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INTRODUCTION TO AND BACKGROUND FOR THE ONLINE PROFESSIONAL WRITING WORKSHOP (S/U Course—No Final Exam)

Margaret Temple-Smith

Please print out this letter or place it in a dedicated folder for the course. You will probably need to refer to it again (letter with attached syllabus)

Welcome to the Workshop! I assume that you signed up because you are genuinely dedicated to (1) refining your writing skills and learning to evaluate (and revise) your own work, and (2) refining your understanding of the rules of grammar, punctuation, and diction.

If you signed up primarily because there is no final exam, please read the information in Section III and take a look at the syllabus. Be sure you fully understand what the course requires. The material is not difficult but you will be submitting written exercises every week. The course is a two-hour law school course. Though there is no final exam, it is demanding, particularly in the first seven weeks.

I. General Description

This course is an online writing course that I will teach during the Spring 2016 semester. The workshop is an S/U course. For satisfactory completion, you receive credit for 2 hours.

There is no final; however, you must complete weekly assignments (discussed below). There was an error in its registration identifying it as a graded course. If you’ve received a form from our Registrar, please fill it out and return it ASAP (acknowledging that you understand that it is an S/U course).

The syllabus is attached separately. Let me know if you have any questions. My email address is temples@law.ufl.edu, though once the course begins you should generally contact me through the Canvas website.

Below is the academic calendar posted by the law school for Spring 2016. It’s up to you to be aware of the dates that matter to you and in particular for you to be aware of when drop/add begins and ends and fee liability attaches to the course.

Drop/Add using ISIS (www.isis.ufl.edu) Mon - Friday, January 4-8

Spring Classes Begin Monday, January 4

Class rolls fixed; fee liability attaches for students

Friday, January 8

Tuition and Fees due (3:30 pm at Financial Services)

Friday, January 15

Martin Luther King Holiday Monday, January 18

Deadline to withdraw with 25% refund of course fees

Friday, January 29

Spring Break Mon - Friday, Feb 29 - March 4

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Advanced Registration for Summer and Fall Term

Tues - Thurs, April 5-7

Last Day to drop course by petition w/o a failing grade

Tuesday, April 5

Last Day of Law Classes Monday, April 18

Reading Period Begins Tuesday, April 19

Reading Period Ends Thursday, April 21

Exam Period Begins Friday, April 22

Exam Period Ends Thursday, May 5

II. Course Materials

A. Required Books to Purchase for Course For this course, you will need to purchase two short books on composition and style. Neither is very expensive; both are books that you’ll want to retain after the course has ended.

Richard Wydick, Plain English for Lawyers (any edition).

Joseph E. Williams and Joseph Bizup, Style: The BASICS of Clarity and Grace (5th ed.)

Please purchase in hard copy (non-digital) format; you’ll need to have these books open in front of you and to be able to consult different pages easily. Paperback copies (both used and new) should be available.

B. Additional materials that I provide through Canvas Via the Canvas website, I will provide you at no charge the workbooks on grammar, word use, and punctuation that we will be using during the course as well as materials for practice exercises. I will also provide materials for composition exercises and (short) writing assignments.

III. Important Information About the Course A. Purpose of Workshop Course

This course has two main purposes:

(1) To introduce (or provide a chance to review) essential principles of grammar, punctuation, and word choice.

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(2) To introduce you to a simple set of composition principles that (if applied both during and after this course) will transform your writing.

B. Course Rules and Procedures

1. Requirement for Receiving Course Credit

This S/U course is designed so that anyone who conscientiously does the reading and

completes the assignments should have no trouble completing the course. The material is not difficult. However, the course is a writing course and you WILL need to allocate sufficient time to complete each exercise.

Remember: this is a 2-credit law school writing course. You should plan to spend a

minimum of four hours a week on the reading and exercises. Each week, you will be doing written assignments on which you are evaluated as you

progress. Since the assignments build on one another, you might in some cases have to re-do an exercise or assignment that you have not satisfactorily completed. To get course credit in this S/U course, you must satisfactorily complete the assignments. Satisfactory written work reflects that you have read the assigned materials and listened to or viewed any additional resources that I provide. I do reserve discretion to drop any student who falls substantially behind or who regularly fails to complete an assignment satisfactorily. I have never had to do so before, however.

2. My Expectations of Students (Rules and Recommendations)

(a) Post Assignment on Due Date UNLESS You Request an Extension

Unless I instruct you otherwise, each week’s assigned written work is due each Sunday by 6:00 P.M. I am willing to be flexible if you have a particularly fraught week; however, you must keep me informed of any delay in submitting your work. To receive an extension of this deadline, you must notify me by email. In the email, tell me when you intend to submit the completed assignment.

(b) Set Email to Receive Notifications from Canvas In an online course, you should expect to receive frequent online communication. Be sure that you set Canvas to forward any notifications to your email address. Canvas will alert you if I have posted an “announcement” regarding any matter. It will also

alert you when I have posted instructions for the week’s assignments and when I have posted feedback on an assignment.

