A few words about the course:

Donald Stearns, Ph.D. and Kim Worthy, Ph.D.

FIRST YEAR LEARNING COMMUNITY K:
LIVING ON SPACESHIP EARTH: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND THEIR LITERARY PORTRAYALS

Instructors: Donald Stearns, Ph.D., Megerle Science Building, Room 413
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 2:00-4:00 pm; Wednesdays, 5:00 7:00 pm and by appointment
Office Phone: Ext. 3197 on campus; (718) 390 3197 off campus
Home Phone: (856) 667-0486
Email: dstearns {at} wagner(.)edu

Course Description:
This course focuses on development of college level communication skills through reading, writing, discussions, and presentations stemming from issues raised in the learning community.

Specific course objectives:

To respond originally and lucidly to a series of reading based, experience based, and research based topics

To learn how to compose, by relating writing to perceiving, thinking, and expressing

To use the composing process to focus and develop perspective on any topic

To acquire the habits of supporting assertions, of building controlled paragraphs, and of revising and editing so that sentences are complex yet clear

To learn "to write for one another; to read your own writing to others; to listen seriously to what your classmates wrote; to give and receive positive criticism" (Toby Fulwiler, Chronicle of Higher Education, February 5, 1986, page 104)

Required Texts:

• Dell Publishing. The American Heritage Dictionary. 4th edition. New York: Dell, 2001.
• Des Jardins, Joseph R. Environmental Ethics: An Introduction to Environmental Philosophy. 3' ed. Belmont, California: Wadsworth, 2001.
• Hacker, Diana. A Writer's Reference. 4 1h ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2000.
• Assigned Readings: Associated Press. "Suit Names Chemical, Water Companies." Staten Island Advance 2 Aug. 2000: A 12.
• Avril, Tom. "Toms River Cancer Deal Gives Children $13 Million" The Philadelphia Inquirer 23 Jan. 2002: A I, A8.
• Facione, Peter and Noreen Facione. "The Holistic Critical Thinking Scoring Rubric." In Facione, Peter; Facione, Noreen; Giancarlo, Carlo and Steve Blohm. "The CT Album" and Workshop Materials. Millbrae, California: Insight Assessment and The California Academic Press, 2002.
• Facione, Peter; Facione, Noreen; Giancarlo, Carlo and Steve Blohm. "The Reflective Journal" [modified from their "The Reflective Log."] "The CT Album" and Workshop Materials. Millbrae, California: Insight Assessment and The California Academic Press, 2002.
• Feeney, Tom. "In their Hearts, the Parents of Stricken Kids Find Truth." The Star Ledger 20 Dec. 2001: A26.
• Feeney, Tom and Mark Mueller. "Crusading Mom Shrugs off Vindication." The Star Ledger 19 Dec 2001: A22.
• Gawande, Atul. "The Cancer Cluster Myth." The New Yorker Feb. 8, 1999: 34 37.
• Kaye, Richard A. "Tie Dyed Food." The New York Times 21 Apr 2002, see. 14: 1, 9.
• Kelley, Tina. "How to Separate Good Data from Bad." The New York Times 4 March 1999.
• Lesman, Alex. "Reduce, Re use, and Recycle: The Coop's Environmental Policies and Practices." The Linewaiters' Gazette. Park Slope Food Coop, 782 Union Street, Brooklyn, New York.
• Light, Richard J. "Diversity on Campus," Chapter 7, pages 129 159. In Light, Richard J. Making the Most of College. Students Speak Their Minds. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2001.
• Loeb, Paul Rougat. "The Cynical Smirk." Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in a Cynical Time. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 1999.
• Los Alamos National Laboratory. "The Karen Silkwood Story." Los Alamos Science 23 Nov. 1995.
• MacPherson, Kitta. "Toms River Cancer Tied to Pollutants." The Star Ledger 19 Dec. 2001: Al, A22.
• MacPherson, Kitta and Ted Sherman. "Experts Hail 6 year Toms River Cancer Study." The Star Ledger 20 Dec. 2001: A23, A26.
• "After 30 Years, Some Resolution." The Star Ledger 20 Dec. 2001: A26.
• Park Slope Food Coop. "Frequently Asked Questions." Park Slope Food Coop, 782 Union Street, Brooklyn, NY. 16 Sep 1999.
• "Mission Statement." The Linewaiters' Gazette 25 Jul 2002: 9.
• Pearce, Jeremy. "Trouble in Paradise." The New York Times 23 Jun 2002, sec. 14, 1,8.
• Peterson, Iver. "Many Cancers in Toms River Still Shrouded in Mystery." The New York Times 19 Dec. 2001: A30.
• Picard, Joseph. "Cancer Cases at OCC Spur State Investigation." Asbury Park Press 4 May 2002: A I, A6.
• Rampton, Sheldon, and Stauber, John. Toxic Sludge is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies, and the Public Relations Industry. Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 1995.
• "The Junkyard Dogs of Science." New Internationalist Jul 1999: 20 22.
• Rock, Andrea. "Toxicville." Ladies' Home Journal Sep. 1999: 106, 108 109, 114,116.
• Shermer, Michael and Pat Linse. "How Thinking Goes Wrong." The Baloney Detection Kit. Skeptics Society, 2001.
• Sucato, Kirsty. "What's Wrong in Toms River?" The New York Times 16 Dec. 2001, sec. 14: 1, 10.
• "Making a Particle of Difference." The New York Times 16 Dec. 2001, sec. 14: 10.

(Other readings may be assigned as needed.)

Assigned Films/Videos:

• Deadly Neighborhoods: Cancer Clusters. Executive Producer
• Paul A. Dowling, Writer Alan La Garde. Medstar
• Communications, Inc., 1996. (Package Copyright 1997 Films for the Humanities and Sciences).
• Project Censored. Dir. Steve Keller. Distributor: Media Education Foundation, 1999.
• Trade Secrets. A Moyers Report. Prod./Co writer Sherry Jones.
• Executive Editor Bill Moyers. Public Affairs Television, Inc. in association with Washington Media Associates, 2001.
• TV Nation. Dir. Michael Moore. Sony Entertainment Pictures, Inc. 1994.

Experiential Component:
As part of Reflective Tutorial, you are expected to include an experiential component that takes place outside the traditional classroom setting. The experience should relate to the general theme of the learning community (aspects of environmental issues). The goal is to provide a mechanism for each of you to understand more clearly the relevance of environmental issues through direct involvement that allows for reflection. Such reflection can be communicated via the journal entries and can become part of the general discussion in this course. Part of the experiential component of this learning community is project oriented and is called The Toms River Project, because it deals with various aspects of water pollution in Dover Township, New Jersey, where Toms River is located. This water pollution may be linked to a childhood cancer cluster found there. As part of The Toms River Project, you will be expected to attend all group trips to Toms River, New Jersey, which are expected to include at least two Friday all day trips. You will also attend the following evening meeting of the Citizens Action Committee for Childhood Cancer Cluster (CACCCC), as well as any additional CACCCC meetings that may be scheduled later in the semester:

Monday, September 30, 2002, 7:00 pm, Manuel Hirshblond Meeting Room, Dover Township
Municipal Building, 33 Washington Street, Toms River, New Jersey

Additional trips may be required, depending on their relevance to your Toms River research (e.g., U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Manhattan, N.J. Department of Environmental Protection in Trenton, New Jersey, Washington, D.C. meeting with politicians and other officials concerned with the Toms River cancer cluster). You will receive detailed information regarding The Toms River Project from Dr. Stearns.

The experiential component will also require a group field trip to Washington, D.C., where you will meet a member of Congress who represents you someone you will have already contacted and arranged to meet on that day (tentatively set for Thursday, October 31, 2002). At that meeting, the two of you will discuss an environmental issue related to President George W. Bush's proposed national energy policy an issue that you will have researched prior to your trip. You will bring with you a carefully worded letter (see Letter to Member of Congress below) stating your position on the issue, with evidence for your position. The letter will be addressed to your selected Congressional member and will be the focus of your meeting with him/her. Dr. Stearns will describe this experiential component in class.

A community service activity required of all LC K students will involve working at the incredible Park Slope Food Coop for approximately three hours. Dr. Worthy will describe this experiential component in class.

Attendance and individual involvement will be evaluated as part of the active participation grade.

Failure to meet the minimal requirements of the experiential component will automatically result in Incomplete if you are passing at the end of the semester; otherwise it will result in an F for the course.

Letter to Member of Congress:
Decide your personal view regarding an environmental issue related to President George W. Bush's proposed national energy policy, and provide a written summary of that view no later than October 4th (the due date for the 2nd draft of your research paper). Carefully prepare a thoughtful letter describing your position, with evidence supporting your viewpoint. Address the letter to the member of Congress you will have arranged to visit October 3 01h in Washington, D.C. (see Experiential Component above). As part of your research, find out the position of that member of Congress regarding your selected issue and take that into account as you prepare your letter. You must see a WIT in the Writing Center before the due date, Thursday, October 17th. The WIT must go over the letter with you and must sign this draft of the letter. A revised, clean copy of the original letter and the signed first draft are both due in RFT class Thursday, October 17th. While this letter will not be graded as a short paper, it will be assessed for overall effort, as well as evidence of critical analysis and persuasive argument; that evaluation will constitute part of the active participation grade.

Journal Entries:
You are responsible for contributing to an ongoing, freewheeling, electronic group journal throughout the semester, with entries expected by 9:00 am Tuesday or Thursday approximately every week (see RFT syllabus for the days). Each entry should focus your thoughts on the content of the two lecture courses that are part of your learning community. You will be assigned specific study topics designed to enhance your understanding of environmental issues. The general goal of this journal writing is to encourage an introspective awareness of your personal role regarding environmental issues. Please note that this is not a diary: do not lapse into personal matters unless they directly relate to the environmental theme of the learning community. While each journal entry will not be graded, there will be a subjective assessment of overall effort and general improvement with time, and that evaluation will constitute part of the active participation grade.

Research Paper:
A research paper dealing with an environmental issue and its relation to a specific aspect of The Toms River Project is required as part of this course. The fourth and final draft of the paper must be at least 15 full pages of text (not including the title page, Abstract section, or References section). The paper must include at least five references that Dr. Stearns has approved. The paper must be prepared using the style recommended by the Council of Biology Editors (see CBE Formatting Style in the RFT section of packet). Consult A Writer's Reference and your WITs for help in structuring each paper. Correct formatting, spelling and grammatical construction are expected. Please save your file on diskette for ease during the rewriting/revision process. Three times during the semester you will meet individually with Dr. Stearns to review drafts of your research paper. To each conference bring a folder containing photocopies of all cited reference materials used for the paper. Dr. Stearns will evaluate your research effort, conceptual understanding of the research, and editorial/grammatical quality.

