Instructor:
Peter Freeman
E-mail:
peter.freeman@bellevuecollege.edu
Phone:
425-564-2341
Office
location: R230K
Office Hours: T /Th 1:00 – 2:00, or by appointment
The primary goal of this course is to introduce you
to college-level writing. To do so, we
will work on creating strong thesis statements, developing supporting evidence,
drawing logical conclusions, and generating awareness of your audience within
an interdisciplinary context. We will
also cover organization, mechanics, and available resources to help you in the
writing process.
In order to provide a context for this work, we will
focus our efforts on exploring how culture and discourse influence our
understanding of the world. Questions
explored will include, but are not limited to:
What is the relationship between culture and discourse? How does culture influence how we view the
world? How are culture and discourse
expressed? What happens when two
cultures disagree over the meaning of a space?
To help investigate these questions, we will spend
the first half of the course developing an understanding of culture and
discourse, while the second half will allow you to examine the presence of
culture and discourse in the course text.
Course
Outcomes
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
·
Demonstrate an ability to write in various modes,
including personal narrative and argument
·
Create a thesis statement that outlines the focus of
a paper
·
Identify the research question, thesis statement,
context, and supporting evidence in reading assignments
·
Practice good group skills, including how to give
useful feedback and how to make use of feedback you receive
Books and Materials
Required
Kosek,
Jake. Understories. © 2006 Required
Zinsser,
William. On Writing Well. © 2006 Required
All
other reading materials can be found on the course Canvas site under the Files
tab.
Grading
Essays 160
Class
participation 50
Weekly Canvas discussions 35
Office
hours visit 5
Total
250
Essays
We will be writing two substantial essays over the
course of the term. For each, I am more
interested in your engagement in the writing process than you coming away with
a "perfect" final product. As
such, your grade will be largely based on the completion of drafts and
participation in peer-review sessions. I
will provide more detailed instructions and guidelines for each essay closer to
their due dates.
Class participation
Because
participation is a key element of this course, I thought it would be useful to
elaborate on what I mean by "participation." In a nutshell, participation involves being
on time for class, constructively taking part in class discussions, engaging
with peers during group work and class workshops, listening actively and
attentively, reading the required texts for each class, bringing copies of the
texts to class, and being able to enter discussions about those texts. Some examples of participation include:
·
Asking a classmate or the instructor to elaborate on
or clarify a point
·
Expanding on a point made by a classmate or the
instructor
·
Volunteering to lead a discussion
·
Connecting a class discussion to a previous reading,
discussion, workshop, or lecture
Weekly Canvas
discussions (bellevuecollege.edu/canvas)
To help prepare for class discussions, we will be
using Canvas to help engage with and discuss weekly readings. To help guide these discussions, the
instructor will post specific questions to Canvas prior to the start of class,
which students are asked to respond to using evidence from the readings. Students are asked to respond in no less than
150 words.
Posts will be graded a scale of 0 to 5; 0 meaning
you didn't complete the assignment or didn't answer the question, and 5 meaning
you clearly answered the prompt with strong supporting evidence.
Questions will be posted no later than Friday
evening, and students will be responsible for responding to them by 11:59pm on
Monday evening. Students are also
encouraged to ask questions of each other to help spur the discussion.
Office
hours visit
Students are asked to meet with the instructor
during office hours at least once over the course of the term to check in and
discuss how the quarter is going.
Late
work
Work must be turned in on time. Late work is accepted with a penalty only
under special circumstances as determined by the instructor.
The link to the College Grading Policy is located on page 10 of the
Course Catalog and also on the web at: http://bellevuecollege.edu/policies/3/3000_grading.asp.
Attendance Policy
Since participation is vital for a successful experience,
please arrive on time for class. Late arrivals
interrupt our in-progress activities and discussions. If you must miss a class
session, let the instructor know as soon as possible so that you can make up
the work that you miss.
