WEEK ONE BLOG ENTRY

Introduce yourself to the class. You might consider some of the following questions: where are you from? What is your major? Why are you taking an online course? What is your favorite book? What is your favorite food? What is the farthest you have traveled from home? What did you do over Spring Break?

Respond to any of these questions or anything else to tell us about yourself.

WEEK ONE READING

READING 1

THE FOLLOWING IS FROM Orwell's essay, “Politics and the English Language”

A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus:

1. What am I trying to say?
2. What words will express it?
3. What image or idiom will make it clearer?
4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?

And he will probably ask himself two more:

1. Could I put it more shortly?
2. Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?

One can often be in doubt about the effect of a word or a phrase, and one needs rules that one can rely on when instinct fails. I think the following rules will cover most cases:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

READING 2

Twain's Rules of Writing

(from Mark Twain's scathing essay on the Literary Offenses of James Fenimore Cooper)

1. A tale shall accomplish something and arrive somewhere.
2. The episodes of a tale shall be necessary parts of the tale, and shall help develop it.
3. The personages in a tale shall be alive, except in the case of corpses, and that always the reader shall be able to tell the corpses from the others.
4. The personages in a tale, both dead and alive, shall exhibit a sufficient excuse for being there.
5. When the personages of a tale deal in conversation, the talk shall sound like human talk, and be talk such as human beings would be likely to talk in the given circumstances, and have a discoverable meaning, also a discoverable purpose, and a show of relevancy, and remain in the neighborhood of the subject in hand, and be interesting to the reader, and help out the tale, and stop when the people cannot think of anything more to say.
6. When the author describes the character of a personage in his tale, the conduct and conversation of that personage shall justify said description.
7. When a personage talks like an illustrated, gilt-edged, tree-calf, hand-tooled, seven-dollar Friendship's Offering in the beginning of a paragraph, he shall not talk like a Negro minstrel at the end of it.
8. Crass stupidities shall not be played upon the reader by either the author or the people in the tale.
9. The personages of a tale shall confine themselves to possibilities and let miracles alone; or, if they venture a miracle, the author must so plausably set it forth as to make it look possible and reasonable.
10. The author shall make the reader feel a deep interest in the personages of his tale and their fate; and that he shall make the reader love the good people in the tale and hate the bad ones.
11. The characters in tale be so clearly defined that the reader can tell beforehand what each will do in a given emergency.
An author should
12. _Say_ what he is proposing to say, not merely come near it.
13. Use the right word, not its second cousin.
14. Eschew surplusage.
15. Not omit necessary details.
16. Avoid slovenliness of form.
17. Use good grammar.
18. Employ a simple, straightforward style.

WEEK ONE WRITING ABOUT WHAT YOU READ

What do you think of these writing rules? Does one stand out to you? Why?

 

GRADED COURSEWORK AND OTHER COURSE POLICIES...

BLOG: (10%)
Each week there will be a question on the blog. You will write at least 250 words(a long and brilliant paragraph) in response to that question. You must also respond to your classmates’ writing at least twice(with at least a one sentence response) each week. The best thing to do is to write your response to the blog prompt, respond to someone else’s blog entry, and then wait a few hours or a day before coming back to see what others have said about your blog entry. Then, respond to that. The more you write, the better. Each week, I will chime in at least once(and usually more) with my own response.

WRITING ABOUT WHAT YOU READ: (10%)
After you read each week’s selection, you will respond to a question about the reading. These should also be about 250 words. You do not need to respond to other’s work in this area. However, you may find someone else’s work so interesting that you want to respond.

PEER REVISION: (10%) ---refer to the email regarding this topic.

TIPPING POINT FINAL DRAFT: (30%)
For this assignment, you will email me the final draft copy of your essay.
The essay should be attached as a Microsoft Word document and should be 4-5 pages in length, double spaced.
There are two essay topics to choose from.
Write a 4-6 page double spaced essay on one of the following topics:
1. How might one or more of the ideas in the book The Tipping Point apply to your chosen profession?
2. Locate a trend [social, political, cultural, other] that seems to exhibit a "tipping point" phenomenon. Provide a brief explanation of why you think this phenomenon meets Gladwell's three criteria for tipping point phenomenon: a) contagiousness b) little causes having big effects c) not gradual but dramatic change.

ROUGH DRAFT OF TIPPING POINT ESSAY MUST BE EMAILED TO YOUR REVISERS AND TO ME BY
REVISERS, YOU MUST EMAIL YOUR COMMENTS ON THE PAPER BACK TO THE AUTHOR AND TO ME BY

TORTILLA CURTAIN RESPONSE: (10%)

Follow the guidelines I sent in the email!

RESTAURANT REVIEW: (20%)
Go to any restaurant in town. As you eat, take notes on the ambiance, the food, and the service. You may choose any restaurant (from Taco Bell to Café Med), but you should use this writing assignment to explore your descriptive capabilities. Use sound, touch, taste, smell, and the look of the food and surroundings. The review should be approximately two pages in length. You may use the first-person in this review.

IN CLASS ESSAY: (10%)
Since this course satisfies the GWAR, you must pass one in class essay to be eligible to pass the course. That essay will be given during our face to face meeting. If you do not pass this assignment, you can come to my office to take a “demand” essay.  

OTHER COURSE POLICIES:

Passing Grade Requirement
Students must earn a grade of C or higher in this course to satisfy the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR). In addition, this course can fulfill the GWAR only if a student has completed 90 or more quarter units of college work before taking it.