These conference evaluations will become a part of the overall grade for the research paper, along with an evaluation of the fourth and final draft. Dr. Stearns will be looking for substantial improvement with each draft. Late papers will be docked five points for each day late, calculated as the number of days after the deadline that the paper is turned in and found suitable for evaluation. Note: Your paper will be returned to you unread and docked points if it does not meet the formatting requirements cited earlier. Any additional instructions will be given in class.

Web Page Presentation of The Toms River Project:
After attending a workshop regarding the setting up of web pages on the Internet, you will create your own web page and post a summary of your research paper, especially that portion of your research dealing with Toms River, on the Internet, with web links to other related web sites (e.g., web sites of Toms River organizations related to the childhood cancer cluster there). Your instructors will provide more detailed information in class regarding preparation for this component of the Reflective Tutorial. At the end of the semester, during the Reflective Tutorial final exam period, there will be student web page presentations of The Toms River Project.

First Year Diversity Program:
As part of the First Year Program, all freshmen are expected to participate in an event that comprises the First Year Diversity Program, which is designed to introduce the diversity of New York City and to increase cultural awareness (see information in RFT syllabus on COURAGE). Attendance and individual involvement will be evaluated as part of the active participation grade.

Active Participation:
You are expected to attend and actively participate in all the described activities and are responsible for all announcements made during those activities. Active participation is expected, and participation points will be lost for poor attendance with unexcused absences, poor performance regarding journal entries or letter to a member of Congress, meager discussion, lateness to class or other course related event, missed appointments without giving proper and timely notice to your instructor, as well as missed deadlines that were not otherwise penalized.

Grading:
Research paper……………………30%
Short paper assignments………..25%
Web page setup/presentation….20%
Active participation ……..……..25%

ADULT LITERACY TUTORING: ISSUES AND METHODS

Course Description:

This service learning course explores the principles and techniques pertaining to adult literacy tutoring. It introduces students to basic tutoring methods, provides background in the cultural, political, and social causes of illiteracy, and serves as a forum for discussion of issues surrounding civic literacy and social responsibility. Students will apply the concepts and skills they develop to actual tutoring experiences. The fieldwork component of this course requires that students spend four hours per week serving as tutors to functionally illiterate adults. Adult literacy tutoring will take place at The Learning Bank in Baltimore City, and individual scheduling of fieldwork will be arranged by the Shriver Center.

Required Textbooks:

Mike Rose, Lives on the Boundary: A Moving Account of the Struggles and Achievements of America's Educational Underclass (Penguin, 1990).

Catherine Dorsey Gaines and Rudine Sims Bishop, Growing Up Literate: Learning from Inner City Families (Heinemann, 1994).
Katherine D. D. Wiesendanger, Strategies for Literacy Education (Pearson Education, 2000).

Students should also purchase a spiral or loose leaf notebook, for use as a Reflection Journal. Each student must complete and submit a Service Learning Reflection Journal to the instructor for initial review on March 17, and again by the last day of classes. The Reflection Journal should have at least one entry per week in which you describe key incidents and experiences and offer reflections on their significance. (See attached guidelines.)

Readings and Assignments:

February 3: Introduction: Adult Literacy Tutoring in theory and practice
February 10: Mike Rose, Lives on the Boundary (discussion)
February 17: Mike Rose, Lives on the Boundary (continued)
February 24: Mike Rose, Lives on the Boundary (continued)
Start reading Katherine D. D. Wiesendanger, Strategies for Literacy Education
March 3: Katherine D. D. Wiesendanger, Strategies for Literacy Education (discussion)
March 10: Katherine D. D. Wiesendanger, Strategies for Literacy Education (continued)
March 17: Discussion: What is working (and what is not working) in our personal experience of adult literacy tutoring.
Service Learning Reflection Journal Due (for first review, to be handed back to you with comments after Spring Break
Spring Break, March 24 28
March 31: Dorsey Gaines and Bishop, Growing Up Literate (discussion)
April 7: Dorsey Gaines and Bishop, Growing Up Literate (continued)
April 14: Dorsey Gaines and Bishop, Growing Up Literate (continued)
April 21: Discussion: The social, political, ethical, and cultural contexts of literacy education
April 28: Student presentations (topics to be assigned)
May 5: Student presentations (continued)
May 12: Conclusion and Retrospect. Service Learning Reflection Journal Due

Grading Policy:

The final grade for HONR 390 will be determined by the course instructor (Dr. James McKusick) and will be based on his qualitative assessment of each student's performance, taking into account the student's Reflection Journal, class presentation, and other assignments, together with the adult literacy site supervisor's final performance evaluation. The instructor may meet individually with the student, or consult with the site supervisor, at any time during the service learning placement.

Excerpted from: Bridget Keegan and James C. McKusick (co authors),
Instructor's Manual to Literature and Nature: Four Centuries of Nature Writing (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2001).

Ideas for Assignments

Questions for discussion, writing, and research for particular authors and texts are provided in detail below. In addition, instructors may wish to provide alternative assignments, depending on the intended purpose and audience of their course. Below we offer brief descriptions of assignments that have had success in our courses. These assignments draw on active and collaborative learning techniques. They work to engage the students at a creative as well as a scholarly level, allowing them to use oral as well as written verbal skills, and to bring their classroom experience out into the community and make it "relevant" to their own lives. Courses on literature and the environment offer unique opportunities for the instructor to devise "hands-on" learning experiences for students of diverse interests and backgrounds.

Service Learning Project

Editors' Note:
Depending on the particular design of the course, and the instructor's interest, this project is often another way of allowing students to make connections between the work done in class and "the real world". Because so many (If the writers included in the anthology write from a deep concern and care for the natural world around them (often serving as environmental activists as well as writers), this assignment helps bring the texts to light. It can be modified for short or longer term activities. Because it is often difficult to require students to do additional work outside of class time, the instructor might wish to make this project one option among other more traditional essay topics. Alternatively, the instructor might wish to spend one class period with the class as a group doing volunteer service, such as a campus clean up, and use that occasion to prompt a shorter response essay.

Assignment:
Write an essay that draws together your own experiences from doing at least ten hours of service work related to environment and the scholarly reflection we have engaged in during the class. The instructor will provide a list of possible organizations for which you may volunteer, and you are welcome to recommend other organizations with which you have worked (or would like to work), provided that the proposed activities are germane to the class. The service you do must be externally documented and verified. In the essay you should explore specific ways your service experience enhanced or altered your perspective on the issues and texts studied in the course.

Service Learning Reflection Journal
To receive academic credit for Honors 390 (Adult Literacy Tutoring: Issues and Methods), each student must submit a Service Learning Reflection Journal. The Reflection Journal should be handwritten in a spiral or looseleaf notebook and is due for initial review on March 17, and it must be handed in again on the last day of classes. The Reflection Journal should have at least one entry per week in which you describe key incidents and experiences in your service learning placement and offer reflections on their significance. The Reflection Journal will be evaluated with reference to two main criteria: (1) Detailed and sympathetic observation, and (2) Quality and scope of thought and reflection. Neatness doesn't count! Reflection Journals are expected to be informal and to display some creative chaos. Feel free to enclose clippings, photos, or anything else you may have produced or acquired as a record of your experience as an Adult Literacy Tutor.

Please write the date above each entry in your journal. In recording the events and incidents of your adult literacy tutoring experience, students are encouraged to follow the practice described by the anthropologist Clifford Geertz as "thick description" in his important and influential book, The Interpretation of Cultures. Geertz's ethnographic approach is predicated on his vision of "man as an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun." Those committed to thick description take for granted that even the simplest act can mean different things depending on the cultural codes at work. In other words, the cultural significance of any action or artifact is never apparent at first glance; only by recording everything we observe, no matter how seemingly insignificant, can we begin to glimpse underlying patterns of meaning or behavior.

Each journal entry should provide a balance of observation and reflection. Once you have provided a "thick description" of your experiences, try to reflect more deeply on their larger significance. To get started, you may wish to address some of the following questions (or any other questions that help you make sense of your experience):

Questions for Reflection:

• The Setting: What are your most vivid first impressions of the adult literacy tutoring site? Describe settings, people, actions and positive or negative feelings you are having.
• The Scene's Players: Describe who you work with at the tutoring site (including staff, clients, fellow students) their lives, their views, their goals in life. Include some personal reaction to the individual(s) with whom you are working.
• The Exposition: What activities have you been doing with the person(s) with whom you have been working? Describe your relationship.
• The Plot: How do the people with whom you work react to you? Cite specific examples. How does their reaction make you feel?
• The Action: How do you think your presence in the community impacts the person(s) with whom you work? What impact has this placement had on you? Illustrate this point with experiences you have had this semester.
• The Script: Describe in some detail a day at your adult literacy tutoring site, including bits of conversation or a sample of the work with which you have been involved. Be creative. What is the significance of what you have described?
• The Resolution: After serving in the community now for several months, how have your initial impressions been altered? If they have not changed, describe observations that confirmed initial impressions.
• Backstage: What helped to make your adult literacy tutoring experience more successful and why?
• The Producers: Create a wish list for your adult literacy tutoring site. Be sure to include material needs as well as societal support that would make a difference in the lives of your clients.
  
• Critique: Write a summary of your semester. What was learned by both you and the person(s) with whom you worked? Include special experiences or highlights you might have had.

Finally, please be aware of certain ethical boundaries that your Service Learning Reflection Journal must not transgress. You must not mention the name(s) of your client(s) or provide other identifying personal information or photographs. Rather, you should select a pseudonym (such as a first name) to identify each client discussed in your journal. Your Reflection Journal is not intended as the basis for scholarly research, and you must hold it strictly confidential. Do not share your journal or report your observations to any person who intends to use them as a basis for research. Rather, the main purpose of your Reflection Journal is for your own academic and professional development. Your instructor agrees to hold the journal confidential and to use it only for the purpose of qualitative assessment of individual student learning outcomes of the service learning placement.

English 330: Business Writing
Honors Section 01: MW 9:00 10:40 in 037 Millett
Winter 2003

Lecturer: Cathy Sayer Office: 483 Millett
Mailbox: 469 Millett Office Hours: MW 11:00 1:00
Phone: 775 2471 TTH 1:00 2:30
Email: cathy.sayer {at} wright(.)edu and by appointment

Texts and Materials

For this course, you will need:
Business and Administrative Communication, 6th Edition, by Kitty 0.
A Writer's Reference, 4th Edition, by Diana Hacker (recommended)
Access to a computer with Microsoft Word software (Windows 98 or above)
Several preformatted IBM disks

Course Goals

The general goals of this course are to prepare you for the types of writing you will encounter in the workplace and for the citizenship role of a business professional. The specific goals are to assist you in developing strategies for: writing with specific audiences and purposes in mind writing collaboratively developing a sense of ethics in business communication planning, drafting, and revising your writing designing your documents visually

Course Description

To achieve the course goals, you will write a variety of texts: emails, memos, letters, proposals, reports, handbooks, manuals, etc. Some will be exercises from our text, but most of your writing in your major project will be real workplace writing in the form of a service learning team project.

