Syllabus English 8180: Composition Theory

Composition Theory Holmes

Page 1 of 10 Spring 2014

Course: English 8180 / Section 005 / Mon. 9:00 – 11:30 AM / Langdale 904 Course Websites: http://comptheory14.wordpress.com/ (syllabus, schedule, assignments)

http://d2l.gsu.edu Desire 2 Learn (D2L) (readings) Instructor: Dr. Ashley J. Holmes / GCB 915 / [email protected] /

404-413-5831 Office Hours: Mon. & Wed. 1:30 – 2:30 PM & by appointment Availability: During office hours, I am also available by phone or email. The best

method of reaching me outside office hours is via email. The course syllabus provides a general plan for the course; deviations may be necessary. Course Description & Objectives This course examines theories of composition and explores writing’s impact on our personal, public, and professional lives. We will explore foundational concepts theorized by major leaders in the field of composition and rhetoric; through close-readings of key texts, students will gain an understanding of what writing specialists have debated and discovered about how people learn to write and best practices for teaching writing. We will trace histories of writing instruction and examine current social, political, and ideological issues associated with writing in public schools and institutions of higher education. Through a series of informal and formal projects, English 3100 invites students—students interested in teaching writing, learning about issues of literacy, and gaining practical tools for improving their own writing and reading—to further their conceptions of composition. This course prompts students to do the following:

• Read and debate theories and key concepts of composition and composition pedagogy. • Understand the historical progression of writing studies. • Consider possibilities for applying composition theories to pedagogical and professional

contexts. • Critically reflect on the politics of writing and the ways public writing impacts local

communities. • Respond to and synthesize current conversations and research in composition studies. • Produce researched projects that contribute to composition studies.

Required Texts & Digital Access There are two required textbooks for the course (see next page). In addition to these required print textbooks, you will be assigned a number of readings that will be accessible for printing, downloading, and/or viewing on our course D2L website. I expect you to have print or electronic access to the set of readings assigned on each class day.

http://comptheory14.wordpress.com/

http://d2l.gsu.edu/



Villanueva, Victor, and Kristin Arola, eds. Cross-Talk in Comp Theory: A Reader. 3rd ed. Urbana, Illinois: NCTE, 2011. Print.

Reynolds, Nedra. Geographies of Writing: Inhabiting Places and Encountering Difference, Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2007. Print.

Course Assignments & Grading Scale You will receive detailed assignment sheets with explanations and due dates for each of the following assignments. Multi-Genre Composition Responses 25%

Five times throughout the semester, you will be asked to submit a short piece of writing, formatted in a different genre each time, that responds to an issue from the assigned readings. Each response will be worth 5% of your overall course grade.

Class Facilitation & Annotated Bibliography 25%

Each student will have the opportunity to facilitate discussion and application of the assigned material for one scheduled class session. This assignment is meant to give you an opportunity to more fully engage with the course reading, delving deeper into your selected topic, and to give you experience leading a graduate-level class discussion. You will conduct additional research on your selected topic, submitting an annotated bibliography of your findings on the date of your facilitation.

Final Project 50%

Your final project in this course will be an academic paper of 15-22 pages that offers your argument and/or theoretical application of an issue related to contemporary rhetoric.

The grading scale for this class is as follows: A+ 97—100%, A 93—96%, A- 90—92%, B+ 87—89%, B 83—86%, B- 80—82%, C+ 77—79%, C 73—76%, C- 70—72%, D+ 67—69%, D 63—66%, D- 60—62%, F 59%—0%.

Course Policies Attendance Policy & Expectations for Participation Daily attendance and participation are essential to your success in this course, and I expect you to attend all class sessions, arrive prepared, and be on time. I will take attendance daily at the start of class. However, in the event that you cannot make it to class, please be sure you understand my attendance policy as follows.



• If a student misses more than 2 classes (2 weeks), he or she may risk failing the course. The midpoint for the semester is March 4th. Students wishing to withdraw should do so before this date in order to receive a grade of W for the course.

