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ENGL 2391.002: Introduction to Critical Writing Fall Semester 2008 MWF 12:00 – 12:50 PM English Building, Room 360 |
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Dr. Jennifer Snead Email: jennifer.snead@ttu.edu Faculty webpage: http://www.faculty.english.ttu.edu/snead Course page: http://www.webct.ttu.edu |
Office: English Building Rm. 204 Office hours: W 1:30 – 4:30 PM Phone: 742-2500, ex. 256 |
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Course description
and course purpose: Course prerequisite: ENGL 1301, 1302. This course gives extensive practice
in writing critical essays about literature. Throughout the semester,
students will focus on building close-reading skills, engaging in both formal
and thematic analyses of literary texts, learning research practices and
proper use and citation of sources, and developing the kinds of critical
vocabularies that are essential to successful participation in the English
major. We'll work
towards these goals by reading, writing about, and discussing a small group
of texts in poetry and prose.
This course is writing intensive. All students in the course will be responsible for
participating in class discussion, completing and revising a series of short
writing exercises, attending a research orientation session at the library,
reading and commenting on each other's writing, and completing and revising
one longer paper. This course
also fulfills the Humanities requirement for Texas Tech's Core Curriculum. |
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Expected learning
outcomes: Students completing this course
should be able to:
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Assignments (methods
of assessing learning outcomes): The above learning outcomes will be
assessed through: short weekly
written assignments (posted onto the course WebCT site); weekly written
responses and feedback on peer writing assignments (also posted onto the
course WebCT site); student participation in class discussions; in-class
writing assignments; an annotated bibliography; a longer (10 pages) research
paper; a revision of the longer paper. |
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Grading criteria:
Student grades will be determined using the following scale:
Grade scale: 90-100 points = A; 80-90 = B; 70-80 =
C; 60-70 = D; below 60 = F. |
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Required texts
(available at the Student Union and Varsity Bookstores: Frances Burney, Evelina, ed. Kristina Straub. Boston & New York:
Bedford/St. Martin's, 1997. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of
the Ancient Mariner, ed. Paul H.
Fry. Boston
& New York: Bedford/St.
Martin's, 1999. Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock, ed. Cynthia Wall. Boston & New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1998. Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels, ed. Christopher Fox. Boston & New York:
Bedford/St. Martin's, 1995. |
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Course schedule: Unless otherwise noted,
all reading assignments are to be completed by the first class of each week;
writing assignments are due (posted to the course WebCT site unless otherwise
noted) on the specific days listed below. The class will meet
physically on Mondays and Wednesdays and on four Fridays (8/29, 9/5, 10/3, and 11/7); all of our
other Friday meetings will be virtual workshops in which you will post your
peer reviews of each others' work to the class WebCT site. Week 1 M 8/25: Introductions W 8/27: In-class collaborative reading exercise F 8/29: CLASS MEETS this Friday; The Rape of the Lock, Introduction:
Cultural and Historical Background (pp.3-45) Week 2 The Rape of the Lock (entire poem, pp. 48-87) M 9/1 NO CLASS (Labor Day Holiday) W 9/3: F 9/5: CLASS MEETS this Friday Week 3: The Rape of the Lock, pp. 267-350 ("The Social World") M 9/8 W 9/10: Assignment #1 due (post by
midnight) F 9/12: Virtual workshop: peer review
due (post by 5 pm) Week 4
Gulliver's Travels, pp.