Service learning projects represent mutually beneficial partnerships between academic courses and nonprofit organizations. The nonprofit groups will provide you with real workplace contexts for practicing the skills taught in the class, and you will provide valuable services for the organizations services for which they could not afford to pay and which might otherwise go undone. All parties have an equal stake in the success of these projects.

For your service learning project in this course, you and 1-2 other classmates will form a team to provide writing services for a non profit organization in our area. Your team will choose a project from a list of organizations that have made requests for our services. And the whole class will work as an extended creative team, supporting each other and acting as a consulting group as we contract out our services to meet needs in our community. By the end of the course, you should have a collection of writings from which to compile a portfolio to take to job interviews.

Course Requirements

Your final course grade will consist of the following:

• Collaborative Team Project Portfolio 50%
• Project Evaluation 15%
• Participation 20%
• Team Player Grade 15%

All assignments must be completed and turned in to receive a passing grade in the course. All formal team portfolio pieces must have received feedback from your classmates and me in order to be submitted for a grade.

Collaborative Team Project Portfolio

Your team's project portfolio is due, Wednesday, March 12, at the celebration we will host to honor our community partners and present them with the completed projects. The portfolio will consist of drafts and revisions of the following documents.

• a portfolio transmittal
• an email that introduces you to your community partners
• a project proposal
• a progress report
• a negative or persuasive message (most likely email)
• the final project

Class discussion, readings and activities will provide guidance on the proper format for these pieces. And you will receive feedback on each from your classmates and me to help you revise. You will have one mandatory conference with me on a semifinal draft of your project. However, before you submit your first drafts to your community partners for review, you should consult with me to make certain your work reflects the principles being learned in the course.

Project Evaluation

Your project evaluation will be due during finals week and will be discussed in more detail before you begin work on it. Basically, though, you will be asked to demonstrate your overall learning about business writing during this term by evaluating

• The effectiveness of your team's collaborative process
• The amount and quality of each team member's contributions (team player grade)
• The quality of writing in your team project. Your own progress in internalizing business writing principles and skills, using examples from pieces you wrote during the project
• How your choices, behaviors, and activities as a business professional and a citizen might differ as a result of your work in the nonprofit sector

Participation

Your participation grade will be based on a reading log and presentations of your team's document drafts to the class. Your grade will be calculated on the percentage of credits you earn out of the total possible during the term (90%=A, 80%=B, etc.).

Reading Log

Every day that you have a reading assignment, you should come to class with a reading log. The purpose of the logs is to help you digest your readings and be prepared to apply the information to your project work during class time. In the log, you should take notes on the most important points and concepts in the chapter and list any questions you want to ask in class. So that you can use your log efficiently in class, you also may want to note page numbers where each piece of info is located. Each log should be labeled with the date, the chapter number, and the title and may be typed (single or double spaced) or handwritten. Logs will receive full or half credit. To earn full credit, you must

• Be present for the entire class
• Thoroughly complete the log for the correct reading
• Present the log to me at the beginning of class on the assigned day Logs that are deficient in one or more of these areas will receive half credit. However, you may make up as many as 3 logs with no penalty, as long as the late work is presented at the beginning of the next class meeting.

Draft Presentations

During the term, each team will draft and revise 7 different documents. On the day a draft is due, one member of your team will present the draft to the class on the big screen and explain why you made the choices you did. The class will then discuss strengths of the draft and improvements that can be made. Each team member must do his/her fair share of the presentations (2/3 for a 3 person team, 3 for a 2 person team). Presentations will receive full or half credit. For full credit, you must

• Present a draft that shows a good attempt to apply principles in the reading and class discussion.
• Explain the team's choices clearly and thoroughly.
• Presentations that are deficient in one of these areas will receive half credit.
• There will be no make ups for draft presentations.

Team Player Grade

At the end of the term, your team members (in their project evaluation) and I will evaluate your contributions as a team player. Each of us will assign you a team player grade, which I will then average to arrive at your team player grade. I assume that your classmates and I will be looking for similar characteristics in terms of your performance in the class and on your team, but I can tell you the qualities I look for.

• Prompt and faithful attendance
• Efficient and effective use of class time, evidenced by the quality and amount of your in class work (Team members may also value the way you use out of class meeting time.)
• Flexible and cooperative attitude (Team members might especially value these qualities when setting up meeting times or needing help in emergencies.)
• Good work ethic (history of meeting deadlines and carrying your fair share of the load)
• Willingness to take risks and shoulder some kind of leadership (making phone calls, scheduling or running meetings, soothing hurt feelings, providing needed materials or skills)

Tips for Success

The policies and procedures in this course will follow, as closely as possible, those in the work world. Therefore, in determining what might be proper behavior in a given situation, you should continually ask yourself, "What would I do if this happened on my job? How would this action reflect on me as an employee? How would it reflect on my company?" Making things run smoothly will require common sense, respect for others, and effective and timely communication, both with me and with your classmates.

Partial Course Schedule

M 2/17 – Present project. Bring all negative or persuasive message drafts and project materials to class.

W 2/19 – Draft project report.

M 2/24 – Draft of project due.

W 2/26 – Checking Progress of Teams. Bring a copy of the Service Learning project draft for the 1-2 hour Projects conference

W 3/5 – Preparing Portfolio. Final project editing. Discuss project.

Week 10 – Work on projects or speak informally about project evaluations and your learning in the class.

W 3/12 – Attend Celebration Thanking Community Partners

Finals Week – Evaluating Project. Evaluation due.

Tim Wandling
English 101/Spring 2002
Office hours:
Wed: 1:00 2:00 PM
T/TH 9:20 10:35 Thu: 1 2:30

PH: 664 2796 Nichols, 362A
Email: wandling {at} sonoma(.)edu

Required Texts
Shuster and Van Pelt, Speculations: Readings in Culture, Identities, and Values
Lunsford and Collins, The St. Martin's Handbook
Melville, Benito Cereno and Bartelby

Introduction
This class is designed to allow you to develop and polish your own writing style as you engage with issues of contemporary culture and as you engage in the play of language. We will emphasize the relevance of writing to your lives and education. Please finish all readings before the class for which they are assigned. Attend all class meetings and scheduled conferences. I expect students to participate fully in class discussion of writing topics, peer editing, and assigned readings. Assignments are due at the beginning of class and late papers will be marked down. Papers need to be typed neatly and follow a consistent method of documentation (i.e., MELA style or APA). Additional readings and exercises from St. Martins (SM) will be assigned as needed

Service Learning Component
Each of you will be part of a team that works with a local non-profit agency to produce a written document that serves the mission of the agency. Examples include: Brochures, interviews, grant proposals, web pages. There will not be a specific due date for this assignment but all work must be done by the end of the semester. Each of you will visit the site at least once and participate in an orientation. The component is mandatory and takes the place of one essay that might be assigned in this course. More details on this to come, but as you work on these projects, I think you will enjoy bringing your developing writing skills to bear upon a real and important project. I will assist groups in managing any logistical concerns.

Grading
Essays: 50% (3 essays plus a research project with annotated bibliography)
Class participation, including peer review: 10%
Service Learning Project: 10%
Assignments/in class quizzes & essays: 15%
Attendance: 5%
Final exam: 10%

Expectations
To pass this course, you must average at least a C on all essays. However, you can average a C on your papers, and still wind up with a B in the course if you work hard at the course and count yourself to participating fully in the reading and discussion of essays. If you are getting C grades or lower on your papers as the semester goes on, you should be meeting with me to find out how to improve in the course and what strategies might best serve you in developing your writing.

Thoughts on reading
Read critically and actively. Take notes in the margins highlight – keep a journal call a friend send an email response write a poem in response write down a question or topic that vexes you. How do the authors you read make their points? Do you agree with their evidence? Is the logic clear? What is interesting stylistically about their work? Do you agree with its conclusions? Why, or why not? Insight into a work's meaning will be enhanced when you consider your role as a reader to be an active one in partnership with the writer.

Scheduled Readings/Assignments

1/29 Course Introductions.

1/31 Read and workshop "The Typewriter Revolution"
Terms: Connotation and Denotation. Interpretation. Thesis statement/approach.

2/5 Continue work on "The Typewriter Revolution."

2/7 Kincaid, "Girl"
Term: Voice.

2/12 Bambara, "The Lesson"
Term: Theme/message

Essay #1 due (Interpretation and translation of "Typewriter Revolution").

2/14 Tan, "Two Kinds"
Kozol, "Rachel and Her Children"
SM: Chapter 1

2/19 Elkind, "Childhood's End"
Evaluating sources.
SM: chapter 5.

2/26 Bing "When You're a Crip (or a Blood). Use of interview. Role of interviewer.

First version of essay #2 due (Personal Narrative)

2/28 Peer editing of essay #2
Read SM: Ch. 4

3/5 Melville, "Bartelby the Scrivener"

3/7 Continue discussion of "Bartelby"
Douglas, "Where the Girls Are"
Use of characters in arguments.

Student conferences this week (as scheduled)

3/12 Rapping, "In Praise of Roseanne"

Essay #2 due (Summary of essay)

3/14 Critical thinking: small group work on Rapping and Douglas. Interview partner on analysis of summaries.

3/19 Krasny, "Passing the Buck"
Working on transition statements.
Read SM: CH. 6.
Identify initial topics for research. A library tour may be scheduled.
(Discuss research proposal and annotated bibliography) is due.

3/21 Leonard, "TV and the Decline of Civilization"
Focus on use of irony and on repetition.
Essay # 2 due (Transitions)

3/26 Bloom, "Music"
Logical fallacies.
SM: Review Ch. 5 part f
A #3 due today (Analysis of Summary)

3/28 Berkeley in the Sixties (Film)
Annotated Bibliographies will be due.
SM: Read Part 8 early and often!

4/2 & 4/4 SPRING REAK

4/9 Staples "Just Walk On By"

Essay #2 due today (comparison and contrast, first version)

4/11 Peer editing of essay #2
Read all of Part 4 in SM.

4116 King "Letter From Birmingham Jail"
SM: Ch 20, 21.

4/18 Darrow "Address to the Prisoners at Cook County Jail"
Discussion of active verbs and clear sentences.
Term: Nominalization.
SM: Ch 23

4/23 Mitford, "The Criminal Type"

First Version of Research Essay due today

4/25 Discussion/presentation of Service Learning projects.

4/30 Wolf, "Hunger: A Feminist Critique."
Focus on Wolf's use of abstraction and hidden verbal agency.
Look for nominalizations. What is the most vivid image in this piece?