(c) Check Canvas Regularly in Case of a Notification Failure

To ensure that you are up to speed, REGULARLY check your Canvas announcements AND email folder.

(d) Review Assignment Feedback IMMEDIATELY (as soon as you receive notice)

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Canvas provides you with a mailbox for your assignments. When you receive notice that feedback on an assignment has been posted to Canvas, go to the site IMMEDIATELY and read or listen to my comments. If something’s missing or I need you to resubmit something, that’s where I post the note.

(e) PROMPTLY acknowledge any individual email from me

If I send an individual email, it’s normally because I need information from you. The only way I have to get in touch with you is through email. Even if you need additional time to respond, please let me know ASAP that you received the email.

(f) For the quickest response to your email, use the Canvas email system

I get a lot of email so sometimes letters from students that go to my law school address get buried. To ensure that I immediately see your note, post it through Canvas (which I open several times a day).

(g) Request a conference or phone call if you need extra help or have a problem you need to discuss

If you are having trouble with any aspect of the course or are having trouble keeping

up for some unforeseen reason, please get in touch with me! We’ll have a phone conference (if you’re off campus) or meeting in my office to work out together how to resolve the problem.

Since I am also teaching Legal Drafting, emailing me to arrange a conference is the best way to ensure I’ll be free; however, I’ll be happy to see you during my office hours (TBA). If you’re not in town, I will be happy to arrange a telephone conference. Please feel free to telephone me at 352-273-0943 (work) or 352-372-2672 (home) or to email me.

Before making such a decision, I will make best efforts to get in touch with you; however, the responsibility for keeping me posted about what is going on with you obviously has to fall on you. If you run into problems, let me know immediately so that we can work together to resolve them.

C. Description of Assignments

1. Typical Weekly Assignment Each week, you will have a reading assignment plus some form of related writing

assignment (which might consist of several exercises addressing different principles covered in the reading). All are designed to give you practice applying those principles. An assignment might include any one or any combination of the following:

Exercises relating to grammar, punctuation, and word choice.

Discussion questions relating to the Williams or Wydick books designed to help you identify the core principles and to reinforce your understanding that you submit to the site.

Short composition exercises based on the principles discussed in the Williams and

Wydick books.

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Required posting in a discussion thread at Canvas.

All assignments are open-book. Therefore, you should budget enough time to review the material as you go.

SYLLABUS: PROFESSIONAL WRITING WORKSHOP*

S/U Online Practice-Preparation Course with Regular Weekly Work (No Final Exam as Such) 1. Note regarding listed assignments*

I reserve discretion to defer, shorten, or eliminate portions of posted assignments by posting an announcement at TWEN.

Specific instructions for preparing each assignment and links to downloaded materials are posted each week at Canvas (generally not later than 3:00 PM on Monday).

Before beginning an assignment, please review the instructions for that week. In some weeks, I may supplement the assigned reading with a BRIEF audio or video review of the materials; if so, the instructions will tell you where and how to find this material.]

2. Note regarding accommodations for disabled students

Students with disabilities requesting accommodations should first register with the Disability Resource Center (352-392-8565, www.dso.ufl.edu/drc/) by providing appropriate documentation. Once registered, students will receive an accommodation letter which must be presented to the instructor when requesting accommodations. Students with disabilities should follow this procedure as early as possible in the semester.

3. Note on Materials

I provide the materials on grammar, punctuation, and usage via Canvas. Since each exercise builds on the preceding one, I do not encourage reading ahead. In general, I post each week’s materials (the reading and the related exercises) at the beginning of the week in which the assignment is due.

Most of the material on composition is found in the two required textbooks (Williams & Bizup and Wydick). I STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you read ahead in those textbooks. The more familiar you are with the principles, the easier it will be for you to transform your work by applying them. Neither of the books is lengthy or difficult to read and understand. 4. Note on Assignments

You will have written exercises each week. Some are posted to Canvas, which will grade your responses AND provide feedback concerning any errors. If you are posting exercises to Canvas, you should print out the feedback so that you have it on hand to review as you progress.

Other exercises are marked individually or receive “universal feedback” after I have looked over them. In such instances, it is up to you whether to print out the feedback that you receive. 5. Posting to Discussion Threads/Wiki

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Occasionally, I might ask that student comment on some aspect of an assignment in a Discussion Thread or Wiki created for that purpose. It’s not a regular requirement.