26-90 M 9/15: W 9/17: revision of
assignment #1 due (post by midnight) F 9/19: Virtual workshop: peer review due (post by 5 pm) Week 5 Gulliver's Travels, pp. 91-204 (Parts II and III) M 9/22: Library Tour – MEET IN LIBRARY
TODAY W 9/24: assignment #2
due (post by midnight) F 9/26: Virtual workshop: peer review due
(post by 5 pm) Week 6 Gulliver's Travels, pp.205-266 (Part IV); pp.305-334 ("Feminist
Criticism"); pp.335-365 ("New Historicism") M 9/29 W 10/1: revision of
assignment #2 due (post by midnight) F 10/3: CLASS MEETS; in-class collaborative reading exercise with
revisions Week 7 Rime
of the Ancient Mariner, pp. 3-75
(finish poem) M 10/6 W 10/8: Assignment 3 due (post) F 10/10: Virtual workshop: peer review due Week 8 Rime
of the Ancient Mariner, pp.220-260
("Psychoanalytic Criticism"); pp. 261-314
("Deconstruction") M 10/13 W 10/15: revision of assignment 3 due F 10/17: Virtual workshop: peer review due Week 9 Evelina,
pp. 51-177 (Volume I) M 10/20 W 10/22: Assignment 4 due F 10/24: Virtual workshop: peer review due Week 10 Evelina,
pp.177-308 (Volume II) M 10/27 W 10/29: revision of
assignment 4 due (post by midnight) F 10/31: Virtual workshop: peer review due (post by 5 pm) Week 11: Evelina, pp. 308-436 (Volume IV) M 11/3 W 11/5: Annotated
bibliographies due (post by midnight) F 11/7: CLASS MEETS Week 12: Evelina,
pp. 439-538 ("The Young
Lady," "The Fashionable World") M 11/10 W 11/12: Assignment 5 due (post by midnight) F 11/14: Virtual workshop: peer review due (post by 5 pm) Week 13 M 11/17 W 11/19 F 11/21: Research Paper draft due (post by 5
PM) Week 14: NO
CLASS (Thanksgiving Holidays) M 11/24: Virtual workshop: peer review of research papers due
(post by 5 PM) Week 15: M 12/1 Peer
reviews of research papers due (HARD COPIES) In-class
workshop/discussion of drafts W 12/3
Revised research papers due (HARD COPIES); last day of
class |
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Assignments in
detail: A note on paragraph
structure before you begin: Writing
coherent, well-organized paragraphs is a crucial skill you will need, not
only for successful completion of this course but also for the quality of
your writing in other courses (and beyond your university years of
course!). Here are a few things
to keep in mind. A
paragraph consists of several sentences, usually set off by an initial
indentation, that are grouped together within a longer composition. This group of sentences together
discuss one subject; each
paragraph, in other words, should only be devoted to developing one point, topic, or idea within your larger
argument. At their simplest,
paragraphs should have three parts:
a topic sentence, body sentences, and a concluding sentence. Usually the paragraph's topic
sentence will include a clause or phrase that links it to the paragraph that
came before – in other words, a transition.
Transitions can also be sentences that lead in to each paragraph's
topic sentence. Your
topic sentence, aside from its transitional elements, is usually the most
general sentence in your paragraph.
It introduces the overall idea, subject, or point of the paragraph. Your topic sentence will or should
necessarily raise questions in the minds of your readers that the paragraph's
following sentences will answer.
A unified paragraph is one in which all of its sentences answer
questions raised by its topic sentence, and when none of its sentences answer
questions that are not raised by its topic sentence. Each of a paragraph's sentences ought
also to lead from the sentence before it, and answer the questions raised by
that sentence – this is what gives a paragraph coherence. A note on
propositions/thesis statements: The
proposition, or thesis statement, of an essay is the essay's most important
sentence. It is similar to the
topic sentence of a paragraph:
it is a sentence that states the point of the essay as a
generalization that you can explain, explore, and defend. It is also a sentence that someone
else could agree with, or challenge, or deny, or oppose. Each of the
paragraphs in your essay must relate to it. Your introduction, for example, prepares your readers to
consider your thesis. The body
of your essay is made up of paragraphs that defend, explain, and explore your
thesis. Each paragraph
transition relates individual paragraphs both to each other and to the
thesis. Thus
your thesis statements ought to be written in such a way that they are
conducive to creating these important relationships between the parts of your
essay. They should be short,
precise, and simple – and should not have more operative words and
establish more relationships between those operative words than you can
explain, explore, or defend adequately within the page limit of the essay you
plan to write. Remember to take
a position that you can develop thoroughly within the limits of time and
space set by the task at hand! Assignment 1: Close reading and formal analysis
(poetry) DUE: Wednesday, September 10 by midnight Write
a short (3 paragraphs; roughly 500 words) position paper on The Rape of
the Lock in which you use close
reading and formal analysis of one couplet of the poem to prove a larger claim you make about
the poem as a whole. Follow these steps: 1. First, pick one couplet from the poem that seems to
you to encapsulate, in miniature, one of the larger ideas, concepts, or
social commentary Pope is making in the poem as a whole. Perform a close reading of that couplet's form and content: what specific words,
metaphors/similes, or imagery does Pope use within the couplet? What is the effect of those words,
metaphors/similes, or images on what the couplet says? How
does Pope's use of the couplet form (rhyme, ceasura, juxtaposition) support
or undercut the work that the words and images are doing? You may need to use a good dictionary
(such as the Oxford English Dictionary) or do a little research on the
imagery in order to fully understand this. Your edition of RL has many informative footnotes – it's ok to use those to help
your understanding of the couplet, too.
