Vt 1105 Fall 2009 Syllabus

Nicole Williams English 1105 Office: Shanks 440 Office Phone: Office Hours: MW 1:00-2:30 Online Hours: F 1:00-2:30 Email: [email protected] Please Note: I will not respond to e-mail after 9pm M-F or on Sat and Sun. Website: http://www.nicoleannwilliams.com Text Required: Composition at Virginia Tech: Written, Spoken, and Visual Composition. Diana George. Pearson Custom Publishing 2009. (ISBN 10: 0-558-19908-9) Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing (7th Edition) (Paperback)by Diana George (Author), John Trimbur (Author)ISBN-10: 0205688071 Other Materials: flash drive or other device for storing files recommended Course Description- From Composition at Virginia Tech “In first year composition, we see writing, visual communication, and speaking as three important aspects of strong communication, communication which will be useful to you both as a student and as a graduate of Virginia Tech.” English 1105 is an introduction to college level composition. In this course you will be introduced to composition’s rhetorical dimensions. That is to say, you will be asked to consider the purpose, audience, occasion, and genre a writing, speaking, or visual assignment calls for. You will be asked to brainstorm topics, to write drafts, and to take revision seriously. You will be asked to read each others’ papers and give feedback—an important step in learning to respond to a reader’s concerns. You will be asked to read challenging articles, essays, and prose and to consider paintings, films, or other visuals. College composition begins from the assumption that written, visual, and spoken texts can be in conversation with each other. Thus, you will be assigned readings as a jumping off point for your own arguments and analysis, as well as models of either good or poor composition. Instructors Note: As individuals in this society, you are constantly surrounded by and participate in popular culture. This course will center around the theme of popular culture including how you interact with it and how it shapes your life. We will examine this theme through various reading and composing of texts throughout the semester.

University Composition Requirement The aim of this course is to teach effective written, spoken, and visual communication practices that go beyond much of the writing you did in high school. Course Objectives 1. Gain knowledge of composition’s rhetorical dimensions. 2. Use writing as a tool for critical thinking. 3. Practice writing as a process via using multiple brainstorming, invention, revision, and argument skills. 4. Write in several genres that utilize analysis, reflection, narrative, critique, and argument skills. 5. Practice using the conventions of written, spoken, and visual composition. Course Policies Successful Completion: In order to successfully pass this course you must attend class, participate in class discussions, complete in class writings, outside readings, homework, and complete all four formal writing assignments. Successful completion of the four formal assignments includes turning in all required drafts and attending workshops and conferences. Electronic Note: In an effort to do our part to help the environment, all course work will be electronic based. Assignments will be posted online, all work will be handed in electronically through Blackboard, workshops will be conducted electronically, and grades will be kept electronically. Additionally, we will go over how to use all the technologies required for class. Together we can save hundreds of pounds of paper this semester and, essentially, a lot of trees. I don’t know about you, but I happen to like trees. Also, remember that computers do require electricity and use of fossil fuels, so turn your computer off in and outside of class when it is not being used. Attendance: What happens in class each day only works if everyone is here to participate as much as possible; therefore, attendance is mandatory. You are allowed three absences for the semester free and clear. I don’t need to know where you were or what you were doing. However, each absence over three will automatically lower your participation grade by 10%. Tardiness: I value the time we have together in class to accomplish our goals for the semester. I do not appreciate students that interrupt class by habitually coming in late. It is distracting to me and to your peers. Please come to class on time. Participation: This course depends heavily on your readiness and willingness to contribute to class discussions and activities daily. I expect each of you to work with me

and each other to make this a real community of learners. Therefore, you must come to class each day fully prepared, having done all assigned readings and work, and ready to participate in class. A portion of your grade depends upon class participation. Additionally, class activities are designed to build off of outside work; therefore, I will know if you are unprepared and your grade will reflect it. In addition keep in mind: 1 Being absent is not an excuse for turning in late work. All assignments are expected to be turned in the class period they are due. If you are not going to be in class e-mail your work to me by the beginning of class time. Late assignments will be penalized half a letter grade for each day they are late. For example, a B paper will go down to a C+. Late work will no longer be accepted a week after the due date. 2

In class work cannot be made up so it would be wise to come to class prepared each day.

