Format approved by the Academic Review Board, JGLS

COURSE MANUAL
Writing Workshop

Spring 2022
(AY 2021-22)

Name/s of Faculty

Prof. Lisa Thomas

Prof. Niyati Sharma
Prof. Josey Tom
Prof. Mosarrap Hussain Khan
Prof. Aishwarya Subramanian
Prof. Arup Chatterjee
Prof. Jigisha Bhattacharya
Prof. Vinod Kottayil Kalidasan
Prof. Aishwarya Iyer
Prof. Samudranil Gupta
Prof. Prashant Gupta
Format approved by the Academic Review Board, JGLS

CONTENTS

PART I
General Information………………………………………………………………………………Page

PART II

a. Course
Description…………………………………………………………………………………Page

b. Course Aims……………………………………………………………………………………..Page

c. Intended Leaning Outcomes ……………………………………………………...........Page

d. Grading of Student Achievement………………………………………………….......Page

PART III
a. Keyword Syllabus……………………………………………………………………………Page
b. Course Policies………………………………………………………………………………..Page

PART IV

a. Weekly Course Outline ………………………………………………………….............Page

b. Readings…………………………………………………………………………………………Page
Format approved by the Academic Review Board, JGLS

PART I

General Information
The information provided herein is by the Course Coordinator. The following
information contains the official record of the details of the course.

General Information on Writing Workshop offered by Jindal Global Law

School
of the AY 2021-22 (Spring 2022)

This information shall form part of the University database and may be
uploaded to the KOHA Library system and catalogued and may be distributed
amongst _1st___ year Law students for B.A.LL.B. (Hons), B.B.A.LL.B.
(Hons); B.Com. LL.B. (Hons), B.A. (Hons) Legal Studies, LL.B.; LL.M.
courses if necessary.

Writing
Course worksh
Title: op
Course
Code: L-CA-0013
Course
Duration: One Semester
No. of Credit
Units: 2
BA LLB,
Leve BBA LLB,
l: BComLLB
Medium of
Instruction: English
Format approved by the Academic Review Board, JGLS

PART II

a. Course Description

a. Course Description

This course is aimed at first year undergraduate students as an introduction to critical

reading and writing strategies. The skills of interpretation, analysis and argumentation
are crucial for any disciplinary practice, especially in areas like law. This semester
long course will enable the students to navigate disparate, yet related realms of ideas,
information and language in order to formulate clear and coherent arguments and
articulate them within the conventions of academic writing. Through this 14-week
long course, students will learn how the process of writing is coterminous with deep,
close reading and is actually a way of thinking through and expressing complex
thoughts. Students will be introduced to the essential structural elements of academic
writing including critical and close reading, identifying arguments, building your
arguments and using evidence. The pedagogy of this course is based upon interactive
workshops and expects equal participation in the process of learning from the
students. In-class reading and writing exercises, guided discussions, quizzes, group
work and peer review are some of the methods that this course will rely on, as we
collectively read, write and learn from each other.

b. Course Aims

By the end of the semester the student will be able to:

Identify transition from the descriptive to the abstract/ conceptual or the reverse in
reading and writing.

Learn strategies of reading including close-reading and annotations.

Understand the basic template of academic writing including making a claim and
providing evidence to substantiate the claim.

Build an argument using evidence from texts.

Learn the structure of a paragraph and write a coherent paragraph.

Develop the ability to make a complex argument by making connections between

disparate texts.
Format approved by the Academic Review Board, JGLS

Learn the logic of citing and referencing.

b. Intended Learning Outcomes

Course Intended Weightage Teaching and Assessment

Learning Outcomes Learning Activities Tasks/
Activities
By the end of the course, students
should be able to: Internal
Learn to read critically 50% In-class worksheets, Examinations:
via techniques like close- quizzes, group 50%
reading and annotations. exercises, in-class
Write a coherent 20% writing and reading,
paragraph with a clear peer-review, End Semester
claim and substantiating discussion. Take Home
evidence from the text/s. Examination: 50%
Develop a complex 30%
argument by making
connections between
texts.

c. Grading of Student Achievement1,2

To pass this course, students must obtain a minimum of 40% in the

cumulative aspects of coursework, e.g. moot, and final examination. End of
semester exam will carry 50 marks out of which students have to obtain a
minimum of 15 marks to fulfil the requirement of passing the course.

