INDRODUCTORY COMPOSITION
ENGL 106: 40-03 (Spring 2008)
MTWThF 4:30 a.m.-5:20 p.m.
Monday (Lecture) - HEAV 108
Tuesday (Conferences) - HEAV 225
Wednesday (Comp. Lab) - ENAD 130
Thursday (Lecture) - HEAV 107
Friday (Conferences) - HEAV 225
Instructor: Ekeama Goddard
Office: HEAV 207
Tel: 494-7282
Office Hr: Tuesday (3pm- 4pm) and by appointment
Email: egoddard@purdue.edu
Class Website: http://www.digitalparlor.org/sp08/goddard1/
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES
English 106 is the standard 4-credit hour composition course for entering students at Purdue. To meet all your goals in this one-semester course, you should expect to produce between 7,500-11,500 words of polished writing (or 15,000-22,000 total words, including drafts) or the equivalent. Some of this text production will be done using multimedia, and some of it may be given through short assignments. Your writing topics will be closely tied to the course’s YOU ARE @ Approach. This approach aims to foster multidimensional discussion of various topics and asks that you situate yourself in the professional discussion. The topics may include personal experiences as well as research-based arguments.
It is common practice in English 106 to conduct different types of research and create a final project that demonstrates the expertise you have gained over the semester. So, we will be using planning assignments in order to help you discover and explore a topic, perspective, or audience. We will also spend some time in exploration of topics and rhetorical contexts, and in the production, interpretation, and analysis of multimedia environments.
This course requires reading and discussing writing by you, your peers, and professionals. This reading and discussion will be accomplished through in-class review sessions or in bi-weekly conferences.
REQUIRED TEXTS
• The Thomson Handbook by David Blakesley and Jeffery L. Hoogeveen (available at Von’s Bookstore on campus)
• Copies of readings located on class website or other specified urls.
COURSE EXPECTATIONS/PARTICIPATION
In order to accomplish the course goals, you must come to each class prepared. This means coming to class on time, as well as completing your readings and outside assignments. Active and informed participation in class discussions and collaborative work is also crucial. Points will be garnered based on the following:
• Group Assignment – 75 pts
• Paper 1 (3-5 pgs) – 100 pts
• Paper 2 (5-7 pgs) – 125 pts
• Paper 3 (8-10 pgs) – 200 pts
• Panel Discussion – 20 pts
• 3 Short Papers (2-3 pgs) – 50 pts each
• Blog Posts – 25 pts
• 1 Outside Assignment – 10 pts
• Participation – 50 pts
• Extra Credit – 20 pts
GRADING SCALE
Your points will be translated into percentages; your final grade will be calculated according to the following percentage scale:
100-90 A
89-80 B
79-70 C
69-60 D
59-below F
Although such instances are rare, I reserve the right to reward students who have shown dramatic progress with higher grades than the scale suggests.
Note about Incompletes: The mark of ‘I’ is inappropriate if, in the instructor’s judgment, it will be necessary for the student regularly to attend subsequent sessions of the class. I will give an Incomplete only in cases of extreme emergency.
BLOGGING
It is expected that you will read carefully and critically, take notes, jot down questions, and bring all required materials to class each day. Your blog posts will be a place for your observations and growth as an analytical reader and writer. Summaries of the essays do not constitute acceptable posts. Your entries should be approximately 250 words. You should also read and respond to at least 1-2 other entries (using the comment function) and give their posts the same amount of attention and respect that you would like for them to give to you. Feel free to use your entries to discuss the subject at hand, draw connections to other things you have seen and read (both online and off), rage against an idea, or respond to someone else’s entry.
CLASS PARTICIPATION & ASSIGNMENTS
This is one of the most important components to the success of the course. All reading and outside assignments are to be completed prior to class. This means reading carefully and critically, bringing materials to class, and coming prepared to engage with the ideas and your class. Class investigations are participatory assignments that may include critical and active discussions as well as in-class collaborative work.
ATTENDANCE
Attendance is welcomed, expected, and mandatory. To best utilize our time, come to class on time. You are considered absent if 1) you are more than 15 minutes late and/or 2) you are unprepared for class. There will be regular in-class work to record your attendance and preparation for class. You may miss three sessions without penalty. For every class after the first two, I will lower your final grade by 5 %. After three (3) absences you must attend a conference with me to discuss whether you should continue in this course. Five (5) absences (from conferences /regular class) constitute automatic failure of the course.
WRITING DEADLINES & SUBMISSIONS
You are expected to submit assignments by the deadlines listed. All written work is due at the beginning of class unless otherwise noted. In order to be considered for a grade, all assignments are to be complete, of the minimum word count, and must conform to MLA documentation and format (word-processed, 12 point legible font, double-spacing, with one inch margins). No out of class papers will be accepted if they are handwritten and all assignments must be accompanied by your computer diskette. Late assignments will only be accepted with the specific, prior agreement of the instructor. No exceptions!!!
CONFERENCES & CONTACT
In addition to regular weekly conferences, I am open to discussing matters pertaining to the course, readings, and your writing; please feel free to contact me via email or phone as well as in person. I hope you will also take advantage of my office hours and email.