Say, for instance, that you're interested in how Pope represents early
eighteenth-century government, and you've chosen the following couplet from
Canto III to analyze on those terms: Here
thou, great Anna! whom three
Realms obey, Dost
sometimes Counsel take – and sometimes Tea. You
know that "Here" refers to Hampton Court, scene of the action in
Cantos III, IV, and V. On the
general level, how does this couplet show the triviality of the action
– beaux and belles playing cards and squabbling over a lock of hair
– by reminding us that Hampton Court is also the scene of
government? Look at the
specifics of how this couplet describes Hampton Court, its chief resident
(Queen Anne), and what she does there.
You would want to focus on Pope's word choice ("Great," "three Realms obey",
"Counsel," "Tea") – and also on how he arranges
those words. Why might it be
important that "obey" is rhymed with "Tea"? Why are "Counsel" and
"Tea" separated by such a strong caesura in the second line? 2. Now that you have a good grasp of what's going on
within your couplet, write your position paper in three paragraphs. First, based on your examination of
the couplet, write a general proposition about The Rape of the Lock as a whole, such as, "In The Rape of the
Lock, Alexander Pope juxtaposes
important matters with trivial ones in order to satirize eighteenth-century
high society." Then write
an explanation or defense of this proposition in two paragraphs, using the
evidence you have gathered in your close reading of your couplet. Devote each paragraph to only one piece of supporting evidence (this may mean you
wonıt need to use all of the information you gained from your close reading
of the couplet). Using the
couplet example above, you would devote one paragraph to explaining Pope's
word choice, and how it supports your proposition, and the second to
explaining how those words are deployed within the couplet form, and how that
supports your proposition.
Remember to cite the
couplet in full in the second paragraph, and cite the individual words or
images/ metaphors as you describe them, in both supporting paragraphs. Now go back and write an introductory
paragraph for your position paper, placing your proposition as the last
sentence in this introductory paragraph. Do not write a conclusion. This assignment is only supposed to be three paragraphs long: an introductory paragraph that ends
with a proposition, and two paragraphs each containing a reason that supports
the proposition. While writing
your supporting paragraphs, pay careful attention to how each is structured
and how each transitions into the next. 3. By 9/10 at midnight, post your assignment to the course WebCT site in
two places: under
"Assignments", where I will be able to access and grade it, and
also to your group number's thread in the "Discussions" section, so
that they'll be able to read and write a peer review for it. PEER
REVIEW of Assignment 1, due by 5:00 PM on Friday, 9/12 Follow
the peer review guidelines listed below for each of your group members'
position papers, and post your finished reviews to the appropriate spot in
the "Assignments" section of the WebCT site, as well as within your
review group's discussion thread.
Scoring: 2 points Revision
of Assignment 1, due by
midnight on 9/17: after you've received and read
through the peer reviews provided by your group members, revise assignment 1
based on those reviews. Post
your revision to the WebCT site in both places ("Assignments" and
within your review group's discussion thread) by midnight on 9/19. Assignment
1 scoring: Paper = 4
points. Revision = 2 points. PEER
REVIEW of Assignment 1 revisions, due by 5:00 PM on Friday, 9/19. Again,
follow the peer review guidelines listed below for each of your group members' revised assignments,
and post your finished reviews to the appropriate spot in the
"Assignments" section of the WebCT site, as well as within your
review group's discussion thread.
