ENGLISH 4 (003): Writing in and
for the Discipline of English
Spring 2006 (second half-semester
course: March 20-April 26)
Professor:
Sandra Jamieson
http://www.depts.drew.edu/engl/sjamieso/
Contact:
(email):
sjamieso@drew.edu
(office):
973.408.3499
Class
meetings: Mon
& Wed 11:00-12:15 p.m.
EMB 206
Office:
S.W. Bowne 118,
Office
Hours: Mondays & Tuesdays,
4:00-6:00; Wednesdays,
12:30-2:00, and by
appointment--check the board on my door for additional hours each week
Virtual Office
Hours:
TBA. IM
screen name:
ProfJamieson
Printable syllabus (.pdf): http://www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/Engl4/S2006/syllabus.pdf
NOTE: This course is
linked to one of the four courses in the sequence "Mapping the
Anglo-American
Tradition" (21A, 21B, 20A, 20B) and the suggested research topics are
drawn
from the material in the linked module. For this reason, all students
registered for ENGL 4 must also be co-registered for the relevant
module.
Mar. 20 (Mon): Welcome.
Discussion of the class, goals, assignments, and expectations.
The
art and craft of library research 1:
selecting a topic and developing research questions. Broad
topic: an author from ENGL 20A. Discussion of specific topic: an issue
raised
in ENGL 20A, and the list of possible research questions. Introduction
of the
research proposal. [For guidelines on the generic college-level
research
proposal, see: www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/research_proposal.html]
Homework (to be completed for next class):
Write a research proposal based on broad research question (author)
following
the format presented in class.
Dues in class Wednesday.
Mar. 22
(Wed): MEET IN THE LIBRARY & Bring your computer!!
First research proposal due.
The
art and craft of library research 2:
Reference librarian Jody Caldwell will
introduce students to more sophisticated library research skills
appropriate
for English Majors.
Homework:
Develop a working bibliography for the author you are investigating.
Due in
class Monday.
Mar. 27
(Mon): MEET IN THE LIBRARY & Bring your computer!!
Working bibliography due.
The
art and craft of library research 3:
Reference librarian Jody Caldwell will
introduce students to even more sophisticated library research skills
appropriate
for English Majors.
Homework:
Review the possible topics for research and develop a research proposal
and the
first five texts of a working bibliography for at least one of them.
Due in
class Wednesday.
Mar.
29 (Wed): At least one research proposal due. Bring
your computer to class from now onÑlast reminder.
The
art and craft of research writing 1:
focusing topics using research proposals.
Discussion of research topics. Determining what is possible in ten
pages and
determining which are essential sources. Each person's research
question to be
handed in by the end of class (I will post them to the website so that
everyone
can see each other's topics and send them information they find!)
Discussion of
annotation. [For guidelines on the annotated bibliographies, see:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_annotatedbib.html]
Homework:
Develop a working bibliography of sources for the topic you are
investigating.
Use footnotes and works cited lists in texts you have already found to
generate
a list of "essential texts" on the topic and write annotations for five
of
them. Due in class Monday.
Apr.
3 (Mon): Working bibliography and annotations of five essential
sources due.
Bring at
least those
five sources to class with you!
The
art and craft of research writing 2:
identifying the issues.
What are your sources saying about your topic? How do they answer your
initial
question? How might your question evolve based on what you have read?
Revise
your research question and then list at least three answers you have
found in
your reading (indicating which source offers each answer). If you
cannot do this, consider
revising your question OR reading more.
Homework:
Continue working on your research question and three or more answers.
Write a
paragraph introducing your question and summarizing the answers you
have found
(NOTE: this is HARD. Allow enough time!) Due Wednesday.
Apr.
5 (Wed): Paragraph identifying research question and various
answers offered
in the literature due.
The
art and craft of Style 1: style
guides.
Introduction to the style assignment (see "Project 2" under assignments
on p4
of this syllabus). Discussion of prewriting for comparison (lists,
diagrams,
and tables). [For guidelines on college-level comparison see:
www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/resources/Comparison.html]
Homework:
Rough draft of a comparison of the
presentation of one stylistic feature or the overall question of style
in
Strunk and White; Williams; and Anson, Schwegler, and Muth. Due in
class
Monday. Be ready to present your findings to the class on Monday,
giving
specific examples from each text.