5/2 Faludi, "The Wages of Backlash"

5/7 Sweet, Paglia, Greider on Date Rape.
Final Version of Research Essay Due Today.

5/9 Roiphe, Gaitskill, on Date Rape.
Essay #4 In class writing assessing the five essays on date rape.

5/14 Tori Amos, "Me and a Gun" and "Cruciff"; Gardner, "Tori Amos Keeps Her Head."
Film: Thelma & Louise

5/16 Finish Thelma & Louise. Discussion.
Using symbolic details to tell stories.
Essay #4 due: Call to Arms or Persuasive Essay.

Final Exam May 23rd, 8:00 AM

Exam will cover terms and chapters assigned in St. Martins and will include an in-class essay based on our readings in Speculations.

What is community based writing?

CBW (Community based writing) involves a group of students working together to complete a writing project for a non-profit organization. These projects are required parts of their community service learning component in English composition courses. Typically, groups will include 4-5 writers who are working on these projects in lieu of a 3-5 page academic paper they would otherwise be writing. Each group of students will bring different skills and interests to their projects, so the specific tasks to be performed are agreed upon after they consult with a representative from the community agency.

Examples of successful community based writing projects include:

• Interview(s) of clients and/or team members for inclusion in PR newsletters, publicity, and/or grants
• Update or create resource lists.
• Produce a newsletter.
• Write drafts of or sections of grants (they will need more guidance on this).
• Website enhancement (skills vary here)
• Update or creation of needed organizational materials (Brochures, handouts, training materials).
• Other projects as defined by the organization and approved by the instructor.

  In completing these projects, students will work with a representative from the Community Partner. The projects will also be evaluated by the composition instructor.

What we ask of our community partners:

• Orientation. Meet with students to provide a brief training/orientation to the mission of the agency.
• Project. Define a project that may be completed in 4 6 weeks. Provide needed support to students as they complete the project.
• Communication. Keep in touch with the instructor about the project's progress.
• Research ideas. Brainstorm with the students and/or provide a list of possible research topics in your field. Many of our students are inspired by their work in the community and would like to tailor to community needs the research projects they are undertaking in the composition course.

Goals of the Program:

• Foster in students an engaged concern with community needs.
• Empower students to produce writing that makes a difference in the world.
• Develop important skills in collaboration, project design and planning.
• Provide community partners with an opportunity to connect with students at SSU, orient them to their agencies' missions and to share with them their experience and knowledge about community needs.
• Provide community partners with thoughtfully produced written materials.
• Encourage research into community based issues.

Contact information for Community Partners:

United Against Sexual Assault:
Jessica Prosch
Prevention Education Coordinator
http://www.uasasonoma.org/
Phone: 545 7270
Email: info {at} uasa.sonoma(.)org

Junior Achievement:
Susan Wandling
Education Manager
http:Hsantarosaja.org
Phone: 546 2578
Email: jasrprograms {at} callatg(.)com

Family Connection:
Kathy Tonkovich
Executive Director
http://www.thefamilyconnection.org/
Phone: 579 3630
Email: familyconnection {at} pon(.)net

St. Josephs Community Health
Dory Magasis Escobar
Directory of Healthy Communities
Phone: 547 2289
Email: descobar {at} srin.stjoe(.)org

Sierra Youth Club
Carolee Watts
Garden Manager
Phone: 537 6306
Darlene Lewis
Director
Email: DLEWIS1@sonoma county.org
Phone: 707 537 6306

Meets MWF, 1:00 02:05 p.m. in Hum 111
(Service Learning sessions at West Wind Village to be arranged)

Instructor: Argie Manolis
Email: manolis {at} mrs.umn(.)edu (This is the best way to reach me)
Office: HUM 124
Office Phone/Voicemail: 589-6257 (This is the second best way to reach me)
Office Hours: Tues, 12-2 and Wed, 2-4

A poem does invite, it does inquire. What does it invite? A poem invites you to feel.
More than that: It invites you to respond. And better than that: A poem invites a total response.
-Muriel Rukeyser from The Life of Poetry

Course Description
Welcome to Introduction to Creative Writing! This is a course in "inquiry" and "total response." In the process of reading and writing poetry and fiction, you'll come to recognize the power of the written word how it can change the way writers and readers live their lives. This writing course is designed to help you discover and put into practice your own strategies for living a more creative life. More practically (or more academically), you'll learn basic strategies for gathering ideas for, writing, critically reading, and revising prose (primarily fiction) and poetry (which may be fictional or non fictional).

This course encourages you to think of all your writing as work in progress. You will complete a portfolio of fiction and poetry at the end of the semester, but much of your grade on this portfolio will hinge on how hard you work at drafting and revising. In the process of doing the work, we'll discuss questions like, what makes a good story? A good poem? What is creative writing as an academic discipline and as a way of life? Where do our own stories and poems, and our own writing goals, fit in? What value does creative writing have personally, socially, and politically?

Research shows that people learn best when their reading, writing, and thinking relate to challenges and needs within their communities. In this course, you will have the opportunity to interact with elderly people in the Morris community, many of whom suffer from Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia. You will create "found poetry" from their words in addition to your original poems. You will be providing a valuable service, and in the process, you'll learn to value the lives, memories, and words of people much different than you. You will spend a total of eight hours this semester Outside of class time meeting with the residents.

Course Requirements and Policies

Books You Need:

• A Poetry Handbook, by Mary Oliver
• Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft, by Janet Burroway
• Service Learning in Writing Courses at University of Minnesota Morris
• Course Manual, Fourth Edition (This manual will be available from the instructor at the cost of production).

Other Supplies/Costs:

• Photocopying costs will be significant. You should set aside $20 for these costs from the beginning of the semester.
• Two two-pocket folders for submission of your portfolios and journal entries.
• A large envelope for the return of your final portfolio
• A disk, with all versions of your stories and poems saved.
• Lined paper and a pen for in class writing assignments.

Attendance and Participation (5% of grade):
Because so much of your learning will take place in class, you must attend to receive credit for this course. If you miss more than three unexcused class meetings, your final course grade will be lowered by one letter grade. If you miss more than five unexcused class meetings, you cannot pass this course. Conferences and service learning sessions count as class meetings. If you find yourself missing class frequently because of illness, family problems, or other reasons, please talk to me about your attendance record as soon as it is of concern.

Because we are building a community of writers in this class, participation is important. You must participate in full class discussions of readings, service learning activities, and workshops. In class writing, including both journals and bi weekly letters (explained below) will count toward your final grade. At the end of the semester, I will assign an attendance and participation grade based on attendance and promptness, in class writing, participation in class discussions and workshops, and peer evaluations of your participation in the service learning project.

The Workshop (Part of attendance and participation grade):

Good writing is never a product of only one mind. Writers draw on a variety of experiences and influences in order to work through the writing process, An important influence is feedback from a diverse audience for the sake of this course, your teacher and your peers. The workshop is an important part of this, and all, creative writing courses. The workshop allows you to gather a variety of responses and make choices about how you will revise your work as a result. As a reader, you'll discover what styles of writing you most enjoy and how to better appreciate good writing. You'll gain critical reading skills which will help you write more clearly and thoughtfully.

Writing involves risk. Responding to writing involves careful, critical, sensitive communication. I hope that as we get to know each other, we will learn to challenge and to support and encourage each other. This classroom should be a place in which we all feel comfortable sharing our work and are all open to thoughtful feedback. It's important to note that there's a difference between providing critical feedback that is useful and feedback that amounts to a general judgment negative or positive about a piece of work. Similarly, there's a difference between disagreeing with an idea or comment and shutting down or criticizing the person who made the comment. All work has the potential to be improved, and all ideas have the potential to be thoughtfully reconsidered. You'll be asked to look critically at each piece by your peers and think about how it could be improved. Unsupported comments will not be accepted. Neither will comments that are hurtful or condescending. Workshop responses (20% of your grade): You will be assigned to a group of three to four other students for each assignment. You are required to read drafts of poems and stories from the entire class, but you must only complete a thorough written response for your group members. You must be prepared to lead the discussion about the pieces written by members of your group on the day they will be workshopped. We will discuss the process for responding to drafts in more detail, and you will get a list of questions and/or criteria for each assignment.

Workshop Policies:

• You must bring enough copies of your draft for each class member and the teacher on the day your drafts are due. You are responsible for knowing how many copies to bring. If you do not bring enough copies, your participation grade will be affected.
• You must complete written peer reviews for each group member on the day the peer review is due. You must bring two copies of the peer review: one for the writer and one for the teacher. If you do not complete the peer review on the day it is due, or bring copies for both the writer and the teacher, your participation grade will be affected.
• You must include copies of peer reviews you received with your portfolio packets, so do not discard them, even after you've completed the revision.
• Peer reviews must be prepared in one of the following ways: you may type responses to each of the questions or criteria. Include your name, the writer's name, and the assignment if you type peer responses. You may also respond to each of these questions or criteria by writing in the margins of the poem. If you choose the second option, be sure you respond in some way to all criteria and use dark ink to write your comments so they will be legible on a photocopy. Write comments legibly, and include your name legibly at the top of the poem.
• Bi-weekly letters (part of attendance and participation grade):
  Every other week, I will give you ten minutes at the end of class to reflect on the work we have accomplished as a community of writers during the previous two weeks. I will return your letter with a response during the next class period. Unlike the rest of your work in this class, your letters will be confidential. Because my goal is to help you learn, I want to check in with you every two weeks and find out how the class is working for you. Suggestions on ways to improve the class curriculum are greatly encouraged. In addition to these letters, I encourage you to meet with me so we can discuss how the class is working for you in more detail.
• Conferences (part of attendance and participation grade): One group and two individual conferences are scheduled during the semester so you may receive one on one feedback on your writing in various stages. In addition, you should plan to visit me during office hours for additional feedback.

Final Poetry and Fiction Portfolio (50% of your grade):
You will write one short story and three original poems this semester. You will be evaluated not only on the quality of the final drafts, but also on the process. You will do a lot of prewriting for each assignment. It is your responsibility to keep track of these prewriting assignments. Out of class prewriting assignments must be submitted in the format described for your story drafts below. In class prewriting will be handwritten, but should include a heading with your name, the date, and a description of the prompt. Each time a draft is due, I will collect all the prewriting that led to that draft, directly or indirectly.

The story and the first two poems will be submitted to the instructor and peers for oral and written comments; the third poem will receive comments from the instructor only. You are expected to revise the story and one of the poems using these comments. At the end of the semester, you will write a reflection on your revision process for each piece you revise. Revision means "re vision" or "seeing in a new way." Mechanical changes or a few minor changes in plot, setting, language, line breaks, etc. does not constitute a revision. A revision involves reworking the piece several times, using critical thinking, peer comments, and artistic vision (which comes from a combination of intense engagement with the piece and periods of distance from it). How thoroughly you revise, how well you address peer comments in your reflection, and how much the story or poem improves in terms of its essential elements (plot, imagery, characterization, line breaks, etc.) will effect your grade.