Format for Assignments: All formal writing (except multimodal compositions) should be: 1 Computer generated/typed 2 Double-spaced in 12 point Times New Roman font 3 1 inch margins on all sides 4 Name, date, course, and instructor should be listed on the top left, doublespaced. 5 Multiple pages should be stapled 6 Do not double space between paragraphs 7 Do not include cover sheets unless specified 8 Documented using MLA Style Classroom Behaviors: 1 Each of you will come to class daily with a laptop, which may pose several distractions. Checking e-mail and surfing the web during class time is both rude and inappropriate. This behavior will not be tolerated and will affect your participation grade. 2 Please remember to turn off all cell phones, ipods, mp3 players, and other communication devices that pose a distraction to our class. If your phone rings, vibrates, sings, or makes any other noise during class I get to answer it. In return, should my cell phone ever ring in class you get to answer it. Failure to follow the policy will affect your participation grade. 3 Class time is not a time for private discussions amongst each other. Such behavior is rude and disruptive to the class. Please save such conversations for after class. Respect: Respect for others in our classroom is non-negotiable. We will be discussing

many ideas and concepts that may challenge your current thinking. This is the fun of college! Have respect for one another and be open to new ideas. Virginia Tech Honor Code: The Honor Code will be strictly enforced in this course in so far as it does not interfere with collaborative development and mutual learning. All assignments submitted shall be considered graded work, unless otherwise noted. All aspects of your coursework are covered by the Honor System. Any suspected violations of the Honor Code will be promptly reported to the Honor System. Honesty in your academic work will develop into professional integrity. The faculty and students of Virginia tech will not tolerate any form of academic dishonesty. Plagiarism of any work from a current or former student in this course is considered to be an honor code violation. Through the use of peer evaluations and collaborative development, and the use of the WWW, there is a strong possibility that you will be exposed to concepts and ideas that you can use in your own work. Getting permission to use those ideas and concepts from the originator (except when it is already in the public domain such as on the Web, or in print) and giving appropriate acknowledgement in your own work circumvents a charge of plagiarism. Presentation of someone else’s work as your own is dishonest and unacceptable. If I find out that you have plagiarized you will receive a zero for the assignment and, possibly, fail the course. Be assured that I will find out if you have plagiarized, therefore it would be wise for you to do your own work and cite any and all material you take from other sources. Plain and simple-if it isn’t your own words or idea than tell me where you found it. Principles of Community: The Virginia Tech community honors and upholds distinct principles. You can find these Principles of Community printed on the inside cover of your VT Composition text book. Course Adaptations: If you are a student with special needs or circumstances, if you have emergency medical information to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible during my office hours. Writing Center: You are encouraged to take advantage of the Writing Center. The Writing Center offers free one-to-one assistance on all your writing projects for all of your classes. The Writing Center is located in 340 Shanks Hall. It is open Monday to Friday 9-5. You may schedule an appointment by calling 231-5436. www.composition.english.vt.edu/wc Course Requirements Formal Essays: For this class you will write four essays that are 3-4 pages each outside of class. Each essay will require a draft that will be responded to by me and your

peers. Assignments will be discussed throughout the semester as the time for each approaches. Detailed assignment sheets can be located on my website. All formal essays, unless other wise stated, should be typed and double-spaced in Times New Roman or similar font with one inch margins. In the top right corner place your name, instructors name, course and section number, and date on four separate lines double-spaced. Assignments are due at the beginning of class as stated on the course schedule. All assignments will be turned in electronically through blackboard. Blogs: You will be required to create and maintain a blog throughout the semester. We will create the blogs together in class. Each week you will be required to write at least one blog post on your own blog and at least one post on a classmates blog. Your blog entries each week should discusses your thoughts and ideas on any of the assigned reading for that class week and how they may relate to your own writing. This is your chance to reflect on the reading and writing you do each week. We will discuss the conventions of blog writing in class. Your blog can be thought of as your electronic journal to track your learning and progress during the semester. It is also a tool to communicate and share ideas with your peers, myself, and the world. In-class Writing: During class time you will be asked to write on a variety of issues, ideas, and prompts that relate to readings and class material. These writings will assist in class discussion and serve as a tool for both of us to reflect on the work you are doing. These will be completed on Scholar during class time. You will find that each of you has your own section on the discussion board where you will produce these assignments. This will allow you to view them all in one place when it comes time to put together your portfolio. Portfolios: The best way I have found to help students understand and appreciate what it means when I say “writing is a process” is to include a portfolio component in my writing classes. Twice this semester, once at midterm and once at the end of the semester, you will be responsible for collecting and revising the work you’ve done in and outside class. You will turn in both formal and informal writing, some of it revised, some of it not. You will also include an introduction that discusses what you’ve learned and provides a self-evaluation of your writing. These portfolios will be returned with a formal letter grades attached that evaluate the work in the portfolio as well as your success in the class. These portfolios will be electronic web texts. Group Project: Once this semester you will get together with a group of your peers to deliver a power point presentation. A detailed assignment sheet will be handed out and posted on my website. Readings: Outside readings will be assigned for each class period. They are listed on the schedule. It is vital to your grade that you complete all readings and come to class prepared to discuss them. Conferences: You will be responsible for meeting with me twice during the semester outside of class. One conference will be at midterm to talk about the progress of your portfolio revisions. The meetings will be about fifteen minutes long and I will