Scoring: 2 points Assignment 2: close reading and formal analysis
(prose) DUE DATE: Wednesday, 24 September, by midnight Write
a three-paragraph (roughly 500 words) position paper arguing for a
proposition you'll make about Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Follow
a similar process to that which you used for Assignment 1 – choose a
passage from Gulliver's Travels
to close-read as proof for your proposition, analyze that passage and
formulate your proposition, and use your close-reading as evidence to support
your proposition. Write out the
proposition, develop your second and third paragraphs with proof from your
close-reading (don't forget to cite the text!), and then write an
introductory paragraph with your proposition as its final sentence. Post
your position paper on the WebCT site under both "Assignments" and
the discussion thread for your review group. PEER
REVIEW of Assignment 2, due by 5:00 PM on Friday, 9/26 Follow
the peer review guidelines listed below for each of your group members'
position papers, and post your finished reviews to the appropriate spot in
the "Assignments" section of the WebCT site, as well as within your
review group's discussion thread.
Scoring: 2 points Revision
of Assignment 2, due by
midnight on Wednesday, 10/1: after you've received and read
through the peer reviews provided by your group members, revise assignment 1
based on those reviews. Post
your revision to the WebCT site in both places ("Assignments" and
within your review group's discussion thread) by midnight on 10/1. Assignment
2 scoring: position paper = 4 points; revision =
2 points. Assignment 3: refutation and defense DUE DATE: Wednesday, October 8, by midnight Write
a three-paragraph (roughly 500 words) position paper arguing for a
proposition you'll make about Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
Follow a similar process to that which you used for Assignments 1 and
2 – choose a passage from the Rime to close-read as proof for your proposition, analyze that passage and
formulate your proposition, and use your close-reading as evidence to support
your proposition. This time,
however, you'll use the beginning of your second paragraph to set forth an
argument that opposes your
proposition. In the rest of that
paragraph, refute this opposing proposition; you're arguing negatively, or
defending, your own argument.
Then use your third paragraph to develop a positive reason in support
of your argument, taken from your close reading of the passage you chose at
the beginning. Finally, go back
and write your introductory paragraph, using your proposition as that
paragraph's final sentence. Some
advice: the transition sentence
at the beginning of your second paragraph should make it very clear that
you're about to describe an opposing position, one that is not your own. You are welcome to develop this
opposing position from our class discussions on the poem. (For example: "It's possible to read the
Mariner as a Christ-like figure")
Then, later in the paragraph, provide your reader with another transition
sentence or phrase that alerts her to the fact that you're refuting this
position. (For example,
"While some lines in the poem might support this, it's clear that this
reading falls apart if the Wedding Guest is viewed in X way") The transition to your third
paragraph should then indicate that you're about to support your position in
a more positive way. (For
example, "Given the position of the Wedding Guest, it makes more sense
to view the Mariner as, instead") Post
your position paper to the course WebCT site under both
"Assignments" and the discussion thread for your review group, by
midnight on 10/8. PEER
REVIEW of Assignment 3, due by 5:00 PM on Friday, 10/10 Follow
the peer review guidelines listed below for each of your group members' position
papers, and post your finished reviews to the appropriate spot in the
"Assignments" section of the WebCT site, as well as within your
review group's discussion thread.
Scoring: 2 points Revision
of Assignment 3, due by
midnight on Wednesday, 10/15: after you've received and read through
the peer reviews provided by your group members, revise assignment 1 based on
those reviews. Post your
revision to the WebCT site in both places ("Assignments" and within
your review group's discussion thread) by midnight on 10/15. Assignment
3 scoring: Paper = 4 points;
revision = 2 points. PEER
REVIEW of Assignment 3 revisions, due by 5:00 PM on Friday, 10/17 Follow
the peer review guidelines listed below for each of your group members'
revised papers, and post your finished reviews to the appropriate spot in the
"Assignments" section of the WebCT site, as well as within your
review group's discussion thread.
Scoring: 2 points Assignment 4: integration of sources DUE DATE: Wednesday, October 22, by midnight Using
your research paper text and two of the articles you are working with for
your annotated bibliography, respond in more detail to these articles in a
three-paragraph position paper (roughly 500 words) that does the following: 1.
In the first
paragraph, take a position on this particular course text. Introduce the position, and then
state it in the final sentence of this paragraph. 2.
Find one quotation
from each article that is pertinent to the issue treated by the position you
have taken in the first paragraph.
The quotation could either support your position, oppose it, or take
it in a slightly different direction.
In one paragraph per each quotation, first introduce the quotation,
then quote it accurately, cite the source of the quotation, and explain how
it is related to the position you yourself have taken in the first paragraph. 3.