In order to receive a passing grade (C or D) on this portfolio, you must submit all drafts of portfolio pieces on their due dates, complete 75% or more of the prewriting, and write a good revision. For an A or B, all prewriting must be completed and all drafts submitted on time. The revision must be significantly better in terms of its essential elements than the early drafts. All pieces must also be carefully proofread and free of mechanical errors for an A or B. In addition to prewriting exercises, Your portfolio will include several drafts, workshop responses, a final revision of at least one poem and the story, and a reflection on your revision process.

Found Poetry Portfolio (15% of your grade):
You're responsible for writing found poems based on the tapes from at least three meetings with residents at West Wind Village. Each time you write a series of found poems, you will also write a reflection on the process and on what the poems reveal or witness (a handout with specific questions to address will be available). Writing found poems will give You practice in composing titles and line breaks and help you think about your role as a writer in new ways. At the end of the semester, you and your peer group will compile these poems into a book of poetry for the residents and their loved ones. Each group of found poems and reflection is due in draft form a week after the session with residents. Final versions are due close to the end of the semester, when you will compile final books of poems for each resident with your peers.

Service learning journals and final service learning reflection essay (10% of your grade):
As part of the course's service learning requirement, you must reflect on the service learning project periodically throughout the semester. Specific questions will be offered to you in advance of each journal due date. Service learning journals should be submitted in the same format as your short story draft (see "final poetry and fiction portfolio"). In addition, you will draft and revise a final service learning reflection essay, which will be included in each resident's final book of poems. On some weeks, rather than a journal, you will be asked to write a letter to a family member of a resident with whom you work on the service learning project along with a brief reflection and analysis to accompany the letter. This letter should be formatted like a business letter. Examples will be provided.

Grading Policies:

• For drafts of poems and stories, I will offer comments only; however, the comments will clearly explain how the assignment could be improved. I will you written comments on the day your poem or story is workshopped. For the third poem, you will receive my comments during a conference. You won't receive a grade for these pieces until I review your final portfolio revisions, but these final grades will be largely based on how thoughtfully you incorporated earlier comments.
• You will receive comments on found poems within a week of the day they are submitted. You and your peers will receive a group grade on the final poetry books.
• Your workshop responses will be graded based on how thoroughly you answered each assigned question/addressed each criterion and how thoughtfully you engaged the writer's work. I will offer thorough comments on these; please allow two weeks for a return.
• Your service learning journals and essay will address how thoroughly and thoughtfully you answered the prompt and how well you narrated, reflected, and analyzed your experience in the previous two weeks.
• Please see me during office hours or make an appointment to discuss any concerns about your grade.

Tentative Schedule
(NOTE: This schedule is likely to change. All changes will be announced in class.)

• 1/13: Introductions/pre-survey
• 1/15: Complete informational questionnaire. Read introduction to manual and complete reflection journal on p. 15. Read chapter one in Burroway.
• 1/17: No class today. Begin work on assignments for 1/20.
• 1/20: Read chapter one in manual and complete reflection journal on p. 23.
  NOTE: If you have already been involved in the service learning project, please complete the same journal assignment; Your responses will likely be
  different this semester.
• 1/22: Read chapter four in manual and complete reflection journal on p. 72 under "additional questions for creative writing." You do NOT have to complete the reflection journal questions above this one. Read "The Visible Man" on pp. 144 154 in Burroway and the stories and poems on reserve at the library before tackling the reflection journal question. Be prepared to discuss all the stories and poems in the packet.
• 1/24: Read chapter five and complete reflection journal under "additional questions for creative writing" on p. 80. You do NOT have to complete the reflection journal questions above these.
• 1/27: Read chapter six in manual. Read chapter seven in manual. Read "alternative journal assignment" (handout).
• 1/29: Complete journal on pp. 52 53. Panel discussion. Bring questions for panelists.
• 1/31: Tour of West Wind Village. First service learning session during assigned group time. Facilitator will write poems for this week.
• 2/3: Read chapter eight and complete reflection journal on p. 109.
  NOTE: If you have already been involved in the service learning project, please complete the same journal assignment; your responses will likely be
  different this semester. Complete a plot outline for your story. (Consider using exercise 1 or 3 on p. 28, or in class writing exercises, for ideas).
• 2/5: Read Chapter Three in Burroway. 2/7: Read Chapter 10 in Burroway. Second service learning session during assigned group time. Facilitator will write poems for this week.
• 2/10: Service learning journal #1 due. Read chapter Four in Burroway to p. 132. Complete a character sketch of your main character by freewriting about him/her, then writing a one page summary of the important characteristics of the character and the main obstacle/difficulty s/he will face in the story. (Consider using the exercises on p. 155 under "development/revision" for help in freewriting).
• 2/12: Read chapter five in Burroway.
• 2/14: Read chapter six to p. 216 in Burroway. Write a one page description of one or more of the settings in your story in progress. Read Chapter 7 to p. 273 in Burroway.
• 2/15: Sweetheart's dance at West Wind Village. Volunteers who write a reflection about their experience will receive 20 points of extra credit toward their reflection journal or essay grade (wherever the points would best help you at the end of the semester). Third service learning session during assigned group lime. Facilitator will write poems for this week. Individual conferences will be held outside of class lime this week. Bring your story in progress to the conference.
• 2/17: Read Chapter 8 in Burroway to p. 301. Read "Who's Irish?" on pp. 311-319.
• 2/19: No class today. Begin work on homework for 2/21.
• 2/21: Read Chapter two in manual and complete reflection journal. Read poems your facilitator wrote from weeks one and two (handout). Read found poetry reflection journal assignment sheet (handout). Practice writing found poems. Continue work on story. Fourth service learning session during assigned group time. Student assigned to fourth session writes poems.
• 2/24: Service learning journal #2 due. Read pp. 1-18 in Oliver. Practice writing found poems. Continue work on story.
• 2/26: Read pp. 19 34 in Oliver. Practice writing found poems. Continue work on story.
• 2/28: Story due with five copies. Read sample peer responses (handout). Fifth service learning session during assigned group time. Found poems and reflection due in class on Monday for student assigned to fourth session. Student assigned to fifth session writes poems. Group workshop conference will be held outside of class time. Bring two copies of each workshop response to the conference.
• 3/3: Read pp. 35 57 in Oliver and packet of poems (handout).
• 3/5: Read 58 75 and 112 118 in Oliver.
• 3/7: Read chapter 11 in Burroway.
• 3/10-3/14: Have a safe and happy spring break! Sixth service learning session during assigned group lime. Found poems and reflection due in class on Monday for student assigned to fifth session. Student assigned to sixth session writes poems.
• 3/17: Service learning journal #3 due. Read assignment sheet and readings for poem #1 (handout)
• 3/19: Work on poem/discuss handout.
• 3/21: Work on poem/discuss handout. Read sample poem responses (handout). Seventh service learning session during assigned group time. Found poems and reflection due in class on Monday for student assigned to sixth session. Student assigned to seventh session writes poems.
  
• 3/24: Draft of poem #1 due with copies for class and instructor.
• 3/26: Workshop group one's poems. Group one responses due two copies each. If you are not in group one, read group one's poems carefully and make
  written notes for the workshop.
• 3/28: Workshop group two's poems. Group two responses due two copies each. If you are not in group two, read group two's poems carefully and make written notes for the workshop. Eighth service learning session during assigned group time. Found poems and reflection due in Class on Monday for student assigned to seventh session. Student assigned to eighth session writes poems."
• 3/31: Service learning journal #4 due. Workshop group three's poems. Group three responses due two copies each. If you are not in group three, read group three's poems carefully and make written notes for the workshop.
• 4/2: Workshop group four's poems. Group four responses due two copies each. If you are not in group four, read group four's poems carefully and make written notes for the workshop.
• 4/4: Read poem 42 assignment sheet and readings (handout). Ninth service learning session during assigned group time. Found poems and reflection due in class on Monday for student assigned to eighth session. Student assigned to ninth session writes poems
• 4/7: Read Chapter 15 in manual.
• 4/9: Work on service learning essay in class.
• 4/11: Draft of service learning essay due with copies for peer group. Tenth service learning session during assigned group time. Found poems and reflection due in class on Monday for student assigned to ninth session. Student assigned to tenth session writes poems.
• 4/14: Service learning journal #5 due. Peer response to service learning essay due.
• 4/16: Draft of poem 92 due with copies for class. Read found poem semester reflection assignment sheet (handout).
• 4/18: Workshop group one's poems. Group one responses due two copies each. If you are not in group one, read group one's poems carefully and
  make written notes for the workshop. Last service learning session. Found poems and reflection due in class on Monday for student assigned to tenth session. This session is not taped; no poems are written from it. Individual conferences held this week. Draft of poem #3 any topic, any form due on day of conference. Revisions of Found poems also due on day of conference. Found poems and reflection due in class on Monday for student assigned to last session.
  
• 4/21: Workshop group two's poems. Group two responses due two copies each. If you are not in group two, read group two's poems carefully and make written notes for the workshop.
• 4/23: Workshop group three's poems. Group three responses due two copies each. If you are not in group two, read group three's poems carefully and make written notes for the workshop.
• 4/25: Workshop group four's poems. Group four responses due two copies each. If you are not in group four, read group four's poems carefully and make written notes for the workshop.
• 4/28: Service learning journal #6 due. Read 109-111 and 119-122 in Oliver. Read Chapter fourteen in manual. Close to final drafts of all found poems and reflection due. In class, we'll edit poems and reflections and begin work on the books of poems.
• 4/29: Celebration at West Wind Village held at 6:30 p.m.
• 4/30: Second draft of service learning essay due. In-class peer review. Continue work on books of poems.
• 5/2: Post survey and evaluations. Fiction and poetry portfolio due. Includes revision of story and at least one poem, reflection essay, drafts of all
  formal assignments, and final draft of service learning essay (hard and electronic copy).
• Tuesday, 5/6: Final draft of service learning essay due in hard copy and electronic copy. Final draft of found poetry portfolio due. Final books of poetry due in electronic copy. Bring these to my office. Time TBA.

CA Eng458
Writing: Process and Product

With a Service Learning Component

Fall 2001

Writing: Process and Product

Dr. Gail S. Corso Office: 3021

Office Hours: MT 11:00 a.m. 12:50 p.m. 610 558 5515

gcorso {at} neumann(.)edu

Course Description:

Writing: Process and Product (3 credits) prepares future teachers of writing and writers, also, to understand composing and revising processes, methods for evaluating writing and teaching style and grammar. You will examine the design of writing projects for different contexts, and you will apply processes of invention, intervention, and revision in your own written reports about a service project and a researched inquiry or creative project. Ten hours of service learning will be part of this course.