cancel class for the week to accommodate these conferences. I will tell you very specifically what you should bring to the meeting at the time we schedule it. Failure to come to these conferences and/or failure to come to these conferences prepared with a draft to work on will count as one week of absences-furthermore, do not waste my time or your own by not showing up or showing up unprepared. I am just as busy as you are, but if you are prepared to invest time in your writing then I am too. A sign up sheet will be passed around as time the time approaches for conferences. It is your responsibility to schedule a second conference with me at the end of the semester as you prepare your final portfolio. Failure to schedule and attend will result in an absence. Additionally, feel free to come to my office hours at any time during the semester. Note: All writing you do in this class-drafts, revisions, in-class writing, journals-should be saved so you have a wide selection to choose from when putting together your portfolio. It is imperative that you save all your writing so you can see how you have developed as a writer throughout the course of the semester. Evaluation and Grading Policies In this course you will not receive letter grades on individual drafts and assignments. I know many of you are probably thinking that I am completely crazy for doing this. I also know not receiving a letter grade on each paper will make some of you nuts however, it really is for the best. Using this portfolio system of evaluation allows me the opportunity to give you credit for the things that grading individual papers does not: such as effort and revision and improvement. Although you will not receive individual letter grades on each draft you turn in, you will receive extensive comments and feedback from me that will help you understand the quality of the work you are doing as well as assist you in improving your writing. You will receive a letter grade at mid-term and at the end of the semester when you turn in your portfolio. These two grades will be based on the following criteria: 1 Meeting all of the requirements described above. 2 The quality of your written work, including how successful your revision work is. 3 The quality of your effort in class, in workshops, in discussion, in groups, in conferences, and in general. 4 Your demonstration of a willingness to try new things, think in new ways, and explore different perspectives as both a reader and a writer. My comments should provide you with a clear understanding of your progress in the class; if you ever feel as though you are unsure, come see me and we will discuss it. Grading Percentage Breakdowns Different assignments in this course require different levels of effort. The following breakdowns should provide you with an idea of the amount of time and energy needed for each. 1 Blogs 10%

2 3

4 5

Group Project 10% Participation- this includes attending class having completed all outside reading and assignments, participating in class discussion, completing inclass writing assignments, coming to conferences, and participating in other class activities. 10% Formal Writing Assignments 4 essay Drafts (5% each) 20% Portfolio (mid-term 25% and final 25%) 50%

Essay 1

Visual Literacy Narrative To begin our semester together, and your career in freshman composition, you have the opportunity to reflect on your reading and writing experiences thus far. You can choose to discuss a certain time period, such as a school year, or a particular event in your life which has led you to the reader and writer you are Teaching at Ivy Tech today. You can choose to look back over particular experiences chronologically which are related and reflect on specific events. Your goal is to reflect on your literacy experiences and develop an argument about how those experiences have made you into the literate person you are today. The Twist Instead of crafting your argument through alphabetic text in traditional essay form, for this assignment you will use visuals. You can use your own photographs, images from magazines, or pictures from the internet. If you are using photographs I would suggest working with digital photos so you can edit and crop, as well as have access to multiple copies for revisions. If you are using original print photos I would suggest making copies of them so you will have them for revisions. If you are using images that are not your own before you document those sources (we will go over this in class). Your Visual Literacy Narrative should identify 2-4 major points in your literacy history and address the following: 1

The range of different literacy practices, values, and understandings you have developed

2

How you have developed these literacies (where, how, with who)

3

Your feelings about these literacies

San Francisco CCCC 2009

MA graduation from Ball State University

Developing A Thesis As with any argument you will need a strong thesis. This will require some thinking because you are working with visual text. This means you need to think about color, layout, size, and contrast to state and organize your argument. We will discuss how to develop a thesis in class.

