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Student Syllabus - Sample 2

Back Back to Policy Statements and Syllabi

C0250, Spring 1995

Student Syllabus - Students should come to every class prepared to draft and revise papers they are composing. Bring all materials to class every day. Most class exercises won't take the entire class period so a great deal of work can be completed in class. Please note that I reserve the right to change or alter assignments and due dates if I realize that students need more or less practice or instruction on different techniques related to their writing and/or writing processes.

Jan. 18 - Introduction to the course (semester topic) and computers
Assignment 1 - To be handed out in class (Reading exercise)
Assignment 2 - Take ten minutes to write a description of yourself as a reader. What do you think about before you begin reading? What do you do as you read? What do you do when you hit a section that's particularly difficult or thought-provoking? What do you do when you've completed reading a piece of writing? Do you usually read something all at once, or do you do it in stages? Try to be as specific as possible in your description of your reading habits.

Jan. 20 - Sample writing
Assignment #3 - Please complete Exercise 9A and 9B on pages 168 - 172 in Ergo.
Assignment #4 - Having read the handout and Chapter 9 in Ergo, describe what logical fallacies are. Then explain how they affect your writing, thinking, and day-to-day life. Give several examples of how they affect you.

Jan. 23 - Critical Thinking and Logical Fallacies
Assignment #5. Please read "Death in the Open" by Thomas and then thoroughly and thoughtfully address the following prompt: Choose one of Thomas' assertions such as the idea that "We will need to learn more about the cycling of life in the rest of the system, and about our connection to the process," and either elaborate on this idea or refute it. Please argue clearly.

Jan. 25 - Summary
Jan. 27 - Summary
Jan. 30 - Summary

Feb. 1 - Distinguishing Between Fact, Opinion, Belief, and Prejudice
Assignment #6 - Address the prompt on pp. 24-25 of Ergo. Please complete this assignment thoroughly and imaginatively.

Feb. 3 - Workshop
Assignment #7 - Complete exercises 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D on pages 15-18 in Ergo.

Feb.6 - Response
Feb. 8 - Workshop
Feb. 10 - Synthesis

Feb. 13 - Revision
Assignment #8 - E.B. White. Look at the drafts of E.B. White's "Moonwalk" and note the different types of revision practices he used. Describe what you see as effective and then ineffective changes here. Then give a definition of what revision is. Lastly, discuss how overall successful E.B. White's revisions were. After scrutinizing E.B. White, explain how this relates to you as you begin to revise.

Feb. 15 - Workshop
Feb. 17 - Pro/Con
Assignment #9 - Details to come.

Feb. 20 - Library
Feb. 22 - Library
Feb. 24 - More Pro/Con and Biases in Sources
Assignment #10 - Library Feedback

Feb. 27 - Annotated Bibliography
Mar. 1 - MLA
Mar. 3 - Workshop
Mar. 6 - Portfolio Workshop
Mar. 8 - Polishing
Mar. 10 - Portfolio Due!!!

Mar. 20 - Audience Analysis
Assignment #11 - For the next two class periods, please put together a series of 5 profiles on different magazines and journals that show that you determine and discern the different audiences and readerships that the editors focus on. We will brainstorm a list of criteria as a class and then you may use this list to analyze the magazines and journals. Please note that you must verify your assertions with examples from the periodicals.

Mar. 22 - Audience Analysis
Mar. 24 - Rogerian
Mar. 27 - Rogerian
Assignment #12 - Read "Owning it All" by William Kittredge very carefully. Then work on this prompt. Consider some aspect of your life that once seemed essential to your attitude toward the world but that you have come to reject and perhaps even regret. Write an argument in favor of your new understanding as to why this aspect survives in others and why you indulged also. Make the alternatives clear to your reader by moving beyond critique in your essay and pointing out more constructive, more wholesome, ways of behaving.

Mar. 29 - Chapters 5, 6, and 7 in Ergo.
Assignment #13 - Exercises 6A, 6B, 7A, 7B, and 7C in Ergo. This will be collected at the beginning of the hour on Friday.

Mar. 31 - Logic
Apr. 3 - Rogerian Workshop
Apr. 5 - Induction and Deduction
Apr. 7 - More Induction and Deduction
Assignment #14 - Read and annotate the argument by Terry Tempest Williams. Part I--Trace her argument. Is this an inductive or deductive argument? Explain thoroughly by evidencing your choice from the text. Part II--What type of support does she use to argue her point. Be specific and, again, use examples from her text.

Apr. 10 - Chapter 8 in Ergo
Apr. 12 - More Inductive and Deductive
Apr. 14 - Workshop on Inductive and Deductive
Apr. 17 - Expressive Language
Assignment #15 - Create an extended metaphor or an analogy that might enhance your Rogerian or inductive/deductive argument.

Apr. 19 - Paper Due Date/You will need to turn in either your Rogerian argument or your inductive/deductive argument for a grade.

Apr. 21 - Final paper assignment/Topic Proposal for final paper/Audience Analysis Assignment #16 -

  1. First, let me know why you are interested in this topic. What is the relationship of this issue to your personal experience? Why are you writing about this issue?
  2. Clearly state your claim and indicate your stance as of now.
  3. Specifically define and describe your audience. (You might need to complete the "audience" prewriting activity to help you define and describe your target audience.)
  4. Speculate on which strategy will meet the needs of your audience.
  5. Where do you plan on finding the support for this paper?
  6. Complete the audience analysis in prewrite.
  7. Now, re-read your assignment sheet. Will your ideas meet the requirements of this third essay assignment for this portfolio?

Apr. 24 - Chapter 10 in Ergo
Apr. 26 - Assignment #17 - Full draft of your final paper
Apr. 28 - Workshop of Final Paper
May 1 - Essay Writing
May 3 - Final Paper Due
May 5 - No Class