Course Materials:

Evaluating Writing: The Role of Teachers' Knowledge about Text, Learning, and Culture. Edited by Charles R. Cooper and Lee Odell. Urbana, ELL: NCTE, 1999.

Heimlich, Joan E., and Susan D. Pittelman. Semantic Mapping: Classroom Applications. Newark, DE: International Reading Assn., 1986.

Neman, Beth S, Teaching Students to Write. 2nd ed. NY: Oxford UP, 1995.

Noden, Harry R. Image Grammar: Using Grammatical Structures to Teach Writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1999.

Optional Text:
Programs and Practices: Writing across the Secondary School Curriculum. Edited by Farrell Childers, Pamela, Anne Ruggles Gere, and Art Young. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 1994.

Required Supplies:
Notebook
Folder
Miscellaneous writing supplies

Course Objectives:
Through projects and processes designed for this course, you will enhance your understanding of writing as a complex process. We will discuss the following topics:

1. Balancing the affective, constructive, and the cognitive
2. The writing process
3. Describing texts and their features'
4. Teaching grammar and syntax
5. Teaching an image grammar
6. Revision processes
7. Semantic Mapping (for readers and for writers)
8. Thoughtful responses to writers
9. Assessing writing
10. Designing writing assignments and assessing them in several disciplines

Students may choose one service project among five options related to writing:

1. Negotiate a project at the Assisi House Coordinator: Sheila O'Gara, Director of Activities
2. Negotiate a project with seniors through the office of Sr. Hildegarde
3. Negotiate one of two projects through the office of Sr. Corinne Wright, OSF, Director of Environmental Projects on campus
4. Negotiate one project as a peer tutor of writing in ARRC with Dr. Ed Peck as site coordinator
5. Negotiate one project at a local school as a tutor

Assignments:

Bi-weekly journals about readings posted to electronic: 40 points

Service Project: 30 points

• Initial Report
  
• Interim Report
  
• Final Report
  

Outcome of Service Project: 20 points

Research about an area of interest
Or creative products for the service experience

Oral presentation about your service project
(scheduled during Final Exam Week) 10 points

TOTAL 100 POINTS

Service Learning Project

Dates for meetings:
Initial meeting is October 13th, 2001 with the group of seniors.
Additional meetings will be arranged given the senior and student's schedules.

Location of meetings:
The initial meeting will take place in the McNichol room on Neumann's campus. Additional meetings will also take place on the Neumann campus with their exact locations to be decided upon later (most likely the McNichol room or library).

Goals for the Service Learning Project:

• Expand upon my current communication skills.
• Share my communication skills with others in hopes of teaching them, and gaining interpersonal experience for myself.
• To develop trust between myself and the seniors in hopes of learning more about each other, and help the communication process between the different generations.
• Apply theories and techniques discussed in class, and in the readings, to hands on situations.
• Learn about other people and what the writing process is like for them.

Class Agenda and Focus:

Week One
Balancing the Affective, Cognitive and Constructionist
H.W. Read "Teaching the Student" in TSW (3 3 1); "The Personal Teaching Approach" (559-563)

Week Two
The Writing Process H.W. In TSW "Teaching Pre Writing: Invention and
Arrangement" (56 110); "Teaching the Writing Process" (111 143)

Weeks Three and Four
Describing Texts and Their Features
**** Service Project: Initial Report due
H.W. In EW "Assessing Thinking: Glimpsing a find at Work" by Lee Odell; "What We Know about Genres, and How It Can Help Us Assign, and Evaluate Writing" by Charles R. Cooper; "Audience Considerations for Evaluating Writing' by Phyllis Mentzell Ryder, Elizabeth Vander Lei, and Duane H. Rouen; "Coaching Writing Development: Syntax Revisited, Options Explained" by William Strong; "Assessing Portfolios" by Sandra Murphy

Week Five
Teaching Grammar and Syntax

H.W. In TSW (230 277)

Week Six

Innovative Pedagogy to Teach Grammar in IG (1 108)

Week Seven
Revision Processes

In TSW "Teaching the Rewriting Stage: Structural Revision" (144 193)
SM (the booklet)

Week Eight
Assigning Writing H.W. In TSW "Assigning Writing (537 558)

**** Interim Report

Week Nine
Responding to Student Writers

H.W. "Responding to Students' Work"(505 536); "Reflective Reading: Developing

Thoughtful Ways to Respond to Students' Writing" by Chris Anson

Week Ten

Writing in the Disciplines
In EW "Assessing Writing to Learn in Four Disciplines" (13 7 222)

Weeks 11 and 12
Independent Research for Research Project
Individual Conferences
Research or Creative Project due

Weeks 13 and 14

Group Work in class to prepare for final presentation
Final Report for Service Project due

Week 15
Course Survey and Class Book distributed

Final Exam Week: Oral Presentations

Interactive Journey Book (adapted from Linda Flower's theory): Starting Point

Due Date: End of Second Week of Classes

Task: Design a Personal Web Page of you as a writer, you as a future teacher of writing, or of you as a professional communicator. At your course site in Blackboard.com, there is a design ready for your "Personal Page." Select "Communications" and you will find this space where you can add information.

1. In the section, "Intro Message," select one of the possible service learning projects, and explain why it interests you.

Options:

• Writing at the Assisi House. Contact Person, Sheila O'Gara
• Writing with the Seniors from Saturday Seminar. Contact Person, Sr. Hildegarde Grogan
• Community Garden at Neumann. Contact Person, Sr. Corinne Wright
• Westtown School. Contact Person, Linda Cobourn*
• Academic Resource and Career Placement Center at Neumann. Contact Person, Dr. Ed Peck

2. On your web page, there is space for personal information. Tell class members a bit about you. A picture can be uploaded to the site. If you have a picture that you like, then, you can scan it, and add it to the web page; if you need a picture taken, then you can have a digital picture taken.

3. On this site, you need to add at least three web addresses of sites in relation to your goals as a writer, future teacher, or communicator.

Please let me know which group you may be interested in, so you can collaborate with several other students in this class and meet with the coordinator together. Ideally we can meet together with the contact person to discuss the nature of what you can accomplish the clients involved or with the organization.

For this ongoing Interactive Journey Book, you may wish to start gathering data, such as six or so clip art images, several other web links related to your area of interest for the service project, shareware sound effect for your research project.

The Social Protest Novel

Professor Timothy Wandling Phone: 664 2796
Office: N362A 0ffice Hours: M 10 12, Th 1 3
Email: wandling {at} sonoma(.)edu
Class list: engl4721 {at} sonoma(.)edu

Key questions and goals:
To study and understand activist writing.
To practice and participate in activist work and writing.
To understand the ways writers speak to audiences.
To examine the place in literary history of social protest literature.
To analyze this literature effectively.
To reflect upon the literature with reference to your own life and times.
To make a difference in your local community.
To participate.

Requirements:

• Comparison and contrast essay (due 2/27): 250 points
• Service Learning project (See handout): Due 5/13 150 pts
  
• Reflective Journal (ongoing) 100 pts
• A 3-5 page piece of your own activist writing (4/24) 250 points
• Attendance, participation. 100 points
• In class quizzes and writing (on going) 200 points

Service Learning Component:
In order to accomplish several of the above requirements, you will work closely with one of the following organizations. We will continually examine the role writers (that means YOU and the writers we will study) play in bringing about change or raising awareness in global, national, and local communities.

St. Joseph's Health System: Contact: Dory Magasis Escobar, 547 2289 Mission: To continue to improve the health and quality of life of the people in the communities they serve. You will work as and with neighborhood organizations working for social change.

Family Connection: Contact: Bonnie Shand Mission: To support families as they transition from Homelessness to permanent housing. You will work with and on mentoring/support teams for such families. Commitment is yearlong.

Scheduled Readings for the Social Problem Novel
Finish reading by date in parenthesis.

Rebecca Harding Davis, "Life in the Iron Mills" (2/4)
"Jonathan Swift, "A Modest Proposal" (2/11)
Thomas Carlyle "Condition of England Question" (2/13)
Elizabeth Gaskell, Mia Barton (2/18)
"Chartist Poetry", selections (2/25)
Charles Dickens, Hard Times (2/27)
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin (3/11)
Melville "Bartleby" and Thoreau, "Civil Disobedience" (3/20)
Emile Zola, Germinal (3/25)
Choice: Upton Sinclair, The Jungle OR Jack London, Martin Eden OR George Gissing, The Nether World (4/15)
Choice: John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath OR Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (4/24)
Studs Terkel, selections form Hard Times (5/1)
Alice Walker, The Color Purple (5/6)
Choice: Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible OR Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed (5/15)

Professor: Dr. Brooke Hessler
Email: bhessler {at} okcu(.)edu
Box: Walker Center (WC) 248
Office: WC 214
Office Hours: MWF 10-11 AM and by appt.
Office Phone: 405-521-5330

Course Purpose & Scope
Our course is an enriched version of Composition II designed to challenge you to communicate visually as well as textually. Through a series of individual and collaborative research and writing projects, you will:

• Extend the academic research and writing knowledge you learned in Composition I (including the development and analysis of summaries, reports, and arguments);
• Employ a range of rhetorical strategies to analyze and create visual texts;
• Identify and interpret the rhetorical strategies inherent in everyday images, places, and things;
• Become familiar with many of the ways visual literacy is employed in academic disciplines and in professional communication.

To deepen and apply this knowledge, you will participate in a very special community service learning project: helping the Oklahoma City National Memorial Center build its online "virtual archive" of artifacts that have been collected at the site to communicate the personal and societal impact of terrorism. Your role as a Virtual Archivist will involve selecting, interpreting, photographing, and writing about those objects in order to help school children and other visitors acquire a deeper understanding of the Memorial and its significance to people in and far beyond our city.

Credit hours earned for the course: 3.0. Prerequisite: ENGL 1113.

Required Texts
Seeing and Writing by Donald McQuade & Christina McQuade
The Bedford Handbook by Diana Hacker (or a similar handbook)

Required Materials & Resources
-An active email account from Jan 15 to May 10.
-Knowledge of your OCU student username and password.
-Two diskettes (to back up your document files).
-An ample supply of paper and pens. (We will write during every class)
-Transportation to the Oklahoma City National Memorial Center (downtown), and the ability to visit that site approximately 4 times for 3 4 hours per visit.

Assignments & Grading
-Web Board Postings Ongoing 15%
-Multiple Perspectives Presentation, Jan 22 (W) or Jan 24 (F) = 10%
-Virtual Archive Project (Team)*, Multiple deadlines = 30%
-Visual Report on the Archive Project (Individual or Team)**, TBD = 20%
-Research Paper Incorporating Visual Rhetoric, May 7 (W) = 25%

*The Virtual Archive Project will include at least two draft review cycles with peer review boards in class and with OKC Memorial Center curators before the final due date.

