Freshman Composition Syllabus
Below is a syllabus for a Florida State University freshman composition writing course that was given during summer. Either copy/paste the document into a word doc and save it to your desktop, or read the entire document within this blog and then answer the questions written in red in a thoughtful manner by using evidence from the document and your new-found understanding of the AP exam. Do Not Post Your Response. Email it to: aplangkhs@gmail.com. Identify your class period and your first and last name within the Subject section of the email like this: Per. 3 Jack Johnson
Freshman English Composition Course Syllabus
ENC 1101.17 Investigating Communities: How We See Ourselves and Others
Summer Session C, 2008
11-12:15 M-F Williams 217
Instructor: Lucy Littler
Office: Williams 329
Office Hours: Tuesdays 2-4pm, Thursdays 2-4
Email: clr07d@fsu.edu
First Year Composition Mission Statement
First-Year Writing courses at FSU teach writing as a recursive and frequently collaborative process of invention, drafting, and revising. Writing is both personal and social, and students should learn how to write for a variety of purposes and audiences. Since writing is a process of making meaning as well as communicating, FYW teachers respond to the content of students' writing as well as to surface errors. Students should expect frequent written and oral response on the content of their writing from both teacher and peers. Classes rely heavily on a workshop format. Instruction emphasizes the connection between writing, reading, and critical thinking; students should give thoughtful, reasoned responses to the readings. Both reading and writing are the subjects of class discussions and workshops, and students are expected to be active participants of the classroom community. Learning from each other will be a large part of the classroom experience. If you would like further information regarding the First-Year Composition Program, feel free to contact the program director, Dr. Deborah Coxwell-Teague at dteague@fsu.edu.
Our Course Goals
This course will help you to grow as a writer and a critical thinker by encouraging you to investigate and to write about communities that have played a role in shaping you as an individual. In addition to looking closely at yourself, you will take a close look at others within the communities around you and study larger communities you currently participate in or hope to join.
This course aims to help you improve your writing and communication skills in all areas: discovering what you have to say, organizing your thoughts for a variety of audiences, and improving fluency and rhetorical sophistication. You will write and revise three papers, give an oral presentation, write sustained exploratory journals (both in and out of class), work directly with an audience of your peers to practice critical reading and response, and learn many new writing techniques.
We will begin the semester with Paper #1 which asks you to examine your own literacy history and how you see yourself as a member of the writing/reading community. From there you will use community as the lens with which to examine and write about someone else in Paper #2, and then in Paper #3, you will examine a larger community you are currently a member of or one you think you would like to join. To conclude our course, we will focus briefly on oral communication as each student will organize and present his/her favorite paper from the term to the class. You will not read your paper to the class, but you will convey what about the process of writing the paper was most enjoyable, challenging, memorable, etc.
Required Materials:
On Writing 3rd Edition, FSU Edition (Bishop 2008)
The New McGraw-Hill Handbook (Maimon, Pertiz, Yancy, 2007
Our Own Words available at http://english3.fsu.edu/writing/oow
Access to a Computer (the university provides a number of computer labs)
Electronic Storage device (flash/thumb drive, disk, etc) for use in and out of class
Requirements of Course
All of the formal written assignments below must be turned in to me in order to pass the course. Attendance is also a requirement. More than four absences in a 6 week course is grounds for failure. Three "tardies" will constitute an absence.
Three papers, edited and polished
Oral presentation
Multiple drafts and revisions of each of the three formal papers
Exploratory journals, some in-class & some out-of-class
Two individual conferences
Thoughtful, active, and responsible participation and citizenship, including discussion, preparation for class, in- and out-of-class informal writing
Check email and course Blackboard site daily
Evaluation
Rough drafts will be graded on completeness and potential—not on editing, coherence, or other mechanical issues. If you miss a scheduled workshop or show up to a workshop without a complete and thoughtful draft (or the requested number of copies, etc), your final paper grade will be lowered by 1/3 (this means a final paper that would normally be a B would become a B- if you missed one workshop, a C+ if you missed two workshops, etc. Please note that showing up without a draft, without a draft that addresses the given assignment, without having posted your draft on Blackboard, or without bringing the required number of copies of your draft all carry the same penalty as missing the workshop altogether. No exceptions. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO LISTEN TO/CHECK BLACKBOARD FOR DIRECTIONS AND COME PREPARED TO ALL CLASS MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS.)
