Course Syllabus
ENGLISH
271-272 - EXPOSITORY WRITING I & II
Fall Quarter 2013
Instructor: Kathleen G. White
e-mail: kwhite@bellevuecollege.edu
Phone: 425-564-2596
Office Hours: by appointment
English 271-2 focuses on expository and rhetorical non-fiction
prose, rather than short stories or poetry: assignments may include personal essays,
memoir, review, and some light research and persuasion. The content and form of
compositions will be the most important aspects to consider, but grammatical
clarity and correctness will also factor in to a paper's grade. It does no good
to be brilliant and creative if the reader can't make sense of the piece.
TEXTS
There is one required textbook for this class: The
Norton Reader, shorter 12th edition is our collection of essays,
and we'll use it for examples, models of what we do and don't like, and topics
to generate our own writing and thought. (Yes, you do need this
particular edition.) If you do not have a handbook for reference purposes or a
similar text leftover from 101, 092, or 3, you might pick up a copy of easy
Writer (by Andrea Lunsford, Bedford/St.Martin's
Publishing) as a refresher and reference. There are also very useful on-line
sources for grammar and mechanics linked to this website on the Resources page,
and the BC Academic Success Center linked to the course
toolbar.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Throughout the quarter, English 271-2 will generate 4-5 essays,
3-7 pages long, uniformly double-spaced (750-1750 words). These will be run
through different levels of development, beginning with a draft that will be
edited in group sessions. Two to three rhetorical analysis essays (2-4 pages),
as well as participation in the editing, and written critiques of peer
essays will factor in with the essay grades to determine the quarter
grade.
Participation in threaded group discussion is also required. Topics
will be set out roughly once every week or ten days, and each student must make
a minimum of one, three-to-four line comment responding directly to each
topic question, and at least one reply to another student's thread. (More
comments are warmly encouraged.) The discussion topics will be
linked to the weekly modules.
Be sure to check your syllabus at the start of every week:
do not rely solely on the Canvas Calendar, as it only shows
due dates for graded writing assignments.
GRADING
Basically, your grades will come from your writing; however,
that 'writing' means a little more than just the essays you create. You
will also receive grades for the written editing critiques you will send me
(2), and rhetorical analyses (2-3), and will receive credit for your
threaded discussion participation. In all, 80% of your grade will be from the
essays and the analyses, with 10% for the written critiques of editing
sessions, and another 10% for threaded discussion participation.
Work turned in late will lose credit points every day it's past
the due date, roughly to one-third of the grade. For instance, if your paper
would have been an A- on the day it was due but you turned it in the next day,
it would now be a B+; if you turn it in another day later, it will be a B. You
can see the trend. No work will be accepted more than a week after the
posted due date without prior arrangement.
If something genuine and difficult prohibits you from turning
your essay in on time, please let me know; I can be reasoned with in some
instances. Also, be sure to let me know if you're having trouble with or are
confused by an assignment; again, we can work from there. However, due to the
nature of the on-line class, punctuality needs to be respected.
A WORD ABOUT HONESTY
This being an on-line course, we will never actually see each
other as a whole, trapped in a class room together on a cold winter evening or
fighting to stay awake on a sleepy, overheated afternoon. Be advised, though,
that teachers actually can pick up a student's individual style fairly quickly,
and therefore, can detect when essays come from sources other than the
student's own hand. We also now have software which runs checks on suspected
plagiarized essays, and I will run such a check at the slightest provocation. If
any work done for this course is plagiarized, the student will receive a zero
for the assignment with no chance of rewriting it, and the incident will be
reported to the Dean of Students. More than one such episode, and the student
will receive an F for the course. Do not be tempted by on-line essays
floating out there in the ether; to tell you the truth, most of them aren't
really all that good anyway.
SCHEDULE (Note: All assignments due to me
via Canvas Submission Tool midnight of the due date)
Week One: September 23rd-28th
Lecture One: What is this All About?
Readings: "On Keeping a
Notebook", by Joan Didion, attached to
module
"On the Essayist" by E.B. White
"The Joy of Reading and Writing" by Sherman Alexie
Begin First Essay Assignment--(see weekly module)
Opening Thread
Week Two: September 29th-October 5th
Lecture Two: The Personal Essay
Readings: (essays attached to weekly module)
"On Smells" by Michel de Montaigne
"The First Hours" by Tim Townsend
"The Saint" by Camile Paglia
Thread Questions posted
First Essay Assignment Due Friday, 10/4
Topics for Second Essay Assignment
Week Three: October 5th-12th
Group Editing Sessions Begin: Post drafts of Essay Two to groups
ASAP--no later than 4/17!
Lecture Three: Aristotle, the Essay, and Other Literary Stuff
Readings:
"The Knife" Richard Selzer
40
"The Pyramids" Samuel Johnson 331
"The Tides" Rachel Carson 339
Written Editing Critiques (of essay two) Due 10/11
Week Four: October 13th-19th
Lecture Four: Exposition in Function
"Does a Literary Cannon Matter?" Katha
Pollitt 636
"Miss G: A Case of Internet Addiction"
Virginia Heffernan (attached to module)
Second Essay Due 10/18
Read Website pages on Rhetorical Analysis posted in
weekly module
Still More Thread Questions
Week Five: October 20th-26th
Lecture Five: Critical Analysis
"Calculated Risks," by K.C. Cole (attached to weekly
module)
"Good Readers and Good Writers" Vladimir Nabokov
Analysis One Due 10/25
Read website page on correct research form (linked to weekly
module)
Thread Questions
Week Six: October 27th-November 2nd
Post drafts of Essay Three to groups ASAP; no later than
Wednesday!
Lecture Six: Fine Lines Leading into Persuasion
"Saudis in Bikinis" Nicholas Kristoff
200
"Darwin the Disturber" Susan Jacoby (attached to Module)
Editing critique Due 11/1
Thread Discussion
Week Seven: November 3rd-9th
Lecture Seven: Reading and Writing Argument
"The Land Ethic" Aldo Leopold 430
"Marshland Elegy" Aldo Leopold 377
Thread Questions
Essay Three Due 11/8
Week Eight: November 10th-16th
Lecture Eight: Irony, Satire, Sarcasm, and Other Greatest Hits
Mark Twain "Advice to Youth" 389
"Killing Civilians" by George Orwell (linked to module)
Rhetorical Analysis Two due 11/15
Week Nine: November 17th-23rd
Lecture: Critical Analysis, Academic Evaluation, Truth and
Beauty
"Where I Lived and What I Lived For" HD Thoreau 688
"Sight into Insight" Annie Dillard 699
Post and Edit Drafts of Essay Four - (no written editing
critique necessary)
Week Ten: November 24th-30th (Thanksgiving Break 28,
29)
Reading: (attached to discussion thread)
Essay Four Due Wednesday, 11/26
Week Eleven: December 1st-7th
BC Finals December 10, 11
There is no final Exam for English 271-2
Course
grades accessible on the BC website no later than 12/16