ISP100H: Writing for University and Beyond

Fall 2022

Times and Days of Lectures: T 9-11 IB379; Th 9-10 IB395

Instructor: Michael Kaler (“Michael,” “Dr. Office: MN4204

Kaler,” “Professor Kaler”)

Email: michael.kaler@utoronto.ca Phone: n/a

Student Drop-In Hours: Thursdays 12-3 Course Website: As with most University of
Toronto courses, our website is on Quercus.
Go to https://q.utoronto.ca to log in.

Course Description
Throughout the course of your studies here at UTM, you will be required to do a lot of reading
and writing. Many of you will find that this reading and writing is very different from what was
expected of you in high school. To help with this transition, this course provides you with an
interactive small-class space where you can meet classmates, work in groups, interact with the
instructor, and learn about academic writing as well as learn how to do it. To be successful in an
academic context, you need to understand how academic writing and reading work, as well as
some of the concepts they’re based on, such as genre, rhetoric, audience and reader expectations,
discourse communities, argument and counterargument, working with evidence, engaging
sources, establishing credibility, and the process of writing, revising, and editing. In this course,
however, you will do more than just learn about these principles and concepts; you will learn
how to put this learning into practice in order to help you become a more effective academic
reader and writer This means that you will be doing a lot of writing for this class—both in and
out of the classroom. This introduction and immersion into the principles and conventions of
academic writing will help you to become a more proficient and effective reader and producer of
academic writing. What is more, it will provide you with a framework for understanding and
approaching the many reading and writing tasks and assignments that will be required of you
throughout your studies at UTM.

This course follows the journey of becoming a competent academic writer in a university context
and is divided into three modules. This journey begins with Module One (Where are you coming
from?), in which you will explore your current and past assumptions about writing. In Module
Two (Where are you going?), you will learn about two important concepts—genre and discourse
communities—that are essential for understanding the ways that knowledge is produced and
shared in all of your other courses. In Module Three (How do you get there?), you will learn how
to engage and respond to scholarly conversations. This will involve a more theoretical
exploration of another key principle of writing, namely rhetoric—or, in other words, learning
how to write convincingly and effectively. This module will also introduce you to a number of
practical elements of academic writing.

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Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

1. Analyze how audiences, intended purposes, and genre conventions impact writers’
textual choices.
2. Adapt these analyses within their own writing process.
3. Draw on readings and class discussions to provide productive peer feedback on drafts in
progress.
4. Revise the content and form of their own writing based on peer and instructor feedback.
5. Engage with context- and discipline- appropriate writing conventions, which includes
using sources accurately and purposefully.
6. Apply research skills to develop an argument.

The following table explains how each Learning Outcome is related to course activities and
assessments:

Students who successfully
complete this course will
demonstrate the ability to…
#1 Analyze how audiences,
intended purposes, and genre
conventions impact writers’
textual choices.
Opportunities for satisfying How will this Learning
this Learning Outcome Outcome be assessed?
 Participating in class  Participation
discussions, workshops, and  Assignment 2
writing tasks  Assignment 4
 Completing formal writing
assignments

#2 Adapt these analyses within  Completing formal writing  Assignment 1

their own writing process. assignments  Assignment 2
 Assignment 3
 Assignment 4

#3 Draw on readings and class  Participating in peer review  Participation

discussions in order to provide workshops
productive peer feedback on
drafts in progress.
#4 Revise the content and form  Completing formal writing  Assignment 1
of their own writing based on assignments  Assignment 2
peer and instructor feedback.  Assignment 3
 Assignment 4

#5 Engage with context- and  Participating in class  Participation

discipline- appropriate writing discussions, workshops, and  Assignment 1
conventions, which includes writing tasks  Assignment 2

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 using sources accurately and  Completing formal writing  Assignment 3
purposefully. assignments  Assignment 4

#6 Apply research skills to  Participating in class  Participation

develop an argument. discussions, workshops, and  Assignment 3
writing tasks  Assignment 4
 Completing formal writing
assignments

Required Texts
 Wardle, E., & Downs, D. (2020). Writing about Writing (4th ed.). Bedford/St. Martin’s.
 If you plan to use the e-book version of this text, it is accessible via our Quercus page.
Please visit the module labeled “E-book Access > Start Here!”. You will find a step-by-
step guide to purchasing the e-book. You can also begin a 14-day free trial to give you
introductory access to the book.
 A selection of other readings will be available on Quercus.