Final papers will be graded on audience-awareness, organization, thoughtfulness, and editing. Each final paper will be handed in with a packet of required materials (rough drafts, process writing, etc).
If you fail to hand in a final paper on time or with the necessary required materials, your final paper grade for that assignment will be lowered by a full letter grade. All other written and oral work (quizzes, journals, presentations, etc) will be graded on meaning or content and appropriateness to the assignment.
Paper 1—Personal Exploration: How You See Yourself as a Writer (20%)
Paper 2—How You See Another: Community Member Profile (30%)
Paper 3—Featured Article: How You See Yourself and Others within a Community (30%)
Oral Presentation—Writing Process: Your Favorite Paper from our Course (10%)
Journals—Writing activities, in and out of class (10%)
ALL FORMAL PAPERS AND THEIR DRAFTS MUST BE COMPLETED AND TURNED IN TO EARN A PASSING GRADE IN THIS COURSE.
Attendance
I keep strict attendance and will adhere to the First-Year Writing rule that an excess of four absences in a 6 week class [that's the equivalent of 20% of this course] is grounds for failure. You should always inform me, ahead of time when possible, about why you miss class, but letting me know you will be out of town or that you don’t feel well, etc. does not "excuse" the absence. All absences, no matter what the reason, count toward the total number. Save your absences for when you get sick (it will happen, trust me) or for family emergencies. If you are late to class (and/or conference) three times, it will be counted as an absence. Not showing up for a conference counts as an absence as well.
Please keep in mind that attendance in this course means being here both physically
and mentally. Sleeping, not participating, or detracting from the progress of the class is grounds being asked to leave for the remainder of the class meeting and counted absent for the day.
Drafts and Workshops
FSU believes that writing is an on-going process that includes stages of invention, drafting, revision, and editing. These stages don’t always happen in a set order, nor do they necessarily happen only once during any given writing task. To encourage this process-approach to writing, each paper in ENC 1101 will consist of several drafts. These drafts will be due on designated workshop days—days on which you will be expected not only to receive feedback on your own work but also to generate feedback on the work of your peers.
You are required not only to attend workshops with a completed and thoughtful draft, but you are also expected to contribute to the workshop by giving your peers’ drafts your full attention and offering them honest, helpful criticism.
You should submit your draft to our online Blackboard site (please use .rtf format) well in advance of class time so you will be prepared to share your work as soon as class begins. Sometimes you will be expected (you will have ample time to prepare) to bring one or more hard copies of your draft to class.
I will take up drafts at various times during the course and provide written and/or oral feedback. I will not tell you what to do because your writing should be a reflection of your choices as a writer--I will offer suggestions by discussion with you how your work has affected or reached me as a reader. I will act as a "sounding board" on which you can flesh out your ideas and bring your intentions as a writer to fruition from the initial invention stages of an assignment all the way to editing and polishing your final drafts.
For more information on this approach to teaching composition, please see Brannon and Knoblauch’s "On Student’s Rights to Their Own Texts: A Model of Teacher Response"
Please see the
Evaluation section of this course information sheet for the penalties associated with missing a workshop or coming to a workshop unprepared.
Journals
Each week, we will engage in a number of journal assignments. Some of these assignments will be completed in class, others will require that you spend some time reading, reflecting, and writing outside of designated class meeting time.
First-Year Composition Course Drop Policy
This course is NOT eligible to be dropped in accordance with the "Drop Policy" adopted by the Faculty Senate in the spring of 2004. The Undergraduate Studies Dean will not consider drop requests for a First-Year Composition course unless there are extraordinary and extenuating circumstances utterly beyond the student's control (e.g.:death of a parent or sibling, illness requiring hospitalization, etc.). The Faculty Senate specifically eliminated First-Year Composition courses from the University Drop Policy because of the overriding requirement that First-Year Composition be completed during students' initial enrollment at FSU.