Late Work Course assignments are due at the specified time on the date stated on each assignment sheet. After that, the grade drops one third of a letter grade per calendar day, which includes days that we do not meet for class. If there are extenuating circumstances that warrant an extension, you must ask for approval from me in advance of the due date. I do not accept late submissions for weekly reading journal assignments. Submission Policies Assignments are due at the start of class, unless otherwise noted, and will be considered late if submitted after the start of class. You may be asked to submit your work in print or electronic forms (through D2L or email). Please follow all stated instructions for how, when, and where to submit your assignments for this course. Make-Up Examination Policy Students are required to attend the university-scheduled exam period for this course. I will allow make-up examinations only for students who have more than two university-scheduled exams within a 24-hour period. If this applies to you, you need to let me know as soon as possible, and no later than one week prior to the final examination date, so that we can make the necessary arrangements. Academic Honesty As members of the academic community, students are expected to recognize and uphold standards of intellectual and academic integrity. The university assumes as a basic and minimum standard of conduct in academic matters that students be honest and that they submit for credit only the products of their own efforts. According to GSU’s handbook, dishonorable conduct includes plagiarism, cheating, unauthorized collaboration, falsification, and multiple submissions of your academic work. For specific examples and definitions of each of these forms of conduct, please see the Policy on Academic Honesty, section 409 in the Faculty Handbook: http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwfhb/fhb.html. Course Assessment Your constructive assessment of this course plays an indispensable role in shaping education at Georgia State. Upon completing the course, please take time to fill out the online course evaluation. Accommodations I am happy to accommodate any student who has a documented disability registered with GSU’s Office of Disability Services. If this applies to you, please plan to make an appointment with me during the first weeks of the semester so we can make a plan for the best way to accommodate your needs. Students who wish to request accommodation for a disability may do so by registering with the Office of Disability Services. Students may only be accommodated upon issuance by the Office of Disability Services of a signed Accommodation Plan and are responsible for providing a copy of that plan to instructors of all classes in which accommodations are sought.

http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwfhb/fhb.html



Campus Resources The Writing Studio GCB 976, Phone # 404-413-5840, http://www.writingstudio.gsu.edu/ We focus on the rhetorical aspects of texts, and provide one-on-one, student-centered teaching that corresponds to each writer’s composing process, especially invention and revising. We do not provide editing or proofreading services. We aim to create better writers, not “perfect papers,” so we address “works-in-progress” in tutorials, and not finished texts.

Course Schedule

Please note that this course schedule is subject to changes. In the event of a change, I will notify you via email, post an announcement on D2L, and/or make an announcement during class time. Mon. Jan. 13

• First day: Introductions and Syllabus • Watch and Respond to “Who Is a Writer?”

Mon. Jan. 20

• No class, MLK Jr. holiday M Jan 27 Theories of Writing Process (47 pages)

• Murray, “Teach Writing as a Process Not Product” (Cross-Talk, pp. 3-6) • Perl, “The Composing Processes of Unskilled College Writers” (Cross-Talk, pp. 17-42) • Ede and Lunsford, “Audience Addressed/Audience Invoked” (Cross-Talk, pp. 77-96)

• Multi-Genre Composition # 1 Due

M Feb 3 Theories of Revision & Writing to Learn (51 pages)

• Sommers, “Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers” (Cross-Talk, pp. 43-54)

• Lamott, “Shitty First Drafts” (D2L, pp. 21-27) • Emig, “Writing as a Mode of Learning” (Cross-Talk, pp. 7-16) • Young, “Writing to Learn” (D2L, 25 pages)

M Feb 10 Theories of Expressivism (42 pages)

• Elbow, “A Method for Teaching Writing” (D2L, pp. 115-125) • Macrorie, “The Poison Fish” (D2L, pp. 297-313) • Burnham and Powell, “Expressive Pedagogy” (D2L, pp. 111-127)


M Feb 17 Theories of Cognition (77 pages)



• Flower & Hayes, “A Cognitive Process Theory of Writing” (Cross-Talk, pp. 273-298) • Lunsford, “Cognitive Development and the Basic Writer” (Cross-Talk, pp. 299-310) • Rose, “Narrowing the Mind and Page: Remedial Writers and Cognitive Reductionism”

