of others without
suHcient ac,nowledgementNa practice ,nown as plagiarismNseriously
undermines the community of discourse in which we participate as scholars.
Students found to have committed acts of plagiarism or other academic
dishonesty in the conduct of their wor, in this class will be immediately
assigned a failing grade for the course.
Why This Course is .ot about +rammar an# Syntax
Irammar and syntax are important, but writing is about much more than
these elements. 45ective writing involves learning how to articulate strong
arguments, read closely and critically, engage with the wor, of others,
integrate evidence, and address reader expectations and disciplinary
contexts. #his course focuses primarily on these elements of writing. When I
do consider grammar and syntax, I do so by thin,ing about it as meaning(
centered- ?oes the grammar and syntax interfere with what the writer is
trying to communicate7 Aow can grammar and syntax %and other features of
document design or punctuation) help a writer communicate his or her ideas
more e5ectively7 You can, however, fnd resources that can help you improve
your grammar and syntax under the B>eadings and >esourcesB page.
- .ote about Cre#it *or This Course
#his course is not a for(credit composition course. Aowever, you may be
wondering if a Statement of $ccomplishment could help you earn college
transfer credit. 4very college has a policy for acceptance of transfer or
examination credit. You should create a portfolio of your writing for this
course, including the assignments, comments and evaluations you have
received, as evidence of your accomplishments. $s, the @Hce of $dmissions
at a college you have applied to for its policy and procedure on <@@/
courses, stressing that you have a portfolio they may wish to evaluate. Since
<@@/ courses are so new, you may need to inform that oHce, or the writing
program administrator, about this course and the content of your portfolio in
order to have it evaluated.
-##itional Thoughts
<uch of our wor, in this course will revolve around the collaborative
practices of peer feedbac, and discussion, which will create the opportunity
for us to develop meaningful intellectual relationships. >espect for each
otherDs ideas, contributions, and writing will be a vital element in creating a
classroom community in which every class member can express themselves
and grow intellectually. @ne of my principal roles as a professor is to foster
this processNa role I am eager to begin. I and our team of instructional
consultants are sincerely loo,ing forward to wor,ing with you this semester.
-c&nowle#gements
#eaching, li,e writing, is a collaborative process. #he ideas you see in this
course bear the in;uence of many past and current colleagues, as well as the
many gifted scholars in writing studies who publish their arguments and
ideas. I am especially grateful to faculty, sta5, and students at the .niversity
of South /arolina ?epartment of 4nglish &11L(:''', /hico State .niversity
?epartment of 4nglish, &11O(11, and the #hompson Writing 0rogram at ?u,e
.niversity, :'''(:'&3. Wherever I have drawn more specifcally from a
colleague or text, I have done my best to ac,nowledge it directly. If you see
an ac,nowledgement I may have inadvertently overloo,ed, please post it to
the B/ourse <aterial Feedbac,B forum so I can review it and, if needed, ma,e
the correction. #his course was funded in part with a generous grant from the
+ill P <elinda Iates Foundation. I designed earlier versions of this course
with colleagues at ?u,e as part of a di5erent course" I would particularly li,e
to ac,nowledge Qoseph Aarris, <arcia >ego, <ichael 4nnis, 4ri, Aarms,
?anielle *ane, and *imberly Wine for their collaboration in shaping and
reshaping earlier versions of this syllabus, as well as earlier versions of the
frst and third writing pro8ects. #he current version of the course has been
rewor,ed and adapted in particularly valuable ways with the input of our
strong instructional team of consultants, guests, and support sta5- *endra
$t,in, Yvonne +elanger, Ireta +oers, <aral 4rol, ?avid Font(Ravarette, 0aul
*ei <atsuda, Shawn <iller, 4lise <ueller, <arcia >ego, >ebecca Kidra, and 4d
White. I am grateful for the generous expertise of our guest lecturers, ?aniel
/oyle and ?avid Qarmul. Special gratitude also goes to our colleagues at
Writing /ommons, especially Qoe <oxley and *atelin *aiser. I also appreciate
the ongoing support of *risten Reuschel and Mynne @D+rien, as well as other
members of the administration of ?u,e .niversity. <y wonderful family and
friends have been exceptionally helpful with informal consultations and fun
distractions along the way.