COURSE SYLLABUS

COURSE TITLE: College Composition TERM & YEAR: Fall 2022

COURSE & SECTION NUMBERS: COURSE MEETING TIMES: MWF

ENG 143 — Sections 03 & 04 S03: 11am – 11:50am | S04: 12pm — 12:50pm

NUMBER OF CREDIT HOURS: 3-0-3 COURSE LOCATION: SDI 207

INSTRUCTOR: Prof. Brendan Allen OFFICE LOCATION: Taylor 212

OFFICE PHONE: (260) 665-4342 OFFICE HOURS:

M: 9:30-10:30am | T: 9:30-10:30am & 3:30-5pm
EMAIL: allenb@trine.edu W: 9:30-10:30am & 3-5pm
TR: 9:30-10:30am & 3:30-5pm | F: 9:30-10:30am

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COURSE DESCRIPTION: Intensive training in methods of exposition and research leading to the ability to write
coherent, clear, and persuasive essays. This course focuses on the process of writing, which includes revision and editing
of the equivalent of at least 20 pages of prose (approximately 5,000 words).

PREREQUISITES: Adequate SAT verbal score or ACT English score, class rank, and high school G. P. A., or
successful completion of ENG 1003.

REQUIRED TEXTS: All course texts will be available for free online, either through the “Course Readings” tab of our
Moodle page or via Trine Library’s access to online scholarly journals. Several of our course texts are academic articles
published in the scholarly journal College Composition and Communication. Trine's Library provides us with online
access to this journal — if you have difficulty accessing these articles, please let me know.

Please ensure that you bring physical or digital copies of our readings to class when pertinent (see class schedule).

OTHER MATERIALS:
1. A dedicated class notebook for in-class writing.
2. A dedicated folder on your computer for course documents.
a. An online location for storing backups of your files, such as Google Drive or OneDrive.
3. A word processing program of your choice, such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs.
a. Your choice of program must allow you to save/download files as .doc or .docx files.
4. Regular access to Moodle, Trine email, and the internet.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Upon completion of this course, the student should be able to:
1. Analyze the rhetorical and stylistic features of writing for academic and non-academic audiences
2. Employ the rhetorical and stylistic features of writing for academic and non-academic audiences
3. Successfully engage in the research process including finding, synthesizing, and citing sources
4. Produce rhetorically persuasive texts both multimodal and written

COURSE CONTENT & PHILOSOPHY:

You may be entering this class expecting to learn the true definition of “good” writing. However, the guiding theory of
this course is that “good” writing is always subjectively defined. What may seem like an effective argument to one
reader, in one environment, will not always carry forth to other readers, in other environments. As such, this class is one
of strategically recognizing and responding to contexts, environments, and relationships as we write. This also
means that we won’t pursue diagramming sentences, hammer down on obscure grammar rules, or claim that there’s only
“one true way” to write effectively.
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This is a class in which—in regard to our writing practices—there are frequently no objectively right or wrong answers,
only claims backed up with varying amounts of evidence. Writing is, first and foremost, a means of communication
between parties, each of whom possess their own social, historical, and cultural contexts of writing and rhetoric.

Within the specific context of English 143, we will be studying and enacting “academic” writing. Generally
speaking, academic writing consists of developing claims, locating evidence, and presenting that evidence with rhetorical
fluency. However, we will also work to develop our own understandings of what “effective” evidence actually looks like,
as well as the practices (and biases) of “rhetorical fluency.”

English 143 is also designed to provide you with a strong foundation of general academic skills that will transfer to your
future studies at Trine. Ideally, this course will help prepare you for the shifting and contextual expectations that you will
encounter in future courses.

In terms of reading materials, we’ll focus on how written communication is employed and studied in a wide variety of
environments and contexts. Here are just a few examples from our upcoming readings:
 How restaurant workers use complex communication strategies in fast-paced social environments.
 Why one professor might treat a particular writing error as deeply serious while another professor ignores it.
 When publicly broadcasted profanity is treated as a civically important gesture.
 And more!

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Attendance & Participation 10%

Essay #1: Analysis of a Source 15%

Essay #2: Analysis of a Topic 15%

Essay #3: Argumentative Research Essay 20%

Critical Reflection Essay 15%

Final Portfolio 25%

Total Grade 100%

ATTENDANCE/PARTICIPATION:
I will take attendance daily. Our course features a range of in-person discussions and exercises, and the experience of all
students will benefit greatly from our collective and consistent attendance and participation. While some absences are
unavoidable (life happens!), missing classes frequently will prevent you from participating in our class activities—and
likely reduce your overall enjoyment of the course. If you need to miss class, please let me know ahead of time if possible
—that way I can plan around your absence and keep you in the loop.