Crafting your Visual Literacy You can choose to present your visual literacy in any form that you wish. Feel free to be as creative as you wish. You can make a poster board collage, make a book, create a scrapbook, a movie, a slide show, or create any thing else that will present your argument. Have fun with it. Your Visual Literacy must answer the questions above, showcase 2-4 main points, and contain at least 6 images. Remember this argument depends on your visual construction. We will discuss visual design elements in class to assist you in constructing your argument. The Written Component As part of your literacy Virginia Tech project you will write an explanation to go along with your visual essay. Your explanation should tell why you made the rhetorical choices that you did. For instance why did you choose the colors or images that you did? Why did you arrange them as you did? Your explanation should be at least 2 typed, double spaced pages.

Audience The audience for your visual literacy narrative is your fellow 1105 peers. By sharing your literacy experiences with your fellow peers you can learn about each other and learn from each other.

Essay 2 Culture, Society, and Me In your first assignment, you researched yourself and what role a particular literacy moment or experience played in your life. Now you will have the chance to reflect on that as well as other cultural events, experiences, and items that you feel define you and explain who you are to the outside world. This assignment is not just about the individual cultural events and items, but also about how you relate to these and how they shape you. The Project: For this assignment you have the choice to create either a movie package or a cd package. Depending on the option you chose, the formatting and content presentation will be different. However, either option asks you to think about the following questions: 1. What events are important to you? 2. Are these events religious, political, social, cultural, personal, ethnic, etc? 3.What experiences have been important and your life? Why? 4. What material items are important to you? Why? 5. How have these events, experiences, and items shaped you? 6. How do you relate to these events, experiences, items? 7. Are these events, experiences, and items culturally significant? 8. How do others act towards these events, experiences, and items? Most importantly, you want to think about what events, experiences, and items represent yourself and your opinions to other individuals. Formatting: Movie Package: For this option you will create a front and back cover for a dvd about yourself. This imaginary film can be about a small significant moment of your life, a large time span, or your entire life thus far. It is your decision. You will design a film cover with mainly visuals and then explain the general plot and characters on the back. Be as creative as you wish. Imagine what actors you would cast to play specific characters in this movie of your life. Do your research and examine film packages to see what to include and the best way to capture a possible viewers attention. Remember you want someone to watch this film. CD Package: For this option you will create a cd cover, song list, and liner notes to an album about yourself. You can choose to make your album about a specific time period of

your life, a specific feeling or emotion, or about your entire life thus far. Your liner notes should include a letter from you, additional images, and thank yous. It may also include anything else you may like. Be as creative as you wish in titling your songs. Do your research and examine album covers, song titles, and liner notes to see what you should include. Remember, your goal is to get someone to buy this album. Overall Design: We will discuss in class some different options for the visual designing component of the project including: programs to use, fonts, colors, styles, layouts, etc. While you have an option between the movie or cd project each project must include: At least 6 images At least 500 words of text A unifying theme/thesis The Written Component: As with your previous literacy narrative assignment, you will write a two page doublespaced rhetorical explanation to go along with your assignment. I would like to know your basic thought process on why you chose the subject matter, content, assignment option, and design that you did. Also, how successful do you think you were in attracting in audience for your composition?

Essay 3

Making Meaning It is important to remember that all texts around us have meaning. Texts include things such as: written texts, events, foods, photographs, advertisements, buildings, clothing, vehicles, etc. The meaning in a text is created by the viewer and the context it exists in. For essay 3 you will have the opportunity to explore the layers of meaning that exists within a particular text.

Choosing a Topic For essay 3 you will choose a print advertisement (can be from a magazine or accessed online) or a commercial (can be accessed online) to analyze for meaning. For our purposes these advertisements, print or commercial, will be considered texts that you will analyze. Your job is to explore the layers of meanings that exist within the text you choose. Your essay will argue the meaning you find in your particular text. Remember meaning exists within context so be aware of how the advertising company is presenting their product and who they are presenting it to. Researching using secondary sources such as articles and company websites can help you in analyzing your text. We will go over in class ways of analyzing your text and how to support you argument.