Assignments

Assignment Details Weighting

Participation Regular contributions in class 10%
Assignment 1 Writing your Writing Story 15%
Assignment 2 Discourse Community Analysis 25%
Assignment 3 Genre Analysis 30%
Assignment 4 Final Portfolio 20%

Participation (10%)
Class participation will be assessed according to your active engagement in the course
throughout the semester. More details and assessment criteria will be posted on Quercus.
Assignment 1: Writing your Writing Story (15%)
This assignment is a reflection that invites you to take a moment to identify and examine your
personal relationship with and thoughts about writing. More specifically, this moment is an
opportunity for you to revisit previous experiences with writing, good or bad, and establish
connections between your writing experiences and what we have discussed from the Wardle and
Downs text. This assignment will allow you to complicate your understanding of writing and the
writing process as you learn how to navigate new writing situations.

The approximate word count of this reflection is 750 words. You will receive feedback during
the peer review phase of the assignment. Peer review workshops will help you improve and

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better understand expectations associated with the assignment through engagement with your
instructor and your classmates. More details and assessment criteria will be posted on Quercus.
Assignment 2: Discourse Community Analysis (25%)
This assignment asks you to write an essay that accomplishes two interrelated goals:
1) You will draw on what you’ve learned from our course readings and discussions to define
what it means to have authority within a discourse community.
2) You will use this definition as a framework for analyzing a specific discourse community.
An effective essay will offer a relatively brief definition, and then you should quickly move on to
apply those ideas as you craft an analysis. We will spend a lot of time learning about discourse
communities and discussing why this concept is useful for our understanding of both written and
oral communication. You will be provided with a list of 8-10 discourse communities you may
select from as you settle on a topic for this essay. You may also write about a discourse
community of your choice, but you will need to see me to discuss and ensure that your choice
will work well for the assignment. Topic choice is very important for this assignment since you
will extend this analysis as you complete the next assignment. The approximate word count of
this essay is 750-1,000 words, and it should be formatted following APA conventions. More
details and assessment criteria will be posted on Quercus.
Assignment 3: Genre Analysis (30%)
This assignment asks you to write an essay that accomplishes two interrelated goals:
1) You will analyze a genre produced by the same discourse community you studied for
Assignment #2. Your analysis of these texts will focus on the rhetorical strategies and
conventions covered in Modules 2 and 3 of the course.
2) You will conduct research that informs your genre analysis. This research will explain
how and why your writing sample functions within that discourse community. Here, you
will cite at least three scholarly, peer-reviewed sources to support your argument, two of
which are not required or recommended readings on the course syllabus.
The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate that you understand how a specific kind of
writing works (e.g., why it is persuasive or effective, why it takes the form that it does, why
certain conventions are employed). You should demonstrate this understanding by applying
insights from Writing Studies. By doing this, you are effectively making an argument that about
how or why your genre contributes to a given discourse community.

The approximate word count is 1,000-1,200 words, and the essay should be formatted following
APA conventions. The essay must have a References page with at least four sources in it (three
secondary sources and your writing sample). This is a formal research essay with an introductory
paragraph that contains a thesis, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. More details and assessment
criteria will be posted on Quercus.
Assignment 4: Final Portfolio (20%)
Your engagement with the writing process will be tracked through a portfolio of your writing.
The portfolio offers you an opportunity to get credit for the work that you do in class throughout
the semester and as you prepare your assignments. More details and detailed assessment criteria
will be posted on Quercus.

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Writing Check-In

In Week 1 of classes, all students will be required to complete the Writing Check-In.