In our class, there are two different types of absences to consider: Excused absences and unexcused absences.

1. Excused absences (documented as possible): Excused absences will not impact your attendance grade. These
absences include serious illnesses, disabling injuries, and/or death or illness in family. Participation in University-
sponsored activities such as sporting events or field trips also count as excused absences. As possible, please email
me directly and provide documentation of these absences (such as a doctor’s note or notification from your coach).
NOTE: Even if your coach will be emailing me a notification of a sporting event, please still email me
directly to ensure I mark your absence as excused.

2. Unexcused absences (limit of five): Unexcused absences cover the various scenarios that occur over the semester
that may not “count” as an excused absence but still make attending class difficult. Here are some examples:
oversleeping and missing class, feeling generally unwell but not fully “sick,” leaving campus early to visit family,
car breakdowns, etc. These absences do not require documentation, though it is helpful if you email me ahead of
time to let me know. I provide all students with a limit of five unexcused absences to use as needed—no need to
provide me an explanation. However, missing more than five unexcused absences will render you unable to

© 2022 TRINE University

 pass this course.

Trine University COVID-19 Attendance Policies:

 Students who are placed in COVID-related quarantine or isolation by the University will be able to attend their
class virtually via Zoom.
 For all other absences, both excused and unexcused, students are expected to communicate with their instructor
to determine the appropriate course of action.
 Due to the ongoing severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and highly infectious nature of the disease, all students
who feel ill should contact the Health Center immediately, and to contact their instructor for guidance.  

ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTIONS AND GRADING:

The following short descriptions outline the scope, content, and grading of our major assignments. Further in-depth
descriptions will be provided through individual assignment prompts throughout the semester.

- Attendance and Participation (10%):

o Each of our class periods will include work that greatly benefits from everyone’s in-person attendance.
This includes small and large group discussions, in-class writing exercises, peer reviews, presentations,
and more. I will take attendance daily and take note of student participation in class. Each day that you
are present in class will earn you a point for your Attendance and Participation grade.
o Weekly Writing Exercises: I will also assign a short weekly writing exercise each week related to our
course readings and/or particular writing strategies. These assignments will also count toward your final
Attendance and Participation grade.

- Essay #1: Analysis of a Source (15%)

o Essay #1 asks you to analyze the rhetorical strategies used by an author of one of our early course
readings through writing a 3-5 page essay. Successful essays will discuss the author’s intended
audience, the writing strategies used by the author to speak to his or her audience, and the surrounding
social contexts that inform how and why the author uses those particular strategies. We’ll discuss and
define “rhetorical strategies” in further detail early in the semester.

- Essay #2: Analysis of a Topic (15%)

o Essay #2 asks you to widen your focus to analyze multiple authors and texts that are centered around a
similar topic through writing a 3-5 page essay. Successful essays will analyze how the claims,
evidence, and rhetorical strategies of each author can be seen in a “conversation” with each other—how
does one author extend and/or complicate the work of another? This assignment will also include
independent research.

- Essay #3: Argumentative Research Essay (20%)

o Essay #3 asks you to use your writing, analysis, and research skills in order to develop a 5-7 page
research essay, centered on an argument of your own regarding writing, rhetoric, and language use in
specific social context. Successful essays will extend and complicate lessons, theories, and arguments
we’ve encountered earlier in the course as well as include cited evidence from reputable sources to
support the essay’s claims.

- Critical Reflection Essay (15%)

o Near the end of the semester, the Critical Reflection Essay (3-5 pages) will ask you to read and reflect
upon the decisions, writing strategies, and revisions that you used to compose your previous three
essays. This assignment asks you to analyze your own writing through citing specific passages of your
previous work and explaining how and why you made your previous composition decisions. Successful
essays will demonstrate reflective awareness of your decisions in regard to rhetorical strategies,
audience, and social context.

- Final Portfolio (25%)

o At the end of the semester, I will ask you to gather revised, final copies of your prior work (Essays #1,
#2, #3, and the Critical Reflection Essay) and compile them into a single final portfolio. Successful
portfolios will incorporate peer and instructor feedback into revisions for every essay, as well as explain
how those revisions were specifically implemented with an introduction to the portfolio.

