English 106 Fall 2015

First-Year Composition

Instructor: Jonathan Isaac

Office: Heavilon Hall 214
Email: isaacj@purdue.edu
Office Hours: Monday 9:30-10:30
Website: isaacjpurdue.wordpress.com

Wednesday 12:30-1:30

All class meetings 11:30 am to 12:20 pm:
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Heavilon 104 Heavilon 225 Heavilon 104 Heavilon 225
Beering B275
Classroom
Conference
Classroom
Conference
Computer Lab

Required Text
th
The World Is A Text (4 edition) by Jonathan Silverman and Dean Rader

In addition to the above text, I will occasionally assign articles to be read for classif I do not
provide a handout for these articles in class, you will find them on my website (listed above). Please
print them and/or download them onto your devices so they are available to you.

Course Description:
Welcome to English 106, First-Year Composition. English 106 is the standard 4-credit hour
composition course for students at Purdue. The course provides students with the opportunity to
interpret and compose in both digital and print media across a variety of forms. Students engage in
active learning, which includes class discussion, learning in small groups, problem solving, peer
review, and digital interaction. English 106 is grounded in the idea that writing provides an outlet for
sharing and developing ideas; facilitates understanding across different conventions, genres, groups,
societies, and cultures; and allows for expression in multiple academic, civic, and non-academic
situations. In short, writing is a way of learning that spans all fields and disciplines.
This particular section of English 106 uses the UR@ syllabus approach, which is all about
positioning yourself as active participants in and consumers of the world around you, both as it
relates to your connections to other people and to your surroundings. We will focus on navigating a
world full of texts and contexts as writers, readers, consumers, and producers of many kinds of
communication. Writing and other forms of communication involve countless choices, and how you
navigate those choices will be influenced not only by who you are, but also by what you want or
need to say, why you want to say it, who needs to "hear" it, and where it is needed.

Course Objectives
By the end of the course, you will:
Demonstrate rhetorical awareness of diverse audiences, situations, and contexts
Compose a variety of texts in a range of forms, equaling at least 7,500-11,500 words of
polished writing (or 15,000-22,000 words, including drafts)
Critically think about writing and rhetoric through reading, analysis, and reflection
Provide constructive feedback to others and incorporate feedback into their writing
Perform research and evaluate sources to support claims
Engage multiple digital technologies to compose for different purposes

English 106 Isaac - Syllabus

Conferences
English 106 includes a conference componenthalf of you are signed up for Tuesday conferences,
and the rest of you are signed up for Thursdays. Every week you will attend a conference with me
and a small group of your peers (assigned to you in week 2). Conferencing is a great opportunity for
us to discuss your work and concerns in the class. I will provide a conference schedule that will tell
you when you need to be ready for your conferences. Missing a conference is counted as an absence.

Attendance Policy
This class requires participation in class discussions and writing activities, and I will be taking
attendance daily. You will be allowed four absences; if you miss more than four classes, your
final point total will be reduced by 20 points for each subsequent absence. Absences for
bereavement, or for other extreme circumstances which I agree are unavoidable, will not count
against this total. If you know of an absence ahead of time, please notify me in advance if possible
so we can make arrangements for you to catch up on missed work. For any additional absences to
be excused beyond your four allowed absences, I will need to see documentation (a doctors note,
letter/email from the Dean of Students etc.). The days we do peer review are days you are required
to have a printed draft of your project. If you come unprepared, you will be unable to participate
effectively in class that day, and you may be considered absent.

Late Work
If you will be absent the day a major assignment is due, make arrangements with me ahead of time
or ask one of your classmates to submit it for you or it will be late. Major assignments will be
lowered by five percentage points for each day they are late. If you miss a class, you are responsible
for getting the assignments, class notes, and course changes from a classmate or from me during
office hours or after class. I will not review missed classes over email.

Assignments
We will complete four large projects this semester, though they will not be your only sources of
evaluation. Listed below is just an overview of the projects; I will provide in-depth assignment
handouts throughout the semester as these projects are assigned. Project dates and percentage of
grade are indicated, and the course calendar at the end of this syllabus has specific checkpoints.
Assignment

Due Date

Point Value

Project 1: Narrative of Place

9/25

75

Project 2: Online community research report

10/23

100

Project 3: Purdue spatial analysis

11/13

100

Project 4: Group space exhibition

Week 16

125

Weekly Reading Responses and Conference Prompts

Ongoing

50

Class participation, peer responses, in-class writing

Ongoing

50

Total

500

English 106 Isaac - Syllabus

Academic Honesty
Plagiarism is the copying, deliberate or not, of another persons work and/or ideas either without
permission or without proper citation. It can also include purchasing anothers writing for a class or
assignment. Putting forward someone elses work as your own is dishonest, careless, and will not
help you at all in the long run. Academic honesty violations of any kind may result in your failure of
the assignment or the course, and possibly other disciplinary action. When in doubt, you can always
check with me.

