Week 1
Unit One
Overview of College Writing Course
Theme?
This semester’s theme explores the relationships between “the self,” society and sustainability. Questions raised by this topic have numerous implications on broader subjects such as personal philosophies, interpersonal relationships, career choices, attitudes towards the free market and government, and even choices of political party. College Writing will exercise students’ critical thinking skills by posing a series of essays and chapters in dialogue with each other and examining the extent to which their arguments and themes are shaped by broader cultural narratives and specific national contexts.
Reading & Class Activities:
Each week, students are advised to come prepared for class by doing the required reading and where possible, the further reading.
As well, students are expected to have completed any assigned homework exercises or writing assignments. Students will listen to a short lecture (of approximately 25 minutes) on the week’s assigned theme; the rest of class time will be devoted to short writing assignments, draft revision, self-reflection, peer review, discussion and debates, and on occasion the viewing of a film or video clip.
The Newsstand:
A common task will be to have students “rifle through” the “Newstand” to select, read and write about topics in the news that are interesting to them and relevant to the course theme.
Classes may involve a short quiz on the readings for the day, and quizzes/exercises on referencing protocols and/or punctuation points. All quizzes and exercises must be collected in the students’ portfolios.
Submitting your work:
We will use the Moodle site for this course extensively—to post responses to readings and assignments, to post for group workshops, peer reviews and self-assessments/reflections, and to receive various documents/material for each writing project.
Other material:
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A laptop for class.
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Writing paper for class.
Moodle can be accessed by clicking on the icon below (you will need your password and log-in details):
Resources:
Each unit will prescribe reading material for you. The Forms below are used extensively throughout the course. They are also available from Moodle (There is Free Printing from the Moodle site).
Submit Work
Initial Impressions of Dublin
Writing Task
From your initial impressions and your reading of a Short History of Dublin, answer the following question in a 250 word response by Monday the 21st of September:
James Joyce described Dublin as a 'city in paralysis'.
From your initial impressions do you agree with this statement? Give examples to support your argument.
(250 words)
What is Plagiarism? - Watch
Uploaded on Jan 6, 2012 A general description of plagiarism
What is Plagiarism? - Read
How Senator John Walsh Plagiarized a Final Paper
Senator John Walsh of Montana took most of a 2007 final paper required for his master’s degree from the United States Army War College from other sources without proper attribution. Mr. Walsh copies an entire page nearly word-for-word from a Harvard paper, and each of his six conclusions is copied from a document from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace without attribution. JULY 23, 2014 From: The New York Times Story by JONATHAN MARTIN. Graphic by JOSH KELLER, MATTHEW ERICSON, and NICK CORASANITI.
Listening - What Makes a Good Writer
Steven Pinker outlines, humourously, how you can become a good writer in this podcast from Intelligence Squared
Sequenced Assignments
The assignments play an important role for developing your ideas and writing. For each Project you will write short responses to the readings (approx. 2 typed pages), responses to in-class reading and writing assignments, drafts of the essay, group workshops, peer reviews, self- reflections and, of course, the final polished essay.
Essays
For each project, a topic or list of topic choices will be provided. Essays must be on one of the assigned topics. Essays must observe the specified word count (10% over or under is OK, but essays below 20% of the requisite word count will not receive a grade). Your essays must observe the rules of grammar, punctuation, spelling, and follow the appropriate format: at-home work must be typed (in 12-point Times New Roman font), double-spaced.
All the essays will integrate material from at least one source. Three of the four essays will integrate at least two sources. All citations must follow the MLA format (sources must be reliable: scholarly criticism or analysis, not summaries, reviews, or “analysis” from sites such as Wikipedia, 123HelpMe, Gradesaver.com or Sparknotes.).
Portfolios
The portfolio is a collection of all the writing you do for each project--the portfolio showcases your process as well as your final paper. By the semester’s end, your portfolio must be organized by project and include responses, peer reviews, quizzes, self-reflections, drafts and polished essays. More information on the showcase portfolio will come when we get to Project #4.
Conferences
Individual and group conferences are part of the class and important to your development as a writer and thinker. Conferences are held in class or during your lecturer’s office hours. Be ready to contribute your thoughts on how a particular idea/paper is developing. The lecturer’s role in a conference is to respond to the ideas you have about a work in progress and what shape your writing is taking. You are encouraged to visit your lecturer during his or her office hours or schedule an appointment whenever you need to discuss your work.