The Writing Check-In is a two-part assessment that evaluates your writing proficiency so that we
can provide you with support and instruction that is targeted to your abilities and experience. The
first part focuses on reading and vocabulary, while the second part is a short writing exercise. We
are using the Writing Check-In in this course because we recognize that students come to UTM
from a wide range of backgrounds and we want to ensure that everyone benefits from the writing
instruction we are providing. This assessment will help ISP100 instructors adjust the course to
meet their students’ needs by providing us with writing samples that allow us to pitch the course
appropriately and identify your individual strengths and weaknesses as writers.

The Writing Check-In will also help us recognize those students who will benefit from additional
exposure to some of the core components of written communication. To assist this latter group of
students, we are offering the course ISP010: The Basics of Writing in English (BoWiE). Only
students who achieve a minimum grade on the Writing Check-In will be allowed to take ISP100.
Students who do not achieve the minimum grade required to take ISP100 will be unenrolled
from the course and required to enroll in BoWiE (which is offered at the same time and on the
same day as the section of ISP100). If you are no longer enrolled in ISP100, you will be eligible
to re-enroll in the course in a subsequent term. The skills learned in BoWiE will complement
those learned in ISP100, better preparing students to achieve positive outcomes in ISP100

Course Policies and Expectations

Communication Policy
Please keep in touch! You can visit during the Zoom drop-in hours (details right below), or you
can email me. If you email, here are a few things to keep in mind:
1) If it’s a technical question about the course, grades, assignments, etc., please check the
syllabus and the website first to make sure the answer isn’t already there.
2) Please make sure that your subject line clearly identifies your concern, e.g. “Question
about the reading for this class.”
3) Since this is a professional communication, please be polite and relatively formal—e.g,
no “LOLs,” no “Hey Prof,” etc.
4) I promise to read your email and respond within 2 business days, with business hours
defined as weekdays between 9 AM - 5 PM. Depending on your question or concern, I
may or may not be able to resolve it at that time, but at the very least I’ll write you back
and let you know I’m working on it. I will usually respond a LOT quicker than that, but I
don’t guarantee that I will.
5) I do not check work email in the evening and I usually don’t check it on the
weekend or on holidays. This means that if you write on a Friday evening, you might
not get a response until Monday or even Tuesday. So please plan ahead – if you have

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 questions, ask them early, not at the last minute. Since our class is Tuesday-Thursday, it
should be no problem to get questions in to me by end of day Thursdays at latest.
6) Please note as well that Tuesdays I teach pretty much straight through the whole day. So I
won’t get a lot of opportunity to email on Tuesdays.
7) Please do not send follow-up emails until two business days have elapsed. I will not
respond to them.

Late Penalties for Assignments

Late assignments will receive a penalty of one letter grade per day. This means that an
assignment submitted one day (24 hours) late and receiving a grade of B get a final grade of B-.
An assignment receiving a grade of A- and received two days late would be awarded a final grade
of B.

Each student will, however, be offered one 48-hour extension on any assignment, no questions
asked. This extension can only be used once. Just let me know you want to use it and it’s yours.

Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is essential to the pursuit of learning and scholarship in a university, and to
ensuring that a degree from the University of Toronto is a strong signal of each student’s
individual academic achievement. As a result, the University treats cases of cheating and
plagiarism very seriously. The University of Toronto’s Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters
outlines the behaviours that constitute academic dishonesty and the processes for addressing
academic offences. Potential offences include, but are not limited to, the following:

In papers and assignments:

o Using someone else’s ideas or words without appropriate acknowledgement.
o Submitting your own work in more than one course without the permission of the
instructor.
o Making up sources or facts.
o Obtaining or providing unauthorized assistance on any assignment.

On tests and exams:

o Using or possessing unauthorized aids.
o Looking at someone else’s answers during an exam or test.
o Misrepresenting your identity.

In academic work:
o Falsifying institutional documents or grades.
o Falsifying or altering any documentation required by the University, including (but
not limited to) doctor’s notes.

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All suspected cases of academic dishonesty will be investigated following procedures outlined in
the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters. If you have questions or concerns about what
constitutes appropriate academic behaviour or appropriate research and citation methods, please
see me to discuss.