Apr.
10 (Mon): Very rough draft of comparison paper due. Bring
all three style texts to class today.
The
art and craft of Style 2:
culture and expectation.
Brief presentations of findings on stylistic differences and their
different
treatment. Discussion of how to develop a thesis on the different
treatment of
style in each text. Brief discussion of the art of comparison
(point-by-point
and block structure).
And
that research project?
Brief conversation about your progress on the research paper. I will
return
paragraphs identifying research question and various answers offered in
the
literature and we will discuss potential problems and frustrations.
Think about
how your research questions and the provisional answers you have found
could
lead to a thesis,
Homework:
Read Truss p. 1-34 (and more if you like) and consider her comments in
relation
to your thesis about style. Revise your style thesis and bring it to
class on
Wednesday.
Apr.
12 (Wed): Revised comparison thesis due in class.
The
art and craft of Style 3: rules
and conventions.
List of theses on the board. Discussion of style and convention
(continued from
Monday 12th).
Introduction of MLA Handbook.
Classification of styles and style guides. Whose style might appeal to
which
writing audience? Why? Where might you vary style? Why? What stylistic
errors
do YOU find the most annoying? Why?
Homework:
read at least one more chapter of Truss (select your own punctuation
favorite)
and revise your comparison paper including that material and the MLA
Handbook. An
excellent draft is due in class on Monday.
Continue
working on your annotated bibliography for your research paper.
Annotate all
other sources that seem useful (at least ten, but aim for fifteen).
Annotated
bibliography due Wednesday.
Apr.
17 (Mon): Excellent (i.e. final) draft of comparison paper due.
Bring
The
art and craft of research writing
3: developing a thesis. The
key is the thesis! We
will discuss your theses for the comparison papers and how they differ
from the
kinds of theses you will develop for the research papers. We will
analyze what
makes a thesis appropriate for an extended research paper using
examples from
previous semesters, and explore how a thesis can help to shape a draft.
Continue to work on perspectives on your topic, then develop a thesis
that
positions your response within those you have found. Revise your
paragraph to
include your thesis.
Homework:
Continue working on your annotated bibliography. Annotate all other
sources
that seem useful (at least ten, but aim for fifteen). Annotated
bibliography
due Wednesday.
Apr.
19 (Wed): Final annotated bibliography due (10-15 sources).
The
art and craft of research writing 4: developing a paper.
The working outline, the formal outline, note cards, "stickies."
Overcoming
writers block! Practice at least one method as you develop your
research paper.
Homework:
Continue developing your paper. A very rough draft of which is due on
Monday.
April
21 (Fri): last day to drop this class with a W (I hope you won't!!)
Apr.
24 (Mon): Very
rough draft of research paper due.
The
art and craft of research writing 4: just do it! Continue
working on your paper in class. Schedule appointments with me as
necessary.
Homework:
Continue developing your paper. A very good draft of which is due on
Wednesday.
Apr.
26 (Wed) LAST CLASS. Very good draft of paper due.
Evaluations
of the class and final discussion.
Meta-analysis:
Discussion of the meta-analytical introduction to the final
portfolio, the use of meta-analysis in ePortfolios, and ePortfolios in
general.
The
art and craft of Style 4: Revision
and editing.
Remember those style guides? Here's where you put your personal beliefs
about
style to use. Introduction of the
ten steps for editing and revision.
Schedule
appointments with me as necessary.
May. 9-10:
Reading days--use this time wisely!
May 10 (Wed)
Final paper with annotated
bibliography, metanalytical introduction, any revisions you wish to do
to the style paper, and EVERYTHING ELSE YOU HAVE WRITTEN IN THIS COURSE
THIS SEMESTER
due in a folder outside my office by noon.
In this
assignment you will
explore an issue, topic, text, or author presented in ENGL 20A, conduct
initial
research and develop a research proposal, conduct more research and
write an
annotated bibliography, and then write up the paper.
