ENG 1020: Writing, Knowledge, Production

Winter 2019

“YOU, MUST, LEARN!”

Instructor Information
Instructor Email Office Location & Hours
Walter Lucken IV walter.lucken@wayne.edu 9432 Maccabees Building, 11am-noon
Monday and Wednesday

General Information
Description
Fulfilling the first year composition requirement, Writing, Knowledge, Production introduces students to a basic
understanding of the overall structure and theory of knowledge producing institutions, a working knowledge of the
production of academic documents, and basic questions of the ethical and social dimensions of research.

Thus, we will learn WHAT is done in the university, HOW to do it, and WHY it is important.

Expectations and Goals

The goal of the course is to train students on the daily operations and global questions of the American university,
specifically through the lens of academic writing and research. The goal and expectation is then, simply, that by the
end of the semesters, students will have developed their own understanding of their role within the university as
stakeholders and knowledge producers, and will also be able to produce basic academic documents for the purposes of
their later coursework. If this seems subjective or vague, that’s on purpose. I can’t decide for the individual student
what their own perspective should be on their role within the university, however I can facilitate some discussions of

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that question and instruct you on the basic tools we use in the production of knowledge here at Wayne State. Just for
the record, “finishing this class because it’s required” is always an acceptable reason to be invested in your work.

Course Materials
Required Materials
All required readings will be posted in Canvas. Students will need regular internet access to complete some
assignments, and we will also be watching a few videos. The collection of all reading, entitled
Writing/Knowledge/Production will be posted as a pdf in Canvas.

Course Schedule
Week Topic Reading Exercises

1 What is the university? What is Rhetoric? 1 page response to class discussion

and readings

2 What is writing? What is Writing? 1 page response to class discussion

and readings

3 What is knowledge production? Knowledge Production Project 1 proposal due

and Social Utility

4 Introduction of rhetorical concepts No reading Project 1 rough draft due

5 What is an argument? Arguments handout Project 1 due

6 What is research? Research handout 1 page response to class discussion

and readings

7 How do we make a research Research question Preliminary research questions due

question? diagram handout

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Week Topic Reading Exercises

8 What is the archive? How do we use Archive handout 1 page response to the concept of
it? the archive

9 What goes in/out of the archive? Archive handout 2 1 page response to Archive handout 2

10 What is ethics/ethos/ethical? Ethics handout 1 page description of an ethical issue

in the archive

11 Into the archive No reading Proposal for Project 2 due

12 Sources/Enframing Enframing handout Project 2 draft due

TBD

Project Schedule
Order Subject
First Project What is knowledge production?

Second Project What is the archive?

Third Project What is an argument?

Fourth Project Why?

Other Policies
Attendance
I anticipate and expect that students will attend each class and participate to the best of their ability in all class
activities. In the event that the student must miss class, I expect to be notified via email 24 hours prior to class
meeting. In this instance, I will make a decision as to whether or not the absence will be excused. It is the student’s

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responsibility to determine what information they missed in class and obtain it. Students will be allowed three
unexcused absences. I will subtract 50 points from the final grade for any absence after the third, barring extreme
circumstances. At 5 absences, the student may be asked to drop the course.

Plagiarism
Plagiarism will be detected and not tolerated. Some students plagiarize due to feeling unable to complete an
assignment on their own, others because they do not fully understand how to cite their sources. Both of these
outcomes are entirely avoidable, as we will learn all the skills we need to complete the assignments. In the event that
you are unclear on completing an assignment or citing sources, there may be an issue with my instruction, which is to
say that I may not have explained it in the best way for you. In this instance, please come to my office hours and we
will figure out together anything that you’re missing.
The definition of plagiarism is as follows:
Plagiarism is the act of copying work from books, articles, and websites without citing and documenting the source.
Plagiarism includes copying language, texts, and visuals without citation (e.g., cutting and pasting from websites).
Plagiarism also includes submitting papers (or sections of papers) that were written by another person, including
another student, or downloaded from the Internet. Plagiarism is a serious academic offense. It may result in a failing
grade for the assignment or a failing grade for the course. Instructors are required to report all cases of plagiarism to
the English Department. Information on plagiarism procedures is available in the Department.

Other Course Policies

1. If you are unhappy with your grade on a project, I will accept a revised version of ONE of the projects and
adjust your grade. The only requirement here is that you come to my office hours, discuss the project with me
in person, and demonstrate that you understand what you need to change. The time limit for a revision is two
academic weeks from when you first receive a grade for the project. Thus, if you receive a grade on a project
on a Monday, you have two weeks from that Monday to submit a revised version.

2. Preferred pronouns, preferred names, and correct pronunciation of names will be honored in this course. We
will be going over this on the first day, and I will interpret verbal assent from the students on the first day
that we are all committed to being accountable to each other about this.

3. This class is largely about learning how to write and think about different viewpoints and arguments. This
means we will sometimes discuss issues you or other students will have strong feelings about. Sometimes,
these discussions will be difficult. What I ask is that each student makes a commitment to do the following:

Make sure you understand what someone is saying before you respond to their point. If you think someone is
saying something you disagree with, I would suggest and ask that you ask them to clarify what they mean
before you express why you disagree with them. Often, people find themselves in unnecessary arguments
because they assume that another person has said something they did not, in fact, intend to say. I hope to
avoid this dynamic in our class discussions.

Understand that we all come from different places, and know different things. It’s important to be kind to
each other while we all get on the same page.

4. With that being said, I will in no way tolerate hate speech, bullying, intimidation, or disrespect between
students. It is at my discretion if this is taking place, and if it occurs I will use the situation as an opportunity
to discuss proper conduct in an academic setting.

WRT Zone
The WRT Zone is a one stop resource center for writing, research, and technology. The WRT Zone provides individual
tutoring consultations, research assistance from librarians, and technology consultations, all free of charge for
graduate and undergraduate students at WSU. Tutoring sessions are run by undergraduate and graduate tutors and can
last up to 50 minutes. Tutors can work with writing from all disciplines.

Tutoring sessions focus on a range of activities in the writing process – understanding the assignment, considering the
audience, brainstorming, writing drafts, revising, editing, and preparing documentation. The WRT Zone is not an

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editing or proofreading service; rather, tutors work collaboratively with students to support them in developing
relevant skills and knowledge, from developing an idea to editing for grammar and mechanics.

Librarian and technology support is a walk-in service. Consultants will work with students on a first come-first serve
basis. Consultants provide support with the library database system, finding and evaluating sources, developing
research strategies, organizing sources, and citations. Consultants will also provide technology support including, but
not limited to: video editing, graphics creation, presentation building, audio recording, MS Office support, and
dissertation formatting. The WRT Zone has several computers with the Adobe Creative Suite for students who want to
work on multimedia projects. Our location is also equipped with two Whisper Rooms where students can work on
multimedia projects in a more private and sound isolated environment.
To make a face-to-face or online appointment, consult the WRT Zone website: <http://wrtzone.wayne.edu/>.
For more information about the WRT Zone, please contact the Director, Jule Thomas (email: au1145@wayne.edu).

Student Disability Services

Students who may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the instructor privately
to discuss specific needs. Additionally, the Student Disabilities Services Office coordinates reasonable accommodations
for students with documented disabilities. The office is located in 1600 David Adamany Undergraduate Library and can
be reached by phone at 313-577-1851. Please consult the SDS website for further information:
http://studentdisability.wayne.edu.

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