Syllabus

ENG 112 — Composition & Literature

Spring 2012

Instructor: Ryan Ireland
Section: GN

Day & Time: TTR 11:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Location: 252 Bachelor Hall

Office: 272 Bachelor Hall

Office Hours: TTR 10:30-11:15 a.m.

Email: irelanrp@muohio.edu

Description

English 112, Composition and Literature, is a writing course focused on writing critically and analytically about texts — “texts” broadly defined as including literary, disciplinary, public, and popular texts; print and digital texts; and visual and aural texts as well as verbal print text. The course explores the relationship between writing and reading and interrogates how knowledge and meaning are constructed through analyzing and writing about texts. Through four overlapping units, called “inquiries,” ENG 112 teaches you various tools for textual analysis and “critical reading” with the aim of producing a new text — your own critical response to what you have read.

ENG 112 will help expand your understanding of what constitutes a text; will teach you techniques for interpreting, critiquing, and evaluating texts; and will help you write academic arguments about texts for academic, disciplinary audiences texts. The course draws on the fields of rhetoric/composition to help you develop rhetorical knowledge about writing contexts and composing processes, on literary studies to help you develop critically aware strategies for critical reading and interpretation, and on creative writing to help you explore and use alternative modes of exploration and expression.

Though it may see at the onset of this course that the theme is environmentalism, I can assure you the aim of this class is not to indoctrinate you with notions of “green living.” The real issue being discussed here is that of physical space—how we interact in physical space, how the spaces shape us, and how we shape them. In this course we will read conventional print texts informing this issue as well as some visual texts. As we move past exploring physical spaces through others’ work, we will begin to examine ecologies as primary texts. I broad define “ecologies” so as to accommodate nearly any space you wish to explore—parks, commerce areas, metatextual, virtual, etc. In short, you all have a vested interest in this theme since you exist.

As a Miami Plan Foundation course, ENG 112 meets the broad goals of a liberal education: to nurture your intellectual capabilities to think critically, to understand diverse contexts, to engage with other learners, and to apply knowledge and skills learned through effective reflection and action. More specifically, ENG 112 aims to deepen your understanding of how texts work (in different contexts, for different audiences, with different reading lenses) to shape meaning and our understanding of the world. ENG 112 will introduce various interpretive and inventive approaches useful for producing texts as well as for reading and analyzing them. ENG 112 will teach you how to ask critical questions and conduct meaningful research-based inquiry into texts. The essential skills developed in this course will help you in your academic work at the university but also in your future civic, social, and professional endeavors.

Course Goals

By the end of ENG 112, you should be able to:

• Write with a sophisticated understanding of how texts work — how texts hold multiple meanings and have multiple

effects depending on audience, context, and methodological perspective.

• Engage in critical, close reading, making arguments using textual citation as evidence.

• Understand the complexity of texts — how texts hold multiple meanings and produce multiple effects depending on audience, context, and methodological approach or perspective.

• Conduct research-based inquiries into the rhetorical, literary, historical, and/or cultural contexts of a particular text or group of texts, employing various literary and rhetorical methods for invention, analysis, and argument.

• Write effectively for specific audiences, purposes, and contexts, especially for academic contexts and disciplinary audiences.

• Locate, evaluate, integrate, and cite sources effectively and ethically.

• Practice close, critical editing of your writing according to audience, purpose, and context.

• Articulate and reflect critically on your own reading and composing practices, including your rhetorical decisions about the production and delivery of writing.

Required Texts and Materials

A laptop computer with wireless access (our style guide, OWL, is online) — bring to class, fully charged, every class period

A flashdrive or other reliable and portable means for backing up your work

A Chalk & Wire e-portfolio account (to be provided; paid for already out of your technology fee)

PDFs of our readings will be available through my blogsite (www.mueng112.blogspot.com). It is your responsibility to read them before class. I spend my time scanning in the material (not to mention my purchase of the text), so please do me the courtesy of reading.

Almost every assignment will be turned in on your own blogsite. So in the first week of class you will need to create a blog using Blogger. You cannot use a previously existing blogsite.

Major Projects and Course Requirements

There will be four major required writing assignments (4-6 double
-
spaced pages, or its equivalent, per inquiry) and many shorter, informal assignments for a total of approximately 40-50 double-spaced pages, or its equivalent, of writing. For each major paper, you will be expected to do brainstorming and inventional activities, write a complete draft, submit that draft for review and feedback, and complete a significant revision.

