EN1200.20 Composition Dr. Meg Petersen
TR
12:30-1:45 Ellen Reed 17 X2684
e-mail:
megp@mail.plymouth.edu Office Hours: Wednesday 8-10, 12-3,
and
by appointment
Materials:
Plymouth Writers Group (2005) Acts
of Emancipation: An Anthology of Teachers’ Writing
Plymouth Writers Group (2004) Defining
Moments: An Anthology of Teachers’ Writing
Comp Journal 2003-2004
SF Express (2nd Edition) Pearson/Prentice Hall
2006
Spiral notebook- (for writer’s
notebook)
Loose-leaf notebook for in-class
activities and journal responses
Folder (for portfolios)
Introduction:
In
this course, you will write—and write, and rewrite. You will have a lot of
freedom in terms of what you write about. You will experience uncovering and writing
about topics which are meaningful to you.
You will also revise. You will look at a topic again and again from
different perspectives. You will rewrite in order to see a topic in a different
way. You will learn the difference
between revision and editing and the freedom that comes with revision and
understanding the choices you make and the control you have as you compose. You
will bring your writing to a polished stage.
You will share it with other members of this writing community, and
receive and give thoughtful response to evolving drafts. You will also read.
You will learn to read deeply and critically in order to become a better and
more thoughtful reader of your own work. You will discover through the
experience of your own drafts that writing is thinking, and that you discover
what you have to say by saying it. This
is a course where your own voice is everything, and you will learn how powerful
and thoughtful that voice can be. All of this is designed to prepare you for the academic and personal
writing you will do in your time here at the university and in life.
Objectives:
This
course is designed to help you to learn to:
·
find your own
subjects for writing or to make an assignment your own.
·
find meaning in
your experience through writing
·
explore your
culture and experience in writing.
·
explore the
broader implications of your experiences and how they connect to issues in our
world.
·
use various
techniques for developing your ideas for
a piece of writing.
·
collect
information for your writing and
organize that information
·
to develop a
focus or guiding idea in your writing, to build on a central theme or meaning.
·
hear your own
voice in writing and adapt it to different purposes and readers.
·
read writing in
progress and respond to what works and what needs work.
·
find the
strengths in your own and others’ writing that the author can build on in
subsequent drafts.
·
revise your
drafts in many different ways to experiment with meaning
·
reflect on your
own writing and ask for focused response from others.
·
use sources in
the library and integrate library research into a paper.
·
collect
information through interviewing integrate that information into a paper.
·
read critically
(your own work, your classmates’ work, and published work)
·
work
collaboratively on a piece of writing
·
assess your own
writing and your own development as a writer
Evaluation:
Weekly
Papers 25%
Final Portfolio 40%
Participation and responses 15%
Conferences 10%
Three Search paper 10%
Important Reminders:
·
There will be no
late papers or responses accepted. .
·
Attendance at
class and in conference is required.
Absences will significantly affect your grade.
·
You should bring
your drafts and copies of all papers completed to date to all class
meetings.
·
I would encourage
you to use the Reading/Writing Center in the library to receive additional
response to your work.
·
You are expected
to have read your work at least once in front of the class before the final
readings. To facilitate this, a sign-up sheet will be provided.
·
If you have
special needs or learning issues which I should be aware of, please let me
know.
Weekly papers:
At the beginning of the class period
each Thursday, you should pass in approximately four to five pages of typed (12
font), double-spaced copy on the topic of your choice. It is my hope you will
use this freedom of topic to write about the subjects most important to you. New attempts at the same subject may be
counted as weekly papers. I will not
accept poetry or papers done for other classes as your weekly paper. This course is dedicated to what is called
expository prose—this means it should be intended to expose the reader to an
experience or an idea. Each paper will be accompanied by an author’s note, in
which you tell me about your process of writing the paper and what you would
most like me to respond to. In your author’s note, tell me what you think is
working well in the paper and what you think still needs work. You will not
receive full credit for this assignment if you hand in a paper without an
author’s note. NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED.
Please note that computer-related excuses will not be accepted. We all
have to deal with the vagaries of the electronic age. You should always back up your work—saving
your work to the M drive of your computer can eliminate problems with disks.
Printer problems, electronic failures or other catastrophic computer events do not
excuse you from producing a final document in time for class. Your weekly papers will receive extensive
comments, but no grade.
Final Portfolio:
In this portfolio, you should
present yourself as a writer, and represent the growth in your writing and in
your writing process over the course of the semester. I am interested in seeing
not only your final products, but the drafts and other representations of
changes in your process of writing and your thinking. You should include IN A FOLDER:
·
five papers which
you select as your best work, together with your earliest draft of that work
and my comments. You may include your
three search paper as one of these papers.
