HUSL 7334-501 Rhetoric Practicum

MW 5:30-6:45pm JO4.306 Fall 2005

NOTE: All matters associated with this course are subject to change at the instructor's discretion.

Course Office Telephone Email Office

Professor Hours
Dr. John F. Barber JO 4.128 972-883-2038 jfbarber@utdallas.edu MW 12-5 PM

Course Abstract
Supervised practicum in teaching rhetoric and composition, with various topics emphasizing
pedagogy and educational technology presented in a workshop setting. Enrollment limited to
teaching assistants assigned to sections of Rhetoric 1302.

Course Description
Supplements evolving Rhetoric 1302 teaching experience with discussions of theory and practice in
rhetoric and composition, and development of sound teaching practices. Required for teaching
assistants who teach in the first-year rhetoric program at UTD and recommended for other students
interested in teaching composition here or elsewhere. Graduate students preparing to teach in
general English studies (whether literature, literary analysis, first-year composition, advanced
composition, ESL, developmental writing, etc.) at two or four-year institutions will benefit from this
course. The job market is particularly open for students with this kind of training and experience
teaching first-year composition.

Course Goals
• To blend the current composition theory and practice with the everyday realities of teaching
Rhetoric 1302, or another university-level argumentative essay writing course.
• To exchange ideas and teaching lore in an environment of support.
• To bring knowledge gained from scholarly research to the classroom in practical ways.
• To professionalize you as an instructor of writing.

Required Text
St. Martin’s Guide to Teaching Writing. Robert Connors and Cheryl Glenn. 5th Edition. 2003. ISBN 0-
312-40417-4.

Recommended Text
A TA's Guide to Teaching Writing in All Disciplines. Beth Finch Hedengren. Bedford/St. Martin's.
2004. ISBN 0-312-40714-9.

Course Projects
• A 5-6 page informal "Literacy Narrative."
• A 5-6 page informal "Technoliteracy Narrative."
• A 5-6 page informal essay on your personal "Composing Process."
• A syllabus for a writing course you would like to develop and teach.
• A teaching self-reflection/evaluation.

Course Schedule
Week 1—What Is The Focus of this Course?
M 8/22: Course Introduction and Overview
W 8/24: "A Brief Overview of Rhetoric?" (handout); Lunsford and Glenn "Rhetorical Theory and the
Teaching of Writing"

Week 2—What Are We Teaching?

M 8/29: Emig "Writing as a Mode of Learning"; Literarcy Narrative Due
W 8/31: Bartholomae "Inventing the University"; Practical Issues

Week 3—How Do We Deal with the First Days of Classes?

M 9/5: Labor Day Holiday, NO Class
W 9/7: Chap. 2 "The First Few Days of Classes"; Chap. 3 "Everyday Activities"

Week 4—How Do We Teach Composing Processes?

M 9/12: Chap. 7 "Teaching Composing Processes"; "Major Theories of Writing" (Dr. John's Eazy-
Peazy Guide to Effective Writing, www.nouspace.net/john/ez/writing/theories.html); Recommended
Chap. 2 "Why (and How) We Teach Writing" in Hedengren
Personal Composing Process Narrative due
W 9/14: Chap. 4 "Successful Writing Assignments"; "Writing Paradigms" (Dr. John's Eazy-Peazy
Guide to Effective Writing, www.nouspace.net/john/ez/writing/paradigm.html); Chap. 5 "Teaching
Research and the Research Assignment"; Dr. John's Eazy-Peazy Guide to Research Skills
(www.nouspace.net/john/ez/research/index.html); Practical Issues; Recommended Chaps. 4, 5, 6
"Drafting, Revising, Editing" in Hedengren

Week 5—How Do We Teach Invention?

M 9/19: Chap. 8 "Teaching Invention"; Dr. John's Eazy-Peazy Guide to Creative Ideas
(www.nouspace.net/john/ez/creative/index.html); Recommended Chap. 3 "Prewriting" in Hedengren
W 9/21: Chap. 6 (Grading); Bloom "Why I (Used to) Hate to Give Grades"; Practical Issues

Week 6—How Do We Teach Arrangement and Form?

M 9/26: Chap. 9 "Teaching Arrangement and Form"
W 9/28: Show and Tell Workshops; Practical Issues

Week 7—How Do We Teach Style?

M 10/3: Chap. 10 "Teaching Style"
W 10/5: Show and Tell Workshops; Practical Issues

Week 8—How Do We Deal with Errors in Student Writing?

M 10/10: Connors/Lunsford "Frequency of Formal Errors in Current College Writing"
W 10/11: Hartwell "Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar

Week 9—How Do We Respond To/Evaluate Student Writing?

M 10/17: Chap. 6 (Responding); Chap. 3 (Student Conferences); Sommers "Responding to Student
Writing"; Recommended Chap. 8 "One-On-One Writing Conferences" and Chap. 10 "Commenting on
Student Writing" in Hedengren
W 10/19: Chap. 6 (Grading); Bloom "Why I (Used to) Hate to Give Grades"; Recommened Chap. 11
"Fair and Consistent Evaluation" in Hedengren; Practical Issues

Week 10—How Do We Embrace Diversity in Writing Classrooms?