Primary Inquiry	Project / Requirement	Percentage of Final Grade
1. Close/critical reading	Critical/analytic essay demonstrating use of close/critical reading inquiry. Focused on one major work (or a set of related shorter works). Final paper = 3-4 pages.	15%
2. Cultural/historical interrogation	(a) Research essay or report, annotated bibliography with introduction, or literature review. Final paper = 2-4 pages. (b) Critical/analytic essay demonstrating use of historical and/or cultural inquiry. Focused on multiple shorter works + secondary research. Final paper = 4-6 pages.	10% 10%
3. Creative and critical application	Students design their own creative project within broad parameters set by instructor, experimenting with creative forms, multiple media, or alternative genres. Written for audience outside the academy. Final project = 4-6 pages (or the equivalent).	20%
4. Engaged Reflection	E-portfolio of works produced in ENG 112, including a significant revision of several works and an extended analytical reflection on the corpus. Uses Chalk & Wire e-portfolio application. Final project = 4-6 pages of new writing (or the equivalent).	20%
Participation/Blog posts	Participation includes in-class activities and workshops, short in-class writing assignments, discussion board postings, etc. Blog posts are especially important--they demonstrate your engagement with the material as well as furthering discussion with your peers. For every blog post I expect you to make substantial, meaningful comments on your peers' pages (at least 100 words).	25%
	TOTAL	100%

Grading Scale and Policies

A       100-94%

A-       93-90%

     

B+       89-87%

B       86-84%

B-       83-80%

     

C+       79-77%

C       76-74%

C-       73-70%

      

D+       69-67%

D       66-64%

D-       63-60%

     

F       59% and below

Other types of grading policies to consider including:

• You must complete all five of the individual major writing assignments to receive a grade of C or higher in the course.

• All assignments should be submitted on time. Late major assignments will be downgraded (1 a grade per business day late). Late in-class assignments will be downgraded / will not be accepted.

• Specific criteria for each major assignment will be explained and developed in class. However, all writing you produce in ENG 112 should meet the following general criteria: (a) The writing meets the requirements and parameters for the assignment; (b) the writing is intelligent, well-informed, respectful of others, grammatically competent and stylistically fluent, well organized, and, most importantly, rhetorically effective for its purpose, audience, and context.

• Participation is a vitally important component of ENG 112, constituting a significant portion of your grade for the course. There are a number of ways that you will be expected to participate and/or collaborate in ENG 112: Talk. Class discussion, peer review, conferences all depend on your willingness to take an active part in your education. We will also have several group activities (and even some outings). Just like class discussion, the activities will not work unless you participate. Blog. If you don't like to talk, this is a great way to stay active in discussions. Please see blogging guidelines listed above. 

Other Course Policies

Academic Integrity/Plagiarism

As a Miami University student, you are expected, in Provost Herbst’s words, “to adhere to the highest standards of academic and personal integrity” — and two key features of academic integrity are honesty and truthful representation of self. The assumption in ENG 112 is that the writing you submit is your own original writing — that is, produced originally for this class. The expectation is that you will appropriately identify that portion of your work which is collaborative with others, or which is borrowed from others, or which is your own work from other contexts. In other words, you should credit others' contributions to your work. You should not claim, as your own, writing that is not your own. To do so is considered plagiarism, a serious violation of the principle of academic integrity.

To copy someone else's writing without acknowledging that use is an act of academic as well as professional dishonesty, whether you borrow an entire report or a single sentence. The most serious forms of academic dishonesty are to "buy" an entire paper; or to have someone else write an assignment for you; or to turn in someone else's entire paper (or significant portions of an existing piece of writing) and call it your own. These forms of dishonesty constitute serious breaches of academic integrity. If you have doubts about whether or not you are using your own or others' writing ethically, ask the instructor.

For further details about Academic Integrity at Miami University — including a detailed list of examples of academic dishonesty and procedures and penalties for dealing with instances of academic dishonesty — see http://www.muohio.edu/integrity/undergrads.cfm.

Attendance

Much of the learning in ENG 112 happens through "engaged learning" in class: via in-class inquiry activities, in-class writing assignments, class discussion, and group interaction that cannot be easily made up or replicated outside of class. Class time will be highly interactive — requiring frequent participation, discussion, team work, in-class writing, and responding to writing. For this reason, attendance at all class sessions is expected. You are allowed a maximum of 4 unexcused absences in this course. Having more than 4 unexcused absences will result in a lowering of your final grade for the course (by 1 grade per additional absence). Consult Section 1.9.A of the Student Handbook (2009-2010 edition) <http://www.units.muohio.edu/secretary/policies_guidelines/student_handbook/index.php> for detailed policies regarding attendance.

