WRA 150

The Evolution of American Thought Section: 003

Course Overview:

professor: email: phone: office: office hours:

Corinne Cozzaglio cozzagli@msu.edu (616) 723-7381 EBH 274 M/W 7:30 - 8:00, 10:00 - 10:30 AM & by appt.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
course overview & objectives . . . 1 materials, course policies, . major assignments and grading . . . 2 explanation of grades, . department & university policies . . . 3

Writing is the thing that connects all academic life. Whether you end up in the sciences or humanities, youll use writing to communicate ideas and share thoughts. But writing isnt limited to your college classes. Rather, the university is only one community of writing. Writing permeates all facets of our lives, and, in many ways, shapes what we do from day to day. This class will ask you to push your understanding of writing and language; it will ask you to think about writing as more than black text on white paper; it will ask you to no longer think of writing as existing only in school, but as something that resides in many places and spaces, as something that can and does take on many forms, as something that you already do but could always do better. My aim with this course is to present you with the possibilities of writing in various communities and for you, in turn, to be able to write to, for, with, and against those communities as you see fit. To do this, youll need to develop a rhetorical tool-kit that allows you to evaluate genre, audience, purpose and context. Moreover, its my hope that youll leave this class with the skills and sensibilities needed to write for change and progress by understanding discourse communities and by developing your voice a voice that you already have, and that reflects you and your life experiences so that progress becomes an active process, not a passive one.

Objectives:
By the end of a first-year writing course, students should be able to do the following: Writing Use writing for reflection, action, and participation in academic inquiry. Work within a repertoire of genres and modes to meet appropriate rhetorical purposes. Exercise a flexible repertoire of invention, arrangement, and revision strategies. Demonstrate an understanding of writing as epistemic and recursive, and effectively apply a variety of knowledge-making strategies in writing. Understand diction, usage, voice, and style, including standard edited English, as features of writing. Reading Engage in reading for purposes of reflection, critical analysis, decisionmaking, and inquiry. Understand that academic disciplines and fields employ varied genre, voice, syntactical choices, evidence, and citation. Read in ways that improve writing, especially demonstrating an ability to analyze invention, arrangement, and revision strategies at work in various texts. Demonstrate understanding that reading is epistemic & recursive, a meaning-making process. Understand that academic disciplines employ varied genre, styles, syntactical patterns, evidence, and documentation practices that call for a variety of reading strategies. Researching Apply methods of inquiry and conventions to generate new understanding. Demonstrate an ability to locate, evaluate, and employ various sources for differing purposes. Demonstrate an ability to apply purposeful, ethical, and balanced research strategies. Demonstrate an understanding of research as epistemic and recursive processes that arise from and respond back to various communities. Understand the logics and uses of citation styles and display competence with one citation style.

Materials:
Reading and Writing Literacies (DeJoy, Craig, Lessner and Williams, eds.) Access to ELI Review online software In addition to the text, youll be expected to have some way to stay organized [folder/binder], a way of saving projects [flash drive], and whatever you need to be ready to write in class [paper/pen(cil), etc.].

Course Policies:
Attendance All writing classes are interactive and require participation. Therefore, while I know life sometimes gets in the way, attendance at ALL class periods is expected. It is your duty to contact me and ask about the work you miss. Deadlines do not change if youre absent. You will have 2 free absences, after that, youll lose participation points. Classroom Civility Our classroom is an important learning space. It should be safe and comfortable for everyone. Well set final policies together, but please remember to treat others with respect and courtesy, and that use of technology unrelated to class is NOT acceptable. Students who do not respect the shared environment by arriving late, not paying attention, being rude, or by other distracting or harmful behavior will be told to leave and marked absent. E-mail Communication Always email me if you will miss class; also, feel free to send me a message with any questions or concerns. Im here to help, and email is a main means of communication in our digital worldwhen you e-mail me, be sure to include a subject line and sign the message, so I know who its from and what its about. Eli Review Central to class participation and constructing knowledge through interaction, we will be using Eli Review. You will create an account, upload your rough drafts to the website, review the works of your peers, offer suggestions, notes, constructive criticism, and feedback that can aid in their revisions. Full participation in Eli Review is part of your grade for each project. Late Work/Rewrites Deadlines are a fact of life in any profession. Therefore, I expect you to take our deadlines seriously. Therefore, late work will be reduced by 5% per day. However, if youre unhappy with your grade, you CAN do a rewrite after-thefactas long as you write a new revision plan telling me what you intend to change and why.