(Cross-Talk, pp. 325-366) M Feb 24 Theories of Error, Style, and Grammar (40 pages)

• Shaughnessy, Introduction to Errors and Expectations (D2L, pp. 387-396) • Shaughnessy, “Diving In: An Introduction to Basic Writing” (Cross-Talk, pp. 311-317) • Braddock, “The Frequency and Placement of Topic Sentences in Expository Prose”

(Cross-Talk, pp. 189-203) • Weaver, “Teach Grammar in the Context of Writing” (D2L, 11 pages)


M Mar 3 Theories of Post-Process and the Social/Public Turn (64 pages)

• Bizzell, “Cognition, Convention, and Certainty” (Cross-Talk, pp. 367-392) • Katsman Breuch, “Post-Process ‘Pedagogy’” (Cross-Talk, pp. 97-126) • Cushman, “The Public Intellectual, Service Learning, and Activist Research” (Cross-

Talk, pp. 509-518) Midpoint is March 4th. Students wishing to withdraw with a W should do so by this date. M Mar 10 Theories of Voice and Identity (66 pages)

• Bartholomae, “Inventing the University” (Cross-Talk, pp 523-554) • Royster, “When the First Voice You Hear is Not Your Own” (Cross-Talk, pp. 555-566) • Villanueva, “Memoria Is a Friend of Ours” (Cross-Talk, pp. 567-580) • Kirsch and Ritchie, “Beyond the Personal” (Cross-Talk, pp. 509-518)


Spring Break M Mar 24 Theories of Location and Place (61 pages)

• Reynolds, Introduction and Chapter 1 (Geographies of Writing, pp. 1-46) • Cooper, “The Ecology of Writing” (D2L, pp. 364-375) • Zencey, “The Rootless Professors” (D2L, 5 pages)

M Mar 31

• Meet for individual conferences. • Proposal for final project due at conference.

M Apr 7 Theories of Location, and Place (79 pages)

• Reynolds, Chapter 2 (Geographies of Writing, pp. 47-77)



• Sirc, “Writing Classroom as A&P Parking Lot” (D2L, pp. 185-234) M Apr 14 Theories of Location and Place (51 pages)

• Geographies of Writing Chapter 3 (pp. 78 – 109) • Mauk, “Location, Location, Location” (D2L, pp. 366-388)


M Apr 21 Theories of Assessment (27 pages)

• Haswell, “The Complexities of Responding to Student Writing: Or, Looking for Shortcuts via the Road of Excess” (online via D2L, 27 pages) http://wac.colostate.edu/atd/articles/haswell2006.cfm

• In-class peer review of final projects. • Watch “Beyond the Red Ink.”

M Apr 28 Theories of Location and Place (70 pages)

• Last day of class of class. • Reynolds, Chapters 4 and 5 (Geographies of Writing, pp. 110 – 180)

M May 5

• Final drafts of essays due as an uploaded file to D2L

http://wac.colostate.edu/atd/articles/haswell2006.cfm



Bibliography

The bibliographic list of sources below includes full citation information for all the assigned readings on the schedule, as well as additional listings for recommended additional reading on course-related topics. Adler-Kassner, Linda. The Activist WPA: Changing Stories about Writing and Writers. Logan:

Utah State UP, 2008. Print. Andrew-Vaughan, Sarah, and Cathy Fleischer. “Researching Writing: The Unfamiliar-Genre

Research Project.” The English Journal 95.4 (2006): 36-42. Berlin, James A. Rhetorics, Poetics, and Cultures: Refiguring College English Studies. Urbana:

NCTE, 1996. Print. Bloom, Lynn Z., Donald A. Daiker, and Edward M. White. Composition Studies in the New

Millennium: Rereading the Past, Rewriting the Future. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2003. Print.

Brandt, Deborah. Literacy in American Lives. New York: Cambridge UP, 2001. Print. Brereton, John C., ed. The Origins of Composition Studies in the American College, 1875-1925:

A Documentary History. Pittsburgh: U of Pittsburgh P, 1995. Print. Burnham, Chris, and Rebecca Powell. “Expressive Pedagogy.” A Guide to Composition

Pedagogies. Ed. Gary Tate, Amy Rupiper Taggart, Kurt Schick, and H. Brooke Hessler. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2014. Print.

