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Syllabus
Writing 50
The efficiency of “locavores”:
An interdisciplinary look into the local food movement
Spring 2009
Important Dates:
Tuesday, June 2nd and Thursday, June 4th: Final presentations
Thursday, June 4th: Final draft of research paper due (no final exam)
Prerequisites:
Writing 50 is open to students who have successfully passed Writing 2.
Subject to change; students are responsible for all modifications
1
A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009
Classroom Polices:
Attendance and Lateness: This class differs significantly from your other
undergraduate courses. It is largely based on in-class work and cooperative
participation. Therefore, attendance is mandatory. More than one
unexcused absence can reduce your grade by 10%. In-class work for missed
days may not be made up. It is your responsibility to find out what was
missed. More than two unexcused absences may result in a failure of the
course. In addition, please make sure that you arrive to class on time.
Arriving to class more than 15 minutes late will result in an absence
for that day. Please notify me in advance if any circumstances will keep
you from meeting your attendance or other requirements.
writing assignment for that day. You will often be called upon to share
your interpretations of topics covered in the course, either through writing
assignments or classroom discussion. Therefore, it is vital that you come to
class prepared and stay engaged throughout the class. Active participation
also includes creating a safe space in the classroom, where students listen
respectfully to others opinions. This includes actively responding to your
classmates’ work in peer reviews. In addition, part of your participation
grade includes visiting me during my office hours at least once during the
quarter.
Conferences: The best way to give you immediate feedback on your writing
is through one-on-one conferencing. All students are required to have at
least two conferences with me during the quarter so we can monitor your
progress in Writing 50 and help you map out your future in the class. An
appointment is recommended any time you wish to see me during
office hours.
Cell phones: Please turn off cell phones before entering the classroom as a
courtesy to your fellow students. Note: This policy includes the use of text
messaging. Any student using cell phones in class will be asked to leave the
class and marked absent for the day.
Late papers: All papers will be collected on the due date at the beginning of
class. Late papers will not be accepted.
Resources: If you are a student with a documented disability and would like
to discuss special accommodations please contact me during office hours or
by email. For more information and support please call Disabled Students
Program (DSP) 893-2668. Additional support can be found at Counseling &
Career Services at 893-4411. More importantly, academic support, including
writing tutors, is available for all UCSB students at Campus Learning
Assistance Service (CLAS) at 893-3269. I strongly recommend making
appointments at CLAS to review drafts of every essay you turn in
during this course.
A final note: Please feel free to contact me at any time during the quarter if
you have questions about the course, the campus, etc. I am a resource for
you, so please just ask me if you have a question or come see me in my
office hours.
T: 4/7 Resume and cover letter Read Part I in Craft; bring drafts (4) of resume
peer review; group and cover letter
meetings; discuss
approaches to research
R: 4/9 Resume and cover Read bring final draft of resume and cover
letter due; discuss Style letter
sheets
T: 4/14 Prepare Style sheets; Read Prologue to Part II and Chapter 3 in Craft
prepare reading and “Springtime forward” (on Gauchospace);
presentations in group write a Writing Log for either piece
meetings
R: 4/16 Discuss primary and Read Chapter 4 in Craft; write a Writing Log for
secondary research; peer Chapter 4; bring in a draft of your style sheet
review Style sheets
T: 4/21 Style sheets due; Read Chapter 5 in Craft and “New York Local”
discuss Research (on Gauchospace); write a Writing Log for
proposals; prepare either piece
reading presentations
R: 4/23 Reading presentation #1 Read Chapter 6 in Craft and “Stalking the
vegetannual” (on Gauchspace), bring in a draft
of your Research proposal
draft
T: 5/12 First draft due (at Bring two (2) copies of first draft; read Chapter
least 4 pages); Reading 13 in Craft
presentation #3
R: 5/14 Work on drafts; Read Part II of Defense (pages 83-136); write a
Writing Log on one chapter of Part II
T: 5/26 Prepare for presentations Read Part III in Defense (pages 137-201); write
—use Chapter 15 in Craft a Writing Log for one chapter in Part III
as a resource; prepare
for final draft
R: 5/28 Prepare for presentations Read Chapter 16 and 17 in Craft; write a
—use Chapter 15 in Craft Writing Log for either chapter
as a resource; prepare
for final draft
The Lure of the 100-Mile Diet. By: Roosevelt, Margot, Time, 0040781X, 6/12/2006,
Vol. 167, Issue 24
Database: Academic Search Complete
LOCAL-FOOD MOVEMENT
If you live in the town of Athens in southeastern Ohio, there are politically correct
reasons not to eat a California strawberry. Think of the pollution and the global
warming caused by its transport. Think of the ascendancy of corporate agribusiness
over family farms. Think of the loss of nutrients during a weeklong journey from soil
to supermarket. But to Barbara Fisher, an Athens cooking teacher, there's a more
primal motive for choosing a homegrown variety over the "beautiful, flavorless,
plastic" kind shipped from California: "When people bite into ripe strawberries from a
local farmer and the sweet juice bursts into their mouths, their eyes roll back into
their heads, and they moan."
