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English 1010 -- Section 25 – MW 4:00-5:45 – CLAS 247 – Fall 2009 English 1010: Seminar in Academic Writing
Course Guidelines Instructor: James Luberda Office: CLAS 238 Office Hours M 3:00-4:00pm, also by appointment Phone: (office) ? (home) 454-7311 e-mail:james.luberda@uconn.edu web page: http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~jbl00001 (that’s lowercase JBL00001 after the ~)
Required Texts: Bouillier, Grégoire. The Mystery Guest, 061895970X Lessig, Lawrence. Free Culture, 0143034650 Macaulay, David. BAAA, 0395395887 Postman, Neil. Conscientious Objections, 067973421X
Course Description: “English 1010: Seminar in Academic Writing” is described in the university course catalog as follows: “Instruction in academic writing through interdisciplinary readings. Assignments emphasize interpretation, argumentation, and reflection. Revision of formal assignments and instruction on grammar, mechanics, and style.” As the focus of 1010 is student writing, students will be required to compose at least thirty (30) typed, double-spaced pages of good and interesting formal text over the course of several assigned papers. Additionally, a significant percentage of course time will be dedicated to individual writing conferences with the aim of providing personalized instruction.
NOTE THAT actual in-class time may differ from the scheduled course hours, as these hours account for individual student-instructor conferences. These will be scheduled in class.
Section Description: This section takes as its cue the notion that a college-level understanding of the nature and function of writing (and reading) requires an understanding of the nature of media generally. Ultimately, the goal behind this approach is to frame writing as only one aspect, though a singularly important one, of the more general phenomenon of human communication, and in the process to improve the student’s ability to make informed writing decisions. Readings consist of a selection of works about the relationship between media and content and works that embody a particular relationship between media and content.
Course Requirements: 1) You will complete four papers during your time in this course, varying in length. Details as to the nature of these papers will be provided as each assignment nears.
2) There will also be a handful of 1-2 page essay responses/research activities that will be assigned in class. Various other exercises may be employed, depending upon circumstances.
3) There will be a midterm and a final exam; however, the midterm may be avoided, and the final may be rendered harmless. Details at 4), below.
4) You do not receive or lose points for attendance. However, you may well expect that the likelihood of passing this course with zero attendance is nil. Poor attendance also does not make you popular with the instructor, unless of course your presence is more detrimental to the class than your absence. Nevertheless, to provide an incentive to those who wish to attend but sometimes have difficulty convincing themselves to do so, a carrot is being provided: for each half of the semester, if you miss no more than two (2) classes, you receive full credit for the major exam that follows. Put more clearly: if you don't miss more than two classes prior to the midterm (that is, no more than two up to and including October 14th), you don't take the midterm. If you don't miss more than two classes between the midterm and the final (October 19th-December 9th), the final becomes extra credit. So, yes, for those of you counting the days, that's four total absences, no more than two in a given half-semester, if you want the prize. It is your responsibility to make sure that you sign the attendance log every day you attend, and to sign up for conferences when they are being scheduled.
Course Policy: 1) The values of this class are as follows, in order: thinking, preparedness, attendance. If you have not read the material or prepared an assignment, you will not have much upon which to think, but you are welcome to have at it in the company of others. If you are ready to think, and are suitably prepared, then by all means, come to class.
2) Late work: It is an unkind thing, other than when necessary, to turn work in late. However, the reality being that life and other things sometimes issue demands that compete with your work in this course, and the instructor’s lack of interest or confidence in telling you your priorities, there is no penalty for late work. Any work that is to be turned in past the due date, however, must be cleared with the instructor first. Further, no first draft will be accepted once the deadline for the revision of that paper has passed, and no revision will be accepted once the deadline for the first draft of the subsequent paper has passed. For example, if the revision of paper 1 is due on date X, you cannot turn in a first draft of that paper after that date. And once the due date for the draft of paper 2 has passed, the revision of paper 1 is no longer eligible to be turned in. Similarly, late assigned short responses will not be accepted once the deadline for the following assigned short response has passed.
3) Grading: Short assignments are graded on a pass/fail basis; you either earn credit for the assignment or you do not. Formal essays are primarily graded on the delta between the draft and the revision of a paper. Thus a premium is placed upon revision work. You do not have to be brilliant to get an A, but you do need to demonstrate a sincere effort to improve your work based on instructor feedback. In brief, the two most significant criteria used in essay evaluation: evidence of thinking-work, and demonstrable improvements over previous efforts.
Rough Breakdown of Values by Assignment/Exam
4) Revisions: For each paper, you will write and turn in a first draft; this will be returned to you, with comments, so that you may use the feedback provided by the instructor to reconsider your efforts. How you revise your work is, of course, up to you. However, take note that "superficial" revisions (grammar/spelling/typos/minor corrections) play little part in the evaluation of the second draft. Also: The first draft of a paper must be turned in with the second draft so that the instructor can accurately assess the changes you have made. And, corollary to that, every paper requires a draft and a revision.
5) The Counting of Pages: This is a ridiculous topic, but one that must be addressed of necessity. If you are interested in meeting the general page requirement for an assignment, you should take note of how pages will be counted by the instructor. In short, a page of text is just that - a page of text. In other words, a piece of paper by itself does not count as a page. The length of the actual text is what determines the page count. Thus, an essay that occupies three pieces of paper, but only has a sentence or two at the top of the third piece of paper, is not a three-page essay, but a just-over-two page essay. While page requirements are generally not an issue as concerns the acceptability or grading of papers, you should be aware of what the instructor imagines a "three-page" assignment to be.
6) Plagiarism: One of the few academic sins you can commit besides apathy (the latter being far worse). If you are interested in the economics (and paradoxical nature) of plagiarism, I am happy to discuss them with you. Otherwise, a simple rule: avoid plagiarism by clearly identifying any text that you copy or paraphrase and use within your own writing as well as any ideas that you consciously lift from someone else. More guidelines and warnings are available at your request.
7) Contacting me: You may call me at any time. If you need to get something to me, please do not leave it in my office. Rather, put it in my mailbox in the CLAS building. The English department office is there and can direct you to it if you need assistance. |