PEER EDITING WORKSHOPS
Students will be responsible for participating in in-class writing workshops where they can benefit from the constructive criticism of their fellow students. Attendance and participation in peer workshops is mandatory and workshopped drafts of all longer papers with peer comments must be submitted with the final draft.
REVISIONS
You may revise the three longer essays. I will return each assignment to you with comments, suggestions, and a grade. Works that are incomplete when originally turned in or papers not received by the deadline are not eligible for revision. Also, I will not accept revisions without your original graded project and all previous drafts. Revisions of the essays are due one week from the date they are returned in class.
To assist you in revising, please remember that revision is an active rethinking/reworking process. Papers which only correct surface errors are unacceptable, as are papers which don’t consider feedback. Revision is not a guarantee of a higher grade.
PORTFOLIO
Please keep a folder with all written work for the course. Bring this folder with you when you attend conferences. You will submit this at the end of the semester with all major work, rough drafts, revisions, an evaluation letter, and a computer disk. Be sure you keep your copies of all written work with my original comments on them.
PLAGIARISM
Cheating: All written work submitted for a grade in this course must be the product of your own composition. Ideas generated due to reading and group discussion may provide the inspiration for your work, but should not be the sole ideas represented. With collaborative projects, of course, ideas should be representative of the group’s work.
Plagiarism is the act of presenting as your own work another individual’s ideas, words, data, or research material. The concept applies equally to written, spoken, or electronic texts, published or unpublished. All ideas and quotations that you borrow from any source must be acknowledged: at a minimum, you should give the name of your author, the title of the text cited, and the page number(s) of the citation. The only exceptions to this requirement would involve what is familiar and commonly held (e.g. the fact that the earth is round). You should know that penalties for plagiarism are severe and can entail suspension from the University. Students are responsible for reading and understanding the University policy on Cheating and Plagiarism set forth in Purdue University’s Academic Integrity: A Guide for Students available at http://www.purdue.edu/odos/admin/bacinteg.htm.
NB. Plagiarism on any assignment may result in zero points for an assignment, a failing grade for the course or, in a worst case scenario, being expelled from the university. Therefore, please ensure that you submit work that is yours.
CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR
Insults, slurs, or attacks of any kind will not be allowed in my class. Any student who engages in this type of behavior in the classroom will be permanently removed from the class. In other words, forced to drop the course, in addition to other possible punishment given by Purdue University (See the Purdue University Student Code of Conduct (Available at http://www.purdue.edu/odos/administration/codeconduct.htm). In order to have an effective teaching and learning environment we must practice both respect and tolerance, without question.
As we will be discussing subjects that will be controversial, to some students, all remarks made in class must be based solely on fact. Personal opinion and theological beliefs should not be brought into class discussions unless they are specifically requested. Please be advised that we will be reading about, discussing, and writing about issues of class, gender, sexual orientation, etc. if you have personal or theological beliefs that may hinder your discussion and/or participation please let me know ASAP so that we can discuss your options.
THE WRITING LAB
The Writing Lab (Heavilon 226) is a superb resource. The staff is willing to help no matter what stage you're at in your paper, from brainstorming to putting on the final touches. Since writing a good paper entails having other people looking at it and giving you feedback, visits to the Writing Lab are highly recommended.
Spring 106 Tentative Schedule (2008)
Rhetoric Around Us
Week 1: 7th – 11th January, 2008.
• What does rhetoric look like in advertisements?
Week 2: 14th – 18th January, 2008.
• How is rhetoric used in game advertising?
Week 3: 21st – 25th January, 2008.
• What reasoning is used in advertising?
• Group Assignment and Presentation Due.
Rhetoric and identity
Week 4: 28th January – 1st February, 2008.
• Does rhetoric affect your identity?
Week 5: 4th – 8th February, 2008.
• How is rhetoric used in picture composition?
• Paper 1 Due
Presidential Candidate Rhetoric
Week 6: 11th – 15th February, 2008.
• What are the stances of the presidential candidates?
Week 7: 18th – 22nd February, 2008.
• Where can you get balanced sources about the candidates?
Week 8: 25th– 29th February, 2008.
• Panel Discussion
Week 9: 3rd – 7th March, 2008.
• Peer Review
• Paper 2 Due
• Panel Discussion
SPRING BREAK
Week 10: 10th – 14th March, 2008.
MALE/FEMALE RHETORIC
Week 11: 17th – 21st March, 2008.
• What rhetoric is used to speak about roles of males and females in American society?
Week 12: 24th – 28th March, 2008.
• How does male/female rhetoric show itself in literature?
• Annotated Bibliography Due
• Panel Discussion
Week 13: 31st March – 4th April, 2008.
• How does male/female rhetoric show itself in movies?
• Peer Review (6pg draft)
FINAL PAPERS
Week 14: 7th – 11th April, 2008.
• Draft of Visual Presentation
• Paper 3 Due
• Class Presentations Start
Week 15: 14th – 18th April, 2008.
• Class Presentations
Week 16: 21st – 25th April, 2008.
• Class Presentations