Reading/Writing Center
The RWC offers one-on-one help for students with their writing, whether they need help with a writing problem, understanding what their teacher wants, or just want to do better on their writing assignments. The Center is staffed by teaching assistants who are trained in writing and teaching. Make an appointment by calling ahead (644-6495) or stopping in (222-C WMS). The Writing Center is open 9:00-4:30 Monday-Friday. Online tutoring is also available. The Center is a great asset; please take advantage of it.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is grounds for suspension from the university as well as for failure in this course. It will not be tolerated. Any instance of plagiarism must be reported to the Director of First-Year Writing and the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Plagiarism is a counterproductive, non-writing behavior that is unacceptable in a course intended to aid the growth of individual writers. Plagiarism is included among the violations defined in the Academic Honor Code, section b), paragraph 2, as follows: "Regarding academic assignments, violations of the Academic Honor Code shall include representing another's work or any part thereof, be it published or unpublished, as one's own." A plagiarism education assignment that further explains this issue will be administered in all first-year writing courses during the second week of class. Each student will be responsible for completing the assignment and asking questions regarding any parts they do not fully understand.
Gordon Rule
Successful completion of all writings in this course and a final course grade of C- or better will allow you to satisfy the Gordon Rule requirement. The University requires you to write 7,000 words, but you will be writing much more than that in any FYW course.
American Disability Act
Students with disabilities needing academic accommodations should in the FIRST WEEK OF CLASS 1) register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) and 2) bring a letter to the instructor from SDRC indicating the need for academic accommodations. This and all other class materials are available in alternative format upon request.
Description of Paper Assignments
(These descriptions are subject to modification as I see fit)
Personal Exploration: How You See Yourself as a Writer (20%)
This essay should explore the aspects of what makes you who you are as a writer. As a person, and as a member of your larger communities, what has shaped you as a writer, and a student of writing, to this point? Who has influenced your attitudes and perceptions toward reading, writing and academic education? What decisions or events in your life have determined your literacy? How did you become the writer you are today?
For this essay, explore all of these questions by considering and reflecting on your past experiences with reading and writing. Think of the communities you belong to (home, school, hobbies, social groups, etc.) and how those communities have contributed to your evolution into the literate person you are today. You may choose to focus on a turning point, such as a time when a teacher influenced you, the first great book you read that introduced you to the joys of literature, or the influence of a friend or family member on some aspect of your literacy history. Or you may choose to focus on a practice you have developed, or an experience related to your literacy that has impacted you. Your focus might be positive or negative—you may relate a struggle connected to reading or writing (perhaps it was never something you liked), or you may want to discuss a discovery you made (perhaps you enjoy a particular genre of literature) that changed your perspective.
Whatever your focus, this essay should contain a significant amount of analysis and interpretation of what has shaped you. Tell your story in this essay, but move beyond narration to reflect upon and articulate why and how the experience(s) was(were) significant for you. How were you shaped as a person and within your larger communities by this experience/event/discovery? The essay should provide a level of detail, through example, anecdote and explanation, which enables a reader to relate to your experience and to understand your perspective. It should provide significant insight into what or who has made/makes you who you are as a writer, reader, student and person of your world.
The various drafting stages of this assignment will ask you to focus on using sensory detail and description, using dialogue, and taking risks through radical revision.
The final draft will be 5-7 typed, double-spaced pages. You will use 12 point Times New Roman font, 1 inch margins, MLA Style headings and page set-up.
Paper Two – Community Member Profile: How We See Another
As our class is focused on community, this essay asks you to examine a community in relation to one of its members. Before you start work on this paper, you will want to consider what a community is, how it functions, what traits its members have, and why this community exists.
In your first paper, you wrote about yourself; now, you are being asked to closely examine another person and write a profile. Unlike a biography that catalogs the major events in a person’s life, a profile looks at a person through a specific lens. The lens you choose dictates which traits and experiences will be highlighted. A profile based on a person’s job will look very different than a profile looking at someone’s childhood.