The details of the grades as well as the criteria for awarding such grades are provided
below.

1 Under extraordinary circumstances, the JGU Academic Council or the JGU Deans’ Council can suspend
Clause D or make it optional. If Clause D is suspended, the policy which will be framed by the School based
on the decision of the said bodies will supersede Clause D. However, whether a situation is extraordinary
or not will be decided by the said bodies only.
2 Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the Office of Academic Affairs may suggest changes/amendments or

suspend certain policies relating to the number of assessments and other examination related policies.
Format approved by the Academic Review Board, JGLS

Letter Percentage Grade Definitions

Grade Of marks
O 80% and above Outstanding Outstanding
work with strong
evidence of
knowledge of the
subject matter,
excellent
organizational
capacity, ability
to synthesize and
critically analyse
and originality in
thinking and
presentation.
A+ 75 to 79.75% Excellent Sound knowledge
of the subject
matter, thorough
understanding of
issues; ability to
synthesize
critically and
analyse
A 70 to 74.75% Good Good
understanding of
the subject
matter, ability to
identify issues
and provide
balanced
solutions to
problems and
good critical and
analytical skills.
A- 65 to 69.75% Adequate Adequate
knowledge of the
subject matter to
go to the next
level of study and
reasonable
critical and
analytical skills.
B+ 60 to 64.75% Marginal Limited
knowledge of the
subject matter,
Format approved by the Academic Review Board, JGLS

irrelevant use of
materials and
poor critical and
analytical skills.
B 55 to 59.75% Poor Poor
comprehension
of the subject
matter; poor
critical and
analytical skills
and marginal use
of the relevant
materials.
B- 50 to 54.75% Pass “Pass” in a pass-
fail course. “P”
indicative of at
least the basic
understanding of
the subject
matter.

NEW COURSE LETTER GRADES AND THEIR INTERPRETATION

Letter Percentage Grade
Interpretation
Grade of Marks Points
Pass 1: Pass with Basic understanding of
P1 45 - 49 2
the subject matter.
Pass 2: Pass with Rudimentary
P2 40 - 44 1
understanding of the subject matter.
Fail: Poor comprehension of the subject
matter; poor critical and analytical skills
F Below 40 0
and marginal use of the relevant materials.
Will require repeating the course.
‘P’ represents the option of choosing
between Pass/Fail grading system over the
CGPA grading system in the COVID 19
P Pass semester in Spring 2020. The option is
provided when students attain a minimum
of 40 percentage marks under the current
grading structure in a given subject.
Extenuating circumstances preventing the
student from completing coursework
assessment, or taking the examination; or
I Incomplete where the Assessment Panel at its
discretion assigns this grade. If
an "I" grade is assigned, the Assessment
Panel will suggest a schedule for the
Format approved by the Academic Review Board, JGLS

NEW COURSE LETTER GRADES AND THEIR INTERPRETATION

Letter Percentage Grade
Interpretation
Grade of Marks Points
completion of work, or a supplementary
examination.

PART III

Course/Class Policies

Cell Phones, Laptops and Similar Gadgets

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism

Learning and knowledge production of any kind is a collaborative process. Collaboration

demands an ethical responsibility to acknowledge who we have learnt from, what we have
learned, and how reading and learning from others have helped us shape our own ideas.
Even our own ideas demand an acknowledgement of the sources and processes through
which those ideas have emerged. Thus, all ideas must be supported by citations. All ideas
borrowed from articles, books, journals, magazines, case laws, statutes, photographs,
films, paintings, etc., in print or online, must be credited with the original source. If the
source or inspiration of your idea is a friend, a casual chat, something that you overheard,
or heard being discussed at a conference or in class, even they must be duly credited. If
you paraphrase or directly quote from a web source in the examination, presentation or
essays, the source must be acknowledged. The university has a framework to deal with
cases of plagiarism. All form of plagiarism will be taken seriously by the University and
prescribed sanctions will be imposed on those who commit plagiarism.