·
a list of all of
the papers you have written
·
a course
narrative—this should be quite detailed. I want to know why you selected the
papers you did and how they represent your growth as a writer, how your writing
and thinking have grown and changed over the course of the semester. I want to know how your process has changed,
how your thinking about writing has changed, how you have changed in your idea
of yourself as a writer. You should make
the case for your own learning, using specific examples from your papers.
A
detailed assignment sheet for the final portfolio will be provided.
Responses to
I would like you to center
your responses to the readings on the following areas:
1)
literally (What
do you think is going on here? Try to
restate the content of the reading in enough detail to show that you understand
it.)
2)
intellectually
(what ideas or questions does this raise for you?)
3)
emotionally (What
personal associations do you make? What
did the reading or event make you think of or remind you of? How did the reading or event make you
feel?)
4)
as a writer (what
did you notice about the way the piece was written or what inspiration can you
draw for your own writing? What worked
well for you in the piece? What would
you change? How would you revise this
piece?)
The purpose of the response
to the readings is to prepare to discuss them in class. Please come prepared with comments, questions
and passages you would like to discuss.
No responses will be accepted late.
You should have your responses ready before you come to class. I
have set up a bulletin board on the
Event Paper:
(Due Tuesday October 10th)
You
are expected to draw inspiration from not only your readings, but also your
community and your culture. In order to
draw inspiration from the campus community, you will be required to attend and
respond to at least one approved event.
Additional events may be attended for extra credit. Approved events include readings, concerts,
plays, lectures, etc. You will not receive credit unless you attend the entire
event.
The
paper should include a lead which grabs the reader’s attention, a detailed
description of the event including place, time, main featured performers, etc.
This should be detailed enough so that a reader who did not attend the event
will know what transpired. Finally, the
paper should include your analysis of the event and your opinions about it. A detailed assignment sheet will be provided.
Final
Instead of a final exam, you will be
expected to read a selection of your writing in front of the large group. Attendance at these sessions is
mandatory. There will be opportunities
to read your work in class each week.
You are expected to read at least once before the final reading. I will
provide a sign-up sheet to facilitate this.
Conferences:
Each student will sign up for a 15-minute conference with
the instructor each week. You will share
this time with two other students. You
should come to the door at the scheduled time and make sure I know you have
arrived. You should bring a complete draft to the conference and be prepared to open
the conference by speaking about the draft.
These conferences are your time.
Please take control of the conference and use the time in the way that
will help you the most. Please bring your draft in progress to all conferences
and think about the following questions ahead of time and be prepared to answer
them:
·
How close is this
paper to completion?
You should come prepared to
direct the conference. Attendance at
these conferences is mandatory and
crucial to your progress as a writer.
Participation:
This class requires your
participation in every single session. You create the curriculum through your
writing and your responses. You have to be present to get the benefits of this
class. For each absence in class or in
conference beyond three, three points will be deducted from your final grade
for up to seven absences. Beyond this,
it will be impossible for you to pass the course. I do not distinguish between
excused or unexcused absences. Class will begin and end on time. Tardiness is
rude. Should you make a habit of
arriving late, points will also be deducted from your final grade. Please turn
off all cell phones, pagers, etc. before class begins. Participation includes
the willingness to become an active member of a writing community by sharing
your work, commenting on others' work and contributing to class
discussions. You will be expected to
share your work with the whole class at least once before the final readings. You will also be expected to actively respond
to the work of others. We will discuss the characteristics of an effective
class participant and you will be asked to assess yourself on these
characteristics at various points in the semester. Participation in a writing
workshop class may require skills which are not natural to you, but which are
useful for success in an academic environment. I cannot emphasize enough how
important participation is. Given that this class relies so heavily on your
participation, there is really no substitute for showing up.
Collaborative Paper:
You will receive detailed written
instructions before beginning this project.
Briefly, you will be required to work with two other people on a
paper. Each group will meet with me in
conference. A detailed assignment sheet
will be provided.. This paper will be written entirely in class.
Part of this course has to do with
learning to do academic research. The topic for this research will evolve out
of your writing in the beginning of the semester. You should have a personal connection to the
topic so that you will be able to use yourself as a source. I may suggest
issues related to your weekly papers which you could choose to investigate. Although
the topic will need to be approved, the choice of topic is your own. You will
be required to read deeply on this topic and to write a paper which integrates
this personal concern with an interview and/or observation and readings from a
variety of sources.
R 9/7
Introduction to the writing process
What makes writing a positive or
negative experience?
Introduction to the class
Why is writing important?
