WRIT 101: Foundations of Academic Discourse (MWF)

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

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 (sections D and E)

This schedule is subject to change. Section D meets in HAL 105 on MWF at 12 pm. Section E meets in HAL 105 on MWF at 1 pm.

Week 1

  • Monday 8/22: Introduction
  • Wednesday 8/24: read Office of Assertion (OA) chapter 1 “Introduction: Rhetoric as the Liberal Art of Soul-Leading in Writing”
  • Friday 8/26: Complete InQuisitive “Editing the Errors that Matter”; 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, pgs 87-88 for summarizing)

Week 2

  • Monday 8/29: read MacIntyre, chapter 14 from After Virtue; bring summary to class; response to “Why Worry about Words?” due, follow these guidelines
  • Wednesday 8/31: read Little Seagull Handbook (LSH) W-2 Academic Contexts and W-3 Reading Strategies; Library session 1, meet in the library classroom behind the coffee shop–here are the instructions from the librarians for this meeting
  • Friday 9/2: no class

Week 3

  • Monday 9/5: Labor Day, no class
  • Wednesday 9/7: read Vallor, excerpt from Technology and the Virtues; bring summary to class; response to “Love Words” due
  • Friday 9/9: bring a completed copy of your Informative Essay for peer review; download peer review form

Week 4

  • Monday 9/12: read LSH R-4 Integrating Sources, Avoiding Plagiarism. Informative Essay is due by midnight on Tuesday the 13th to my.gcc.edu. The first section of InQuisitive modules is due on the 13th as well.
  • Wednesday 9/14: no class–schedule a meeting with me to grade your first essay in person. Bring a printed copy of your essay with you. Response to “Tell the Truth” due
  • Friday 9/16: no class–grading conferences

Week 5

  • Monday 9/19: no class–grading conferences; response to “Don’t Tolerate Lies” due
  • Wednesday 9/21: read Smith, excerpt from Desiring the Kingdom
  • Friday 9/23: read OA chapter 2 “Invention: The Discovery of Arguments”; response to “Read Well” due

Week 6

  • Monday 9/26: read LSH R-1
  • Wednesday 9/28: read OA chapter 3 “Organization: The Desire for Design”
  • Friday 9/30: read OA chapter 4 “Style: Words and Sentences”; response to “Stay in Conversation” due

Week 7

Week 8

  • Monday 10/10: bring a completed draft of your Persuasive Essay for peer review; response to “Love the Long Sentence”; peer review sheet
  • Wednesday 10/12: bring a completed draft of your Persuasive Essay for peer review; your Persuasive Essay is due at midnight on 10/18. The second section of InQuisitive modules is due on the 20th as well.
  • Friday 10/14: Fall Break, no class

Week 9

  • Monday 10/17: intro to Synthesis Essay
  • Wednesday 10/19: read excerpt from Jacobs, How to Think (PDF here)
  • Friday 10/21: Library day 2; Group topic proposal due

Week 10

  • Monday 10/24: no class
  • Wednesday 10/26: no class; response to “Practice Poetry”
  • Friday 10/28: Read excerpt from Aquinas, Summa

Week 11

  • Monday 10/31: read excerpt from Graff and Birkenstein, They Say/I Say; response to “Attend to Translation”
  • Wednesday 11/2: Annotated Bibliography due
  • Friday 11/4: no class

Week 12

  • Monday 11/7: discussion of sample special issues; bring rough draft of Summa; response to “Play”
  • Wednesday 11/9: Summa Assignment due
  • Friday 11/11: discussion on integrating sources; fill out this brief library form

Week 13

  • Monday 11/14: no class
  • Wednesday 11/15: read OA 6 “Conclusion: Rhetoric as the Office of Assertion”
  • Friday 11/17: discussion of academic abstracts; response to “Pray”

Week 14

  • Monday 11/28: group meetings on journal project; response to “Cherish Silence”
  • Wednesday 11/30: bring completed Synthesis Essay for peer review; download peer review sheet
  • Friday 12/2: bring completed Synthesis Essay for peer review; the third section of InQuisitive modules is due

Week 15

  • Monday 12/5: bring completed Synthesis Essay for peer review; Synthesis Essay due along with group project by midnight on 12/7.
  • Wednesday 12/7: discussion of rhetoric; prep for the academic book review final
  • The final for Section D will be on Friday, Dec. 9 from 1-3 pm.
  • The final for Section E will be on Monday, Dec. 12 from 1-3 pm.