Backing Up Your Work/File Formats

You are responsible for keeping copies of your written course work — at least two copies in two different locations — so that if you should have an MSF (massive system failure), you can recover your work. Platform compatibility, file transfer, and e-mail attachments are sometimes irritating, though rarely unsolvable, problems. It is your responsibility as sender/writer to submit files to your instructor and to your classmates in an accessible, downloadable format. Most of your papers will be submitted in DOC format. DOCX files are not acceptable.

Cell Phones, Text Messaging, and Other Distracting Stuff

How do you react when somebody's cell phone starts ringing in a movie theater or in the middle of a business meeting? How do you feel when you're giving a presentation and someone in the audience is playing a video game or reading the newspaper? In general, the policy is this: Do not interrupt the class in any way, or distract your classmates, or show disrespect for the instructor or other students in the class. Turn cell phone ringers to Off (or Vibrate). If you absolutely must, take calls and do text messaging outside the class, not in it.

Help Resources

• Your classmates. Rely on one another for the questions you have regarding the readings, the work we’re doing in class, software we may be using, etc. You all, both individually and as a collective, embody a vast bank of knowledge and experiences.

• Your Instructor. I will do all I can to assist you in succeeding in this course. Feel free to meet with me during my office hours or another scheduled time. Email is a reliable way to contact me and I will try my best to respond in a timely manner. Note: Do not mistake my willingness to help you out with an excuse to miss class and ask, “Did I miss anything?” If you ask this question, the answer will be, “Consult the syllabus, top of page five, last sentence under the first bullet point.”

• IT Support Desk (http://www.units.muohio.edu/mcs/suppctr/suppdesk/). The support desk is the main point of contact for technology questions at Miami.

• Equipment checkout at the library. The King Library Circulation Desk checks out digital cameras and laptops to students. The digital cameras can be checked out for a four-hour period and students are allowed to leave the library with the camera. Laptops can be checked out for a three-hour period and they must be used inside the library. The Circulation Desk also offers for sale flash drives, digital camera memory cards, blank DVDs, and blank CDs.

• Howe (King Library) and Windate (18 Peabody) Writing Centers. The Howe Writing Center is located on the main floor of King Library. The Center is staffed with writing consultants from many different academic areas. In a one-on-one workshop, a staff member will consult with you concerning work-in-progress, final drafts, research style, and many other aspects of writing. It is best to schedule an appointment ahead of time, but you may also walk in on days when they have consultants available. For further information, visit the student resources site at http://www.units.muohio.edu/cwe/studentresources/.

• If you have a learning disability, please speak to me early in the semester so we can discuss your learning style. I am willing to work with you to establish a plan for academic success and life learning. You can also obtain additional information and support from the Office of Learning Disabilities Services 513-529-8741 or The Office of Disability Resources 513-529-1541.

• The Learning Assistance Center. Provides tutoring and other academic services, including Writer's Bloc, a free, drop-in writing center, and a Learning Disabilities Program. It is located in the Campus Avenue Building. For more information, contact the Office of Learning Assistance at 513-529-8741 or Disability Resources at 513-529-1541.

• The Student Counseling Service. Located in the Health Services Center, this office provides a wide range of counseling services. For more information, call 513-529-4634.

• Your Own Web Site/Server. Every Miami student has a web space (called Universal Disk Space, UDS) for storing files and for designing and publishing a website. To publish web pages on the Internet, follow the instructions at http://www.muohio.edu/wwwsetup. Your web page address will be http://www.users.muohio.edu/UniqueID/ (UniqueID should be replaced with your own unique ID).

• Miami University Technology Guide (http://www.units.muohio.edu/mcs/information/policies/shtml). This is a list of MU’s policies on such matters as computer security, responsible use of computing resources, and MU Net account policies.