Ouriginal. 
To cultivate (and demystify!) academic integrity, we will be using Ouriginal. Normally, students
will be required to submit their course essays to Ouriginal (via Quercus) for a review of textual
similarity and detection of possible plagiarism. In doing so, students will allow their essays to be
included as source documents in that reference database where they will be used solely for the
purpose of detecting plagiarism. That said, students are permitted to opt-out of using Ouriginal. 
Those who choose to opt out will be required to submit all their rough work for an assignment
and have a short meeting with me to discuss their writing process. 

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

The University of Toronto is committed to equity, human rights and respect for diversity. All
members of the learning environment in this course should strive to create an atmosphere of
mutual respect where all members of our community can express themselves, engage with each
other, and respect one another’s differences. U of T does not condone discrimination or
harassment against any persons or communities.

Copyright in Instructional Settings

Copies of all learning materials including PowerPoint Presentations will be posted on Quercus
after class. Students are NOT permitted to record and/or distribute any video and/or audio
material from this course. Any unauthorized recording or distribution of course material or
activities may constitute a violation of copyright law and/or privacy legislation.

Campus Resources

 Accessibility Services
Students with diverse learning styles and needs are welcome in this course. In particular, if you
have a disability/health consideration that may require accommodations, please feel free to
contact the Accessibility Services as soon as possible.

Accessibility Services staff are available by appointment to assess specific disability related
needs, provide referrals, and arrange appropriate accommodations. They are located in DV 2037
or via the Accessibility Services webpage. They have consultation appointments available if you
would simply like more information about the services they provide. Please call 905-569-4699 or
email access.utm@utoronto.ca to set up an appointment. The sooner you let them know your
needs the quicker they can assist you in achieving your learning goals in this course.

 Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre

The Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre (RGASC) is located at MN 3251 and much
information is available via the RGASC website. The RGASC offers individual consultations,
workshops (many CCR-accredited), and a wide range of programs to help students identify and

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develop the academic skills they need for success in their studies. All of their programming has
shifted online while their physical office is closed to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Visit
their website to explore online resources, book an online appointment, or learn about other online
programming and services such as Writing Retreats, the Program for Accessing Research
Training (PART), math support, and dedicated resources for English Language Learners.

 Library
UTM Library librarians and reference staff are available to answer your questions, to provide
research assistance and instruction in the use of information resources. The Reference &
Research Desk is located on the main floor of the Library and the Research desk can be reached
at 905-828-5237. While U of T library buildings are closed, the library continues to provide
access to many online resources and digital materials to support students’ instruction, learning
and research. Many library resources can be accessed online.

Course Schedule

Date Topic(s) Assignment Due

Assigned Readings

MODULE ONE: WHERE ARE YOU COMING FROM?

(THRESHOLD CONCEPTS AND THE WRITING PROCESS)

Week 1 Threshold  WAW pp.1-24: Elizabeth Wardle and Doug

(Sept. 8 concepts about Downs, “Investigating Writing: Threshold
and 13) writing Concepts and Transfer.” [Required]
 WAW pp. 87-92: Anne Lamott, “Shitty First
Drafts.” [Required]
Writing Writing Assessment
Assessment (in class, no preparation required)

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Week 2 Rules and  WAW pp. 158-173: Mike Rose, “Rigid Rules,
(Sept. flexibility in Inflexible Plans, and the Stifling of Language.”
15 and writing [Required.]
20)
Identity,  WAW pp. 240-243: Elizabeth Wardle and Doug
language, and Downs, “Literacies.” [Required]
past
experience
Week 3 Writing:  WAW pp. 217-229: Richard Straub, Rough draft
(Sept. identities and “Responding—Really Responding—to Other submitted by start
22 and communities Students’ Writing.” [Required] of class Sept. 27;
27) peer review
assignment 1
Recognizing  WAW pp. 560-582: Ann Johns, “Discourse
your writing Communities and Communities of Practice:
process Membership, Conflict, and Diversity”
[Required]

MODULE TWO: WHERE ARE YOU GOING?

