ENGL 13100: Reading, Writing, & inquiry

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We're here to learn as much as we can about the kinds of writing we do for an academic audience. So we'll develop and practice our skills of observation, analysis, and exposition. We'll focus on the cultures that produced us, the society in which we live, and our relationships to both. (Pretty much, anyway.)

Though we'll attend to the conventions of research writing such as summary, paraphrase, quotation, and formatting, our main focus at all times will be the actual WRITING WE DO. Sentences, paragraphing, rhetorical structures (organizing our thoughts).  

COVID-19 PROTOCOLS

Since our classroom is built to hold us in normal times, and it does not easily allow for the 6-ft. social distancing, we have to have a seating chart to ensure your safety. I apologize for this.

As an instructor, and by law, I am not allowed to discuss the medical history, records, or condition of any student. 

We are all supposed to be masked when on campus. If you refuse to comply, I am supposed to report you.

Course policies about attendance and late papers will be standard, as described below. The exception would be that our school decides to send us off-campus and to put us online, or that we all get sick, or that you are ill and need to stay home. 

Let's hope none of that happens, but if it does, we'll deal with it.

GENERAL

Dr. M. L. Stapleton

Office:  LA 233  Hours: please contact me

email: stapletm@pfw.edu   phone: 481.6841 (message)

webpage: www.elmlsteach.org

blog: shakespeareinyourface.blogspot.com

TEXT 

Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)

ELECTRONIC DEVICES

Yes, feel free, but please use their powers for Good only

TIMEFRAME

24, 26, 31 August;  2, 9, 14, 16 September

No class on 7 September

Lab in Neff B39 9, 14, 16 September

PROMPT

The purpose of the assignment is to exercise your powers of visual analysis and to translate your insights to expository written form. You’ll choose a print or online advertisement and examine it as a cultural artifact. Your paragraphs should be devoted to the details of the image, and your focus should be at all times on what these details are DOING and how they contribute to the overall effect of the ad. 

Assume that your audience is yourself: someone who understands media but might not always grasp the significance of what she or he sees. Ultimately, what you seek is not simply “selling” something—we take that for granted—but what elements of culture inform your ad. 

You’ll be explaining to a reader what your ad is about, why someone might use it, and why it is important. Then, you’ll re-examine your ad’s significance and try to make a larger point about cultural values and practices. Is the ad manipulative? Exploitative?

SUGGESTED

Choose something that you care about and that will allow you to discuss elements other people might not notice. It doesn't have to be an item you use or necessarily aimed at you.  As you write, you might ask yourself why the thing advertised disguises its real intent, if this is the case. Is the thing important to you? Is it important to the culture at large? 

Since your job is to be objective, it would probably best to avoid PSAs, simply because it would be natural to identify strongly with the subject rather than subjecting it to rigorous, disinterested analysis.

SPECS

3-4 pp.

PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO INCLUDE YOUR AD, EITHER IN AN ATTACHMENT OR INSERTED INTO THE ESSAY

Attach your paper as a Word document to your email. Do NOT send it in Google Docs. Do NOT send it in .pdf 

Due Friday, 18 September, 9 a.m., by email:

stapletm@pfw.edu

Please keep in mind that you may revise this paper as often as you like, as long as you meet with me to discuss it on ZOOM after you have turned it in the first time. Revisions are due on or before the due date for the fourth essay, 18 December

 TIMEFRAME 

21, 23, 28, 30 September; 5, 7, 12 October

Article summary due 30 September

No class on 14 and 19 October

Lab in Neff B39: 5, 7, 12 October

PROMPT

We’ll build on our previous assignment in which we determined the possible cultural significance of an advertisement by visual analysis. Here, we’ll sharpen our analytical powers further by examining the language of a professional writer on a controversial subject from 18 years ago, 2002.

To prepare ourselves, our reading materials will not be from pop culture, such as the internet, television news, blogs, or local newspapers. Instead, we’ll look at several articles from the august and longstanding American journals of opinion, The New Republic and National Review, with links below. As you’ll see, however, simply because these media are highbrow and aimed at a sophisticated readership does not mean that they’re free from ideology or political agendas.  

