English 3113: Reading and Writing Advanced Essays
Instructor: Dr. Steve Benton
Office: 316A, ext. 448
Office: 316A, ext. 448
Required Textbooks:
The Art of the Personal Essay. Selected and with an introduction by Phillip Lopate. New York: Anchor, 1994.
They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. Second Edition. (Norton, 2010).
Official Course Description:
3 hours. Prerequisite: ENG 1213 or departmental approval. Practice in narrative, descriptive and persuasive modes of discourse.
This course should also satisfy in whole or in part these departmental course objectives:
· Use a wide variety of composing strategies to generate/clarify meaning
· Make appropriate selections from different forms of written discourse for a variety of audiences and purposes and assess the effectiveness of their products in influencing thought and action
· Understand writing for personal expression and social interaction
· Understanding the characteristic features of various genres of nonfiction
Course Design and Grading Policy
We will focus on two different essay genres in this course—the personal essay and the academic essay. The Art of the Personal Essay will help us “get under the hood” of the first of these genres as well as providing us with some exemplary models. They Say/I Say will serve as our instruction manual for the academic essay, and I’ll provide you with some exemplary models as the semester progresses.
If all goes according to plan, you will do a lot of writing this semester. Much of it will be posted on the internet for all to see and comment on. In order to pass the class, you must get a score of 60% or better on these internet posting assignments; to get a C, you must get a score of 70% or better; to get a B or an A, you must get a score of 80% or better (you get 50% credit for posts that are published after the established due dates).
These internet postings will provide you with the raw materials that you will later shape and polish into an essay portfolio that you will submit in hard copy form for me to review at midterm and at the end of the semester. By the end of the semester, your portfolio should showcase your best work in both genres (more detailed assignment descriptions, including length requirements and due dates, will be provided at a later point during the semester).
To pass the course, your portfolio must include both a personal essay that merits a passing grade and an academic essay that merits a passing grade (in other words, you won’t pass the class if your portfolio includes a fine example of one genre and a disastrous example of the other). To get a C or better, your portfolio must include both a personal essay that merits a C grade and an academic essay that merits a C grade. If you get a C in one genre, and an A in the other, your portfolio will get a B. If you get a B in one genre and an A in the other, you can get an A if your portfolio demonstrates and an appreciation of the value of revision and editing.
Those of you who are English majors should know that before you graduate, you will need to establish a departmental portfolio consisting of three to six writing projects which demonstrate sufficient performance in 13 different areas that fall into four general groups: 1) Criticism and Theory, 2) Language, 3) Writing and 4) Literature. With regard to the portfolio, you may use the academic critical essay to demonstrate your understanding of the essay genre (the literature section of the portfolio asks you to demonstrate understanding of more than one literary genre). And you may use the personal essay to demonstrate your ability to write for “a variety of audiences and purposes (more than literary interpretation for teacher).” Hopefully, you will be able to use both of your essays to demonstrate your “skill with a variety of developmental and organizational strategies” and your “creative ability or unique insight (a measure of ‘wonderfulness’).”
Attendance Policy
To pass the course, you must attend at least 60% of the classes; to get a C you need to attend at least 70% of the classes; to get a B or an A, you must attend at least 80% of the classes.
I always appreciate it when a student lets me know in advance if she or he will not be able to attend a class. But do not ask me for “permission” to miss a class. It’s not that I don’t think some absences are unavoidable; I just don’t want to have to make spot judgments throughout the course about which absences are unavoidable and which ones are not. I would rather make my judgments at the end of the term with the big picture in view. So at the end of the course, if the number of classes you missed will negatively your grade and you feel that some of those absences were unavoidable, send me an e-mail or write me a letter explaining your case and I will grant “permission” as I feel is appropriate at that time.
If you do miss class, you are responsible for finding out about any new assignments (“I didn’t know about the assignment because I wasn’t here” may be a true statement describing your experience at some point this semester, but it will not warrant a special dispensation.)
We will not have class on Friday, April 1st so that you may attend the annual Scissortail Creative Writing Festival which will be held here on campus.
Plagiarism/Academic Integrity Policy
A student who submits a paper or posts a blog entry which in whole or part has been written by someone else or which contains passages quoted or paraphrased from another's work without proper acknowledgment (quotation marks, citation, etc.) has plagiarized. Students who are found to have plagiarized work may be subject to various disciplinary actions including a failing grade on the particular assignment, failure of the entire course, and possible expulsion from the University. Also, it is totally uncool.
ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Statement
East Central University is committed to providing equal access to University programs and services for all students. Under University policy and federal and state laws, students with documented disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodations. If any member of the class has a documented disability requiring academic accommodations, he or she should report to the Office of Disability Services. A student seeking reasonable accommodations originating from a documented disability must register with the Office of Disability Services so that said accommodations may be provided. Contact the Academic Affairs Office if any assistance is needed in this process.
WAC (Writing Across the Curriculum) Statement:
In keeping with the University's emphasis on writing proficiency, all student-produced writing will be expected to reflect clear content, coherent and organized structure, and adherence to the stylistic and mechanical standards articulated by the professor.
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