Cooper, Marilyn M. “The Ecology of Writing.” College English 43 (1986): 364-75. Davis, Robert, and Mark Shadle. “’Building a Mystery’: Alternative Research Writing and the

Academic Art of Seeking.” CCC 51.3 (2000): 417-46. Deans, Thomas. Writing Partnerships: Service-Learning in Composition. Urbana: NCTE, 2000.

Print. Deans, Thomas, Barbara Roswell, and Adrian J. Wurr, eds. Writing and Community

Engagement: A Critical Sourcebook. Boston: Bedford St. Martin’s, 2010. Print. Dewey, John. Experience and Education. New York: Macmillan, 1938. Print. Donahue, Patricia, and Gretchen Flesher Moon, eds. Local Histories: Reading the Archives of

Composition. Pittsburgh: U of Pittsburgh P, 2007. Print. Donehower, Kim, Charlotte Hogg, and Eileen E. Schell, eds. Rural Literacies. Carbondale:

Southern Illinois UP, 2007. Print.



Downing, Hurlbert, Claude Mark Hurlbert, and Paula Mathieu. Beyond English, Inc: Curricular

Reform in a Global Economy. Portsmouth: Boynton/Cook, 2002. Print. Ede, Lisa. Situating Composition: Composition Studies and the Politics of Location. Carbondale:

Southern Illinois UP, 2004. Print. Elbow, Peter. “A Method for Teaching Writing.” College English 30.2 (1968): 115-25. Farmer, Frank. After the Public Turn: Composition, Counterpublics, and the Citizen Bricoleur.

Boulder: Utah State UP, 2013. Print. Farris, Christine, and Christopher M. Anson, eds. Under Construction: Working at the

Intersections of Composition Theory, Research, and Practice. Logan: Utah State UP, 1998. Print.

Feldman, Ann M. Making Writing Matter: Composition in the Engaged University. Albany: State

U of New York P, 2008. Print. Fleckenstein, Kristie S. Vision, Rhetoric, and Social Action in the Composition Classroom.

Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2010. Print. Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder, 1970. Print. Goldblatt, Eli. Because We Live Here: Sponsoring Literacy Beyond the Curriculum. New York:

Hampton, 2007. Print. Grabill, Jeffrey T. Writing Community Change: Designing Technologies for Citizen Action.

Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2007. Print. Haswell, Richard. “The Complexities of Responding to Student Writing; or, Looking for Shortcuts

Via the Road of Excess.” Across the Disciplines 3 (2009). Retrieved January 13, 2014, from http://wac.colostate.edu/atd/articles/haswell2006.cfm

Hawk, Byron. A Counter-History of Composition: Toward Methodologies of Complexity.

Pittsburgh: U of Pittsburgh P, 2007. Print. Horner, Bruce. Terms of Work for Composition: A Materialist Critique. Albany: SUNY P, 2000.

Print. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003. Print. Kimme Hea, Amy C., ed. Going Wireless: A Critical Exploration of Wireless and Mobile

Technologies for Composition Teachers and Researchers. New Dimensions in Computers and Composition. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2009. Print.

Keller, Christopher J., and Christian R. Weisser, eds. The Locations of Composition. Albany:

SUNY P, 2007. Print.



Kirsch, Gesa, Faye Spencer Maor, Lance Massey, Lee Nickoson-Massey, and Mary P. Sheridan. Feminism and Composition: A Critical Sourcebook.

Lamott, Anne. “Shitty First Drafts.” Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. New

York: Anchor, 1995. Print. Lindemann, Erika, ed. Reading the Past, Writing the Future: A Century of American Literacy

Education and the National Council of Teachers of English. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 2010. Print. Long, Elenore. Community Literacy and the Rhetoric of Local Publics. WAC Clearinghouse.

