Welcome
This course introduces students to the fundamentals of academic writing. Students explore informative, evaluative, analytical, synthesis, and argumentative/persuasive writing, learning how to develop their thinking and writing through the use of various rhetorical strategies. The course also examines writing as a process, encouraging students to develop productive writing strategies that can be adapted to various academic and professional writing contexts. A key goal of the course involves dispelling the myth that good writers are born, not made. Most professional writers explain that their best work happens in the revision stage after a concentrated effort to re-envision and reshape the raw material of an early draft. Following their lead, this course will focus on all stages of the writing process, from invention strategies and idea development, to drafting and feedback, to revising for improved content and organization, to editing for grammar and style. In preparation for research writing required in many other courses, this course will introduce students to the basics of critical thinking and information literacy.
Right now you may view education and this class in the context of the marketplace; perhaps you want to exchange money and homework (as little of both as possible) for a grade that will maximize your earning potential. What I believe, however, is that real learning about words—both received (read) and given (spoken or written)—can occur only when we get past this contractual model. This is because language is a gift that originated in the divine community and has been given to human communities. So while many of the words that bombard us today are intended to provoke buying and selling, these functions do not exhaust the power of language. Thus my hope is that you will have the opportunity this semester to learn more deeply that language is a gift offered in community, a gift I encourage you to receive and actively practice.
Assignments
- Responses to Readings (100 points)
- Online Grammar Work (60 points)
- Informative Essay (100 points)
- Persuasive Essay (100 points)
- Synthesis Essay (100 points)
- Group Work on Journal (20 points)
- Final Exam (100 points)
- Attention and Attendance (20 points)
Required Texts
- Bullock, Brody, and Weinberg. The Little Seagull Handbook. 4th Ed. W.W. Norton & Company, 2021. With InQuizitive access code (or must buy access separately with a credit card).
- The Office of Assertion: An Art of Rhetoric for the Academic Essay, by Scott Crider. ISBN: 9781932236453
- Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies, by Marilyn Chandler McEntyre. ISBN: 9780802848642
Course Calendar
This schedule is subject to change. Section A meets in HAL 111 on MWF at 8 a.m. Section B meets in HAL 111 on MWF at 9 a.m.
Week 1
- Monday 1/12: Introduction
- Wednesday 1/14: Read Office of Assertion (OA) chapter 1 “Introduction: Rhetoric as the Liberal Art of Soul-Leading in Writing”
- Friday 1/16: Read Little Seagull Handbook (LSH) W-2 Academic Contexts and W-3 Reading Strategies; Practice round of InQuisitive assignments due
Week 2
- Monday 1/19: Read Aristotle, excerpt from Nicomachean Ethics; bring printed copy of your summary to class (your summary should be approximately 200 words; follow the guidelines in LSH W-12b); response to “Why Worry about Words?” due, follow these guidelines
- Wednesday 1/21: Read MacIntyre, chapter 14 from After Virtue; bring printed copy of your summary to class
- Friday 1/23: Read Vallor, excerpt from Technology and the Virtues; bring a printed copy of your summary
Week 3
- Monday 1/26: Library session 1, meet in the library classroom behind the coffee shop–here are the instructions from the librarians for this meeting; response to “Love Words” due
- Wednesday 1/28: Discuss generative AI
- Friday 1/30: Bring a completed copy of your Informative Essay for peer review; download peer review form; read LSH R-4 Integrating Sources, Avoiding Plagiarism.
Week 4
- Monday 2/2: Bring a completed copy of your Informative Essay for peer review; response to “Tell the Truth” due
- Informative Essay is due by midnight on the 3rd to learning.gcc.edu.
- You can see the rubric I’ll use to grade your essay here.
- The first section of InQuisitive modules is due on the 3rd as well.
- Wednesday 2/4: no class–schedule a meeting with me to grade your first essay in person. Bring a printed copy of your essay with you.
- Friday 2/6: no class–grading conferences
Week 5
- Monday 2/9: no class–grading conferences; response to “Don’t Tolerate Lies” due
- Wednesday 2/11: Read Smith, excerpt from Desiring the Kingdom (this book is also on reserve at Buhl Library)
- Friday 2/13: Read OA chapter 2 “Invention: The Discovery of Arguments”
Week 6
- Monday 2/16: Read LSH R-1; response to “Read Well” due
- Wednesday 2/18: Read OA chapter 3 “Organization: The Desire for Design”
- Friday 2/20: Academic Journal Article Assignment due
Week 7
- Monday 2/23: Read OA chapter 4 “Style: Words and Sentences”; response to “Stay in Conversation” due
- Wednesday 2/25: Read OA 5 “Re-visioning: Products and Processes”
- Friday 2/27: NO CLASS (Baylor)
Week 8
- Monday 3/9: Annotated Bibliography due; response to “Share Stories”
- Wednesday 3/11: bring a completed draft of your Persuasive Essay for peer review; peer review sheet
- Friday 3/13: bring a completed draft of your Persuasive Essay for peer review
- your Persuasive Essay is due at midnight on 3/14.
- the second section of InQuisitive modules is due on the 14th as well.
Week 9
- Monday 3/16: Intro to Synthesis Essay; response to “Love the Long Sentence”
- Wednesday 3/18: Read excerpt from Jacobs, How to Think (PDF here)
- Friday 3/20: Library day 2–follow these instructions to prepare; Group topic proposal due
Week 10
- Monday 3/23: Read excerpt from Aquinas, Summa; response to “Practice Poetry”
- Wednesday 3/25: Discuss excerpt from Graff and Birkenstein, They Say/I Say
- Friday 3/27: Paragraphing discussion
Week 11
- Monday 3/30: Annotated Bibliography due; response to “Attend to Translation”
- Wednesday 4/1: Discussion of sample special issues; bring rough draft of Summa
- Friday 4/3: Easter break
Week 12
- Monday 4/6: Easter break
- Wednesday 4/8: Summa Assignment due; response to “Play”
- Friday 4/10: no class–schedule a meeting with me to discuss your Summa in person. Bring a printed copy of your essay with you.
Week 13
- Monday 4/13: no class–Summa meetings; response to “Pray”
- Wednesday 4/15: no class–Summa meetings
- Friday 4/17: Discussion on integrating sources; fill out this brief library form
Week 14
- Monday 4/20: Discussion of academic abstracts; response to “Cherish Silence”
- Wednesday 4/22: Read OA 6 “Conclusion: Rhetoric as the Office of Assertion”
- Friday 4/24: Bring completed Synthesis Essay for peer review; download peer review sheet; the third section of InQuisitive modules is due
Week 15
- Monday 4/27: Bring completed Synthesis Essay for peer review
- Wednesday 4/29: Bring completed Synthesis Essay for peer review; Synthesis Essay due along with group project by midnight on 4/30.
- The final for Section B will be Friday the 1st from 8-10
- The final for Section A will be Saturday the 2nd from 1-3