Extra Credit Options

You may complete any of the following assignments for extra credit in the course:

1. Propose another documentary. Write a 1.5 page paper that proposes a new documentary to be used instead of Devil's Playground. Explain your rationale for the choice and how it would benefit students to see it.
2. Propose an assignment for the course. What would you assign for aproject in an English 108 course with the "Documenting Reality" theme? Write a 1.5 page paper that explains the assignment, provides a rationale for its usefulness/purpose, and describes your grading criteria.
3. Turn your "This I Believe" paper into a shorter radio-version to submit to thisibelieve.org. 

All extra credit is due by 5pm on Monday, April 28th. 

Peer Review Guidelines

Please use these links to find the peer review guidelines for each project

Sample This I Believe Essays

Sample “This I Believe” Essays

Sample One:

When you only have a dollar, buy an ice cream cone. I believe in the power of whimsy, caprice and momentary lapses in good judgment. Though my mother would be loath to admit it, she taught me this - that sometimes, usually fear-laced times, risk is your only currency.

When I was nine, my mother packed up her kids and fled a comfortable home, financial security and, after 25 years, my father’s tyranny. It was the late 1970s in a small town in Georgia, a place riddled with backyard gossip and unfriendly divorce laws. School was out for summer and we headed even deeper south to live near my mother’s large extended family, until, well, we just didn’t know. My mother had stayed home to raise her five children for the last 20 years and having not held a formal job during that time, had few marketable skills to provide for my sister and me, the youngest two still living at home. My mother’s family was not well off, but they were generous with all they had and helped my mother find a place to live rent-free, temporarily, while my grandmother’s overstocked kitchen would never let us starve. This communal spirit was new to me, as later would be public school, taking a bus, and wearing pants a hem too short after a rapid growth spurt. It would only take my mother a few years to safety pin the folds of her life into something she could live with, but in that time, I realized I’d been born to privilege, that poverty is shame, and that the best thrills in life arrive on impulse.

But it was that first hot hot summer of our departure that pinched us the hardest. I remember one Saturday in august and all we had in our cupboards was a box of Chef Boyardee Pizza mix and six potatoes. My mother had a lonesome $5 bill to her name, a half a tank of gas, and a flimsy promise of a check in the mail. Though she tried desperately to hide it, I saw that day that my mother was scared, the lump in her throat so tight her voice shook. But my mother knew that fear and prudence cannot share the same house. Fear will inevitably take center stage - bully its way to the limelight. In a panic, she set out to chase it away, as if she’d found a wild animal in her kitchen. So she made that box of pizza and a pan of home fries in one of my grandmother’s cast iron skillets, packed it in the backseat of our red Chrysler and drove us ten miles to Walker Park for a picnic. And for that one afternoon, we were frivolous and bold, eating our cupboards bare, burning gas needlessly, and with utter recklessness, spending half of those five precious dollars on ice cream, which was nothing if not restorative, whimsical and magic. (by Janan, 493 words)

Sample Two:

If I have one operating philosophy about life it is this: "Be cool to the pizza delivery dude; it's good luck." Four principles guide the pizza dude philosophy.
Principle 1: Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in humility and forgiveness. I let him cut me off in traffic, let him safely hit the exit ramp from the left lane, let him forget to use his blinker without extending any of my digits out the window or towards my horn because there should be one moment in my harried life when a car may encroach or cut off or pass and I let it go. Sometimes when I have become so certain of my ownership of my lane, daring anyone to challenge me, the pizza dude speeds by me in his rusted Chevette. His pizza light atop his car glowing like a beacon reminds me to check myself as I flow through the world. After all, the dude is delivering pizza to young and old, families and singletons, gays and straights, blacks, whites and browns, rich and poor, vegetarians and meat lovers alike. As he journeys, I give safe passage, practice restraint, show courtesy, and contain my anger.
Principle 2: Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in empathy. Let's face it: We've all taken jobs just to have a job because some money is better than none. I've held an assortment of these jobs and was grateful for the paycheck that meant I didn't have to share my Cheerios with my cats. In the big pizza wheel of life, sometimes you're the hot bubbly cheese and sometimes you're the burnt crust. It's good to remember the fickle spinning of that wheel.
Principle 3: Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in honor and it reminds me to honor honest work. Let me tell you something about these dudes: They never took over a company and, as CEO, artificially inflated the value of the stock and cashed out their own shares, bringing the company to the brink of bankruptcy, resulting in 20,000 people losing their jobs while the CEO builds a home the size of a luxury hotel. Rather, the dudes sleep the sleep of the just.
Principle 4: Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in equality. My measurement as a human being, my worth, is the pride I take in performing my job -- any job -- and the respect with which I treat others. I am the equal of the world not because of the car I drive, the size of the TV I own, the weight I can bench press, or the calculus equations I can solve. I am the equal to all I meet because of the kindness in my heart. And it all starts here -- with the pizza delivery dude.
Tip him well, friends and brethren, for that which you bestow freely and willingly will bring you all the happy luck that a grateful universe knows how to return.
(by Sarah Adams, 504 words)
You can find more sample essays at: http://www.thisibelieve.org and http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=453813

Syllabus

English 108: Accelerated First-Year Composition
Instructor: Ellen M. Bayer Office: HEAV 307D
Office Hours: MWF 10:30-11:20, or by appointment Email: ebayer@purdue.edu
Class Website: http://www.digitalparlor.org/sp08/bayer1/
Required Texts: The following texts can be purchased at Von’s Books.
1. Hacker, Diana. A Pocket Style Manual, (4e). Bedford/St Martin’s, 2004
2. Goya, Francisco. The Disasters of War (Dover Books on Fine Art). Dover, 1987.

Course Overview

In this class you will practice the writing process from the planning to the revising stages. The class is structured by the theme “Documenting Reality.” Through this theme we will examine various documentary forms, such as newspapers and magazines, film, fiction, web sites, art, music, and “reality” T.V. You will examine, explore, and critique the many different ways in which we document our reality, and will learn to respond to various texts and situations with various genres of writing. You will learn to become an effective college writer, and learn the skills necessary to succeed as a writer in both your future classes and career. In addition to this, you will learn the skills necessary to complete various types of research, as well as documentation styles (such as MLA) you will encounter in college. This course is structured with the common goals of all 108 classes in mind (a list of these common goals will be provided for you), and uses the theme of “Documenting Reality” as a means for focusing course writing and discussion.
Classroom Environment
Our classes will involve a great deal of student-led discussions. Each student has important thoughts and opinions, and I encourage you to share, debate, and evaluate ideas. I expect each of you to be respectful of your classmates. Harassment of any kind will not be tolerated.
Attendance and Tardies
Attendance will be taken for each class meeting. You may miss six classes with no penalty. These absences may be for any reason. If you miss more than six classes you will fail the course. No exceptions. Please note that when you miss class you receive no participation points and cannot make-up any missed assignments. Thus, it is in your best interest to attend class regularly. If you know you are going to miss a class, plan to complete any assigned work by/before the due date. Consistently arriving late and/or leaving early will be considered an absence.

Intellectual Property
The work you submit for this class should be your own, and you should cite any sources you reference in any version (draft or final) of your class projects. Submitting another person’s work as your own or failing to cite sources you have used will result in a zero on the project or failure of the course. If you have any questions about using and acknowledging a source, please see me or visit the Writing Lab. Please also refer to the University’s guidelines on Academic Dishonesty: http://www.purdue.edu/odos/osrr/integrity.htm
Grading Policy
IMPORTANT NOTICE: ALL of the following projects must be completed in order to receive a passing grade in this course. Detailed Guidelines will be provided for each assignment.