Donıt forget to
include a "Works Cited" section at the end of the three paragraphs,
where you fully and properly cite each article. Try
to keep your reader's point of view in mind whenever you're using a
quotation. Why should he or she
bother to read it at all? You
can ensure that your reader doesn't feel a quotation is a waste of time and
space by first telling him or her how it fits in and what ideas he or she
should keep in mind while reading it.
Then, after the quotation, you need to tell him or her its
significance in your essay, so that he or she feels that reading it was
worthwhile. Post
your position paper to the WebCT site under "Assignments" and under
the discussion
thread for your review group by midnight on 10/22. PEER
REVIEW of Assignment 4, due by 5:00 PM on Friday, 10/24 Follow
the peer review guidelines listed below for each of your group members'
position papers, and post your finished reviews to the appropriate spot in
the "Assignments" section of
the WebCT site, as well as within your review group's discussion thread. Scoring: 2 points Revision
of Assignment 4, due by
midnight on 10/29: after you've received and read
through the peer reviews provided by your group members, revise assignment 1
based on those reviews. Post
your revision to the WebCT site in both places ("Assignments" and
within your review group's discussion thread) by midnight on 10/29. Assignment
4 scoring: Paper = 4 points. Revision = 2 points. PEER
REVIEW of Assignment 4 revisions, due by 5:00 PM on Friday, 10/31 Follow
the peer review guidelines listed below for each of your group members'
revised papers, and post your finished reviews to the appropriate spot in the
"Assignments" section of the WebCT site, as well as within your
review group's discussion thread.
Scoring: 2 points Assignment 5: critical approaches DUE DATE: Wednesday, November 12, by midnight Write
a four-paragraph position paper arguing for why Frances Burney's novel, Evelina, might be best suited to one of the critical approaches we have discussed in
class (psychoanalytic, deconstructive, new historicist, or feminist). Use the same process you've used for
your three-paragraph position papers:
write a proposition, write two paragraphs featuring one supporting
reason each for that proposition, based on your close reading of the novel,
and then write an introductory paragraph for the proposition. This time, however, write a
one-paragraph conclusion for your paper. You must
cite the novel for your close readings, of course – but you are also
welcome to cite any of the other critical texts we've been discussing in
class, or that you've found for your annotated bibliography (if they're
applicable to your position). Post
your paper to the WebCT site under "Assignments" and also under the
discussion thread for your review group, by midnight on Wednesday, 11/12. Assignment
5 scoring: 6 points PEER
REVIEW of Assignment 5, due by 5:00 PM on Friday, 11/14 Follow
the peer review guidelines listed below for each of your group members'
position papers, and post your finished reviews to the appropriate spot in
the "Assignments" section of the WebCT site, as well as within your
review group's discussion thread.
Scoring: 2 points PEER REVIEW
GUIDELINES for assignments 1-5 and revisions Scoring: 2 points each, 8 total reviews = 16
points For
the entire semester, you'll be working in a peer review group of two or three
students;
your responsibility towards each other will be to read and comment on each
others' work responsibly and carefully, using your group's discussion thread
on the WebCT site for the course for sharing your work and your reviews. Your
reviews for each of your fellow group members' assignments and assignment
revisions must include two things:
1) a descriptive outline of each assignment (and of its revision), and
2) an evaluative paragraph. The
guidelines for each are as follows: 1.
Descriptive
outline: for this section you will provide your group members with
a series of statements that explain, first, what each paragraph of the
assignment says; and second,
what each paragraph of the assignment does. Your descriptive outlines should look like this: Assignment
proposition: [here write out the paper's proposition statement] Plan:
[explain how the essay as a whole is organized;
describe in general how the paragraphs are related to the proposition and to
each other] Paragraph
1 says
does Paragraph
2 says does Paragraph
3 says
does A
says statement restates or
paraphrases the paragraph in one sentence. A does
statement describes a paragraph's relation to the essay's main proposition,
and describes how the paragraph is organized. Your
says statements show that you
have understood the main point of each paragraph – your does statements should describe the unity and coherence
of each paragraph as a whole. 2.
Evaluative
paragraph: Now that you've written a descriptive
outline of your group member(s)' position paper(s), evaluate them. First, explain the paper's
strengths: what do you like
about it? What do you think was
well done? Then, explain what
you think could be done to improve the paper. How exactly
do you think the writer can go about doing that? Use the following criteria for your evaluation: -
unity: is
the proposition of the paper clear?