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 - Grading System: I use a standard Trine University grading system, as follows:
100% – 90% A
89.9% – 86.6% B+
86.5% – 80.0 % B
79.9% – 76.6 %C+
76.5 % – 70.0% C
69.9% – 66.6% D+
66.5% – 60.0% D
59.9 % – 0 F

REVISIONS:
Academic writing is a difficult task to new and experienced writers alike. It involves grappling with complex (sometimes
contradictory!) thoughts and effectively communicating your interpretations to others. This process always benefits from
revision. When you submit one of our major writing assignments, I will provide you with detailed written feedback. I
encourage you to take up my feedback, revise your work, and resubmit for a revised grade later the semester.
Note: the final deadline for submitting revised copies of your work is Friday, December 2nd.

LATE WORK:
Assignments submitted after their due date will be read and graded—however, I will not provide detailed written
feedback. In order to receive feedback on late work, you will need to speak with me directly in office hours. In general,
submitting partial or unfinished work on time is better than submitting nothing at all.

OTHER POLICIES:

CODE OF CONDUCT:
Our discussions and writing must remain respectful and sensitive to all cultures, creeds, and social experiences that are
not our own. We must therefore always aim to not speak over the voices of others nor speak over cultural or social
experiences that are not our own. Whether on the page or in person—racism, sexism, and other harmful language will not
be tolerated.

WRITING CENTER:
The Trine Writing Center supports student writing by working on specific assignments and by improving the writing
skills of students. Students work with peer consultants during any stage of writing, whether it is coming up with ideas,
organizing those thoughts, or putting the final touches on an essay. They have online appointments available throughout
the semester, and I am always happy to assist you in setting up an initial consultation appointment.

ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT:
Adapted from the Trine University Student Handbook. See “Academic Misconduct,” p. 9.
The University prohibits all forms of academic misconduct. Academic misconduct refers to dishonesty in examinations
(cheating), presenting the ideas or the writing of someone else as one’s own (plagiarism) or knowingly furnishing false
information to the University by forgery, alteration, or misuse of University documents, records, or identification.
Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, the following examples: permitting another student to plagiarize or
cheat from one’s own work, submitting an academic exercise (written work, printing, design, computer program) that has
been prepared totally or in part by another, acquiring improper knowledge of the contents of an exam, using unauthorized
material during an exam, submitting the same paper in two different courses without knowledge and consent of
professors, or submitting a forged grade change slip or computer tampering. The faculty member has the authority to
grant a failing grade in cases of academic misconduct as well as referring the case to Student Life.

PLAGIARISM:
Adapted from the Trine University Student Handbook. See: “Community Standards,” p. 18-19.
You are expected to submit your own work and to identify any portion of work that has been borrowed from others in any
form. An ignorant act of plagiarism on final versions and minor projects, such as attributing or citing inadequately, will be
considered a failure to master an essential course skill and will result in an F for that assignment. A deliberate act of
plagiarism, such as having someone else do your work, or submitting someone else’s work as your own (e.g., from the
Internet, fraternity file, etc., including homework and in-class exercises), will at least result in an F for that assignment
and could result in an F for the course. Please note that submitting the same paper in two different courses without
knowledge and consent of both professors is considered academic misconduct by the university.

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ELECTRONIC DEVICES:
Here’s the deal—we’ll be using electronic devices to do a lot of reading, writing, and researching in this class. My only
request is that while you are within our classroom all of your device usage is for the purpose of our class activities. In the
event that I recognize problematic device usage, I will have an individual conversation with you to determine a remedy.

COURSE SCHEDULE:
This calendar is tentative. Changes will be announced in class and on Moodle.
Note: Please have read and annotated assigned readings before the class period for which they are listed.

Color Guide:
Blue: Complete assigned reading for this day
Red: Major essay due this day
Green: Conferences scheduled this day

Week 1
Mon Aug 22 Introductions, Syllabus
What is “good” writing?
Wed Aug 24 • Wardle and Adler-Kassner, “Metaconcept: Writing is an Activity and a Subject of Study”
• Roozen, “Writing is a Social and Rhetorical Activity”
Fri Aug 26 • Estrem, “Writing is a Knowledge-Making Activity”
• Lunsford, “Writing Addresses, Invokes, and/or Creates Audiences”
Weekly Writing Exercise Due @ 11:59pm
Week 2
Mon Aug 29 • Downs, “Rhetoric: Making Sense of Human Interaction and Meaning-Making”
• Lunsford, “Writing is Performative”
Wed Aug 31 Discussion & Writing