To be eligible for a C in English 305, students must earn a C or higher on at least one in-class writing assignment and a C average on all other course assignments. Since this is an online class, in-class writing assignments may be given at the first meeting or the last.

English 305 Waiting List/Drop Policy Statement

Students enrolled in English 305 must attend the first Saturday orientation session. Students who miss this session will be dropped so that other students may add the course. There is no make-up orientation session.

Students who wish to add the course once the class is full can contact the instructor before the quarter begins and ask to be put on a waiting list. These students must attend the first Saturday session to remain eligible for a seat, and these students can only be added if a spot in the class becomes available.

Course Description:

An online course in effective expository writing. Emphasis on writing as a process. This course counts toward the Teacher Preparation programs in English, Liberal Studies, and Child Development but does not count toward the major or minor. Fulfills the GWAR.

Course Learning Outcomes

Students in GWAR courses should advance their mastery of the following learning outcomes:

Goal 1:  Reading Skills

Objective 1:   Analyze a rhetorical situation (purpose, audience, tone) and how a writer’s rhetorical choices (e.g. bias, rhetorical modes, syntax, diction) inform a text.

Objective 2:   Analyze a text’s structure and conventional parts (introduction, thesis, main ideas, body paragraphs, conclusion), and how the parts work together.

Objective 3:   Analyze a text’s logic and reasoning.

Objective 4:   Effectively critique the effectiveness of a writer’s rhetorical choices, organization, and logic.

Goal 2:  Writing Skills

   Objective 1:   Effectively adapt the writing process to various rhetorical situations, anticipating the needs of purpose and audience.

   Objective 2:   Analyze more complex and/or abstract writing prompts, and stay on task.

   Objective 3:   Create effective thesis statements, and use a variety of appropriate and compelling rhetorical strategies to support the thesis.

   Objective 4:   Effectively structure essays, evaluating how the parts work together to create meaning.

   Objective 5:   Avoid logical fallacies, and use precise logical reasoning to develop essays.

   Objective 6:   Use correct and college-level, discourse-appropriate syntax, diction, grammar, and mechanics.

Goal 3:  Research Skills

   Objective 1:   Effectively use summary, paraphrase, and direct quotes to smoothly synthesize sources into own writing.

   Objective 2:   Master a documentation style, and avoid plagiarism.    

   Objective 3:   Use research methods to find reputable sources.

Writing Requirements
Assignments will gradually increase in difficulty, and each assignment will include both a rough draft and a final essay. Writing assignments may be distributed as follows:

● at least one in-class assignment, during the first or last meeting

● writing to inform

● writing to amuse or move the reader emotionally

● writing to persuade

● writing to analyze literature and/or art

Participation
Students will be required to participate in peer revision and discussion on a blog set up exclusively for this class.

WEEKLY GOALS

WEEK ONE

This week I hope you will be able to effectively adapt the writing process to various rhetorical situations, anticipating the needs of purpose and audience. (Goal 2, Objective 1)

WEEK TWO

This week I hope you will be able to analyze a rhetorical situation (purpose, audience, tone) and how a writer’s rhetorical choices (e.g. bias, rhetorical modes, syntax, diction) inform a text. (Goal 1, Objective 1)

WEEK THREE

This week I hope you will be able to effectively structure essays, evaluating how the parts work together to create meaning. (Goal 2, Objective 4)

WEEK FOUR

This week I hope you will be able to avoid logical fallacies, and use precise logical reasoning to develop essays. (Goal 2, Objective 5)

WEEK FIVE

This week I hope you will be able to use correct and college-level, discourse-appropriate syntax, diction, grammar, and mechanics. (Goal 2, Objective 6)

WEEK SIX

This week I hope you will be able to analyze a text’s structure and conventional parts (introduction, thesis, main ideas, body paragraphs, conclusion), and how the parts work together. (Goal 1, Objective 2)

WEEK SEVEN

This week I hope you will be able to analyze a text’s logic and reasoning. (Goal 1, Objective 3)

WEEK EIGHT

This week I hope you will be able to effectively use summary, paraphrase, and direct quotes to smoothly synthesize sources into own writing. (Goal 3, Objective 1)

WEEK NINE

This week I hope you will be able to master a documentation style, and avoid plagiarism. (Goal 3, Objective 2) and Use research methods to find reputable sources. (Goal 3, Objective 3)

WEEK TEN

This week I hope you will be able to create effective thesis statements, and use a variety of appropriate and compelling rhetorical strategies to support the thesis. (Goal 2, Objective 3)

HELPFUL STUDENT INFORMATION AND RESOURCES

Academic calendar http://www.csub.edu/facultyAffairs/files/calendar/AcademicCalendar2012.pdf

Academic advising http://www.csub.edu/aarc/

Access http://www.csub.edu/els/WEB/accessibility/standards.shtml

Bookstore http://www.bkstr.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?catalogId=10001&langId=-1&demoKey=d&storeId=217407

Campus testing center http://www.csub.edu/testing/

Counseling http://www.csub.edu/counselingcenter/

Financial aid http://www.csub.edu/FinAid/

Grievance policy http://www.csub.edu/academicprograms/complaints.shtml

Tutoring centers/Writing
Resource Center http://www.csub.edu/wrc/

My Writing Labs Plus http://www.csub.edu/mwl/

Tuition and fees http://www.csub.edu/admissions/registration/

Gwar rubric http://www.csub.edu/wasc/documents/EER/WASC%20IR%202011/GE.GWAR/GWAR%20Rubric.pdf

Health Center http://www.csub.edu/HealthCenter/