Department of English

English 103: Rhetoric and Composition I

Fall 2017
Instructor: John Turnbull (section xxx)
Meeting time/place:
Office address/phone: Reavis 314
Office hours:
Email: jturnbull@niu.edu
URL: http://www.webcourses.niu.edu

Course description and objectives

The primary goal of this course is to help you become a better writer. Writing is a continuing process of
thinking, discovering, learning, communicating, and reflecting. You will need these skills to succeed as an
engaged citizen of NIU and the world beyond. You have things to say and voices with which to say them.
You have much to contribute to the classroom conversations at each class meeting. You also have a
good knowledge of English that comes from many years of usespeaking, reading, and writing.

English 103 offers you the occasion to explore the purposes, intents, and audiences of expressive,
informative, and persuasive writing, as well as the rhetoric of electronic communication. The course
provides the opportunity for you to become more conscious about the strategies involved in shifting
focus among the writer, message, audience, style, and medium. It asks you to become more sensitive to
the ways all writing emerges from the expressions of community and in turn influences the nature of
community.

Finally, this course affords you the opportunity to become more aware of yourself as a writer by
creating an electronic portfolio. This portfolio is a collection of material that you will select and
assemble to demonstrate the course competencies identified in the English 103 outcomes
(http://www.engl.niu.edu/composition/outcomes.shtml). Reflective writing both generates material for
your portfolio and serves as the glue that holds your portfolio together by showing how its pieces
demonstrate course competencies.

Required texts
An Insiders Guide to Academic Writing (chapters 1-9)
Team Writing
From Critical Thinking to Argument
LaunchPad Solo (online), An Insiders Guide to Academic Writing
EasyWriter
EasyWriter eBook
Make Your Home among Strangers, by Jennine Cap Crucet (2015)
1
Page
Course requirements
We learn to read and write better by reading and writing regularly. Consequently, this will be a
workshop course where we will write often. We will spend significant time not only on individual
writing, but also in small groups where we will work collaboratively, sharing and responding to one
anothers writing. We will analyze and evaluate language, experiment with language, play with language,
get very serious with language.

By the end of the semester you will produce an electronic portfolio that demonstrates the
competencies identified in the English 103 outcomes
(http://www.engl.niu.edu/composition/outcomes.shtml). Along the way, however, you will produce a
great deal of textnotes, lists, scribbles, drafts, responses to drafts, and other reflective pieces.

Evaluation
The primary vehicle for evaluation in English 103 will be your paper and electronic portfolios .Each
assignment, with the exception of the first paper, will be judged in whole or in part on evidence of
artifacts that you submit to show steps you took in the creation process.
Summary of graded work
Personal narrative 1 | paper 1 5%
Rhetorical analysis | paper 2 15%
Personal narrative (revision) | paper 3 10%
Persuasive essay | paper 4 15%
Second revision (analysis or persuasive) | 20%
paper 5
Paper portfolio, e-portfolio & final reflection 25%
paper | paper 6
Class/lab preparation and participation 10%

This system of evaluation rewards you for timely, serious effort on daily assignments and in workshop. It
gives extra weight to your highest level of achievement near the end of the semester. It does not
penalize you for mistakes or experiments that go awry, as you learn from mishaps how to produce
quality finished work. In fact, this system assumes that finished, effective communication is often the end
product of a very messy creation process in which you take risks, follow false leads or trails, make lots
of mistakes, and return anew to your writing task. This system encourages you to engage in the
recursive and sometimes chaotic process of becoming a productive, confident, and fluent writer.
Early in the semester we will arrive at an understanding of the standards by which our writing is judged,
both within the community of our class and within the larger public audience of readers. The course
assumes that your final revised essays will observe the conventions of grammar, spelling, and
punctuation of written academic American English. If you need extra support with these conventions, I
will help you. You may also seek writing assistance from the University Writing Center, Stevenson
South Lower Level, 815-753-6636 (see Conferences / Resources for Help below).