Fri Sept 2 Weekly Writing Exercise Due @ 11:59pm

Week 3
Mon Sept 5 NO CLASS – LABOR DAY

Wed Sept 7 • Mirabelli, “Learning to Serve: The Language and Literacy of Food Service Workers”
• Dryer, “Words Get Their Meanings from Other Words”
Fri Sept 9 Discussion & Writing
Weekly Writing Exercise Due @ 11:59pm
Week 4
Mon Sept 12 • Villanueva, “Excerpt from Bootstraps”
• Scott and Inoue, “Assessing Writing Shapes Contexts and Instruction”
Wed Sept 14 Discussion & Writing

Fri Sept 16 Weekly Writing Exercise Due @ 11:59pm

Week 5
Mon Sept 19 • Porter, “Intertextuality and the Discourse Community”
• Roozen, “Texts Get Their Meaning From Other Texts”
Wed Sept 21 Discussion & Writing
Watch in class: Zhou and Ramos, “Buster Keaton—The Art of the Gag.”
Fri Sept 23 Essay #1 — Analysis of a Source — Due @ 11:59pm
No Weekly Writing Exercise Due
Week 6
Mon Sept 26 • Butler, “Integral Captions and Subtitles: Designing a Space for Embodied Rhetorics and Visual
Access”
Watch in class: Gallaudet: The Film.
Wed Sept 28 Introduction to Research Methods & Scholarly Journals
Watch in class: Zhou and Ramos, “A Brief Look at Texting and the Internet in Film.”
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Fri Sept 30 In-class research exercise
Weekly Writing Exercise Due @ 11:59pm
Week 7
Mon Oct 3 CONFERENCES

Wed Oct 5 CONFERENCES

Fri Oct 7 CONFERENCES

Weekly Writing Exercise Due @ 11:59pm
Week 8
Mon Oct 10 • Dobele and Veer, “My Best Writing Space: Understanding Academics Self-Professed Writing
Spaces”
Wed Oct 12 Discussion & Writing

Fri Oct 14 Weekly Writing Exercise Due @ 11:59pm

Week 9
Mon Oct 17 NO CLASS – FALL BREAK

Wed Oct 19 • Pigg, “Emplacing Mobile Composing Habits: A Study of Academic Writing in Networked
Social Spaces
Fri Oct 21 Essay #2 — Analysis of a Topic — Due @ 11:59pm
No Weekly Writing Exercise Due
Week 10
Mon Oct 24 • Jordan, “Profanity From the Heart as Exceptional Civic Rhetoric”
• Matsuda, “Writing Involves the Negotiation of Language Differences”
Wed Oct 26 Discussion & Writing

Fri Oct 28 Weekly Writing Exercise Due @ 11:59pm

Week 11
Mon Oct 31 • Young, “‘Nah, We Straight”: An Argument Against Code Switching

Wed Nov 2 Discussion & Writing

Fri Nov 4 Weekly Writing Exercise Due @ 11:59pm

Week 12
Mon Nov 7 CONFERENCES

Wed Nov 9 CONFERENCES

Fri Nov 11 CONFERENCES

Weekly Writing Exercise Due @ 11:59pm
Week 13
Mon Nov 14 Essay #3 — Argumentative Research Essay — Due @ 11:59pm

Wed Nov 16 Peer Review Day 1 - Bring hard copies of Essay #3 draft to class
Fri Nov 18 Peer Review Day 2 - Bring hard copies of Essay #3 draft to class
No Weekly Writing Exercise Due
Week 14
Mon Nov 21 • [Reading to be determined by class interest]

Wed Nov 23 NO CLASS – THANKSGIVING BREAK

Fri Nov 25 NO CLASS – THANKSGIVING BREAK

Weekly Writing Exercise Due @ 11:59pm
Week 15
Mon Nov 28 • [Reading to be determined by class interest]

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Wed Nov 30 Discussion & Writing

Fri Dec 2 Critical Reflection Due @ 11:59pm

No Weekly Writing Exercise Due
Week 16
Mon Dec 5 • [Reading to be determined by class interest]

Wed Dec 7 Discussion & Writing

Course Evaluations
Fri Dec 9 Final workday, portfolio check-over
Weekly Writing Exercise Due @ 11:59pm
Week 17 – FINALS WEEK
Wed Dec 14 Final Portfolio Due @ 11:59pm

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