Disability Support and Accommodation Requirements

JGU endeavours to make all its courses accessible to students. In accordance with the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (2016), the JGU Disability Support Committee
(DSC) has identified conditions that could hinder a student’s overall well-being. These
include physical and mobility related difficulties, visual and hearing impairment, mental
health conditions and intellectual/learning difficulties e.g., dyslexia, dyscalculia. Students
with any known disability needing academic and other support are required to register
with the Disability Support Committee (DSC) by following the procedure specified at
https://jgu.edu.in/disability-support-committee/
Format approved by the Academic Review Board, JGLS

Students who need support may register any time during the semester up until a month
before the end semester examination begins. Those students who wish to continue
receiving support from the previous semester, must re-register within the first month of
a semester. Last minute registrations and support might not be possible as sufficient time
is required to make the arrangements for support.

The DSC maintains strict confidentiality about the identity of the student and the nature
of their disability and the same is requested from faculty members and staff as well. The
DSC takes a strong stance against in-class and out-of-class references made about a
student’s disability without their consent and disrespectful comments referring to a
student’s disability.

All general queries are to be addressed to disabilitysupportcommittee@jgu.edu.in

Safe Space Pledge

This course may discuss a range of issues and events that might result in distress for some
students. Discussions in the course might also provoke strong emotional responses. To
make sure that all students collectively benefit from the course, and do not feel disturbed
due to either the content of the course or the conduct of the discussions. Therefore, it is
incumbent upon all within the classroom to pledge to maintain respect towards our peers.
This does not mean that you need to feel restrained about what you feel and what you
want to say. Conversely, this is about creating a safe space where everyone can speak and
learn without inhibitions and fear. This responsibility lies not only with students, but also
with the instructor.

P.S. The course instructor, as part of introducing the course manual, will discuss the scope
of the Safe Space Pledge with the class.

PART IV

a. Weekly Course Outline

Introduction to the Course Manual, the Syllabus, the idea of Academic

Week 1 Reading and Writing, and the Course Readings.

Introduction to different types of academic resources/ resources referred to

Week 2 within academic writing; Introduction to and discussion of Reading #1.

Week 3 Reading Strategies, Close-Reading and Annotation.

Format approved by the Academic Review Board, JGLS

Introduction to strategies of conducting Summary and Analysis;

introduction to analytical summaries; discussing examples of article
Week 4 introductions/ abstracts.

Introduction to and discussion of Reading #2 Due Date of Internal

Assignment #1.
Week 5
Introduction to relevant and credible Evidence; finding evidence from
course-readings; converting text into evidences; quote usage.

Week 6

Introduction to Claims; explaining the difference between opinions and

claims; integrating evidence with Claims; making analytical claims backed
by evidences; introduction to the logic of citations.
Week 7

Building an argument using claims and evidences; introduction to

building and structuring thesis-statements.
Week 8

Structure and logic of an academic article including an introduction with

thesis statements, body-paragraphs, conclusion and bibliography; Due
Date of Internal Assignment #2.
Week 9
Introduction to and discussion of Reading #3; revisiting close-reading,
annotations and evidence.
Week 10
Revisiting arguments and thesis-statements; identifying complex
Week 11 connections between two or more texts in the course-readings
Building complex connections with claims and evidences from two or
more texts; handing out End-Term Assignment Question and Discussions
Week 12 on the answer-requirements.
Introduction to Citation methods and Bibliography; introduction to how to
Week 13 conduct background research on research-themes
Revisiting structure of Academic Articles through the End-Term question;
guided discussions on writing introductions, thesis statements; building
Week 14 complex connections and writing analytical paragraphs.
Revision; discussion and workshop on End-Term questions; clearing of
Week 15 doubts.

b. Readings
b. List of Readings Reading I (Please choose at least one from the following texts as your
Reading I)
Format approved by the Academic Review Board, JGLS

1. Wainaina, Binayavanga. “How to Write about Africa.” Granta 92, May, 2019.
https://granta.com/how-to-write-about-africa/
2. Brennan, Summer. “On High Heels and Lotus Feet.” Granta, online edition, March 13,
2019. https://granta.com/on-high-heels-and-lotus-feet/
3. Kumar Sunil. “Naming.” The Present in Delhi’s Pasts. New Delhi: Three Essays
Collective, 2010.
4. Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi, “The Danger of a Single Story.” TedX Talks, New
York: TED Talks, 2009.
https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_sto ry
5. Carr, Nicholar. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic, August 2008.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-
usstupid/306868/
6. Narby, Jeremy. “Confessions of a White Vampire.” Granta, online edition, February
06, 2019. https://granta.com/confessions-of-a-white-vampire/

7. Miller, Sarah. “The Hockey Sister.” The New Yorker, July 07, 2021.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/the-hockey-sister

Readings II and III (The choices for Readings II and III remain open as long as at least
one of them is an academic, peer-reviewed journal article. However, these texts could
also be chosen from the following list of suggested readings.)