Major Projects:
Project 1: A Learning Memoir This project should tell a story about a particular talent, skill or knowledge you have, then reflect on why that memory and that skill are importantshow how your chosen skill or talent represents a unique and valuable asset to the communities in which you participate. Youre the expert here. The purpose? To think critically about what it means to learn and emphasize the value of your own experiences. Project 2: Cultural Artifact Inquiry Your 2nd project asks you to analyze an object (artifact) from a culture youre a member of (or not) and what it means to that culture. The purpose here is to think critically about objects in the world around us, engage in inquiry in a culture and revise our understanding of an object of your choice. Project 3: Community Literacy Our third project works toward understanding the culture of a community, academic or not, that you are a part of. Here youll use both internal and external sources of writing to analyze how literacy is viewed in this communityin what ways do people use writing to speak to each other? To people outside the group? How do they view knowledge? Project 4: Remix Your fourth project asks you to remix something thats come beforeyou may choose to make something artistic (like a video, poster, etc.) or just remix the audience or purpose of one of the previous papers. The goal is to make rhetorical moves more visibleyoull have to consider audience and purpose carefully while at the same time considering RAIDS. Project 5: Revised Literacy Narrative This last paper asks you to consider how your learning has changed over the course of this semester (for many of you, your FIRST semester in college).

Grading
Project #1: Learning Memoir Project #2: Cultural Artifact Inquiry Project #3: Community Literacy Project #4: Remix Project #5: Revised Literacy Narrative Journals (30 pgs. x 5pts. each) Attendance & Participation. Total Points 100 pts. 150 pts. 150 pts. 150 pts. 100 pts. 150 pts. 200 pts. 1000 pts.

Explanation of Grades
Here's the meaning behind the numbers I put on your work (you can use these statements as clues about how you might work toward a higher grade): 4.0 Excellent work, virtually free of mechanical error (grammar, citation, punctuation, spelling), going above & beyond the requirements of the assignment. Shows sophisticated understanding of the assignment and the writing situation. Good or above average work, minimal mechanical error, going beyond the requirements of the assignment in at least one way, fulfilling all requirements. Demonstrates understanding of the assignment and the writing situation. Okay or average work, some mechanical error is acceptable, barely fulfills all assignment requirements. Basic understanding of the assignment and the writing situation. Needs improvement to meet assignment requirements. Reading the text is challenging. Unacceptable work. Does not fulfill most of the assignment requirements, is not handed in, or is not the writers own work (the last two warrant zeroes at best). Reading for comprehension may be nearly impossible. 93 100 87 92 82 86 77 81 72 76 67 71 62 66 < 62 930 1000 points 870 929 points 820 869 points 770 819 points 720 769 points 670 719 points 620 669 points 619 or less 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.0

3.0

2.0

1.0 0

Department & University Policies

Both the University and the Tier I Writing program specify several policies and requirements that we must observe in addition to my own expectations. These policies and requirements are outlined below. If you have any questions or concerns about these throughout the semester, please do not hesitate to contact me. Project Completion Requirement The Tier I Writing program requires that students produce a significant amount of writing to fulfill their University writing requirement. Therefore, you must complete all major projects to fulfill the Tier I Writing requirement and receive a passing grade in this course. Academic Misconduct The University defines academic misconduct as including any instances of academic dishonesty, violations of professional standards, and/or falsification of academic or admission records. In addition, please note General Student Regulations 1.00, Protection of Scholarship and Grades, as maintained by the Office of the Ombudsman (https://www.msu.edu/unit/ombud/RegsOrdsPolicies.html). 1.00 Protection of Scholarship and Grades The principles of truth and honesty are fundamental to the educational process and the academic integrity of the University; therefore, no student shall: 1.01 claim or submit the academic work of another as ones own. 1.02 procure, provide, accept or use any materials containing questions or answers to any examination or assignment without proper authorization. 1.03 complete or attempt to complete any assignment or examination for another individual without proper authorization. 1.04 allow any examination or assignment to be completed for oneself, in part or in total, by another without proper authorization. 1.05 alter, tamper with, appropriate, destroy or otherwise interfere with the research, resources, or other academic work of another person. 1.06 fabricate or falsify data or results.