English 151: Writing As Argument

Instructor: Claire Jimenez

Email: Claire.Jimenez@gmail.com

Course Description

English 151 focuses on composing practices through the study of argument. Broadly
speaking, writers of argument develop an informed and committed stance on their topic,
using argument as a means of sharing this stance with particular audiences for
particular purposes. This course guides students in developing strategies for writing and
research through its focus on how written arguments are informed by rhetorical
concepts such as purpose, audience, genre, cultural context and style. In addition, it
provides students with extended practice at writing argument in a supportive, student-
centered environment.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)

This course is an Achievement Centered General Education (ACE) Outcome 1 course.

ENG 151 will help you meet the following general education outcome: “Write texts, in
various forms, with an identified purpose, that respond to particular audience needs,
incorporate research or existing knowledge, and use applicable documentation and
appropriate conventions of form and structure.”

As a student in this class you will:

1. Gain extended practice with composing processes (including invention,

drafting, revision and final editing).
2. Gain experience with revision strategies designed to help them explore
various lines of argument.
3. Explore multiple strategies for constructively responding to peers’ writing.
4. Gain practice at analyzing published texts in terms of the lines of argument
they deploy, how writers use evidence to build an argument - and to examine
the expressed and implied purposes of published arguments.
5. Gain experience with conducting primary and secondary research as a
means of developing and clarifying their stance toward the topic and/or
acquiring a richer understanding of the context and potential purposes for the
argument they are developing.
Program Mission Statement

We, the faculty of the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,

believe that one of the greatest strengths of our department is that in all areas of our
curriculum—literary and film studies, creative writing, composition and rhetoric, and the
digital humanities—we help students develop their capacities in imaginative reasoning
so that in their lives as citizens of the world and members of their local communities
they can discern connections and synthesize across seemingly incommensurable ideas
or beliefs. Imaginative reasoning is the ability to use the imagination to think
hypothetically about the world in all its diversity—the past, present, and future, the local
and the global. Such an ability, we believe, enables all of us to engage critically with
social and political phenomena because it allows us to re-envision what is possible and
to dream up audacious solutions to seemingly insoluble problems, solutions that might
at first seem implausible but, once dreamt up—once imagined—suddenly seem
possible. These moments of imaginative insight compel us to ask: Why are such
solutions deemed impossible or implausible to begin with? Who says so and for what
reasons? What prevents us from dreaming of alternatives, of imagining other paths, in
the first place?

Imaginative reasoning feeds into and supports a number of core values our department
affirms, including

● pursuing social justice

● affirming diversity
● engaging with a broad array of real and imagined communities based on
empathetic understanding
● fostering a sense of belonging
● instilling a desire for civic engagement

Imaginative reasoning, both as a value and as a skill one can acquire, develop, and
share with others, is fundamentally transitive rather than intransitive because it connects
us to others, leads us to look and work across boundaries, including, importantly, the
boundary of our own selves and most immediate communities.

Course Texts

The required texts for this course are:

 ● They Say, I Say, with Readings, 4th Edition, by Gerald Graff, Cathy
Birkenstein and Russel Durst (Note: this must be the 4th Edition with
readings. Other editions will not have some of the readings required for our
course.)
● Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace, 12th Edition, by Joseph M. Williams and
Joseph Bizup (Note: Again this must be the 12th edition.)

The textbooks are also available in paperback at the Bookstore.

Grade Break Down and Assignments

Grammar Quizzes based on Style Reading: 20 points (2 points each)
Introductory Letter: 5 points
10 Reading Responses: 40 points (4 points each)
Draft or Argumentative Essay: 15 points
Final Essay: 20 points

COURSE FORMAT
In this class you will be responsible for completing regular weekly reading quizzes and
responses.
At the end of the semester you will write your own argumentative essay responding to a reading
in They Say, I Say that was not assigned in the syllabus. You will submit a draft of this essay
on November 8 that I will read, grade and provide feedback on. Then using my feedback you
will revise and expand that draft into a final essay due December 19.
Please note that I submit all assignments to Turnitin to screen for plagiarism. Plagiarism can
result in a failing grade.
Reading Responses are due every week by 11:59 pm of that Friday.
Quizzes are due every week by 11:50 pm of that Tuesday.

Course Schedule

Week One
Tuesday, August 27th
● READ: Syllabus
● Quiz #1: On Syllabus Due on Canvas

Friday, August 30th

● READ: They Say, I Say, Introduction 1- 19,
● WRITE: Introductory Letters Due

Week Two

Tuesday, September 10th: Understanding Style

● READ: Style, Lesson 1: “Understanding Style”, pg 1-8
● Quiz #2 Due on Canvas

Friday, September 13th: They Say

● READ: They Say, I Say, Chapter 1: “They Say,” pg 19- 29 and “The Other Side is Not
Dumb” pg 212 -217
● WRITE Response #1: “What are the different types of templates that Chapter One
introduces us to for presenting others’ views? Using one of these templates explain the
problem Blanda describes with the way in which we communicate with each other today
in the age of social media. Where in Blanda’s essay does he explain why his argument
matters? Has he persuaded you? Why or why not?” (250 words)