When you choose your article (subject to approval), you'll need to analyze its language, tone, diction, perspective, intended audience, or anything else that would help you determine what the author's point of view  might be. You're welcome to use one of the examples below.   You're also welcome to find a one- or two-page editorial from a magazine such as Newsweek or Time, or a newspaper such as The New York Times.   Consult the Academic Search Premier on the Helmke website. If this is difficult for you, ask for help.

Samples for class:

on President Nixon's resignation, Chicago Tribune, 1974

on the politics of the Star Wars movie franchise, 2019

Here are two good online accounts of 2002, one from Newsweek, the other from the BBC.

SUGGESTED

• Organize your paper by topic, devoting each paragraph to a single element, even if one of your paragraphs makes reference to your essay. 
• Use significant words and phrases from your source to make your points.
• Consult the Writing page on Analytical Writing and Lead-ins and Quotations.
• Consult the Purdue OWL on paraphrasing, quoting, and summarizing.
• We'll use the updated MLA Works Cited style.   There are Purdue OWL examples for that, too.

SPECS

First: send me via email a copy of an article you might use, plus a 1-page summary of its content and perspective.   This is due Wednesday, 30 September, by 9 a.m.

Second: the finished product itself: 4 pp.

Attach your paper as a Word document to your email. Do NOT send it in Google Docs. Do NOT send it in .pdf

Due Friday, 16 October, 9 a.m. via email.

stapletm@pfw.edu

Please keep in mind that you may revise this paper as often as you like, as long as you meet with me on ZOOM to discuss it after you have turned it in the first time. Revisions are due on or before the due date for the fourth essay, 18 December

ESSAYS

New Republic

Weissbourd, "Down Home" (immigration)

Zacharia, "Stealth Bombers" (Iraq)

Zengerle, "Sorority Row" (race)

Roisin, "All Talk" (terrorism)

Crowley, "Paper Chase" (Bush administration)

Kaplan, "After the Fall" (Iraq)

McWhorter, "The Uses of Ugliness" (race)

National Review

Scruton, "Religion of Peace?"

Seckora, "Stop, Thief!" (media bias)

Kimball, "Dr. West and Mr. Summers" (media bias)

Kurtz, "Veil of Fears" (Islam)

TIMEFRAME 

21, 26, 28 October; 2, 4, 9, 11 November

Lab in Neff B39: 4. 9, 11 November

PROMPT

This is a skill-set assignment.  No arguments or brilliant insights required. All we're going to do is learn or review the basics: finding information, making it work in a paper assignment, paraphrasing and quoting, documenting information, avoiding plagiarism, and formatting Works Cited pages in the style according to the conventions of your field.

Research a problem in your field, whatever it happens to be. Give an account of the problem in some detail and let the reader know about some possible solutions.

SUGGESTED

Make sure you care about what you're researching, whatever it might be: chemistry, wildlife management, nursing, graphic design, teaching, construction.  If you don't care about it, you will not do a good job on the assignment.

SPECS

At least three reputable sources. Print media that can be accessed online, as with the previous assignment, would be best.

4 pp.

Attach your paper as a Word document to your email. Do NOT send it in Google Docs. Do NOT send it in .pdf  

MLA style, Works Cited page, OR APA style, if this is what your major requires

Due Friday,  13 November, 9 a.m. via email

stapletm@pfw.edu

Please keep in mind that you may revise this paper as often as you like, as long as you meet with me on ZOOM to discuss it after you have turned it in the first time. Revisions are due on or before the due date for the fourth essay, 18 December

TIMEFRAME FOR PRESENTERS: 

(M) 16 November

(W) 18 November

(M) 30 November

(W) 2 December

(M) 7 December

(W) 9 December

No class on 23 and 25 November

PROMPT

This assignment should tell us something about you that you want to share with the class.  Its only parameters are that it shouldn't be too personal, because then telling us about it would be awkward. If you can write about it for 4-5 pages, put it easily into a PowerPoint (or equivalent) presentation, make yourself understood about it, and treat it with relative academic gravitas, that would be best.  If your idea fails any of these four elements, I'd strongly suggest you choose another topic.

SUGGESTED

hobby, passion, non-religious belief, non-cliché ethical position, art, reading, sport, relationship. 

SPECS

4-5 pp.