Food sold in U.S. supermarkets averages some 1,500 miles from farm to plate--a 25%
increase from 1980, according to Worldwatch Institute, a Washington nonprofit.
Increasingly, even certified-organic produce is grown on vast monoculture spreads,
many of them overseas, and shipped long distances. So consumers seeking to eat
ethically and preserve farmland around their cities are embracing locally grown food
as the eco-healthy choice. Farmers' markets are thriving, along with community-
supported agriculture, through which people subscribe to a monthly produce basket.
And on locavore websites, converts swap shopping tips (Goatsbeard Farm feta from a
Missouri cook) and recipes (cheese grits via a Georgia blogger who plugs a stone-
ground variety from a mill powered by a mule named Luke). Some boast of eating
local on a budget-- $8.34 a day in the case of an Oakland, Calif., activist who got by
on sorrel-potato soup and honey-sweetened cookies for dinner. But she confesses,
"Let's face it. I can't go without chocolate forever!" For others, coffee is the biggest
sacrifice.
Pat McGovern, a retired teacher in Lebanon, N.H., took a spartan approach last year,
giving up coffee in favor of mint tea and hot cider and forgoing spices. She says,
"What I missed most was black pepper." This year she and 20 friends went all local
for a week in January--hardly a season of plenty in New England. It wasn't so bad,
what with baked squash, wheat-berry porridge, Vermont-cheese fondue, Indian
pudding, parsnips, maple-apple pie and even elk and emu meat. But now that they
have nothing to prove, they're reverting to August, as are two Vermont groups. Why
Subject to change; students are responsible for all modifications
7
A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009
make the effort at all? McGovern says she feels powerless to fight the globalization of
the food supply, "But locally, I can vote with my food dollar three times a day--
breakfast, lunch and dinner."
By Margot Roosevelt
Freewriting may seem crazy but actually it makes simple sense. Think of the
difference between speaking and writing. Writing has the advantage of
permitting more editing. But that's its downfall too. Almost everyone
interposes a massive and complicated series of editings between the time the
words start to be born into consciousness and when they finally come of the
end of the pencil or typewriter onto the page. This is partly because
schooling makes us obsessed with the "mistakes" we make in writing. Many
Subject to change; students are responsible for all modifications
9
A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009
people constantly think about spelling and grammar as they try to write. I
am always thinking about the awkwardness, wordiness, and general
mushiness of my natural verbal product as I try to write down words.
But it's not just "mistakes" or "bad writing" we edit as we write. We also edit
unacceptable thoughts and feelings, as we do in speaking. In writing there is
more time to do it so the editing is heavier: when speaking, there's someone
right there waiting for a reply and he'll get bored or think we're crazy if we
don't come out with something. Most of the time in speaking, we settle for
the catch-as-catch-can way in which the words tumble out. In writing,
however, there's a chance to try to get them right. But the opportunity to get
them right is a terrible burden: you can work for two hours trying to get a
paragraph "right" and discover it's not right at all. And then give up. Editing,
in itself, is not the problem.