Web. 17 Aug. 2013. Lu, Min-Zhan, and Bruce Horner. “Composing in a Global-Local Context: Careers, Mobility,

Skills.” College English 72.2 (2009): 113-33. NCTE. Web. 5 Feb. 2010. Macrorie, Ken. Telling Writing. 4th ed. Portsmouth: Boynton/Cook, 1985. Print. Mathieu, Paula. Tactics of Hope: The Public Turn in English Composition. Portsmouth:

Heinemann, 2005. Print. Mauk, Johnathon. “Location, Location, Location: The ‘Real’ (E)states of Being, Writing, and

Thinking in Composition.” College English 65.4 (2003): 368-88. JSTOR. Web. 27 Nov. 2009.

Miller, Susan. The Norton Book of Composition Studies. New York: Norton, 2009. Print. Miller, Thomas P. The Formation of College English: Rhetoric and Belles Lettres in the British

Cultural Provinces. Pittsburgh: U of Pittsburgh P, 1997. Print. Nickoson, Lee, and Mary P. Sheridan. Writing Studies Research in Practice: Methods and

Methodologies. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois UP, 2012. Print. Nowacek, Rebecca S. Agents of Integration: Understanding Transfer as a Rhetorical Act.

Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois UP, 2011. Print. Olson, Gary A. Rhetoric and Composition as Intellectual Work. Carbondale: Southern Illinois

UP, 2002. Print. Palmeri, Jason. Remixing Composition: A History of Multimodal Writing Pedagogy. Carbondale,

IL: Southern Illinois UP, 2012. Print. Parks, Stephen. Gravyland: Writing Beyond the Curriculum in the City of Brotherly Love.

Syracuse: Syracuse UP, 2010. Print. Ratcliffe, Krista. Rhetorical Listening: Identification, Gender, and Whiteness. Carbondale:

Southern Illinois UP, 2006. Print.



Restaino, Jessica, and Laurie JC Cella, eds. Unsustainable: Re-imagining Community Literacy,

Public Writing, Service-Learning, and the University. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2013. Print.

Riedner, Rachel, and Kevin Mahoney. Democracies to Come: Rhetorical Action, Neoliberalism,

and Communities of Resistance. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2008. Print. Russell, David R. Writing in the Academic Disciplines: A Curricular History. 2nd ed. Carbondale:

Southern Illinois UP, 2002. Print. Ryder, Phyllis Mentzell. Rhetorics for Community Action: Public Writing and Writing Publics.

Lanham: Lexington Books, 2010. Print. Shaughnessy, Mina P. Errors and Expectations: A Guide for the Teacher of Basic Writing.

Oxford: Oxford UP, 1979. Print. Sirc, Geoffrey. English Composition as a Happening. Logan, UT: Utah State UP, 2002. Print. Strickland, Donna. The Managerial Unconscious in the History of Composition Studies.

Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois UP, 2011. Print. Tate, Gary, Amy Rupiper, Kurth Schick, and H. Brooke Hessler, eds. A Guide to Composition

Pedagogies. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2014. Print. Villanueva, Victor. Bootstraps: From an American Academic of Color. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1993.

Print. Weaver, Constance. “Teaching Grammar in the Context of Writing.” The English Journal 85.7

(1996): 15-24. Weisser, Christian R. Moving Beyond Academic Discourse: Composition Studies and

the Public Sphere. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2002. Print. Welch, Nancy. “Informed, Passionate, and Disorderly: Uncivil Rhetoric in a New Gilded Age.”

Community Literacy Journal 7.1 (2012). ---. Living Room: Teaching Public Writing in a Privatized World. Portsmouth: Boynton/Cook,

Heinemann, 2008. Print. Wells, Susan. “Rogue Cops and Health Care: What Do We Want from Public Writing?” College

Composition and Communication 47.3 (1996): 325-41.

Wilkey, Christopher, and Nicholas Mauriello, eds. Texts of Consequence: Composing Social Activism for the Classroom and the Community. New York: Hampton Press, 2012. Print.

Zencey, Eric. “The Rootless Professors.” Rooted in the Land: Essays on Community and Place. Ed. William Vitek and Wes Jackson. New Haven: Yale UP, 1996. 15-19. Print.

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Syllabus English 8180: Composition Theory