Due Dates:
In this paper
you will
compare the way style and advice about how to write effective prose are
presented in The Elements of Style,
by William Strunk and E.B. White; Style: The basics of Clarity and
Grace,
by Joseph Williams; and The Longman Writer's Companion,
by Chris Anson, Robert Schwegler, and Marcia Muth, with added support
from Eats,
Shoots and Leaves: A Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss
and the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research
Papers by Joseph
Gibaldi. The
objective of each of these three texts is to help readers become more
effective
writers, but each seems to develop from a very different definition of
"effective," and each adopts a very different tone. While some topics
are
covered in all three texts, most are not and those that are receive
different
attention and space. Each text emphasizes different aspects of writing
while
appearing to have the same goal.
Your task in this paper is to explore the differences and
similarities
between these texts and write a comparison that helps us to make sense
of those
differences and similarities.
Begin this comparison by browsing through the table of contents, layout, and chapters before you read the preface and introduction. You may want to consider whether the front matter adequately and accurately represents and introduces the text in question.
To help you get
started,
consider the following questions:
°
How
does each text define style?
°
What
assumptions drive the notion of style presented in each text?
°
What
assumptions does each book seem to make about our reasons for writing?
°
What
assumptions does each book seem to make about our reasons for
consulting a book
on style?
°
What
tone do the authors of each text adopt?
°
What
attitudes do they seem to have about their readers?
°
Who
seems to be the audience for each book?
°
What
do we learn about style from this discussion?
°
Which
book seems to speak to you (i.e. seems to match your assumptions,
purposes,
etc.?)
°
What
examples can you give of differences between the three texts?
°
What
examples of similarities can you give?
°
What
is the biggest different?
°
What
is the most obvious similarity?
°
How
does each text make you feel as a writer?
Once you have
answered
these questions and any others that occur to you as you read, draw some
larger
conclusions about the differences between these three texts and develop
a
thesis from that.
Due Dates:
The
last piece of writing yiou will do for this course functions as a
preface to your work, and invites you to
practice the writing skills you have used in the course for a very
different purpose. In this assignment YOU become the text, and your
purpose is to provide a lens through which others can view your work in
this course. At the end of
the course you will be asked to gather together all of your work for
the class (see below) and think about it. This is an important class:
now that you have completed it you have started your journey as an
English major. ENGL 9 taught you how to read and think like a major,
and ENGL 20 and 21 are teaching you the broad base of knowledge that
majors need, but this class is designed to teach you to walk the walk
and talk the talk of a major. With the completion of your final
portfolio you have entered the conversation of the discipline. How does
that feel? Do you feel more a part of the discipline of English now?
How? What do you still need to learn? Where do you go from here? Your
final piece of writing is a reflection on what you have learned in this
class and what you still have to learn. Instead of analyzing a text,
this assignment invites you to analyze yourself, using your work to
support the claims you make about it (you may quote yourself, refer to
assignments and moments in the course, and/or provide links). This
assignment also invites you to compare your work and your sense of
yourself as a writer to earlier moments in your writing life--to your
work and attitude six weeks ago, or in high school, kindergarten, or at
some other point. In other words, in this assignment you are thinking
about thinking and writing about writing.
Your final work
for the course will be shared in two ways.
A PRINT
PORTFOLIO: You will hand in a portfolio containing your final
copies of the two papers and all of the work that you have printed out
and generated on paper as part of this course (notes, diagrams, drafts,
papers with my comments, writing center notes, things you downloaded
from the web, photocopies--everything ALREADY printed). This material
should be gathered in a manila folder and handed to me. At the front of
the portfolio you should place your meta-analytical preface. You may
also include a title page, an acknowledgement page, a table of
contents, and anything else that seems appropriate;
An
ELECTRONIC PORTFOLIO (ePortfolio): You will gather together your
final copies of both papers along with everything else that you have
saved electronically as part of this course (including things you also
hand in in print form). This material will be saved in a folder in the
k:drive (or on your f:drive) and linked to an electronic portfolio so
that it is available on the web. You may use one of the templates I
will provide to set up this portfolio, or you may design your own. You
may use your preface as the base and provide links to other work, or
you may provide links to several things including the preface. We will
discuss these options as you work on the final portfolio.
| Drew Composition Program ePortfolio project |