20th Century Composition Theory & Practice

Course:

Spring 2013

English 3100 / Section 005 / Tues. & Thurs. 11:00 a.m. 12:15 p.m. Classroom South 325 http://eng3100sp13.wordpress.com/ (most up-to-date schedule and listing of assignments) & http://d2.gsu.edu (course readings, grades) Dr. Ashley J. Holmes / GCB 915 / aholmes@gsu.edu / 404-413-5831 Tues. & Thurs. 1:00 3:00 & by appointment During office hours, I am also available by phone or email. The best method of reaching me outside office hours is via email. English 1102 or English 1103 with grade of C or higher.

Course Websites:

Instructor: Office Hours: Availability: Non-Major Prerequisite:

The course syllabus provides a general plan for the course; deviations may be necessary. Course Description & Objectives This course examines theories of composition and literacy and explores writings impact on our personal, public, and professional lives. We will explore scholarship by key leaders in the field of Rhetoric and Composition that theorizes how people learn to write and effective pedagogical practices for the teaching of writing. We will trace histories of writing instruction and examine current social, political, and ideological issues associated with writing in public schools and institutions of higher education. Through a series of informal and formal projects, English 3100 invites studentsstudents interested in teaching writing, learning about issues of literacy, and gaining practical tools for improving their own writing and readingto further their conceptions of composition. Students will have a better understanding of the following upon completion of the course: Theories of composition and composition pedagogy. Historical progression of writing studies. Key concepts and terminology related to composition pedagogy. Possibilities for applying composition theories to pedagogical and professional contexts. The relationship between composition, writing, and rhetoric. The needs and challenges of writing instruction in public school systems. A critically reflective awareness of the politics of writing. Strategies for responding to and synthesizing current conversations and research in composition studies. Production of researched projects that contribute to composition studies. Required Texts There are two required textbooks for the course (see next page). In addition to these books, there will be required readings not published in these books available electronically through our course D2L site.

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Miller, Susan, ed. The Norton Book of Composition Studies. New York: Norton, 2009. Print.

National Writing Project, and Carl Nagin. Because Writing Matters: Improving Student Writing in Our Schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006. Print.

Course Assignments You will receive detailed assignment sheets with explanations and due dates for each of the following assignments. Group Presentation, Discussion Leaders, & Annotated Bibliography 25% You will work collaboratively to prepare a presentation and a series of questions to lead discussion of the assigned readings for one class session. As part of your preparation for this presentation, you will individually conduct additional research on your topic and submit an annotated bibliography of your findings. You will receive detailed instructions for each of the required parts of this assignment. Midterm Exam 20% Around mid-term you will take a closed-book exam on the concepts and theories weve discussed in the course up to that point. Informal Writing & Class Participation 20% This portion of your grade will be comprised of informal writing assignments, including in-class writing, group work, reading quizzes, homework assignments, drafts for projects, peer review, and conferences. The majority of these assignments will be evaluated as pass/fail: to earn a grade of pass you must meet the stated requirements for the assignment and submit it on time, and a grade of fail typically results from being absent or not fully meeting the requirements. I will also use this portion of your grade to evaluate your engagement with the course readings and in-class activities. To be an active participant in discussions, you should closely read the selections for each class. Final Project: Applying Theories of Composition 35% The final course project asks you to apply theories of composition to specific pedagogical, professional, or personal contexts. You will have several options for this project, such as a formal response paper on an issue of interest to you in composition studies, a series of lesson plans for teaching writing and a corresponding theoretical rationale, a proposal to an administrator or professional agency, or a theoreticallyinformed personal literacy narrative. You will meet in a conference with me to help you decide which type of project would be the best fit for your interests and needs, and you will present your project to the class during the university-scheduled final exam session.

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Course Policies Grading Policy Plus/Minus Grading Scale A+ 97100% A 9396% A9092% B+ B BC+ C CD+ D DF 8789% 8386% 8082% 7779% 7376% 7072% 6769% 6366% 6062% 59%

Spring 2013

You will earn a numerical grade for your midterm, and you will receive plus/minus grades for your group presentation, annotated bibliography, and final project. As noted above, your informal writing and participation assignments will be evaluated as pass/fail. At the end of the semester, I will tally the number of writing and participation assignments, and your grade for that portion will be determined by dividing the number of passes youve earned by the total possible points. For example, if there are 25 assignments and 2 reading quizzes at 5 points each, the total possible points would be 35. Perhaps you completed all but 1 writing assignment and you earned 4 points on each reading quiz; you would earn 22 out of 25 points, which would equal an 88%. From that grade, I deduct any points for absences (see attendance policy below) and make adjustments based on your timeliness and active engagement in class. I will do my best to keep your grades updated on D2L. However, it is ultimately your responsibility to keep up with your grades, averages, absence penalties, etc. Feel free to inquire at any time.