Developing a Thesis Your thesis, as we have been discussing all semester, should be specific, well focused, and arguable. Writer Richard Bullock says, “a good thesis is specific, guiding you as you write and showing your audience exactly what your essay will cover”(252). As you analyze your text try to develop a thesis that is complex. You want to avoid general statements in your thesis.

Developing Support For this essay you will use a few different methods of support: Textual references- Since you are examining a particular text it is important to reference and explain that text in your argument. Allusion- Make at least one reference to popular knowledge in your essay. Personal Testimony- Use your own personal experience to persuade your audience. Secondary Research- For this essay you will include at least one outside source to help you construct your argument. This could be an article from an academic database or information from the website of the company responsible for the text you are analyzing. Appeal to Logic or Value- construct a line of reasoning in your argument using one of the appeals.

Concessions and Counterarguments As you argue meaning it is important to acknowledge that there will be others who find a different meaning than the one which you are arguing. Briefly reference other meanings that could be created from your text.

Audience For this essay your audience is a group of executives that decide what advertisements are aired on their network or printed in their magazine. Your job is to present your argument about your selected ad to them so they can decide if they will air or print the ad. Remember that your audience knows nothing about the ad or product being advertised.

Essay Requirements This essay will be 3-4 pages in length. This means it must be at least 3 full pages. It should be in 12pt Times New Roman font with 1”margins. All sources should be documented in MLA format. This includes in text citation as well as a works cited page. If you are analyzing a print advertisement please hand in a copy of your advertisement with your essay and cite it in your Works Cited page. If you are analyzing a commercial cite it in the Works Cited page so I will be able to locate it. Remember you must use at least one outside source (scholarly article from a database or information from a company website), personal testimony, one allusion, an appeal to value or logic, and textual references in your essay.

Finding advertisements and Sources We will be spending one class at the Library where you will learn how to locate journal articles and newspaper articles using the library databases. You can locate print advertisements for your topics in magazines or online. Commercials can be found online using You Tube. You will learn how to evaluate a website at the library as well. Please remember Wikipedia is not a viable source for conducting secondary research.

Essay 4

Review Writing To wrap up or semester together you will have the chance to put to work the knowledge you have built throughout the semester and employ it in a new rhetorical situation. For this assignment you will analyze movie reviews and compose a review of a movie of your choice for Rolling Stone, Time, or People magazine. Therefore, your audience is the readers of your assigned publication. I will assign the publication you will be writing for prior to the assignment. Selecting A Topic To begin this assignment you will select a movie of your choice to both read reviews on and write your own review on. I am letting you choose any movie that you wish, however keep in mind you need to take a position on this film and construct a well supported argument that you will present to the readers of your assigned publication. So be sure to choose wisely. Part I Once you have your movie selected, you need to find 3 reviews about your movie. The reviews must come from three different sources. For example they could be from web based sources, newspapers, or magazines. You could choose all 3 from the same type of source or a combination from a variety. You will than read all 3 reviews and write an analysis of your findings. I am not looking for a simple summary here. While you may summarize the content of the reviews, I would like you to pay attention to what you noticed about how these reviews were written. What did difference did you notice among them? How did the writers organize their argument? How did the arguments differ in each? We will discuss how to analyze these reviews and write an analysis in class. Your analysis paper should be at least 2 typed pages, double-spaced. It will be written in traditional essay form.

Part II For the second part of this assignment you will take what you discovered about reviews in your reading and write a review of your own on the movie you chose. Use the information you found through part I of this assignment to help you construct your own review. We will discuss ways of writing reviews in class. Remember that you have been working with evaluating visuals throughout the semester. Apply that knowledge as you watch and evaluate your chosen film. Since this review is going to be written for a magazine you will write it in a format appropriate to magazines. Journalists who write for magazines and newspapers have to work under many restrictions. Often times they have limited space to argue their point to readers. I will place the same restrictions upon you. You can decide how you want to lay out your design. However, you have two pages of space to do it in and it should be written in columns like you would find in a magazine. Again, you can decide how to arrange the text, image, columns, etc. Remember with such limited space you need to make every word count in your argument. It may be helpful to look at some reviews in your assigned publication for lay out ideas. Draft Day On workshop day you will bring drafts of both your analysis and review to class. We will work with both. However, reading your 3 reviews and writing your analysis early will assist you in writing your review. What You Will Turn In You will turn in to me the 3 reviews that you read, your analysis, and your own review.