ENG 102: Rhetoric and Composition IICourse Theme: Researching Our Lives

Fall 2011 (section 060 @ 10 AM; section 061 @ 11 AM)

Dianna Rockwell ShankOffice Location: Room 205 (Behind the Bookstore)

Office Phone: 931-0600, extension 7385Cell Phone/ Text : 314-239-3142Email: Dianna.Shank@swic.edu

Class Web Site : http://shankeng102.blogspot.com/

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

8:00 AM Office Hour Office Hour Office Hour Office Hour Office Hour

9:00 AM ENG 101-060Room 344

9:30-10:50:LIT 205-060Room MG1

ENG 101-060Room 344

9:30-10:50:LIT 205-060Room MG1

ENG 101-060Room 344

10:00 AM ENG 102-060Room 342

Release Time(10-1)

ENG 102-060Room 342

ENG 102-060Room 342

11:00 AM ENG 102-061Room 342

ENG 102-061Room 342

ENG 102-061Room 342

12:00 PM

1:00 PM ENG 101-063Room 344

ENG 101-063Room 344

ENG 101-063Room 344

4:00-6:50 PMENG 102-064Room 523

Course Description:

English 102 focuses on the processes of academic inquiry and source-supported writing, while continuing to practice prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing strategies. Students will gain experience using a variety of research methods including interview, observation, survey, peer-reviewed journals, electronic databases, and other written/visual/oral texts or artifacts. Students will use reflection to critically analyze and evaluate information and ideas from a variety of sources, and use such sources effectively in their own writing.

Prerequisite:

Completion of English 101

Course Theme:

I find it much easier to approach the objectives of ENG 102 with a particular class theme, especially as we build our skills at the beginning of the semester. I find that our discussions are more focused if we are all looking – and examining – some of the same ideas and concepts. The next challenge, as you might guess, is finding the “right” topic for everyone to find interesting and worthy of discussion. So each semester I try to find a book (which we will use as a “reader”) that reflects an interesting topic, one that will not only help us become better thinkers and writers but also a topic that is relevant and “real.” The selected book works even better when it is an example of an “ethnography,” a type of research writing that we will be conducting this semester ourselves.

So … a topic that many of us have in common is the issue of working a minimum wage job. Several years ago, Barbara Ehrenreich wrote an infamous book called Nickel and Dimed. In essence, this book talks about how difficult it is to survive working a minimum wage job (she works as a maid, a waitress, and a Wal-Mart worker). The book we will be using – Adam Shepard’s Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream – is one person’s response to Ehrenreich’s book. Indeed, is it possible to “rise” when you start at the bottom of the economic ladder? Is the American Dream a “dream” – or can it be a possibility for those who desire it? We will also look at how Shepard organizes his book: Can someone do research while writing a “readable” study?

Important Note: This is not a sociology class – instead, as a first-year writing class – we will only be skimming the surface in an attempt to find topics and discussions that are relevant to us and our lives. I want you to find your own connections and to have a purpose for writing, not just because I told you to do so. The research that we do in the class will translate into other research tasks that you will be asked to do both in your academic and professional lives.

2

Required Texts:

Both of these texts are available at the Granite City Bookstore:

Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream. Adam Shepard. ISBN: 978-0-06-171427-6. (about $14 new; $10 used )

The New Century Pocket Guide for Writers (3 rd _Edition) . Christine A. Hult and Thomas N. Huckin. ISBN: 00-205-66111-4. (about $28 new; $21 used)

Note: You must have the books by the time indicated on the schedule. Don’t forget to check the library to see what they have on “reserve” if it will take you a few days to purchase the books.

Goals:

During this semester, students will engage – and succeed – in the following tasks:

3

Invention Engage in inquiry through writing, reading, discussion and research; Employ creative and critical thinking; Collaborate with peers in developing topic and purpose; Articulate their writing choices, strategies, growth, strengths, and weaknesses.

Presentation Achieve rhetorical purpose to meet readers’ needs, expectations, and contextual

constraints; Collaborate with peers to foster competent and professional presentation; Proofread and correct their revised text; Employ appropriate format and citation conventions.

Arrangement Construct texts around a central controlling idea; Support a main idea with concrete and worthwhile details, examples and

reasons; Develop an organizing principle that supports rhetorical purpose; Compose in multiple genres appropriate for multiple contexts; Collaborate with peers to engineer cogent arrangement.

Style Construct an effective ethos to achieve rhetorical purpose; Cultivate style and tone by strategically employing rhetorical devices appropriate

for the situation/circumstance; Make conscious, skilful, and/or artistic choices regarding language use; Collaborate with peers to improve and adapt writing style.