Attendance Policy & Expectations for Participation Daily attendance and participation are essential to your success in this course, and I expect you to attend all class sessions, arrive prepared, and be on time. I will take attendance daily at the start of class. However, in the event that you cannot make it to class, please be sure you understand the course attendance policy as follows. You will be allowed THREE absences, excused or unexcused, for the entire semester. These absences can be used in the case of sickness, family events, school related functions, work-related issues, or unexpected circumstances. Your final grade will be lowered by one third of a letter grade for each day missed over three. In other words, if you earn an A- in the course but have four absences, your final grade would be a B+. For five absences, you would earn a B instead of an A-, etc. If you know you will be absent, please let me know in advance. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to contact me about the possibility of making up in-class assignments, and you are responsible for learning any material covered in the class you missed. You will not necessarily be able to make-up all missed assignments; for example, reading quizzes cannot be made up. If you are late enough to miss more than half of a class session, you will be counted absent. Holmes / ENGL 3100 / 3

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If you are consistently late to class, this will have a negative impact on your participation grade for the course. Late Work I do not accept late homework or in-class work, unless you are absent and I have granted you permission to make-up the assignment. Major course projects are due at the specified time on the date stated on each assignment sheet. After that, the grade drops one third of a letter grade per calendar day, which includes days that we do not meet for class. Submission Policies Assignments are due at the start of class, unless otherwise noted, and will be considered late if submitted after the start of class. You may be asked to submit your work in print or electronic forms (through D2L or email). Please follow all stated instructions for how, when, and where to submit your assignments for this course. Make-Up Examination Policy Students are required to attend the university-scheduled exam period for this course. I will allow make-up examinations only for students who have more than two university-scheduled exams within a 24-hour period. If this applies to you, you need to let me know as soon as possible, and no later than one week prior to the final examination date, so that we can make the necessary arrangements. Academic Honesty As members of the academic community, students are expected to recognize and uphold standards of intellectual and academic integrity. The university assumes as a basic and minimum standard of conduct in academic matters that students be honest and that they submit for credit only the products of their own efforts. According to GSUs handbook, dishonorable conduct includes plagiarism, cheating, unauthorized collaboration, falsification, and multiple submissions of your academic work. For specific examples and definitions of each of these forms of conduct, please see the Policy on Academic Honesty, section 409 in the Faculty Handbook: http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwfhb/fhb.html. In our course, you should be particularly mindful of issues related to plagiarism. GSU defines plagiarism as follows: Plagiarism is presenting another person's work as one's own. Plagiarism includes any paraphrasing or summarizing of the works of another person without acknowledgment, including the submitting of another student's work as one's own. Course Assessment Your constructive assessment of this course plays an indispensable role in shaping education at Georgia State. Upon completing the course, please take time to fill out the online course evaluation. Accommodations Students who wish to request accommodation for a disability may do so by registering with the Office of Disability Services. Students may only be accommodated upon issuance by the Office Holmes / ENGL 3100 / 4

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of Disability Services of a signed Accommodation Plan and are responsible for providing a copy of that plan to instructors of all classes in which accommodations are sought. English Major Senior Portfolios The English department at GSU requires an exit portfolio of all students graduating with a degree in English. Ideally, students should work on this every semester, selecting 1-2 papers from each course and revising them, with direction from faculty members. The portfolio includes revised work and a reflective essay about what youve learned. Each concentration (literature, creative writing, rhetoric/composition, and secondary education) within the major may have specific items to place in the portfolio, so be sure to check booklet located next to door of the front office of the English Department. Senior Portfolio due dates are published in the booklets or you may contact an advisor or Dr. Dobranski, Director of Undergraduate Studies. See the English office for additional information. Campus Resources The Writing Studio GCB 976, Phone # 404-413-5840, http://www.writingstudio.gsu.edu/ The purpose of the Writing Studio is to enhance the writing instruction that happens in academic classrooms, by providing undergraduate and graduate students with an experienced reader who engages them in conversation about their writing assignments and ideas, and familiarizes them with audience expectations and academic genre conventions. We focus on the rhetorical aspects of texts, and provide one-on-one, student-centered teaching that corresponds to each writers composing process, especially invention and revising. We do not provide editing or proofreading services. We aim to create better writers, not perfect papers, so we address works-inprogress in tutorials, and not finished texts. Course Schedule This course schedule is subject to changes. Please check the calendar on the course website (http://eng3100sp13.wordpress.com/) for the most up-to-date version of the readings, assignments, and due dates. Norton = The Norton Book of Composition Studies, by Susan Miller D2L = Reading is available for download via the course D2L site (http://d2l.gsu.edu). Date TU 1.15 TH 1.17 TU 1.22 Topics First day of class Introductions, course assignments, and D2L Histories of Composition Studies Histories of Composition Studies Readings & Assignments Due