(GENRE & DISCOURSE COMMUNITIES)

Week 4 Genre  WAW pp. 34-51: Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Assignment 1:
(Sept. Downs, “Readers, Writers, and Texts: Writing your
29 and Understanding Genre and Rhetorical Reading.” Writing Story
Oct. 4) [Required]
 WAW pp. 636-654: Elizabeth Wardle, “Identity,
Authority, and Learning to Write in New
Workplaces” [Required]
 WAW pp. 544-559: John Swales, “Reflections on
the Concept of Discourse Community.” [Required]

Genre samples  WAW pp. 655-663: Arielle Feldman, “Galaxy-

Wide Writing Strategies Used by Official Star
Wars Bloggers” [Recommended]
 WAW pp. 416-431: James E. Porter,
“Intertextuality and the Discourse Community.”
[Recommended]
Week 5 Understanding  WAW pp. 61-62: Elizabeth Wardle and Doug
(Oct. 6 academic Downs, “Participating in Conversational Inquiry

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and articles about Writing.” [Required]
Oct.  Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel
18) Durst (2018), They Say I Say: The Moves that
Matter in Academic Writing, 4th Edition.
Norton: New York, pp. 1-29 [Introduction and
Chapter 1]). [Required]
Reading  Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Assignment 2:
academic Durst (2018), They Say I Say: The Moves that Discourse
articles Matter in Academic Writing, 4th Edition. Norton: community
New York, pp. 53-66 [Chapter 4]). [Required] analysis

Week 6 Discourse  WAW pp. 504-506: Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Rough draft
(0ct. 20 communities Downs, “Communities.” [Required] submitted by start
and 25)  WAW pp. 544-559: John Swales, “Reflections of class Oct. 25;
on the Concept of Discourse Community.” peer review
[Required] assignment 2

Week 7 Academic  Familiarize yourself with the resources here: Assignment 2:

(Oct. integrity and https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/academic- Discourse
27 and plagiarism integrity/students community
Nov. 1) analysis

Academic  University of Toronto Writing Advice. “Verbs

writing as for Referring to Sources.” [Required]
conversation

MODULE THREE: HOW DO YOU GET THERE?

(ACADEMIC WRITING & RHETORIC)
Week 8 Rhetoric  WAW pp. 366-368: Elizabeth Wardle and Doug
(Nov. 3 Downs [Required]
and 8)

Week 9 Rhetorical  Wayne Booth, Gregory Colomb, and Joseph

(Nov. situations Williams (2016). The Craft of Research, 4th
10 and edition. University of Chicago Press: Chicago,
15) pp. 110-131 [Chapters 7 and 8]).
[Recommended]
 WAW pp. 396-415: Keith Grant-Davie, “Rhetorical
Situations and Their Constituents” [Recommended]

Hedging  George Mason University hedging document

language  https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/guides/hedges-
softening-claims-in-academic-writing

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Week How writing  WAW pp. 452-472: Margaret Kantz, “Helping Rough draft
10 gets things Students Use Textual Sources Persuasively” submitted by start
(Nov. done [Required] of class Nov. 22;
17 and peer review
22) assignment 3
Metadiscourse  Boba Samuels and Jordana Garbati (2019),
and Mastering academic writing, pp. 77-85.
signposting [Required]
 Rachael Cayley, “Metadiscourse” [Required]
Week Revision  WAW pp. 143-157: Nancy Sommers, “Revision
11 strategies Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced
(Nov. Adult Writers” [Required]
24 and
29) Writing with  George D. Gopen and Judith A. Swan (1990), Assignment 3:
the reader in “The Science of Scientific Writing,” American Genre analysis
mind Scientist 78(6):550-558. [Required]

Review: Becoming an Academic Writer

Week Peer review  Shirley Rose (2015), “All Writers Have More to
12 Learn,” pp. 59-61. Naming What We Know:
(Dec. 1 Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies, eds.
and Adler-Kassner and Wardle. [Required]
Dec. 6)
Review and Final Portfolio
wrap-up

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