M 10/24: Chap. 11 "Diversity in the Writing Classroom"; Rose "The Language of Exclusion: Writing
Instruction at the University"
W 10/26: Moss and Walters "Rethinking Diversity: Axes of Difference in the Writing Classroom";
Practical issues

Week 11—How Do We Use Technology To Teach Rhetoric/Writing

M 10/31: Self "Technology and Literacy: A Story about the Perils of Not Paying Attention"
W 11/2: TechnoLiteracy Narrative due; Practical issues

Week 12—How Do We Expand Our Knowledge of Rhetoric/Composition?

M 11/7: Chap. 11; Elbow "The Cultures of Literature and Composition: What Could Each Learn from
the Other?"
W 11/9: Self Directed Study, NO Class

Week 13—How Do We Participate in Scholarly Discussions?

M 11/14: Chap. 11 "Invitation to Further Study"; Job Market workshop; Teaching Self-Reflection
Essay due
W 11/16: Conference Presentation Workshop
Week 14—What Have We Learned?
M 11/21: Individual Presentations of your writing course; Syllabus due
W 11/23: Individual Presentations of your writing course; Syllabus due

Literacy Narrative (5-6 pp)

This narrative mirrors one you may ask your students to write and include in their LRO portfolio.
First, interview someone who knows your literacy history to determine, from them, exactly how you
learned to read and write. Transcribe this interview. Then, second, write your own narrative
detailing how you know you learned to read and write. The difference between these two accounts
may be interesting and you should feel free to explore any points of interest.

Technoliteracy Narrative (5-6 pp)

Write an autobiographical narrative reflecting on your history with computers and computing, with
regard to both reading and writing, your "technoliteracy." Think about the ways technologies and
literacies intersect in your life. This exercise can also be useful for you as an instructor in a
computer classroom because you can share these experiences with your students and make your
own learning process a part of the class discussion, if you like. The format of the autobiography is
up to you—from a standard essay to a creative (but factual) piece to a hypertext to something in
between. You can include samples of your earlier writings if they apply. Use this assignment to
explore your histories. One note: These documents will be public. I would like you to share them
with your classmates and possibly put them on a web page later in the semester. As you are well
aware, the context for which you are writing will shape what you choose to include in your
narrative.

Areas that you may want to explore include:

• Your first experiences with computers—word processing, email, MOOs, Web, etc. Each type
of computing may have a different story, a different history, so please be specific.
• Your experiences with computing in your personal and academic life.
• Your specific contexts of technoliteracy usage.
• Your family’s experiences with and attitudes about computers and computing.
• What you found most difficult to learn, what you found easy to learn, how you learned, etc.
• Ways that you have taught others to use computers and the contexts in which you did so.
• Your current computing uses and how those differ from past uses. Think about what you
now consider "easy" or "routine" and think about how you learned it.
• What you still want to learn about, what you don't know but think you should, and your
future plans for training/experience, etc.

Personal Composing Process Paper (5-6 pp)

Write an informal narrative about "some" composing process of yours. You may write about your
composing process for academic papers, or creative genres, or a combination of both/all. In any
case, reflect as thoroughly as possible upon your writing process and explain it thoroughly, but
brightly. Your narrative should include whatever you DO when you write, as well as whatever you
DO when you are composing. Composing should be understood in a broad sense, ie composing goes
on in your mind when you are cleaning your refrigerator (some call that stalling), reading and taking
notes (the endless gathering process), or doing anything EXCEPT writing (some call that
procrastination). In essence, you are never NOT composing something. So, the key to your
reflections for this paper is to include everything you do that "makes a difference" in your
writing, from having to use a certain pen, to listening to music, or setting up camp in the library. If
you need a certain activity, or need to be in a specific space, or to use a certain tool, then it is part
of your process. Please feel free to be creative in your explanation. This is above all supposed to
benefit YOU.
Writing Course Syllabus
Prepare and submit a syllabus for a writing course you would like to, or intend to, teach someday.
This course can be Rhetoric 1302 or another writing course, taught here or elsewhere. Your syllabus
should include the following components:
1) A course description,
2) Tentative required textbooks
3) Number and length of major writing assignments
4) Attendance policy
5) Plagiarism policy
6) Grading criteria and breakdown.

In addition to the course syllabus, please also prepare and submit the following:
• A 2-3 page essay on the rationale for your composition pedagogy (discussing as many ways
as you can what informs your theories and practices (now, or to-come), using as many of
our course readings (both print and online) as are relevant to your thinking).
• A 2-3 page description of the reading and writing assignments and rationale for them.
• Any handout(s) you plan using with this course.

NOTE: You do NOT have to provide a weekly or day-by-day schedule as you would when you do this
for real, but you can if you want to...especially if it helps you figure out how to pace the readings
and assignments.

Teaching Self-Reflection/Evaluation
A good teacher is always asking, "How could I do this better, more effectively? How can I make it
more engaging and meaningful for my students? How can I better facilitate their learning of skills
they will need throughout their lives." Now that you have learned something of teaching writing, and
had some practice doing so, how would you answer these questions? What could/will you do to
make your own teaching more effective, more engaging and meaningful? Your self-
reflection/evaluation essay must take the form of a presentation delivered to the entire class. You
can be creative, but SHOW rather than just tell. I'm open to possibilities. Let's talk.