Cisneros- “My Name”
Ice Breaker - creating a character
T
9/12 Exploring Memories
Strategies for
Ahl “Defining Moment” DM
Vickery—“My Father’s Religion” DM
Hartung—“Spit” AE
Free writing- focused free writes—exploring a memory
Characteristics of the effective
class participant
R
9/14 Paper
#1 and author’s note due
Finding Topics, Daybooks
Unsettling your draft
Topic interviews—lists of potential
topics—topics for research
T
9/19 A Sense of Story- pacing
Time Exercises
Maziarz—“Turn Two” CJ
Draper—“Sand” DM
R 9/21 Paper #2 and author’s note due
The Writing Process- /brainstorming
// details Unsettling again.
Place
Descriptions—write a description of a place you know well, let your description
reveal your feelings about the place.
Begin with a specific detail.
T
9/26 Writing from Artifacts—bring an artifact to class.
Ricciardi—“First Bike” DM
Kelley—“Tainted
Love Songs” CJ
Winkler—“Raganork
of the Droogs” DM
R
9/28 Paper #3 and author’s note due
Focus- Family Story Activity
Written response
Write about focus (Your Paper)—Unsettling
activity
T
10/3 Voices
Living
With Squirrels AE
Roberts—“Subtraction Facts” DM
Revels—“Why Haven’t I Heard From You?” CJ
Writing with a bad attitude
Adopt another point of view on one
of your papers.
10/4
Katherine Min reading @ Frost 7 p.m.
R 10/5 Paper #4 and author’s note due
Writing about emotional moments
Using sensory details
Guided imagery—Unsettling activity
Show, not tell
T 10/10
CU Prof’s
Essay sparks debate
Event
Response #1draft due
Specific Details
Vague Language Exercise
Looking at the effects of words
R
10/12 Paper #5 and author’s note due
Poetic language
While he was waiting for her to tell him, Rare Albino
Tiger Escapes , High School BC, One More Notch, Truth and Beauty and a Student,
Weeping, Waiting for the Bus, Thoughts on an African Road (in class) Please
remember to bring Defining
Moments and Acts of
Emancipation
Writing in response to art
Qualities of Good Writing
T
10/17 LaLiberte--
“Figuring it Out” AE
“Joe” “Learning the Hard Way” (On
Plichta--“It
Wasn’t Supposed to Turn Out this Way” CJ
Treating sensitive issues, audience awareness
Peer conferences
Bring
three copies of a paper to revise
R
10/19 Endings, Leads and Titles
Beginning With a Given First Line
Paper #6 (New Take on an old theme) and
author’s note due
T
10/24 Graziano- Portrait of a PSC Student
(on
Keagan-
"Dangerous Parties" (on
What do you want to know about?
Issues Brainstorm
Topic selection for three search
R 10/26 Emotional topics exercise
Interviewing with a focus for three search
T
10/31 Le Guin-- The Ones Who Walk Away from Omalas (WebCt)
Singer—« The
Drowning Child and the Expanding Circle » (WebCt)
Playing with point of view
and forms
Interview
write up
R 11/2
Audience Exercise
Overcoming Writer's Block
Revised
Topic Selection for three search due today
Paper #7 and
author’s note due
T
11/7 Order- Abstract your draft
“Controversy
over the
Summary—before and after writing
Finding the research question
exercise
R
11/9 Library research—accessing sources in the library
Periodicals session
Paper
#8 and author’s note due
Schedule
your interview
SF Express
section 8
T 11/14 “Voice
of the Endangered American Black Male" Smith (on
Thayer—“Small Mind
in a Big World” CJ
Library skills Using
Sources—Bring SF Express to class
R 11/16 Paper
#9 and author’s note due
Citations—Bring your copy of SF Express to class
T 11/21 SF
Express sections 9 and 10
“The Cultural
Conflict Over Toilet Training”- Exton (on
Anorexia
Nervosa WebCt
Do What You
Gotta Do WebCt
Interview
notes due today
T
11/28 They Aren’t Going to Take it
Anymore (on WebCt)
Read Sample
paper beginning on page 99 of the SF Express
Revision Exercises
R
11/30 Draft of Paper #10 (Three Search
Paper) and author’s note due
Revision exercise
Bring in papers to revise for portfolio
Bring in
Papers to edit for Portfolio
R
12/7 "A Student's Guide to
Procrastination"- Kracke, Marino, Miller (on
Waitress
Collaborative Paper (Webct)
Collaborative exercises
Begin collaborative work
Paper #10 (Three Search Paper) and author’s
note due
T 12/12 Collaborative Work
Final Portfolio Due
R 12/14 Collaborative Work
Collaborative Paper (#11) due
Begin Final
R
12/21 Final