1. Jan. 4 (Mon.) through Jan. 10 (Sun.)

INTRODUCTION TO COURSE—SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION BASICS 1. Introduction to Course

Download “Introduction to Course” from Canvas; listen to audio as you read. 2. Preliminary exercise (short memorandum)

2. Jan. 11 (Mon.) through 6:00 PM on Jan. 17 (Sun.)

INTRODUCTION/REFRESHER: GRAMMAR BASICS Grammar Workbook Chapters 1.1 and 1.2: Terminology and Key Concepts; Functions of the Parts of Speech; Exercises (focusing particularly on recognizing verbs and distinguishing from gerunds, infinitives, and participials)

3. Jan. 18 (Mon.) through 6:00 PM on Jan. 24 (Sun.) INTRODUCTION TO PRINCIPLES OF STYLE AND COMPOSITION; CORE STRUCTURE OF SENTENCE

1. Vocabulary and Word Choice: Exercises 2. Self-Check Exercise (optional) 3. Lessons 1 (Style) and 3 (Actions) in Bizup & Williams;

Composition exercises in workbook 4. Lesson 4 in Bizup and Williams; Wydick (“Use Short Sentences)

Composition exercises in workbook

4. Jan. 25 (Mon.) through Jan. 31 (Sun.)

PRINCIPLES OF STYLE & COMPOSITION; CORE STRUCTURE OF AN ENGLISH SENTENCE CONTINUED

1. Grammar Workbook 1.2 review (with particular focus on passive voice); exercises 2. Grammar Workbook Chapter 2.1 (passive voice, direct objects, and complements); exercises 3. Bizup and Williams, 25-33 and Lesson 5 on Emphasis Wydick (“Prefer Active Voice”) Study Questions and Exercises

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5. Feb. 1 (Mon.) through 6:00 PM on Feb. 7 (Sun.)

PRINCIPLES OF STYLE & COMPOSITION; CORE STRUCTURE OF AN ENGLISH SENTENCE CONTINUED;

EMPHASIS (REVIEW); COHESION & COHERENCE

1. Composition Workbook (Principles for Achieving Clarity); Composition Exercise—“A Passive Voice Fairy Tale” 2. Bizup & Williams, Lessons 4-5 Study questions Exercises 3. Vocabulary/Usage Exercise: Irregular Verbs Diagnostic

6. Feb. 8 (Mon.) through Feb. 14 (Sun.)

PRINCIPLES OF STYLE & COMPOSITION; CORE STRUCTURE OF AN ENGLISH SENTENCE CONTINUED

1. Vocabulary Materials and Exercise (frequently misused words) 2. Resource: Verb Tense and Voice 3. Grammar Workbook, Chapter 2.0 (Understanding Verbs); exercises

Grammar Workbook 2.1; exercises 4. Composition Workbook III ( Exercise relating to principles discussed in Wydick and in Bizup & Williams)

7. Feb. 15 (Mon.) through 6:00 PM on Feb. 21 (Sun.)

GRAMMAR PITFALLS AND PRACTICES 1. Workbook Chapter 5.1 (Pronoun Case: Personal Pronouns): exercises 2. Grammar Workbook Chapter 5.2 (Pronoun Case: Who/Whom): exercises 3. Grammar Workbook Chapter 5.3 (Countable & Non-countable Nouns): Exercises 4. Grammar Workbook Chapter 5.4 (Nouns: Compound, Plural, Possessive): Exercises 5. Grammar Workbook Chapter 5.5 (Possessive Pronouns and Adjectives): Exercises

8. Feb. 22 (Mon.) through Mar. 6, the end of Spring Break (Sun.)

GRAMMAR PITFALLS AND PRACTICES 1. Usage (Irregular Verbs Revisited); exercises 2. Grammar Workbook Chapter 5.7 (Relative Clauses; Noun Clauses; Phrasal Verbs); exercises 3. Grammar Workbook Chapter 5.8 (Verb Mood; Subjunctive Mood); exercises 4. Grammar Workbook Chapter 6.1 (Punctuation—Basics); exercises

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5. Grammar Workbook Chapter 6.2 (Punctuation—Commas); exercises

9. WEEK: Mar. 7 (Mon.) through 6:00 PM on Mar. 13 (Sun.)

PUNCTUATION COMPLETED; COMPOSITION 1. Grammar Workbook Chapter 6.2 (continued; cumulative and coordinate adjectives); Exercises 2. Grammar Workbook Chapter 6.3 (semicolons, colons, dashes, quotes); exercises 3. Composition readings and review [preparation for composition unit]

In Wydick, read Chapter 2 (Omit Surplus Words); reread Chapter Five (Use Short Sentences) and Chapter Six (Arrange Your Words with Care); and read Chapter Seven (Use Concrete, Familiar Words)

In Bizup & Williams, read Chapter 9 (Concision)

10-11. Mar. 28 (Mon.)-April 5 (Sun.)

COMPOSITION: Principles Review and Memorandum Editing

. Composition Refresher/Review:

Composition Exercise—Editing Sentences Using Wydick’s Principles Memorandum Editing Exercise: Identifying and Evaluating Problems in Your Memorandum

12-13. April 6 (Mon.)-April 17 (Sun.)

Composition Workbook II—Understanding the Process

1. Critique of Jane Ring Memorandum (Prepared by a Third Party) 2. Outline for Memorandum 3. Final memorandum

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