You will use community as the lens with which to examine someone. Choose someone to profile whom you think belongs to an interesting community or whose relationship with that community tells a lot about the person. There are any number of opportunities to find a unique view of this person through his/her involvement with a community—you may choose generation, culture, profession, etc.
You will want to explore both the community and the person. In what ways does this person interact with this community? What traits do all members of the community possess? How does this person reflect this community? How would this person be different if he/she didn’t interact with this community?
In order to discover the answers to these questions, you will want to interview this person (maybe more than once). The interview(s) will allow you to integrate direct quotations into your paper.
Here are a few examples to keep in mind:
Maria is from Cuba and extremely religious. A profile could examine how religion, especially aspects of Cuban Catholicism, helped her when she immigrated to the U.S.
Bruce is a civil engineer. He is obsessed with structural safety and has spent 20 years traveling around the country examining structures. His profile could focus on how his career has influenced his hobbies, lifestyle, and thought processes.
Susan was born in the 50s and grew up during Vietnam. She saw a picture in a magazine of a girl in Vietnam running from a bomb. Her profile could center on her loss of innocence during that era, an era when it is often argued our nation lost her innocence as well.
Your essay will most likely include description, narration, analysis, and reflection; it is up to you to decide how these will all be integrated. You will not merely describe the person and his/her community, but you will analyze the relationship between the person and the community, paying special attention to why this relationship deserves to be explored in a profile. Why is looking at this person in this light particularly interesting, important, or insightful?
The various drafting stages of this assignment will ask you to focus on thoughtful representation of your subject matter, your audience’s perspective, description, analysis, and using interviews as source material.
The final draft will be 5-7 typed, double-spaced pages. You will use 12 point Times New Roman font, 1 inch margins, MLA Style headings and page set-up.
Paper Three –Feature Article: How We See Ourselves and Others Within a Community
We began the semester by looking at ourselves and what shaped us in a community of readers and writers. Next we interviewed another person and examined a community in relation to one of its members. Now we will examine a larger community we are currently a member of or one we think we would like to join. We will expand our writing lens to include a much larger, broader focus that will now cover a more expansive community.
You will research your topic with the intent of publishing your essay as a feature article for a college magazine. You will inform and describe some of the important ideas behind your academic or professional goals for people who might want to pursue the same avenue. Some questions you might consider: What is my academic or professional goal? What kind of knowledge do I need to understand this goal better? What types of classes will I need to take? What characteristics do I need in order to successfully obtain these goals? What are the societal stereotypes that I might need to overcome? How will these stereotypes affect me? In order to answer these questions, you will need to interview people in your field in academia or working professionals.
You will also need to examine questions about yourself: Why do I have these goals? Where do they stem from? Am I secure and/or comfortable with my goals? Do they fit with what I want to do with my life? How do I know this for sure (reflect and research)? What do I know about myself that will be conducive for this field? What stereotypes might I need to overcome to succeed?
Finally, you will need to reflect and respond: What did I already know and what did I learn as a result of my research?
The various drafting stages of this assignment will ask you to focus on thoughtful representation of your subject matter, your audience’s perspective, description, analysis, and using various types of source material (interview, ethnography, periodicals, the web, etc).
The final draft will be 5-7 typed, double-spaced pages. You will use 12 point Times New Roman font, 1 inch margins, MLA Style headings and page set-up.
Description of Oral Presentation
During the final days of our course, each student will share with the rest of the class what he or she has learned about his or her personal writing process through an analysis of his or her favorite paper from our course.
Using your favorite paper (and any writing or materials you used while developing that paper) from our course, you should analyze and explain to your peers in an organized oral presentation what you have discovered about your writing process. What helps you write? What gets in your way? What do you like or dislike about your writing and why? How does this particular paper illustrate your process, or what you would like your process to be? What will you take from this paper with you into future writing situations?