**The Visual Report will be completed as an entity in the Honors Research Poster Contest. You are welcome to compose your research poster individually or as part of a team.

Assessing Your Growth as a Visual and Verbal Rhetorician
As you can see from the assignment listing above, each project asks you to demonstrate your ability to compose information both verbally and visually within a different genre (including web texts, an oral presentation, a poster, and an academic research paper). I will evaluate your work according to the three main categories of rhetorical development: ethos, pathos, and logos. (These terms will become very familiar by the end of the semester!) You will also evaluate your work and assess your progress: through reflective writing, peer reviews, and in class surveys. I will periodically use your evaluations to tailor our class activities to your learning goals.

Oklahoma City National Memorial Service Learning Projects

Teaching Trunks
This team will help children learn about the Oklahoma City bombing and the National Memorial from multiple perspectives. Using images and words, you will tell one or more of the following stories: the role of search and rescue dogs, the significance of the Survivor Tree, the symbolism underlying the thousands of origami cranes given to the Memorial Center. Your tasks will include selecting photographs and writing text to accompany each photograph: creating a narrative that will capture the attention of the children and educate them. Your project will be included with other artifacts and teaching materials in special trunks that are being transported to schools in Oklahoma and throughout the U.S.

Symbolic Quilt
This team will tell the story of a remarkable quilt created by people around the United States who contributed individual pieces to represent their personal response to the Oklahoma City bombing, and their messages of hope to the survivors and their families. To share this quilt with the world, you will photograph it (in its entirety, with close ups of especially interesting or important squares), read the letters of the individual artists who contributed each square, and compose text to accompany the photographs in the Memorial's virtual archive. This project will involve a little detective work: you will need to use the information contained in the letters to match the quilt squares with their stories and symbols.

Jim Lange Cartoons
This team will interview Daily Oklahoman cartoonist Jim Lange about the cartoons he created to communicate about the Oklahoma City bombing and its affect on our community. Your project will include developing, conducting, and possibly videotaping the interview, photographing a collection of his cartoons, and composing a short Lange biography and other text to accompany the cartoons. The project will be published in the Virtual Archives.

Treasured Objects
This team will research and write about some of the special objects that belonged to the victims and survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing. You will photograph each object, research the significance of the object, and compose text to accompany it. The images and stories will be displayed in the Virtual Archives.

Lecturer: Cathy Sayer Office: 106 Oelman
Mailbox: 441 Millett Office Hours: MW 10:00 12:00
Phone: 775 2471 (my office) TTh 12:00 2:00
775 3136 (to leave message) Other times by
Email: cathy.sayer {at} wright(.)edu appointment.

Required Texts and Materials

If You're Trying to Teach Kids How to Write, Revised Edition, by Marjorie Frank
A Writer's Reference, 4th Edition, by Diana Hacker
Course Packet for English 399: Writers Helping Writers

Course Goals

The primary goals for this course are:

• to improve both your writing skills and those of students at Stivers School for the Arts,
• while encouraging them to continue their education through college.
• to help you form a diverse community with Stivers students and to explore the richness and complexities of that community.
• to engage you in critical thinking about the complexities of community/communal life and
• about the impact of an individual's actions within a community.

Description of Course

In English 399, you will act as writing coaches for a class of students at 5tivers School for the Arts. This community service project is the heart of the course, but the course itself has three major components. These components wilI overlap and inform one another throughout the quarter, enhancing your learning and helping you achieve the course goals.

First Component: Orientation
The purpose of the orientation phase of the class is to prepare you for the work you will do with a class of sophomore honor students at Stivers every Thursday. Some of class time each Monday will be given to this preparation. We will get acquainted with the state of Ohio's schools in general. And we will read selections from the course packet, respond to those readings in class discussions and in class and out of class writings, and develop questions that will help focus a critical exploration of our community experience.

Second Component: Experience
The experiential portion of the class, of course, consists of your work with the Stivers students every Thursday. During this part of the course, you will work with a group of 3-4 high school students, guiding them through the processes of writing two different essays. You will give them feedback on their writing; and since you will be writing the same papers right along with them, they can give you feedback on yours, as well. In this portion of the course, it will be important to remember that high schools and universities operate differently in a number of ways. For one thing, teachers in high schools don't work from a course syllabus. They plan their projects in much smaller segments or units than do college instructors. Therefore, we may sometimes be in a sort of plan and learn as we go situation. We will need to be flexible in order to work effectively with the class at Stivers.

Third Component: Reflection
What makes a community service experience a service learning experience is the knowledge gained through reflection. In this component of the course, you will
reflect on your observations, thoughts, and feelings in reaction to the service experience through discussions and writing. Keeping service log and writing a final reflective essay are two of the concrete activities that will help you think through and communicate your reflections.

Course Requirements

Your grade for the course will be based on the following:
Daily Writing 25%
Essay 1 (I Search Essay) 25%
Essay 2 (To Be Announced) 25%
Final Reflective Essay 25%

You will receive a handout describing the three writing assignments at the appropriate time.

• Daily Writings
  You will have some in class or out of class writing due almost every time class meets. It may be a service log entry, a plan for your Stivers work session, a quiz or freewrite based on the readings, prewriting for an essay, a draft, feedback on classmates' writings, etc.
  
  
• Service Log
  Service log entries are a particular type of daily writing that deserve and, perhaps, require additional explanation. As mentioned earlier in the syllabus, without the opportunity to reflect on the service experience, it becomes simply a community service project, not an academic learning project. However, this is a course for college credit; and as such, it has its own set of learning objectives that must be addressed. The service log entries give you a place to "digest" your experiences in the service project, to process them and connect them cognitively to other experiences and areas of knowledge.

Therefore, after every workshop session at Stivers, you will need to write a log entry that

1. describes what happened in your group
2. demonstrates critical thinking about those events.

Occasionally, I will give you specific prompts to guide you, but you are always welcome to take your thinking in other directions.
Here are some ideas to help get you started.

• Describe the school building or the classroom. How does it compare to your own junior high or high school? What were your initial reactions to seeing it? How do the students seem to feel about their school?
• Narrate the events in your group's work session. What did you or others do and say? What reactions did you observe? How did you feel at the time? How do you feel now in retrospect?
• Describe Ms. Bohman (the teacher we will be working with). How does she compare with your junior high or high school teachers? What could you learn from observing her?
• What puzzles, surprises, excites, troubles, or angers you about the school, the students, etc.?
• What problems do you see in the school, the education system, the lives of the students in your group, or any other reality you observe
  at the school? What solutions can you imagine to these problems?
• What questions would you like to ask someone (Ms. Bohman) or check out through research?
• What kinds of personal or social situations can you observe that might have an impact on these students' abiIity to learn? What evidence do you see of this?

• Evaluation of Daily Writings
  You must be present in class to receive credit for that day's writing. All out of class assignments must be complete at the beginning of class on the assigned
  day. If you should miss a class, you must come to the next class with all the work that is due on the day you return, as well as the work that was due the day you were absent. The late work will receive less credit unless documentation is provided to demonstrate that you were unable to attend on the due date. When I grade daily writing, I am not looking at organization, punctuation, etc., as I will in your formal essays. Rather I will be weighing the amount of effort demonstrated in the degree of thoroughness, the depth of critical thinking, the number of insights, etc.

Course Schedule

Week 1 T 3/28 WSU In class: Introduce course and syllabus. Get acquainted.

Th 3/30 WSU Assignment: Read the first section, "Community Service and Service Learning," in the course pack.

In class: Discuss service learning.

Week 2 T 4/4 WSU Assignment: Read Chapter 1 and 3 in If You're Trying.

In class: Discuss reading and plan first visit to Stivers.

Th 4/6 Stivers Meet behind Millett at 9:00. We'll take my green mini van.
At Stivers, we'll form groups, get acquainted and
brainstorm for I Search paper topics.

Week 3 T 4/11 WSU Assignment: Read Chapter 4 and 5 in If You're Trying.
Service Log #1 due. Also, bring to class all your
research/sources for your I Search essay.

In class: Discuss readings, do prewriting activities, and
plan Stivers visit.

Th 4/13 Stivers Work through prewriting activities.

Week 4 T 4/18 WSU Assignment: Read Chapter 6 in If You're Trying. Service Log #2 due.

In class: Discuss readings, logs, next Stivers visit.

Th 4/20 Stivers Assignment: 1st draft of I Search essay due.
Lead group in responding to each other's first drafts.

Week 5 T 4/25 WSU Assignment: Read "The Writing Response Group" in course pack.
Service Log #3 due.

In class: Discuss readings and logs. Plan peer responses to
drafts.

Th 4/27 WSU Assignment: Read Chapter 9 in If You're Trying.
Revision of I Search essay due (bring 2 copies).
In class: Peer responses to drafts. Discuss
evaluation/assessment.

Week 6 T 5/2 WSU Assignment: Read Chapter 7 in If You're Trying.

In class: Discuss reading, Essay 2, and next Stivers visit.

Th 5/4 Stivers Assignment: Final draft of I Search Essay due.
Share/publish final drafts. Introduce Essay 2 and
brainstorm.

Week 7 T 5/9 WSU Assignment: Read "The Language of Response" in
course pack. Service Log #4 due.
In class: Discuss reading, logs, and next Stivers visit.

Th 5/11 Stivers

Week 8 T 5/16 WSU Assignment: Read "Response Groups in Action" in
course pack. Service Log # 5 due.
In class: Discuss reading, logs, and next 5tivers visit.
Introduce Final Reflective Essay.

Th 5/18 Stivers

Week 9 T 5/23 WSU Assignment: Bring all logs to class. Service Log # 6 due.

In class: Discuss logs and next Stivers visit. Do romancing for Final Reflective Essay.

Th 5/25 Stivers

Week 10 T 5/30 WSU Assignment: Draft of Final Reflective Essay and Service Log due #7.
In class: Plan final visit to Stivers and celebration.
Respond to peers' drafts.

Th 6/1 Stivers Assignment: Final draft of Essay 2 due.
Share/publish final drafts. Celebrate!
Finals Week T 6/6 WSU Final Reflective Essay due in my mailbox by noon.

English 102: Writing in the Academy
Section Theme: Problems in Community

Lecturer: Cathy Sayer Office: 082 Library
Mailbox: 441 Millett Office Hours: MWF 11:00 12:00
Phone: 775 2471 (my office) TTh 11:30 1:30
775 3136 (to leave message) Other times by
Email: cathy.sayer {at} wright(.)edu appointment.