Research Engage in research as a process of inquiry and discovery, formulating research

questions and developing (or following) appropriate methods for pursuing those questions;

Interact with a variety of primary and secondary written/visual/aural texts, discovering individual insights and formulating their own stance throughout the writing process;

Gather sources and evaluate their reliability, accuracy, value, and currency.

My Pedagogy – or in other words, where I am coming from:

I am a firm believer in the potential, possibilities, and the power of education. My pedagogical practices, then, are rooted in a tradition of liberatory pedagogy which has its roots in the writings of Paulo Friere. I do not believe in a banking model of education, where students come to class and I deposit coins of knowledge in their

4

available bank slots. Rather, I believe that students are responsible for an active engagement and commitment to educating themselves.

Writing as Inquiry: Many think of writing as an act of transcription; you have an idea in your mind and you simply transcribe it on paper. Research on the experience of real writers, however, shows that the act of writing is an act of learning, a process of discovering new ways to look at our worlds and our places in them. When writing is an act of inquiry – when it starts with dissonance and questions, rather than pre-fabricated answers – writing becomes a process of learning. Hence, a central goal in this course is to help you think about and experience writing as a mode of inquiry and discovery.

Writing as Process: This course stresses the process of writing – inventing and developing ideas, planning, drafting, and revising. The course will help you develop more awareness of your individual writing process, offering you a variety of strategies for improving that process at every level.

Collaboration: Writing is a social act, and whether you’re writing in an academic community, business community, and/ or creative community, all writing is (in one way or another) collaborative. Learning to write with others, to respond to others’ writing, and to write for specific audiences are vital goals for the class. It is my hope that this course will be a place where sharing ideas, generating and working through conflict, and engaging in a spirit of collaboration will prevail.

In short, every class you attend participates in the production and dissemination of knowledge; your voices bear heavily on the relative success of this conversation (not just the instructor’s “voice”). We will need to proceed through this dialogue as mature, intelligent, and responsible participants. This will be a classroom of mutual respect in which we carefully attend to each other’s ideas in a respectful and engaged manner. This is not to say that we will always share one another’s beliefs, values and opinions. In fact, dissension can be quite engaging. Rich debate, open dialogue, and the fruitful exchange of opinions will help to transform the classroom for a critical pedagogy asks us to take seriously the transformative potential of our ideas and actions.

So why do all this stuff? According to a 2010 survey, here are the eight traits employers desire in their employees (and keep in mind that it’s a tough job market out there!):

1. Communication Skills2. Strong Work Ethic3. Teamwork Skills4. Initiative/ Motivation5. Interpersonal Skills6. Problem Solving Skills7. Analytical Skills8. Use of Technology

5

Class Requirements:

Students will be expected to come to class fully prepared for discussion. This means that reading the assigned material beforehand for any given day is a must, for fruitful discussions depend on the active participation of all students. Having read the material ahead of time, students should also begin to formulate questions and critiques which they would like to share in class discussion.

Since 100 points of your final grade is based on active participation (see below), attendance is required. Absences will detract from your grade. According to the 2010-2011 SWIC Catalog, “If you are absent more times during the semester than the number of times the class meets per week, you may be dropped from the course at the discretion of the instructor” (page 26).

Tardiness also disrupts the class. Two instances of lateness count as one unexcused absence – so be on time!

Further, to pass the class you must complete all assignments!

Assessment:

“Students must produce no fewer than 5000 words of finished, edited work, at least 3000 of which should include multiple sources.” (SWIC English Department)

This semester, we will complete two large assignments (although they each have several components) for a total of 1000 points for the entire semester:

Project #1: Shepard Project (300 points total)Library Scavenger Hunt 10 pointsSynthesis Assignment 40 pointsProject Proposal 50 points

6

Annotated Bibliography 50 pointsDraft 50 pointsFinal Project 100 points

Project #2: Ethnography Project (600 points total)Project Proposal 50 pointsDianna Search 25 pointsGroup Research Assignment 25 pointsAnnotated Bibliography 100 pointsInterview Transcript 50 pointsSurvey Results 50 pointsDraft 50 pointsOral Presentation 50 pointsFinal Project 200 points

Attendance and Participation (100 points total)

Explanation of Assignments

All of your assignments (with a few exceptions to be noted later) must be typed. We do have computer labs on campus (for example, Room 344 and our new lab in room 512!) for those times when your regular printer/ computer/ etc. blows up. Be aware that the computer you use at home/ public library/ friend’s house may not be the same as the ones available on campus for student use. Thus, find out early in the semester how this works out with you if you will be using a computer outside this class.

