ENGLISH
271-272 - ADVANCED EXPOSITORY WRITING
Winter Quarter 2013
Instructor: Kathleen
G. White
English 271-2 is concerned with 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. 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 Writer's Presence (Seventh 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. 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 Lunsfor, 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.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Throughout
the quarter, English 271-2 will generate 4-5 essays, 3-7 pages long (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.)
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, 70% of your grade will be from the
essays and the analyses, with 15% for the written critiques of editing
sessions, and another 15% for threaded discussion participation, which can take
a large chunk if ignored.
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:
January 2nd-5th
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 266
"The Joy of Reading and Writing" by Sherman Alexie
27
Begin First
Essay Assignment--(see weekly module)
Opening
Thread
Week Two:
January 6th-12th
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 Wednesday, 1/9
Topics for
Second Essay Assignment
Group
Editing Sessions Begin: Post drafts of Essay Two to groups ASAP--over the
weekend! Editing critique due 1/16
Week Three:
January 13th-19th
Lecture
Three: Aristotle, the Essay, and Other Literary Stuff
"In the Kitchen" Henry Louis Gates 97
"Eight
Days in a Corset" Siri Hustvedt
445
and take a
look at...."Consider the Lobster" David Foster Wallace
839, 857
Written
Editing Critiques Due 1/16
Week Four:
January 20th-26th
Lecture
Four: Exposition in Function
"Small Change: Why the Revolution will not be
Tweeted" Malcolm Gladwell 411
"How
Computers Change the Way We Think" 600
Second Essay
Due 1/23
Read Website
pages on Rhetorical Analysis posted in weekly module
Still More
Thread Questions
Week Five:
January 27th-February 2nd
Lecture Five: Critical
Analysis
"Calculated
Risks," by K.C. Cole (attached to weekly module)
"People Like Us," by David Brooks 330
"Silent Dancing," by Judith Cofer Ortiz 68
Analysis One
Due 1/30
Post drafts
of Essay Three to groups ASAP; no later than Monday, over weekend better!
Read website
page on correct research form (linked to weekly module)
Thread
Questions
Week Six:
February 3-9
Lecture Six:
"Throwing
Like a Girl" by James Fallows 400
"Why Boys Don't Play With Dolls," Katha Pollitt 555
Editing
Critiques 2/6
Thread
Discussion
Week Seven:
February 10-16
Lecture
Seven: Fine Lines Leading into Persuasion
"In the
Combat Zone" Leslie Marmon Silko 807
"Shootings" Adam Gopnik 673
Essay Three
Due 2/13
Thread
Questions
Week Eight:
February 17-23
Lecture Eight:
Irony, Satire, Sarcasm, and Other Greatest Hits
( Mark Twain
)
"Killing Civilians" by George Orwell (linked to module)
Analysis Two
Due 2/20
Week Nine:
February 24-March 2nd
Lecture:
Critical Analysis, Academic Evaluation, Truth and Beauty
"Where
I Lived and What I Lived For" HD Thoreau (see discussion thread for link)
"The Insufficiency of Honesty" Stephen L. Carter 337
Post and
Edit Drafts of Essay Four - (no written editing critique necessary)
Week Ten:
March 3-9th
Reading:
(attached to discussion thread)
Essay Four
Due 3/6
Week Eleven:
March 10th-16th
BC Finals
March 18-20
There is no
final Exam for English 271-2
Course
grades accessible on the BC website no later than 3/25