Though you should cite your own writing (such as drafts, journals, process letters, etc) in your presentation to illustrate your points, you should not plan to simply read your paper to the class. The purpose of this oral presentation is not to summarize the paper itself but to help you analyze and share what discoveries you made during the writing of this particular paper that you feel were valuable to you in some way. This assignment will serve as a bridge between ENC 1101 and whatever courses and writing experiences await you in the future as it encourages you to recognize and examine what works (and what doesn’t work) for you as a writer.
Your oral presentation will be between 4 and 5 minutes long and it will include a visual aid. You must be present and attentive for all presentations in order to get credit for your own.
Tentative Schedule
(All readings, assignments, and due dates are subject to change. Check Blackboard DAILY for updates.)
Week 1
Monday, June 30th
Syllabus, ENC 1101 Expectations?
Read "What Goes on in First Year Writing" by Devan Cook, Our Own Words 1998-99 Edition http://english3.fsu.edu/writing/?q=node/444
Section 2A in The New McGraw Hill (p 21-23)
Tuesday, July 1st
Discussion: What are your expectations for ENC 1101? College writing in general? Writing beyond college? How does Cook’s text affect what you think/expect?
What is process writing?
Introductions
Read Paule Marshall’s "The Poets in the Kitchen," Amy Tan’s "Mother Tongue" and the Introduction to Chapter 2 in On Writing
Section 11 in The New McGraw Hill (p 237-241)
Wednesday, July 2nd
Introducing Paper 1
Discussion: How has language affected Marshall’s life? How has language affected Tan’s life? How is language related to or reflective of community?
Invention Strategy: Timelining and Looping
Read Richard Straub’s "Responding—Really Responding—to Other Students’ Writing" in On Writing and Section 5A in The New McGraw Hill (p 90-93)
Thursday, July 3rd
Discussion: What’s the point of workshopping, and what should we expect to get (and give?) in a peer review?
Example Student Paper
Friday, July 4th
No Class, University Holiday
Week 2
Monday, July 7th
Workshop 1
Make sure to post a copy of your electronic draft (in .rtf format!!) to the appropriate BB discussion board forum by class time and bring a hard copy of your paper to class with you
Read "Sing with Me Somehow" and "Knocked Up" from Our Own Words (2007-2008 edition)
Tuesday, July 8th
Discussion: What choices have these writers made to convey their stories effectively? What risks might you take with your draft?
Invention Activity: Showing vs. Telling
Snapshots, Exploding the Moment
Example Student Paper
Read Anne Lamotte’s "Shitty First Drafts" in On Writing
Complete out of class journal (TBA) in preparation for your conference
Wednesday, July 9th
Conferences, no class meeting
Thursday, July 10th
Conferences, no class meeting
Friday, July 11th
Invention Activity: Sensory Detail
Workshop 2
Make sure to post a copy of your electronic draft (in .rtf format!!) to the appropriate BB discussion board forum by class time and bring a hard copy of your paper to class with you
Week 3
Monday, July 14th
Final Draft of Paper 1 due by class time (Submit an electronic copy of your final draft to the appropriate Discussion Board forum on our BB homepage. Bring a STAPLED packet to class to turn in made up of your final draft, all rough drafts, and your process letter).
Introducing Paper 2
How to conduct an interview
Read "The Unsung Hero" in Our Own Words, 1999-2000 Edition http://english3.fsu.edu/writing/?q=node/150
Section 3A in The New McGraw Hill (p 35-45)
Tuesday, July 15th
Discussion: What decisions has this student writer made in profiling his grandfather?
Using a cultural artifact to guide an interview
Read Haunani-Kay Trask’s "Tourist, Stay Home" in On Writing and Section 4B-C in The New McGraw Hill (p 65-71)
Wednesday, July 16th
Discussion: How does Trask’s essay profile her community? How is language central to this community’s struggle?
Biography vs. Profile: Focusing through a specific lens
Paragraph length Profile
Thursday, July 17th
Sample Paper:
Seinfeld’s "The Soup Nazi"
Friday, July 18th
Workshop 1
Make sure to post a copy of your electronic draft (in .rtf format!!) to the appropriate BB discussion board forum by class time and bring a hard copy of your paper to class with you.