• Participation, Homework, and In-Class Assignments (10%)
This class is a learner-focused class, which means that the instructor will not lecture for the entire class, but that students will engage in and lead a class or small group discussion. Therefore, your participation in class is vital. I expect each student to contribute to class and group discussions, and I will keep track of your participation. You will also complete short in-class assignments, peer review, and homework assignments.
• Blogs (10%)
The class blog will allow you to discuss course topics in an online environment. You will be expected to post weekly, and specific guidelines for each week’s posts will be available on the class website (on the calendar page). You will also be expected to respond to your classmates’ posts. You must write at least 250 words per week on the blog.
• Project One: “This I Believe” Essay (15%)
The first project asks you to develop a personal essay using NPR’s “This I Believe” radio essays as a template. You will choose a personal belief you hold that indicates something unique about you as an individual. Essays will be read to the class in brief presentations as well. Essays will be between two (2) to three (3) pages in length.
• Project Two: Analysis of Documentary Film (20%)
This project asks you to analyze the rhetorical strategies of a documentary film. You will consider the ways in which the filmmaker employs sounds, images, film techniques, etc. to present their argument, and determine the rhetorical soundness of these techniques. We will view the film in class. The paper will be Four (4) to Six (6) pages in length.

• Project Three: Compare/Contrast Visual Responses to War (20%)
Using Goya’s Disasters of War as a starting point, project three asks students to consider similarities in the ways people have responded to war throughout history, as well as explore how different our modes of commentary are today from Goya’s time. The paper will be six-eight (6-8) pages, and will incorporate visual images.
• Project Four: What is it Like to Be ____? (25%)
The final culminating project asks you to fill in the blank: What is it like to be [something/someone] you do not define yourself as? You will document the reality of someone/something from a sub-culture of your choice. The project may take the form of a film, slide show, website, or traditional paper. You will incorporate at least ten sources, including both archival and field sources. You will also write a brief proposal and project reflection paper.
• Additional Information About Papers
All papers must be typed, double-spaced, in 12 point Times New Roman font, with one inch margins (the default on most computers). All papers should adhere to MLA guidelines for formatting and citation. Papers are due at the beginning of class on the due date. Late papers will be penalized; your project grade will be lowered ten (10) percentage points for each day (including weekends and holidays) that it is late.
You are required to turn in a typed draft of each project so that you may participate in a peer review. Peer review is an important component of this class. If you do not have your draft with you on peer review day, you cannot participate in class, and thus will be marked absent. You will revise peer-reviewed drafts and submit them for a grade. You will have the option to revise the graded draft and re-submit it within a week. Revisions must be substantial in order to warrant a revised grade. Submitting revised work does not guarantee a revised grade.
• Writing Lab
The writing lab is an excellent (and free) resource provided to help students with their writing, and I highly encourage you to make use of this valuable campus resource. If you go, remember to take your assignment guidelines and any class notes with you. The Writing Lab is located in Heavilon 226, and you can make an appointment by calling 949-3723.
• Class Schedule
The course website includes a weekly schedule that indicates what we’ll be doing in class, gives details for daily homework assignments, and provides the prompt for that week’s blog. The calendar also includes due dates for drafts of larger course papers. Please consult the online schedule on a regular basis in order to keep up-to-date with course assignments and due dates.

Using Comment Feature of Word

Please use the Comment Feature of Microsoft Word in order to conduct your peer review. It is fairly simple. Here are the instructions for those of you using Word 2007:

1. Open the Word document
2. When you want to comment on a particular word, phrase, or sentence, then use the mouse to highlight it
3. After you've highlighted the word/phrase/sentence, go to "Review" located in the tool bar at the top of the page and click on it
4. You will see a few new items pop up in the lower tool bar, including an icon of a yellow folder that says "New Comment." Click on "New Comment"
5. A box will appear in the margin of the paper. You type your comment into this box.
6. To comment on an entire paragraph, I usually highlight the period at the end of the final sentence, and then click "New Comment" to add the comment at the end of that paragraph.
7. Remember to save the commented draft, and then email it to me AND to the writer of the paper.
8. Please let me know if you encounter problems with this.
9. Below you will find attached a sample so you can see what this looks like