Week Three

Tuesday, September 17th: Correctness

● READ: Style, Lesson 2: “Correctness,” pg 9-26
● Quiz #3 Due on Canvas

Friday, September 20th: Summarizing

● READ: They Say I Say, Chapter 2: “The Art of Summarizing,” pg 30-42 and Ben
Casselman’s “Shut Up about Harvard,” pg 390-396
● WRITE Response #2: In one paragraph summarize the key points of Chapter 2. Using
what you learned in Chapter 2 now summarize Ben Casselman’s argument in “Shut Up
about Harvard.” (250 words)

Week Four

Tuesday, September 24th: Actions

 ● READ: Style, Lesson 3: “Actions,” pg 28-45
● Quiz #4 due on Canvas

Friday, September 27th: The Art of Quoting

● READ: They Say, I Say, Chapter 3: “The Art of Quoting” and Mike Rose’s “Blue Collar
Brilliance” pg 377- 388
● WRITE Response #3: According to Chapter 3, what are some templates that you can
use to introduce your quotes? What are some templates that you can use to explain your
quotes? Using what you’ve learned in They Say, I Say, choose a compelling quote from
Mike Rose’s “Blue-Collar Brilliance” that captures his main argument. Introduce and
explain the quote using two of the templates. (250 words)

Week Five

Tuesday, October 1: Characters

● READ: Style, Lesson 4 “Characters,” pg 46-63
● Quiz #5 due on Canvas

Friday, October 4: “I Say”

● READ: They Say, I Say, Chapter 4: “Three Ways to Respond” and Nicholas Carr’s “Is
Google Making Us Stupid?” pg 424-439
● WRITE Response #4: What are the “three ways to respond” as described in Chapter 4?
Using one of the templates formulate your own response to Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google
Making us Stupid?” (250 words)

Week Six

Tuesday, October 8: Cohesion and Coherence

● READ: Style, Lesson 5: “Cohesion and Coherence,” pg 64-78

Friday, October 11: Distinguishing What You Say

● They Say, I Say, Chapter 5: “Distinguishing What You Say,” pg 67-74 and Andrew
Reiner “Teaching Men to Be Emotionally Honest,” pg 589
● WRITE Response #5: According to Chapter 5, what are voice markers and why are they
important? Provide some examples from the text. Using what you learned in Chapter 5,
respond to Andrew Weiner’s “Teaching Men to Be Emotionally Honest,” while using
voice markers to describe his argument. (250 words)

Week Seven
Wednesday, October 16: Emphasis
● READ: Style, Lesson 6: “Emphasis”, pg 64-78
● Quiz #6 Due on Canvas

Friday, October 18: Planting a Naysayer

● READ: They Say, I Say, Chapter 6 “Planting a Naysayer in Your Text” pg 77- 89 and
Kenneth Goldsmith’s “Go Ahead: Waste Time on the Internet” pg 500-504
● WRITE Response #6: According to Chapter 6, what does it mean to plant a naysayer in
your essay? Plant a naysayer in your own response to Kenneth Goldsmith’s “Go Ahead:
Waste Time on the Internet.” (250 words)

Week Eight
Fall Break: No Class

Week Nine

Tuesday, October 29th: Motivation

● READ: Style, Lesson 7: “Motivation”, pg 94 - 105
● Quiz #7 Due on Canvas

Friday, November 1st: Urgency

● READ: They Say, I Say, Chapter 7 “Saying Why it Matters,” pg 91 -99
● WRITE Response #7: According to Chapter 7, why is it necessary to establish the
importance of your topic? Choose a topic you care about. Using what you learned in
Chapter 7, explain why this topic matters to the reader? (250 words)

Week Ten

Tuesday, November 5: Global Coherence

● READ: Style, Lesson 8: “Global Coherence,” pg 109-118
● Quiz #8 Due on Canvas

Friday, November 8: Draft Due

● WRITE: First Draft of Essay Due: Choose an essay from They Say, I Say that has not
been assigned on the syllabus and write an essay responding with your own argument
in which you explain why or why not you agree with the author.

Week Eleven
Tuesday, November 12: Concision
● READ: Style, Lesson 9: “Concision” pg 122- 136
● Quiz #9 Due on Canvas

Friday, November 15th: Organization and Transitions

● READ: They Say, I Say, Chapter 8: “Connecting the Parts,” pg 101-114 and Sherry
Turkle’s “No Need to Call” pg 505 -521
● WRITE Response #8: How does Turkle “connect the parts” of her argument? What
transition words do you notice her using inside of her essay?

Week Twelve

Tuesday, November 19th: Shape

● READ: Style, Chapter 10: “Shape” pg 137-159
● Quiz #10 Due on Canvas

Friday, November 22nd: Voice

● READ: They Say, I Say, Chapter 9: “You Mean I Can Just Say it That Way?” pg 117-130
and Carole Cadwalladr’s “Google, Democracy, and the Truth about Internet Search,” pg
480-498
● WRITE Response #9: In what ways does Cadwalldr’s voice shine through in her essay.
Provide examples from the essay. Given the topic, why do you think she chose to write
this way?

Week Thirteen

***No Class, Thanksgiving Break**

Week Fourteen

Tuesday, Dec 3: Elegance

● READ: Style, Chapter 11: “Elegance,” pg 160 - 174

Friday, Dec 6: Revision

● READ: They Say, I Say, Chapter 11: “Using Templates to Revise,” pg 141
● WRITE Response #10: What templates might you use to help you revise your draft?

Week Fifteen: Revision

Dec 9-13:
● This week you will spend working on your revisions of your essays using my comments
on your drafts.

Week Sixteen:

***Final Revised Essays Due December 19th***