Attach your paper as a Word document to your email. Do NOT send it in Google Docs. Do NOT send it in .pdf  

Any source material should be MLA formatted.

10 minute presentation with at least one visual aid.

Due Friday, 18 December, 9 a.m. via email

stapletm@pfw.edu

PLEASE NOTE: YOU MUST TURN IN THE PAPER AND GIVE A PRESENTATION. 

A FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL RESULT IN AN F FOR THE ASSIGNMENT.

As a PFW student, you are entitled to free software, which you'll need. If you follow this link, you can dowload your own copy of Office 365 from IT services.

Everything in your regular papers should be double-spaced. There are no extra spaces between paragraphs, and block quotations are double-spaced.  Go into your copy of Word, find the Paragraph menu, and make sure that it looks like the picture to the left.

Note: paragraphs for minor presentations can be single-spaced. Doesn't matter there.

It can be on the left or the right side

Your Name

My Name

ENGL 13100

Date

On the next line after the heading, center a title for the paper.

Begin your text on the next line after that title.

• Don't use "fun" fonts or all-caps.
• Your font size should be 12-point.
• Don't use 'single quotation marks' for emphasis, or, for that matter, for most any reason at all.

You'll compose your papers and shorter assignments in Word and email them to me, so there is nothing in hard copy.  Attach your paper as a Word document to your email. Do NOT send it in Google Docs. Do NOT send it in .pdf.

You are allowed five (5) absences for any reason you choose. Students who miss more than this will fail the course, unless they provide me with a valid medical excuse. I do not distinguish between “excused” and “unexcused” absences, nor am I responsible for material that you miss because you are absent. Students who miss the attendance call (the first five minutes of class) will be marked absent; students who get up and leave in the middle of class will be marked absent. 

PLEASE

• take care of your rest room issues BEFORE class. If you must leave, give us the high sign. 
• stay awake in class, do not put your head on your desk. If you are ill or exhausted, ask and ye shall be excused.
• use your electronic devices for good, not evil, e.g., watching videos, texting your friends.

NOTE: if you signed up for the class, it is understood that you can attend it regardless of family or employment obligations. If you have emergencies, this is why you have absences allowed.  Doctors's notes, team travel letters, and other personal effects do not entitle students to extra absences. If circumstances prevent you from observing the attendance policy, drop the course. 

Your papers are due on the scheduled non-class dates via email by 9 a.m. Late papers = 0.  You may revise all your papers (with the exception of the last) after meeting with the instructor in his office at our mutual convenience. Your revisions are due on the day your last project is due, 20 December by 9 a.m., email. 

it should go without saying that students are also expected to do their own work; indebtedness to secondary materials (either printed or electronic) must be clearly indicated so as to avoid plagiarism: 

• (piecemeal) using someone else’s words and phrases as if they were your own, not paraphrasing or summarizing properly, even with proper documentation; 
• (grotesque) using someone else’s ideas as if they were your own, without proper documentation; 
• (more grotesque) allowing someone else to write your paper for you.  

THERE IS NO NEED TO PLAGIARIZE IN HERE! NONE WHATSOEVER! AVAUNT, YE CHEATERS!

Your course grade is determined by a rough averaging together of your four paper grades, including your revisions.  Each paper uses the 100 pt. scale: 90s = A, 80s = B, 70s = C, 60s = D, 50s and below = F. 

PLEASE NOTE: YOUR FAILURE TO TURN IN ALL FOUR OF YOUR MAIN ASSIGNMENTS WILL RESULT IN AN F GRADE FOR THE COURSE.

Feel free to communicate with me at any time via email: stapletm@pfw.edu

I will usually get back to you sooner than you expect.

I always acknowledge an email submission with a reply confirming receipt. If you DON'T hear from me after a reasonable period of time, it means I didn't get the paper. It is YOUR responsibility to follow up in this case, not mine. 

We'll sometimes present on assigned topics during our class periods. Before 3 p.m. on the due date, you'll email me a one-page summary of your presentation. It can be single-spaced, and must include a picture that will help your audience understand your point. 

Your major presentation at the end of the semester must explain your final project, THIS IS WHAT I CARE ABOUT. You'll create a PowerPoint slide show to accompany yourself. We'll try and do three of these a day. It should be fun.