Complete out of class journal (TBA) in preparation for your conference
Week 4
Monday, July 21st
Conferences, no class meeting
Tuesday, July 22nd
Conferences, no class meeting
Wednesday, July 23rd
Final Draft of Paper 2 due by class time (Submit an electronic copy of your final draft to the appropriate Discussion Board forum on our BB homepage. Bring a STAPLED packet to class to turn in made up of your final draft, all rough drafts, and your process letter).
Introducing Paper 3
What is Ethnography?
Read "Life in a Box: The Psychological Effects of Dormitory Architecture and Layout on Residents" Blakely Louis Beals from Our Own Words 1999-2000 Edition
Thursday, July 24th
Discussion: What does this essay reveal about student life/living at FSU? How would you describe this author’s style?
Example Student Paper
Invention Activity: Cubing
Read "Freaks and Geeks" in On Writing and Section 3B-D The New McGraw Hill (p. 45-57)
Friday, July 25th
Discussion: How does Reeves’ essay profile a community through one of its members? How does Reeves use interview? Ethnography? Cultural Artifacts?
Using Language to convey reality: Abstract Shapes
Week 5
Monday, July 28thLibrary Visit, Meet in the "Coffee Lobby" at Strozier at 11am. Don’t be late!!
Tuesday, July 29th
Workshop 1
Make sure to post a copy of your electronic draft (in .rtf format!!) to the appropriate BB discussion board forum by class time and bring a hard copy of your paper to class with you
Read Section 18B The New McGraw Hill (p 323-325) and Fulwiler’s "The Role of Audiences" in On Writing
Wednesday, July 30th
Who is your audience?
Searching the Web for Usable and Reliable Information
Thursday, July 31st
Revision Workshop using "Glossing" and "Commentary"
Friday, August 1st
Workshop 2
Make sure to post a copy of your electronic draft (in .rtf format!!) to the appropriate BB discussion board forum by class time and bring a hard copy of your paper to class with you
Read Section 13 in The New McGraw Hill (p 248-253)
Week 6
Monday, August 4th
How to Give an Effective and Engaging Oral Presentation
Tuesday, August 5th
Revisiting Process Writing in Preparation for your Oral Presentation
"Imagoes"
Wednesday, August 6th
Final Draft of Paper 3 due by class time (Submit an electronic copy of your final draft to the appropriate Discussion Board forum on our BB homepage. Bring a STAPLED packet to class to turn in made up of your final draft, all rough drafts, and your process letter).
Oral Presentation "Dress Rehearsal"
Thursday, August 7th
Oral Presentations
Friday, August 8th
Oral Presentations
Your Assignment: After reading the 12 page document--yes it was 12 pages, comment on the following:
What surprised you the most?
Do you have a greater understanding on why I am pushing you to do your work on time and use technology? Please explain by referring to the FSU syllabus, thus showing me evidence of your understanding and why I require certain things within this course.
Reflect on what you now understand about the AP Language and Composition exam and how I am trying to get you ready for bypassing an English composition course by preparing you to score high on the exam and yet still preparing you on what you would have learned within a college composition course.
DO NOT POST YOUR RESPONSE TO THIS ASSIGNMENT ON THIS BLOG SITE. This time, I want you to email me your response to aplangkhs@gmail.com. In the subject column, identify your class period then write your formal name: first and last.
Example: Per. 3: Jack Johnson
Make sure that your response remains in letter format and that you thoughtfully address the three items noted above. Make sure that you use evidence from the sample syllabus and your understanding of the AP exam in order to support your response.Once Again: Do Not Post Your Response.
Please email me your response to: aplangkhs@gmail.com. Note your period and your first and last name within the subject heading of your email.
Assignment due no latter than September 9th, by Midnight
Please accept my apology on the radical change in font size within this document. While trying to copy/paste it within the blog site, it would not allow me to remove some formatting features. My sincerest apology.~Ms. Carlson