Next time you write, notice how often you stop yourself from writing down
something you were going to write down. Or else cross it out after it's been
written. "Naturally," you say, "it wasn't any good." But think for a moment
about the occasions when you spoke well. Seldom was it because you first
got the beginning right. Usually it was a matter of a halting or even a garbled
beginning, but you kept going and your speech finally became coherent and
even powerful. There is a lesson here for writing: trying to get the beginning
just right is a formula for failure--and probably a secret tactic to make
yourself give up writing. Make some words, whatever they are, and then
grab hold of that line and reel in as hard as you can. Afterwards you can
throw away lousy beginnings and make new ones. This is the quickest way to
get into good writing.
The habit of compulsive, premature editing doesn't just make writing hard. It
also makes writing dead. Your voice is damped out by all the interruptions,
changes, and hesitations between the consciousness and the page. In your
natural way of producing words there is a sound, a texture, a rhythm--a
voice--which is the main source of power in your writing. I don't know how it
works, but this voice is the force that will make a reader listen to you. Maybe
you don't like your voice; maybe people have made fun of it. But it's the only
voice you've got. It's your only source of power. You better get back into it,
no matter what you think of it. If you keep writing in it, it may change into
something you like better. But if you abandon it, you'll likely never have a
voice and never be heard.
Taken from Writing Without Teachers. New York: Oxford UP, 1973, 1-7.
Subject to change; students are responsible for all modifications
10
A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009
Writing Logs are a required long-term part of the learning in this class. You
will be asked to complete a Writing Log for specific readings from WATW, as
outlined in our course schedule. Essentially, Writing Logs are a reflective
response to the readings. These responses should be typed and should be at
least a page. Writing Logs can be complied in the same portfolio folder in
which you write your journal entries. Be sure to bring logs to each class
meeting for larger discussion.
Include:
You may include comments on what is of particular interest to you, how the
article has (or has not) enhanced your understanding of the topic you’ve
read, what the author discusses and whether you agree or disagree, what
you found troubling, confusing or enlightening. The focus of your response is
not as important as showing how you engaged with the reading.
Format:
Each log can either be hand-written or typed and should be at least a page in
length for each night’s assignments. Please include an appropriate heading
and includes the title of the article(s) and the author(s) in a prominent
location (note: please use discipline appropriate formatting for the publishing
information).
Jessie Munoz
May 2, 2009
WRIT 50
Bright
hard drive. It seemed like just when I had given my computer all the
latest in power, memory and upgrades, I’d find something new to add
within six months. I felt like I had wasted all those lunch breaks.
Another point Katz makes is that technology can never really
be caught up with;
our knowledge is always moving forward. I think….
Figure 1
Sample of student writing log
Assignments
Cover letter and resume
Context
The purpose of this assignment is to contextualize the professional
opportunities in your discipline. The goal for this assignment is to gain
a deeper understanding of your discipline and to begin to prepare you
to enter this discipline through future employment opportunities.
Identify an actual internship or job offering in your field and act as if
you are applying for the position.
Tasks
Write a cover letter (1 p.) that includes the following:
• Appropriately designed letterhead
• All requirements as outlined in “Cover letter” section of rubric
• A copy of the internship or job “ad” attached
Format
Use a standard professional format (refer to “Writing to get an
engineering job” on Gauchospace). Be sure to include the following in
the cover letter: identify the position of application in the introductory
paragraph, summarize why you are qualified—refer to your enclosed
resume—emphasize your strongest skills, explain how you will benefit
the corporation and conclude with a date and/or time you plan to call
and follow up on the position.
Additional requirement
Any mechanical errors will result in an automatic “R” (Revise and
Resubmit) and grade penalty.
Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is to begin to gain a better
understanding of your academic discipline and its discourse
community by examining the types of professions that will be available
to you after you graduate.
assignment
Total:
_________/100
Resume and cover letter in context of final grade
_________/5
Style guides
Context
Each academic discipline has a different way to represent important
information. In order to prepare for the Research paper, I am asking
you to investigate the style in which your discipline chooses to
represent privileged information in this discourse community.
Task
I would like you to investigate relevant information regarding style in
your discipline.
In about two pages, typed, I would like you to address the following:
Purpose
The purpose of this assignment in to learn more about the academic
discourse community of which you are now a part. This assignment
will work to prepare you in conceptualizing the Research report by
giving you an idea of the audience you will be writing to and the format
you will be expected to adhere to.
Grading Rubric:
Style sheets will be graded completely on content and not on format.
Subject to change; students are responsible for all modifications
17
A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009
If you address all of the requirements listed above (in a clear and
comprehensive way), you will receive a 5/5 and earn full credit on this
assignment, which is worth 5% of your overall grade.
Research proposal
Context
Before a writer can begin drafting an interesting research paper, it is
helpful to make a working plan of the research project s/he is about to
embark on. Writing a Research proposal not only beings to hone your
research topic, but it provides you with a working plan for writing your
Research paper. The goal of the proposal is to think in terms of asking
questions, rather than stating facts, because this will allow you to enter
into the research process without any preconceived ideas of what you
will find.
Task
In a 1 and ½ to 2-page document (double-spaced), please outline the
course of research you are proposing for your final Research paper for
this course.
Purpose
Meaningful and interesting research writing is not an accident.
Thoughtful research is the product of asking interesting and relevant
questions. It is about asking questions about real problems that
you’ve observed in the world and that matter to you. Even though our
common topic may not have been one of your own choosing, it is
importing to find a research topic that is important to you. This is one
of the most significant steps in writing a successful research paper.
Subject to change; students are responsible for all modifications
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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009
Research proposal
Total:
_________/100
Research proposal in context of final grade
_________/10
Research paper
Task: The goal of this assignment is to develop the questions and ideas
you outlined in your research proposal in a more complex manner.
This paper will require great breadth in your research, your sources,
and will require multiple methodologies. As a result, the research
paper will be a longer paper (10 to 12 pages) than you may be used
to writing. Research is a dynamic process, and there is not just one
way to make use of what you learn from the research process and to
communicate the insight you gain. Even in academic writing, you will
find a variety of forms and functions of research, often depending on
the discipline, the purpose, and the audience. For this paper, you will
write in the academic genre for your discipline/major in order to best
convey what you discover from your research to your discourse
community. When you are interested in what you write and how you
write it, you are more likely to produce a paper that is interesting to
read. All of these options will be driven by your research
questions and the research problem you are trying to solve. All of
them will require a point or thesis that gives purpose to what you
include and the insights you offer. All of these options require more
than just a report. All of them require analysis and original
thought.
Genre: A Research Paper in Your Field. If you know the field you
will be going into—as a major or as a career—and you want practice in
writing a research paper that is common to that field, you may adapt
this paper to those conventions. For instance if you are in the social
sciences, you would write a paper with subheadings and use APA
formatting and documentation. If you are a communications major,
you might want to consider a traditional research paper for that field or
perhaps a lengthy feature article or expose. You have been
investigating the typical style of your discipline through your Style
sheets and Reading proposal and will be asked to articulate these
features when your turn in your drafts.
Subject to change; students are responsible for all modifications
22
A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009
Basic Requirements:
• Ten to twelve pages;
• At least ten reliable, credible sources (at least one two books
from the library and at least one primary source (interview or
survey);
• An appendix containing your primary data collecting instrument
and results
• Accurate and ethical use and documentation of your sources;
you should quote as well as paraphrase in your paper, and
introduce them effectively (see your discipline specific
handbook). You must accurately write and format a Works Cited
or Reference page and in-text citations.
Total:
_________/100
First draft in context of final grade
_________/30