ENG 112 — The Four Inquiries

Inquiry #1 — Close, Critical Reading is the practice of thoroughly understanding and critically engaging texts. Basic questions of close, critical reading include: What is this text about? What does this text mean? How does this text mean (that is, what strategies does it employ to create meaning)? What does this text do (that is, what effects is it likely to have?) In this process, readers actively examine relatively short texts, such as a section of a speech, a dialogue in a play or novel, or the visual elements of a website, and work to “ask good questions about texts, make inferences and connections, develop interpretations, use research and critical thinking effectively to develop their own answers, and write essays that engage with the critical conversation” (Linkon, 2005). This process of close reading is recursive, requiring frequent re-reading and further inquiry. It is in a sense a small-scale model of all textual interpretation and is essential for developing larger arguments about the meaning of an entire work. This process of close, critical reading will also explicitly connect to writing practices throughout the course, as a consideration of the interplay between reading strategies and writing practices will inform how we read other’s texts as well as our own texts. Such critical reading strategies will extend to an interrogation of reading and writing as meaning-making practices, and will serve as a starting point for the consideration of any text through the entirety of the course.

Inquiry #2 (A & B) — Cultural/Historical Interrogation is the longest inquiry in the course, involving two major interrelated writing papers. This inquiry builds from and extends the close reading practices of Inquiry #1 first through in-depth research into the historical and cultural contexts shaping the production and the reception of texts and then cultural/historical textual analysis. All texts are distributed and circulated in particular contexts that change over time — and those distributions and circulations change their meanings. For example, Shakespeare’s Othello was originally written and seen by audiences in the context of Elizabethan England; the contexts for modern readers (or viewers) of the play are, of course, quite different. For the first major assignment of this inquiry students will research and produce an academic research essay or, perhaps, an annotated bibliography with critical introduction about some aspect of specific cultural/historical contexts shaping a text (or texts) that they are reading. The focus will be on the processes of research, on the effective and ethical integration and synthesizing of sources, and on proper textual citation. Then, for the second major assignment, students will develop their own argument about the text(s) they are reading based on their research into contexts, integrating some of their cultural/historical research so as to build their textual analysis argument — putting their research to work so to speak. By attending to the cultural and historical contexts (and thus the ideologies) shaping the production and reception of texts, students will gain critical thinking and critical research skills needed to read and write more effectively.

Inquiry #3 — Creative and Critical Application focuses on applying to a new text/s the critical reading tools learned in the first two inquiries. Such elements as metaphor, narrative, figurative language, kairos, audience, and dialogue shape the meaning we make from all texts, including government reports, politicians’ speeches, news articles, news events, cultural developments, etc. Although not everyone will choose to become literary scholars or rhetoricians, all educated persons need to be able to use literary and rhetorical methods for textual inquiry. In this inquiry you may, for example, compare and contrast how two news articles about people with disabilities use narrative techniques to position the persons mentioned in specific ways. Or you might look at the BP Gulf oil well blowout and study the figurative language to describe the event, analyzing who uses what language and why (e.g., Act of God, unfortunate accident, environmental disaster, blowout). Or you might examine a key idea or group of terms shaping the discourse of your chosen disciplinary field of study. Or you might examine a cultural or technological development — e.g., the genesis and development of cell phones — using literary, rhetorical, cultural, and historical modes of interpretation. The Inquiry #3 assignment might result in a paper, but it could result in a multimedia product, a video, a web site, or a creative piece of some kind, depending on the parameters the instructor chooses. It should be addressed to a broader audience that includes non-academic readers. A significant assignment within Inquiry #3 will be a short proposal (1-2 pages), a detailed plan in which the students describe a project, explain what they will produce and why, and seek approval for it.

Inquiry #4 — EPortfolio Reflection builds from critical reflection of your own reading and writing that you will engage in throughout the course. To critically reflect means both taking a meta-perspective on your own reading and writing processes as well moving beyond thinking of yourself and considering rhetorical situations such a purpose, audience, and context. In every inquiry and for every major assignment, you will write a Writer’s Letter, reflecting on your reading processes for the text(s) you are analyzing and your composing processes and rhetorical decisions for the assignment you wrote. .  For Inquiry #4 you will write an extended essay about your learning in the course and how you have met the specific course outcomes — but your focus in this essay should be broader than merely the ENG 112 course. Examine and reflect on your entire recent experiences as a writer and communicator (over the past year, in your first year of college), in other college courses, in your professional and personal life. Over the past year or so, how have you developed and learned, overall, as a writer? You will engage in textual analysis of your own writing, integrating textual citation into your essay. This essay will accompany your eportfolio that will include all major assignments and all Writer’s Letters from your previous assignments.