Is it stated as concisely as it could be stated? Does everything in the paper defend
or explain that specific proposition? -
coherence: are
the paper's paragraphs in the right order? Does each begin with an effective transition? Are the sentences within each
paragraph in the right order?
Are there transitional elements that relate the sentences? -
development: is
everything the paper sets out to say fully explained? Does it tell you everything you feel
you need to know to understand its main point? -
style: is
the paper's position expressed and explained as clearly and simply as
possible? If the writer uses big
words, long sentences, or elaborate word order, do these seem natural or do
they seem like an apparent effort to impress? -
mechanics: is
the paper written in standard written English with acceptable grammar,
spelling, and punctuation? Is it
neatly presented/formatted? If
citations are used, are those properly formatted and clear? -
sources and quotes: how
well has the writer used quotes and paraphrase of his or her sources, primary
and secondary? Do you have
recommendations for how he or she can make these more effective? -
revisions (where
applicable): if you're reviewing a revised version
of the assignment, note the changes the writer has made to his or her
piece. How successful are these
changes? In
general, respond to your fellow students' work as an honest, demanding, but
still sympathetic reader. Make
your comments tactful, detailed, and helpful. [The
above guidelines for peer review have been adapted from Kenneth Bruffee's A
Short Course in Writing:
Composition, Collaborative Learning, and Constructive Reading, Fourth Edition (New York: HarperCollins, 1993).] Annotated
Bibliography Guidelines DUE DATE: Wednesday, November 5, by midnight This
assignment asks you to utilize the research tools that you were introduced to
during our library visit earlier this semester. Find four scholarly articles about the course text you've
chosen to write your final paper about -- any of we have read for the course
so far – these four articles ideally should also have something to do
with an issue about that particular text that interests you and that you're
considering using as a focus for your final paper (empire in The Rape of
the Lock, for example, or girls'
education in Evelina). Stick to articles, or to essays
within published essay collections, for now, rather than entire books. For each article, youıll do the
following: 1.
Cite the article
properly 2.
Summarize the
article's argument, and how the author supports that argument, in one
paragraph. Does the author draw
on the work of other scholars?
If so, who, and how? 3.
In the second
paragraph, evaluate the article:
did you agree with it, or disagree, based on your understanding of the
text it examines? Did you find
it useful? Why or why not? How well was it written? Was it easy to understand? By
midnight on Wednesday, 11/5, post your bibliographies on our WebCT page, both
in the "Assignments" section and under the bibliography thread in
the discussion section. In
addition, BRING A COPY of your
bibliography to class on Friday, November 7. Scoring:
10 points Final
Research Paper (10 pages) First
draft due: Friday, November 21
(post by 5 PM) Your
final paper for this course should utilize and synthesize the skills each of
the course assignments have helped you to practice and develop over the
course of the semester. First
and foremost, you must develop an arguable position, or thesis, about
whichever course text you've chosen to use for this assignment. You're required to use the four
sources you examined in your annotated bibliography, and significant close
readings of the course text you've chosen, as supporting evidence for your
thesis. Your
thesis must be clearly stated in the first paragraph of the paper, and the
paper should have a readily identifiable introduction and conclusion. Each paragraph of the paper must be
unified and coherent and demonstrate an adequate transition – i.e. an
indication of how it relates to the paragraphs before it and to the overall
thesis of the paper. All of your
sources and, of course, the course text itself, must be properly cited in a
"Works Cited" section at the end of the paper. Post
your drafted research paper to both the "Assignments" section and
to the discussion
thread for your review group on our course WebCT site, by five pm on 11/21.
Scoring: 20 points. PEER
REVIEW of Research paper drafts due (post to WebCT site) by 5:00 PM on
Monday, November 24. Bring one
hard copy of your reviews to class. Scoring: 2 points.
Revised version of final paper due Wednesday, December 3. Scoring: 10
points. |
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Course policies and
student responsibilities: Attendance Attendance
in this class is mandatory; our discussions during each class session are as
crucial to the course as the assigned readings and writing you and your
fellow students will be doing outside of class. I expect your regular, punctual attendance and engaged
– even enthusiastic – participation in all class discussions and
activities. I consider lateness
the equivalent of an absence.