In addition, I have pretty clear expectations about how you should present your work. First – no slippery, plastic covers! Just staple your pages together in the left hand corner. Also, no title page (waste of a tree). In the top left corner of the first page of each assignment, please include the following:

Your NameInstructor’s NameEnglish 102Assignment Description (i.e. Annotated Bibliography)Date

**** Note: We will examine a “rubric” of how your projects will be assessed before you turn in the first project (and we will look at lots of sample papers from former students as well!).

Class Policies:

7

Participate!! : You must bring the text we are looking at that day to the class session. You will be responsible for completing the daily assignments before each class. You are expected to attend class regularly. In signing up for this class, you have made a commitment to this course. Therefore, attendance and participation are essential to your own success and that of the class. The instructor reserves the right to drop you from the class at mid-term if you have had an inexcusable number of absences (absent more times than the class meets per week) or haven’t turned in enough assignments to pass the course. Drop yourself from the class if you have too many extenuating circumstances to participate in the course and pass the class successfully. At the end of the semester, I will not give any withdrawals to MIA students – only F’s.

Attending class on Day 2 indicates your willingness to abide by the policies and assignments outlined in this syllabus.

You must make arrangements for late work with me before a due date. An assignment is due at the beginning of class, not after the class has already started. Late assignments will have points deducted.

No cell phones in class. If you must carry one, be sure that the phone is turned off. Of a phone goes off in class, I may ask you to withdraw from the class. Seriously.

Inclement Weather Policy: If the college chooses to use the "Snow Schedule" rather than close, the college will open at 10 a.m. Classes scheduled to be in session at that time will be held for the remainder of their scheduled session. Classes that start after 10 a.m. will be held at their usual time for the normal duration.

Note on Academic Dishonesty:This is a research-based class, so no surprise that I have to comment on the topic of academic honesty. Plagiarism will not be tolerated in this course. Cite any source information using MLA guidelines. I have several MLA handbooks in my office; further, the library also has access to several copies. You may also access MLA information online at the Purdue University On-Line Writing Lab: http://owl.english.purdue.edu. Please refer to the student handbook and the college catalog for more specific information about academic standards. If I find that you have plagiarized (intentional or unintentional), you will receive an “F” for that assignment.

The Americans With Disabilities Act:

Students with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact the Special Services Center at campus extension 5368 (Belleville Campus) or campus extension 6652 (Granite City Campus) as soon as possible to ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.

8

Safe Zone Program:

I am a member of the Safe Zone Program: Allies for Gender and Sexual Diversity. This means that I promise to provide confidential support for members of the college community who are gay, lesbian, transgender, intersex, or cross-dressing. I am available to listen if you wish to talk or if you need referrals to appropriate community resources.

Writing = Money??

Starting this last year, the English Department here at the SWGCC started offering a scholarship opportunity for any student enrolled or completing ENG 101 or 102. All you have to do is submit an essay that you wrote in one of these classes and you could win $500! Pretty cool, eh? All you need is a 3.0 GPA and be either a PT or FT student here on our campus! You must apply online at www.swicfoundation.com or contact the Southwestern Illinois College Foundation.

Pet Peeves:

Never, ever ask me “Did I miss something important?” when you miss a class. Of course you did! You also don’t need to give me long, involved “excuses.” What you missed is more important than why you missed.

OK, another annoying question is “Do you have a stapler?” Buy one at the dollar store. Maintain professional behavior!

9

Give me at least a week to grade your papers. Asking me the next day if I have graded your paper will cause unneeded stress on your teacher.

Please, please, please turn off your cell phone. Seriously. (I know I mentioned this already, but it’s becoming a big “problem” in class in terms of people texting and Facebooking during class discussions!)

One Last Note:We are a community – a reading, writing, and learning community that happens to meet in a classroom. Universal respect is essential to the communal atmosphere. Good listening skills and good classroom behavior are required. I truly believe that the writing and discussions we experience can have a profound effect on the way you think about the world. Thus, you are expected to actively and productively participate in class discussions and activities.

You will do a great deal of writing in this class, some of which will be shared with both your peers and myself; therefore, avoid writing about topics that you feel are too personal or that may incriminate you. But DO write about ideas that interest you and are meaningful to you. Often, the best writing is personal. I realize that this is uncomfortable for some people, but it is also rewarding when you get thoughtful and constructive feedback. It is never appropriate to make fun of others’ writing or ideas, but honestly and respectfully challenging ideas helps writers clarify and further explain their ideas and arguments. As we get to know each other, I hope that you will be comfortable both sharing your work and responding to the writing of others. This class requires a high level of cooperation and thoughtfulness as we work together to become even stronger writers.

10