Grading
NIU employs a plus/minus grading system. The following scale will be used in determining course grades:
A 93-100
A- 90-92
B+ 87-89
2

B 83-86
Page

B- 80-82
 C+ 77-79
C 70-76
D 60-69

Class format
ENGL 103 will blend lecture, full-class discussion, small-group collaboration, freewriting, and peer-
review sessions. I would estimate the percentage of time devoted to each as follows:
lecture (10%)
full-class discussion (15%)
small-group collaboration (40%)
freewriting (15%)
peer-review sessions (20%)

Peer review
Early in the semester you will be assigned to a stable, four- or five-member peer-review group. On
peer-feedback days, you will be gathering with fellow peer-group members to read each others work
and to offer constructive suggestions and praise according to the plan for that day. Your participation in
these sessions and willingness to share your work and listen to the work of classmates is an important
part of our course, and this will form part of your class participation grade.

Electronic devices
All electronic devices should be silenced and put away during class unless I specifically ask you to use
your phones or laptops for a class activity. If you choose to pay attention to your phone instead of our
class activity, I may record you as absent, which would result in the loss of all points awarded during that
class period. The same policy applies to being on websites that are unrelated to class and which are
causing you to be inattentive to assigned class work.

Extra credit
Opportunities to earn extra-credit points will be announced as the semester progresses. Such activities
might include visits to the University Writing Center, additional written reflection, or experimentation
with visual rhetoric.

Attendance / participation
Writing never occurs in a vacuum, but within the context of audience; the immediate audience for
writing in this course is our class. This course requires a commitment to this community, a commitment
most obviously demonstrated by your presence, punctuality, and engagement. Thus, your attendance
and punctuality in class and lab are required (habitual tardiness and/or unexcused absences will
negatively affect your grade, and may ultimately result in failure for the course). Further, assignments not
submitted on time may receive a lowered grade (see below). Please alert me to excused absences due
to illness, medical emergency, family emergency, or religious observance so that we can agree upon
submission of missed assignments.

Late policy
All homework assignments and essays are due at the beginning of the class period. Essays submitted late
will be docked half a letter grade (5%) per day. If you are absent the day that a writing assignment is due,
you must still submit the paper to me via email or through Blackboard before class begins, or the paper
3

will be considered late.

Page
Plagiarism
Good academic work must be based on honesty. The attempt of any student to present as his or her
own work that which he or she has not produced is regarded by the faculty and administration as a
serious offense. Students are considered to have cheated if they copy the work of another during an
examination or turn in a paper or an assignment written, in whole or in part, by someone else. Students
are guilty of plagiarism, intentional or not, if they copy material from books, magazines, or other sources
without identifying and acknowledging those sources or if they paraphrase ideas from such sources
without acknowledging them. Students guilty of, or assisting others in, either cheating or plagiarism on
an assignment, quiz, or examination may receive a grade of F for the course involved and may be
suspended or dismissed from the university. Additional information is available on the English
Department website at http://www.engl.niu.edu/composition/guidelines/plag.shtml

Computer-mediated composition
Class will meet once each week in a computer lab. Remember to back up your files in more than one
place to prevent inconvenience or even disaster.
You need to have your network LOGIN ID and password and your email account operational by the
end of the first week of class. Write your user name and password down to be kept in a safe place. You
may use your own computer if you wish, or you may use the residence-hall computer labs or any of the
general-access labs on campus, but all writing assignments must be saved in a format that is accessible in
class on lab days. Unless you are otherwise instructed, all final work should be submitted electronically
via Blackboard.

Conferences / resources for help

We will schedule three required conferences during the semester (weeks 3, 9 and 13); you are also
encouraged to make an appointment or drop by during my office hours (xxxxxx, Reavis 314) to discuss
any aspect of the course or your progress as a writer. Also keep in mind the University Writing Center,
located in Stevenson South, Tower B, Lower Level, and at other satellite locations. The UWC is a
fantastic, free resource where you can work with another writing teacher on particular challenges, from
brainstorming to outlining to drafting to revising.

Accommodations for students with disabilities

Northern Illinois University is committed to providing an accessible educational environment in
collaboration with the Disability Resource Center (DRC). Any student requiring an academic
accommodation due to a disability should let his or her faculty member know as soon as possible.
Students who need academic accommodations as the result of a disability will be encouraged to contact
the DRC if they have not done so already. The DRC is located on the 4th floor of the Health Services
Building, and can be reached at 815-753-1303 or drc@niu.edu.
http://niu.edu/disability/accessibility_statement/index.shtml.