Disabilities & Special Learning Needs

Accommodations for special learning needs are gladly arranged. If you have a disability that requires
special accommodations, please see me privately within the first week of class to make
arrangements. As per Purdue policy and Federal law, you must initiate contact with the Disability
Resource Center and me; I cannot do so.

Emergencies

Please check your Purdue email before heading to class. In the event of a major campus emergency,
course requirements, calendar, deadlines, and grading percentages are subject to changes as
necessary.

Grading
1. In compliance with relevant privacy laws (FERPA), Purdue requires that I discuss grades
with you in confidence. This means I cannot email grades to you. Nor can I talk about
grades with you in front of others (e.g. in the hallway after class); please come to my office
for this purpose. As my time permits, I will upload grades to Blackboard.
2. Please track your own grades. If you think Ive made a mistake, or evaluated your work
unfairly, please let me know. I am happy to re-evaluate your work.

Letter
A
A
B+
B
B
C+
C
C
D
F

Point range
500-465
464-450
449-435
434-415
414-400
399-385
384-365
364-350
349-300
2990

English 106 Isaac - Syllabus

Course Calendar
WiaT = The World is a Text, by Jonathan Silverman and Dean Rader
Week 1 - Aug. 24 to 28 - Introductions, Introduction to Rhetoric
M: Introductions, Syllabus
W: English 106 Learning Outcomes, The Workload, and Participation (online)
F: WiaT pp. 3-16, Rhetorical Situations handout

Week 2 - Aug. 31 to Sept. 4 - Sponsors of Literacy
M: WiaT pp. 26-32, 75-76
W: Sylvia Scribner, Literacy in Three Metaphors
F: Malcolm X, Learning to Read (e-text)
Sherman Alexie, Superman and Me (e-text)
Project 1 starter due

Week 3 - Sept. 7 to 11 - Writing Your World
M: NO CLASS (Labor Day)
W: WiaT pp. pp. 78-92, 100-111, 120-123
F: Project 1 due

Week 4 - Sept. 14 to 18 Studying Communities
M: John Swales, The Concept of Discourse Community
W: Turkle, The Tethered Self
F: Nielsen, Be Succinct
Project 2 proposal due

Week 5 - Sept. 21 to 25 Online Communities
M: Dana Driscoll, Introduction to Primary Research (e-text)
Thomas Deans, Gathering Data (e-text)
W: Rick Zollo, Friday Night at Interstate 80 (e-text)
Horace Miner, Body Ritual Among the Nacirema (e-text)
F: Studio time

Week 6 - Sept. 28 to Oct. 2 Technological Communication
M: James Paul Gee, Literacy, Discourse and Linguistics: Introduction (e-text)
W: Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point excerpt
F: Justine Sacco NYT
Project 2 starter due
Week 7 - Oct. 5 to 9 Public Space
M: Sample ethnography
W: Tony Mirabelli, Learning to Serve
F: Project 2 peer review

Week 8 - Oct. 12 to 16
M: NO CLASS (Fall Break)
W: NO CLASS
F: NO CLASS

English 106 Isaac - Syllabus

Week 9 - Oct. 19 to 23 Reading Purdues Campus
M: Silverman/Rader, Reading and Writing about Public and Private Space (WiaT pp. 186-192)
Project 2 final due
W: Liz Swanson, Architecture, Experience and Meaning (WiaT 193-203)
Daphne Spain, Gendered Offices
F: Reading and Writing about Your Campus/ Campuses in Place (WiaT pp. 240-254)

Week 10 - Oct. 26 to 30 Reading Purdues Campus (cont.)
M: Fredrik Deboer, One Year of Emptiness at the Krach Leadership Center
W: One Photo, Two Lenses
Project 3 starter due
F: Richard Serra: The Case of Tilted Arc

Week 11 - Nov. 2 to 6 Public Art and Public Spaces
M: Malcolm Gladwell, The Science of Shopping
W: Banksy, Cut It Out (e-text)
Design and Review Criteria for Public Art (online)
F: Peer review
Week 12 - Nov. 9 to 13 - History and Museums
M: none
W: The Getty Museum Guide to Gallery Texts
F: Jakob Nielsen, How Users Read on the Web
Project 3 final due

Week 13 - Nov. 16 to 20 Purdue Museums
M: Svetlana Alpers, The Museum as a Way of Seeing (e-text)
W: Handout Design
Project 4 group proposal due
F: Photoshop studio time

Week 14 - Nov. 23 to 27 - Thanksgiving
M: Writing Proposals
W: NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)
F: NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)

Week 15 - Nov. 30 to Dec. 4 - Curation Preparation
M: Studio time
W: Peer Review
Prototype due
F: Studio time

Week 16 - Dec. 7 to 11 - Exhibitions
M: Groups 1 & 2
W: Groups 3 & 4
F: Groups 5 & 6