1. Sreenivas, Deepa. “The Muslim Other: Figures of Evil and Charisma from Popular
Visual Culture in India.” Tasveer Ghar, December 2019.
http://www.tasveergharindia.net/essay/muslim-other-visual-india

2. Bienen, Leigh Buchanan. “The Law as Storyteller.” Harvard Law Review, vol. 98, no.
2, 1984, pp. 494–502. JSTOR. www.jstor.org/stable/1340847 Format approved by the
Academic Review Board, JGLS 12
Format approved by the Academic Review Board, JGLS

3. Ghertner, Asher. “Analysis of New Legal Discourse behind Delhi’s Slum

Demolitions.” Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 43, no. 20, 2008, pp. 57-66. JSTOR.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/40277691

4. Basu, Amrita. “The Gendered Imagery and Women's Leadership of Hindu

Nationalism.” Reproductive Health Matters, vol. 4, no. 8, 1996, pp. 70–76, JSTOR.
www.jstor.org/stable/25066117.

5. Chhabra, Meenakshi. “Memory Practices in History Education about the 1947 British
India Partition: Opportunities and Challenges to Breaching Hegemonic Remembering.”
Journal of Educational Media, Memory & Society, vol. 7, no. 2, 2015, pp. 10–28.

6. Mollet, Tracey Louise. “Animation at War: Disney, Warner Brothers and Wartime
Entertainment 1941-5.” Cartoons in Hard Times, 143-176. New York: Bloomsbury
Academic, 2017.

7. Chakraborty, Runa and Sarunas Paunksnins. “Masculine Anxiety in the Films of

Anurag Kashyap.” Tasveer Ghar, October, 2018.
http://www.tasveergharindia.net/essay/masculine-anxiety-anurag-kashyap.html

8. Hitt, Jack. “Dinosaur Dreams: Reading the Bones of America's Psychic Mascot.”
Harper’s Magazine, 2001. https://harpers.org/archive/2001/10/dinosaur-dreams/

9. Ramaswamy, Sumathi. “Maps and Mother Goddesses in Modern India.” Imago Mundi,
vol. 53, 2001, pp. 97-114, JSTOR. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1151561

10. Rezakhanlou, Kiana. “Language and Nationalism.” Babel: The Language Magazine.
November 2018.
Format approved by the Academic Review Board, JGLS

11. Sarkar, Tanika. “How the Sangh Parivar Writes and Teaches History.” Majoritarian
State, ed. Angana Chatterjee, Thomas Blom Hansen and Christophe Jaffrelot, pp. 151-
172. New York: Oxford UP, 2019.

12. Martin, Emily. “The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Has Constructed a Romance
Based on Stereotypical Male Female Roles.” Signs, vol. 16, no. 3, 1991, pp. 485-501.
https://web.stanford.edu/~eckert/PDF/Martin1991.pdf Format approved by the Academic
Review Board, JGLS .

13 c. Details of Internal Assessments:

There would be a maximum of two (02) Internal Assessments in this course, each
carrying 25 marks. Internal I would be an essay of 800-1000 words; Internal II would be
an essay of 1200-150o words. The option to scale up either of the Internal Assessments
would be in accordance with the “Academic Action Plan for Spring semester 2022” if the
respective faculty is content with the student(s) meeting the intended learning outcomes
of the course.

Circulation Date for Internal I: TBA by individual faculty instructors for their respective
sections.
Deadline for Internal I: TBA by individual faculty instructors for their respective
sections.

Circulation Date for Internal II: TBA by individual faculty instructors for their respective
sections.

Deadline for Internal II: TBA by individual faculty instructors for their respective
sections.

c. Details of End-Term Assessments

There would be an End-Term Assessment of 50 marks in this course. The Assessment
would require the students to write an analytical essay of 1800-2000 words with an
Format approved by the Academic Review Board, JGLS

introduction (with a thesis statement), at least three body paragraphs and a conclusion.
Circulation Date for End-Term Assessment: TBA by individual faculty instructors for
their respective sections.