|
Week |
Dates |
In class |
Readings due |
Assignments due |
|
1 |
1/24 |
Introductions |
|
|
|
1 |
1/25 |
Introductions |
Zinsser
- Ch. 22, 25 |
|
|
2 |
1/29 |
What
is culture? |
Mitchell
- "What is culture?" Rosenberg
- "Reading games" |
|
|
2 |
1/31 |
What
is culture? |
Ang
- "Who needs cultural research?" |
|
|
2 |
2/1 |
What
is culture? |
Zinsser
- Ch. 13, 14 |
|
|
3 |
2/5 |
What
is discourse? |
Cameron
- "What is discourse and why study it?" |
|
|
3 |
2/7 |
What
is discourse? |
hooks
- "Confronting class in the classroom" |
|
|
3 |
2/8 |
Peer-review |
|
Essay
1 draft |
|
4 |
2/12 |
Differing
perspectives |
Kosek
- Introduction |
|
|
4 |
2/14 |
Differing
perspectives |
Zinsser
- Ch. 1-4 |
|
|
4 |
2/15 |
Peer-review |
|
Essay
1 2nd draft |
|
5 |
2/19 |
Culture
and identity |
Kosek
- Ch. 1 |
|
|
5 |
2/21 |
Culture
and identity |
Zinsser
- Ch. 5-7 |
|
|
5 |
2/22 |
Reflecting
on writing |
TBD |
Essay
1 final |
|
6 |
2/26 |
Culture
and place |
Kosek
- Ch. 3 |
|
|
6 |
2/28 |
Culture
and place |
Zinsser
- Ch. 8-10 |
|
|
6 |
3/1 |
Peer-review |
|
Essay
2 draft |
|
7 |
3/5 |
Politics
and exclusion |
Kosek
- Ch. 4 |
|
|
7 |
3/7 |
Politics
and exclusion |
Zinsser
- Ch. 20, 21 |
|
|
7 |
3/8 |
Peer-review |
|
Essay
2 2nd draft |
|
8 |
3/12 |
Discourse
and privilege |
Kosek
- Ch. 5 |
|
|
8 |
3/14 |
Discourse
and privilege |
Zinsser
- Ch. 23 |
|
|
8 |
3/15 |
Wrap-up |
Kosek
- Conclusion |
|
|
9 |
3/19 |
No
class |
|
Essay
2 final |
Technology in the Classroom Since technology is profoundly
linked to education, there will be many times when I ask that you employ
different tools in the gathering and expression of knowledge. Since, however,
education is also more than technology, please turn off all laptops, cell
phones, iPods, etc before the start of class and I will let you know when we’ll
make use of them. (There are exceptions for students with specific note-taking
and other needs.)
Affirmation
of Inclusion: Bellevue College is committed to maintaining an environment
in which every member of the campus community feels welcome to participate in
the life of the college, free from harassment and discrimination. We value our
different backgrounds at Bellevue College, and students, faculty, staff
members, and administrators are to treat one another with dignity and respect. http://bellevuecollege.edu/about/goals/inclusion.asp
Arts & Humanities Division Policy Regarding Values Conflicts: Essential to a
liberal arts education is an open-minded tolerance for ideas and modes of
expression that might conflict with one’s personal values. By being exposed to
such ideas or expressions, students are not expected to endorse or adopt them
but rather to understand that they are part of the free flow of information
upon which higher education depends. To this end, you may find that class
requirements may include engaging certain materials, such as books, films, and
art work, which may, in whole or in part, offend you. These materials are
equivalent to required texts and are essential to the course content. If you
decline to engage the required material by not reading, viewing, or performing
material you consider offensive, you will still be required to meet class
requirements in order to earn credit. This may require responding to the
content of the material, and you may not be able to fully participate in required
class discussions, exams, or assignments.
Student Code: “Cheating, stealing and
plagiarizing (using the ideas or words of another as one’s own without
crediting the source) and inappropriate/disruptive classroom behavior are
violations of the Student Code of Conduct at Bellevue College. Examples of unacceptable behavior include,
but are not limited to: talking out of turn, arriving late or leaving early
without a valid reason, allowing cell phones/pagers to ring, and inappropriate
behavior toward the instructor or classmates.
The instructor can refer any violation of the Student Code of Conduct to
the Vice President of Student Services for possible probation or suspension
from Bellevue College. Specific student
rights, responsibilities and appeal procedures are listed in the Student Code
of Conduct, available in the office of the Vice President of Student
Services.” The Student Code, Policy
2050, in its entirety is located at: http://bellevuecollege.edu/policies/2/2050_Student_Code.asp
Bellevue
College E-mail and access of MyBC
All
students registered for classes at Bellevue College are entitled to a network
and e-mail account. Your student network account can be used to access your student e-mail,
log in to computers in labs and classrooms, connect to the BC wireless network
and log in to MyBC. To create your account, go to: https://bellevuecollege.edu/sam .
BC
offers a wide variety of computer and learning labs to enhance learning and
student success. Find current campus locations for all student labs by visiting
the Computing
Services website.
Disability Resource Center
The
Disability Resource Center serves students with a wide array of learning
challenges and disabilities. If you are a student who has a disability or
learning challenge for which you have documentation or have seen someone for
treatment and if you feel you may need accommodations in order to be successful
in college, please contact us as soon as possible.
If
you are a person who requires assistance in case of an emergency situation,
such as a fire, earthquake, etc, please meet with your individual instructors
to develop a safety plan within the first week of the quarter.
The DRC office is located in B 132, or you
can call our reception desk at 425.564.2498.
Deaf students can reach us by video phone at 425-440-2025 or by TTY at
425-564-4110. Please visit our website
for application information into our program and other helpful links at www.bellevuecollege.edu/drc
Public Safety
The
Bellevue College (BC) Public Safety Department’s well trained and courteous
non-commissioned staff provides personal safety, security, crime prevention,
preliminary investigations, and other services to the campus community, 24
hours per day, 7 days per week. Their phone number is 425.564.2400. The Public Safety website is your one-stop
resource for campus emergency preparedness information, campus closure
announcements and critical information in the event of an emergency. Public
Safety is located in K100 and on the web at: http://bellevuecollege.edu/publicsafety/
Academic Calendar
The
Bellevue College Academic Calendar is separated into two calendars. They
provide information about holidays, closures and important enrollment dates
such as the finals schedule.