Absences accrue from the first day of the semester, regardless of the
add/drop period. If for any
reason you must miss class, know that you may only miss five classes
total. If you miss more than
five classes, you will fail the course. If circumstances, such
as a family emergency or an extended illness, make a prolonged absence
unavoidable, please come and speak with me – in advance if at all
possible – so that we can come up with some way to make up your missed
class discussions, and make arrangements for turning in your assignments. You are responsible for turning in or
posting all assigned work on time, and for obtaining notes and/or assignments
from your classmates, not me. If
you are involved in a university-sponsored activity that will require you to
miss class, come and see me well in advance so that we can discuss your
schedule. Class Participation Your
engagement and interest in the course texts – and by texts I mean not simply
the course's reading assignments but also the writing and the comments
and observations of yourself and your fellow students – are vital to
the overall success of this course. Each class will be run as a
discussion, and the course as a whole aims to create, throughout the
semester, an intellectual community made up of everyone in our classroom,
sharing our writing, our research, our interests, and our thoughts
and observations with each other.
For each class meeting, I expect
that you will have read and reflected on the dayıs assignment, and that you
will have brought the assigned texts to class with you. You'll be required
to contribute to class discussions by listening to and considering the
comments of your fellow students, and by articulating clearly and
considerately your own observations, agreements, or objections. Merely reading
the material and nodding occasionally in class does not constitute adequate
class participation! If you're
shy or having trouble speaking up, please come to my office so we can discuss ways of
getting your voice
heard. From time to time
I may ask you and your fellow students to post questions
or responses to course issues on our class listserv; your engagement
in virtual discussion will be just as important towards your class
participation score. For further
information about how your class
participation score will be calculated towards your final grade, see
the
"class participation" link on my website, here. Assignments I
do not give extensions for any assignments, including papers. For every day an assignment is
late, I will take off one-half a point from that assignment's total score. All deadlines are listed in the course syllabus
youıll receive on your first day in class; budget your time wisely, and plan
ahead! If you have difficulty
getting your work finished on time, the university has many resources for
helping students with time management, study skills, etc. Feel free to check in with me about
how you can access those resources.
One in particular that Iıll mention here is the University Writing
Center (UWC), a one-on-one, free tutoring center right here in this very
building (Room 175) where you can get another set of eyes to look over your
writing before you turn it in to me.
I highly recommend you take advantage of this resource, either online
at english.ttu.edu/uwc01/, or by making a phone appointment (742-2476), or by
simply walking in. I
expect that you'll take pride in your work, and that its appearance will
reflect that pride. Spell-check
and grammar-check your papers, and become familiar with a dictionary. Please type your all of your written
assignments in a 12-point font (I prefer Times New Roman), double-space them,
and use one-inch margins on the sides.
Number your pages and staple them all together; be sure your name
is on the first page, along with the course number and title. A running header or footer with your
last name is also a good idea. You must properly cite any sources
used in your papers using MLA style (you can access the MLA Handbook For
Writers of Research Papers online
or buy a hard copy at the bookstore.
If youıre planning on writing papers throughout your college career, I
recommend you own this!).
Failure to document or acknowledge your sources is not only sloppy
scholarship, itıs also a serious academic infraction. A
word on plagiarism and cheating:
both are utterly unacceptable, and university disciplinary procedures
will be strictly enforced should either arise. If you engage in academic dishonesty, wittingly or
unwittingly, it could lead to expulsion from Texas Tech University, so be
sure to familiarize yourself with the definitions of and policies surrounding
plagiarism and cheating in your Student Handbook. If you ever have any questions about what constitutes
plagiarism, please discuss them with me during my office hours before you hand in the work in question. I also refer you to the Texas Tech
University statement of ethical principles online: http://www.depts.ttu.edu/officialpublications/catalog/_EthicalPrinciples.php If
you have a documented disability that might affect your coursework in any
way, please come to see me early in the semester so we can discuss any
accommodations you might need. To quote the department of Student Disability
Services, ³students should present appropriate
verification from Student Disability Services during the instructorıs office
hours. Please note instructors
are not allowed to provide classroom accommodations to a student until
appropriate verification from Student Disability Services has been
provided. For additional
information, you may contact the Student Disability Services office at 335
West Hall or 806-742-2405.² Click
here for signature page:
print out the page, sign it, and bring to class no later than
Wednesday, September 10. |
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