Required Texts and Materials

The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing by John D. Ramage and John C. Bean
A Writer's Reference, 3rd Edition, by Diana Hacker
The Passbook for College Composition

2-3 paper folders with pockets
A copy card or money for copiers
Access to a computer or word processor (All work for this class must be typed.)

Course Goals

As a course in your General Education Program, this course seeks to:
-sharpen critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills as a basis for life-long learning;
-cultivate an awareness of the ethical and moral insight needed for participation in the human community;
-increase knowledge and understanding of the past, of the world in which we live, and of how both past and present have an impact on the future.

Course Description

In this course, you will continue to build on what you have learned about writing processes in English 101 and in previous school work, while improving your skills in the types of writing you will do in your other academic courses. Specifically, you will focus on further developing skills in conducting various kinds of research, using traditional print sources, the Internet, and your own field experiences. You will also seek to understand how language works to effect persuasion, explore some of the ethical concerns of persuasion, and work to make your own writing persuasive within ethical parameters.

Course Theme

Since one of the goals for this course is to improve critical thinking and since clear thinking provides the content for clear writing, theme courses have been developed to encourage students to delve deeper into a particular area, rather than skim the surface of several. The theme for this course, "Problems in Community," is based on the belief that the health of our communities has a significant impact on all of our lives. Through readings in local newspapers, class discussions, and writing, we will explore some of the problems in the communities of the Miami Valley. We will attempt to uncover some of the causes of these problems and propose appropriate solutions. Additionally, in order to provide each student with a first-hand perspective of the issues affecting our local community, students in this class will participate in community service projects.

Course Requirements

Your final course grade will consist of the following:
Final portfolio 70%
Daily Writings 30%

Final Portfolio

Your final portfolio is due on the last day of class, Wednesday, March 10. It will include:

• a cover letter that introduces your portfolio and evaluates your progress as a writer
• the final revisions of 2 of your major essays,
  
• the photocopies of your cited research,
  
• all drafts and prewriting of the essays included,
  
• your final service log entry,
  
• any other pieces of writing produced during the quarter that you believe help to demonstrate your progress as a writer.

Needless to say, the final portfolio is extremely important, as its degree of success largely determines your level of success in the course. Additionally, passing English 102 signifies to the university community that you have achieved a level of writing skill that will enable you to continue to grow and succeed as a writer 'in your major. Therefore, multiple drafts and major revisions will be well worth your time. Consequently, I will give you written and/or oral feedback on your essays before you revise them for your final portfolio.

Major Papers

Your major assignments for this class will include prewriting, drafts, and revisions of

• Essay 1: Describing a Community Problem
• Essay 2: Investigating the Causes of a Community Problem
• Essay 3: Proposing Solutions to a Community Problem

As we begin to work on each of these papers, you will receive detailed instructions on the assignment requirements and the important due dates. All drafts, including draft 1, must be typed, and double spaced, following MLA guidelines. See 583 596 in Allyn & Bacon (A&B) for a model of page layout. Papers, along with all prewriting, drafts, and revisions, must be submitted in a folder with pockets. Staple pages together in the upper left comer. Do not use erasable bond paper, cover pages (on final drafts), or clear plastic covers.

Daily Writings

You will have some in class or out of class writing due almost every time class meets. It may be a log entry for your community service project, an exercise or quiz based on the reading assignment, prewriting for an essay, a draft, feedback on classmates' writings, etc.

You must be present in class to receive credit for that day's writing. All out of class assignments must be complete at the beginning of class on the assigned day. I will not accept make ups; but in keeping with the attendance policy, which follows, I will allow 3 zeros without penalty. However, you should save your zeros in the event you must be absent due to illness or winter transportation problems.

Community Service Log

After each visit to your community service site to provide service, you should write a log entry. These will be important *in helping you learn from your service experience and in generating insights that might be used in your papers and in the cover letter of your final portfolio. In your log, you should narrate what happened during that visit and reflect on the significance of those events.

Sometimes I may give you specific prompts to write about, but most of the time, you will be on your own. First, describe what happened during the visit. What did you and others say? What reactions did you observe? You'll need to be very observant In order to do a good job on this part of the entry. Second, reflect on your 'initial reactions to the visit and on what you think and feel in retrospect, as you write. What surprised, excited, puzzled, troubled, angered, or simply interested you? What reasons might there be for the way things are? What kinds of solutions can you imagine for some of the problems you see? What questions might you ask someone the next time you go? What might you want to check out through research? In this part of the entries, you'll need to put on your critical thinking and problem solving caps.

In class, we will decide together how much community service is reasonable for you this quarter and the appropriate number of entries that will be expected. These decisions will affect when and how often log entries will be collected. As with all the work for this course, entries must be typed and double spaced. I will evaluate these entries based on thoroughness, amount of detail, and depth of critical thinking.

Critical Readings

Critical reading is one of the most important skills a writer can develop. First, you learn to spot problems in the writing of others. Then, it's easier to recognize problems in your own writing. To help you develop skill in critical reading, this quarter, you will write several critiques of the work of your peers (peer responses) and of your own essays (commentaries). You will write at least one peer response to each of the major papers; and before, you turn in your own essays for feedback from me, you will write a commentary evaluating their strengths and weaknesses.

To critique means to evaluate both strengths and weaknesses. Since the purpose in doing critiques is to help you learn to evaluate your own work, your grades on these will be based on how thorough your assessments are, rather than on how right or wrong they are. In the case of the peer responses, I will especially be looking at how many problems you note and how many suggestions you make for improvement. When you write the commentaries for your own essays, I will again be looking to see how many problems you are able to spot. But I will also expect you to generate questions to ask me so that I can give you the kind of feedback that will be most useful to you in making your revisions.

Conferences

I will schedule two conference days during the quarter, one at about midterm and one before the final portfolio is due. These will be times that you can come in and chat about the progress you are making on your drafts. You may want to ask for clarification of some comment I wrote on an earlier draft, or you may want to show me revisions that you have done. During these conferences, you will be in charge. You will ask the questions and direct the conference to make sure that you get what you came for. I will act as your coach, encouraging and instructing you so that you will be able to do your best by "game time" (final portfolio). Of course, any time you have questions or need clarification on some point, or if you just want to talk about the class, you may see or call me during office hours or schedule a conference for that purpose. And don't forget the value of email!

Attendance

The collaborative nature of the course makes your participation necessary, not only to your own success in the class, but also to the success of others. Therefore, the following attendance policy will apply:

You may miss 3 classes without receiving a penalty. (Normally, my limit is 2, but I'm adding an extra to allow for winter health and transportation problems.) Your course grade will drop one letter for every day you are absent over the 3 allowed. You will automatically fail the course if you have more than 6 absences. Exceptions to this policy will be made at my discretion and may require documentation. So it would be wise to save your absences for those occasions when you really need them.

0 points for Philosophy
10 points for English
should be begun by Mon 2/2 required for Service Learning Paper
should be finished by mid-April for Psychology

Doing Service Learning means offering a set number of volunteer service hours to the community through a pre-arranged system. For this learning community, students will be required to offer 25 hours of service to the agency partner of their choice. They will also be required to keep a Service Learning Journal. give a brief oral report on their Service Learning experiences, create a Psychological Inquiry. and write a Philosophical Reflection on their Service Learning. In addition, students must write a Research Paper, and the topic of the Research Paper must be connected In some way to their Service Learning. Guidelines and due dates for the Service Learning Paper for Psychology, the Philosophical Reflection. and the Research Paper will be distributed separately You MUST attend ONE of the "Orientation Sessions for All Service Learning Students" listed on the attached handout. The orientation session will give you more information about Service Learning in general and will help you understand how to contact your agency and get started on your service. The time you spend at this orientation session WILL count towards your 2 5 hours.

To choose your agency. first choose a theme from the following list which interests you.

?community service companionship environmental issues
HIV/AIDS homelessness tutoring / education

After dividing into groups, so that you are with other students who have chosen the same theme, agency information sheets will be distributed to you Choose an agency that you think will work well for you. Please attend one of the "Meet Representatives from Community Organizations" meetings announced on the attached handout if you would like to talk With agency representatives before beginning your service. Please be aware that some of the agencies ask for more service hours that are required for this course. If this is the case with your agency, discuss this with your agency representative and come to an agreement with him/her. In addition, please be aware that some agencies require training for their volunteers. Training time will count towards your 25 hours.

Service Learning Journals provide space for students to record their experiences with service learning. Explore how those experiences can be viewed through the eyes of the various disciplines Of the teaming community, and begin to formulate ideas for their research papers. Journals can be kept In any notebook or binder, but the notebook must be separate from the "writer's notebook!. Students will be required to make at least 10 entries in their Service Learning Journals– approximately one per 2.5 hours of service. Entries should be approximately pale in length (about 250 words). Quality of thought is more Important than quantity. Entries should discuss what was accomplished during the service sessions and should reflect upon the significance of the experience.

Service Learning Oral Reports

0 points for Philosophy
5 points for English
Oral Reports will take place on Mon 3/2, required for Psychology
Mon 4/6, and Mon 4/13
Mon 3/30,

Service Learning Oral Reports provide students the opportunity to share their service learning experiences with their classmates and instructors. Students will sign up for one of the dates listed above. Approximately 6 students will present each day. Oral reports should take approximately 5 minutes and are informal. Possible foci include (but are not limited to): the most Important things learned, the most rewarding experience, the most difficult experience. and the affect of service teaming on the student's plans for the future.

CREATIVITY, WISDOM, & ME

GUIDELINES FOR SERVICE LEARNING PAPER FOR PSYCHOLOGY

This paper consists of a discussion of four different topics in psychology that you found examples of during your service learning experiences and/or during your reflective journaling about those experiences. Since it is based on both your service learning and your journal about your service learning, this paper, as well as the actual service and the journal are all three required for a passing grade.

You may choose any four topics from either the material covered in the textbook, material brought up in class discussions, and/or material you locate from other sources (including chapters in the textbook that are not assigned). Each topic discussion should be one to two paragraphs in length, and should include the following: (1) a clear description/definition and example of the topic; (2) a clear explanation of how it ties into the course; and (3) an explanation of how the service or journal reflection helped you to better understand this topic.

For example, suppose your topic is the James-Lange theory of emotion. You would want to say that the theory attempts to explain the process of emotional response and specifies that the emotion isn't actually felt until the person perceives a physiological response. For example, when a person is about to be hit by a truck, the James-Lange theory would predict that the person wouldn't feel fear until the physiological response to that fear was felt. Perhaps it would tie into your service learning because you worked with someone who had a neck injury and couldn't move or feel anything below the neck. If that person reported not feeling things as intensely since the injury occurred, it could be considered evidence for the theory. You might say that this example helped you understand the theory better because it brought the theory to life and gave you an opportunity to discuss it with someone who had a special insight about it. DUE DATE: Monday, April 27