Accumulating Literacy: How Four Generations of One American Family Learned to Write, by Brandt, 73-104 of Literacy in American Lives (D2L) The Roots of Modern Writing Instruction: Eighteenthand Nineteenth-Century Britain, by Horner, 33-52 of Norton Holmes / ENGL 3100 / 5

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Where Do English Departments Come From?, by Parker, 3-16 of Norton Write: Choose one of the readings and write a 250 word response to submit at the start of class. TH 1.24 Histories of Composition Studies Sign up for group presentation dates. Writing Processes The Evolution of Invention in Current-Traditional Rhetoric: 1850-1970, by Crowley, 333-346 of Norton

TU 1.29

Teach Writing as Process, Not Product, by Murray, 36 (D2L) Excerpt from The Compositing Processes of Twelfth Graders, by Emig, 228-251 of Norton Write: Write a 250 word explanation of your writing process.

TH 1.31 TU 2.5

Writing Processes

Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers, by Sommers, 323-332 of Norton Excerpts from Writing with Power, by Elbow (D2L) Excerpt from Telling Writing, by Macrorie, 297-313 of Norton

Expressive Pedagogies

TH 2.7 TU 2.12 TH 2.14 TU 2.19

Expressive Pedagogies

Some Thoughts on Expressive Discourse: A Review Essay, by Elbow, 933-942 of Norton The Cognition of Discovery: Defining a Rhetorical Problem, by Flower and Hayes, 467-478 of Norton Cognition, Convention, and Certainty: What We Need to Know About Writing, 479- 501 of Norton Collaborative Learning and the Conversation of Mankind, by Bruffee, 545-62 of Norton Consensus and Difference in Collaborative Learning, by Trimbut, 733-47 of Norton

Writing & Cognition

Writing & Cognition

Collaborative Learning Group Presentation

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TH 2.21 Audience Group Presentation TU 2.26 Academic Writing & Voice Group Presentation

Spring 2013

Audience Addressed/Invoked: The Role of Audience in Composition Theory and Pedagogy, by Ede and Lunsford, 77-96 (D2L) Inventing the University, by Bartholomae, 605-630 of Norton When the First Voice You Hear is Not Your Own, by Royster, 1117-1127 of Norton Introduction to Errors & Expectations: A Guide for the Teacher of Basic Writing, by Shaughnessy, 387-396 of Norton Teaching Grammar in the Context of Writing, by Weaver (D2L)

TH 2.28

Error & Grammar Midterm Review

TU 3.5 TH 3.7

Midterm Exam Feminism & Composition Studies Group Presentation Composing as a Woman, by Flynn, 571-86 (D2L) Interrupting Our Way to Agency: Feminist Cultural Studies and Composition, by Reynolds, 897-910 of Norton

TU 3.12

Issues of Race and Diversity Uncommon Ground: Narcissistic Reading and Material Racism, by Schneider, 919-932 of Norton Group Presentation Maybe a Colony, by Villanueva, pages 991-98 of Norton Class Cancelled Begin reading Because Writing Matters

TH 3.14

Spring Break TU 3.26 TH 3.28 TU 4.2 Writing in Schools Because Writing Matters, Introduction and Chapters 1-3, pages 1-56 Because Writing Matters, Chapters 4-6, pages 57-104 Looking Back As We Look Forward: Historicizing Writing Assessment, by Yancey, 1186-1204 of Norton The Complexities of Responding to Student Writing, by Haswell, 1262-90 of Norton Holmes / ENGL 3100 / 7

Writing in Schools

Assessing Writing Watch Beyond the Red Ink

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TH 4.4 TU 4.9 Class Cancelled: Conferences for Final Project Second (or Third) Language Writing Group Presentation

Spring 2013

Meet in GCB 915 during your scheduled conference time. Bring your final project proposal. L2 Writing in the Post-Process Era: Introduction, by Atkinson, pages 1532-43 of Norton Negotiation of Identity and Power in a Japanese Online Discourse Community, by Matsuda, pages 1583-1599 of Norton Technology and Literacy, by Selfe, pages 1163-85 of Norton The Multiple Media of Texts, by Wysocki, pages 123160 (D2L) Kitchen Tables and Rented Rooms, by Gere, pages 1081-96 of Norton The New Literacy Studies and the Social Turn, by Gee, pages 1293-1310 of Norton Community Literacy, by Peck, Flower, and Higgins, pages 1097-1116 of Norton Read directors notes, questions, and bios for the film Take 20

TH 4.11

Writing, Technology, & Multiple Media Group Presentation

TU 4.16 TH 4.18

The Extracurriculum of Composition The Social Turn & Community Literacy

TU 4.23

The Experts: Talking about Teaching Writing Watch Take 20: Teaching Writing

TH 4.25 Exam

Presentations Thursday, May 2nd 10:45 a.m. 1:15 p.m.

Some students will present their final projects on this date. The remaining students will present their final projects during the exam period.

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