Shameless plug
If you enjoy this class and find it useful, please consider taking additional English classes and/or signing up
for the major or minor in English. For additional information about these options, please contact
askenglish@niu.edu or come visit us in Reavis 216!
4
Page
 Date Assignments & activities Writing artifacts &
deadlines
Week 1 Introductions, syllabus review, and ice-breaking Paper 1: Personal narrative
Aug 28-Sept 1 activities due Sept 1

Reading: Model texts (personal narratives of

identity and border-crossing)
Week 2 Rhetorical features 1: Subject, audience & Generation of smaller writing
Sept 4-8 purpose; genre awareness (features of identity- artifacts for portfolio (collages?
based texts, especially MYHAS) 1 freewrites? site visits?
observations?)
Reading: MYHAS, 1-58
Handbook as appropriate
Note: There is no class on Monday, Sept 4 (Labor
Day)
Week 3 Skill-building 1: Pre-writing and generating Generation of artifacts
Sept 11-15 ideas: concept-mapping, clustering, freewriting &
journals; portfolio introductions

Reading: MYHAS, 59-115

Handbook as appropriate
Individual conferences 1
Week 4 Skill-building 2: Peer review: peer-review Paper 2: Rhetorical analysis
Sept 18-22 groups; sharing & getting feedback; how to draft
respond constructively due Sept 22
Peer-review groups

Reading: MYHAS, 116-179

Handbook as appropriate
Week 5 Rhetorical features 2: Art of persuasion: how Generation of artifacts
Sept 25-29 to persuade, forms of arguments; collaborative
reading & writing

Reading: MYHAS, 180-242

Article cluster: Controversies in transitional
identity (gender, sexuality, migration, age, etc.)
Week 6 Skill-building 3: Form & discourse features: Paper 3: Persuasive essay
Oct 2-6 blocking; descriptive, analytical, argumentative & draft
narrative paradigms due Oct 6
Peer-review groups

Reading: MYHAS, 243-304

Handbook as appropriate
5
Page

1
Jennine Cap Crucet, Make Your Home among Strangers (New York: Picador, 2015).
Date Assignments & activities Writing artifacts &
deadlines
Week 7 Revision skills 1: Revision techniques: revisiting Generation of artifacts
Oct 9-13 subject, audience, purpose & organization;
creating writers self-evaluation criteria

Reading: MYHAS, 305-388

Handbook as appropriate
Individual conferences 2
Week 8 Rhetorical features 3: Close reading: identifying Generation of artifacts
Oct 16-20 rhetorical strategies; contemporary rhetoric
(social media & visual)

Reading: Model/student texts

Handbook as appropriate
Week 9 Revision skills 2: Paragraphing: promise Paper 4: Personal-narrative
Oct 23-27 sentences, coordination and subordination, revision
paragraph shapes due Oct 27
Peer-review groups

Reading: Model/student texts

Handbook as appropriate
Week 10 Revision skills 3: Sentences: thesis statements; Generation of artifacts
Oct 30-Nov 3 sentence combining & cumulative sentences

Reading: Model/student texts

Handbook as appropriate
Individual conferences 3
Week 11 Revision skills 4: Words: parts of speech, active Generation of artifacts
Nov 6-10 & passive, style & voice

Reading: Model/student texts

Handbook as appropriate
Week 12 Revision workshops & additional topics Generation of artifacts
Nov 13-17 Peer-review groups

Reading: Model/student texts

Handbook as appropriate
Week 13 Revision workshops & additional topics Paper 5: Rhetorical analysis
Nov 20-22 OR persuasive-essay
Reading: Model/student texts revision
Handbook as appropriate due Nov 20
THANKSGIVING BREAK
NOV 24-28 (NO CLASSES)
Week 14 Compiling paper & electronic portfolios: Generation of artifacts
Nov 27-Dec 1 How to self-analyze and demonstrate
development as a writer

Reading: Model/student texts

6

Handbook as appropriate
Page
Date Assignments & activities Writing artifacts &
deadlines
Week 15 Writing-portfolio presentations: Writing self- Generation of artifacts
Dec 4-8 assessments, art of reflection
Peer-review groups

Reading: Model/student texts

Handbook as appropriate
Week 16 Paper 6: Electronic
Dec 11-15 portfolio & final reflection
due Dec 11

7
Page