WRT 105: Forms of College Writing Rebecca Fine Romanow

Section 3: TTh 12:30-1:45: IND 219 Mailbox: IND 17

Spring 2005 Office: IND 303, Room 9

University of Rhode Island Phone: 401-874-4691

Email: rromanow@mail.uri.edu Office Hours: TTH 11:30-12:30 and by appointment

website: http://www.uri.edu/personal2/rromanow/index.htm

College Writing Program web site: www.uri.edu/writing/

Course Description: This course fulfills a General Education requirement for English Communication (ECw) and emphasizes the composing, reading, and research processes appropriate to academic writing. Designed to prepare you for responding to a number of demands within the academic curriculum, WRT 105 will give you extensive practice in writing effectively, reading complex texts, and using information technologies. These three skill areas, required for the general education program at URI, are integrated into the assignments and activities of this course. Assignments may include summaries, syntheses, annotations, reaction papers, text analysis, and/or documented thesis-support papers.

All first-year writing courses at URI require five major projects plus other brief or informal writings; a focus on revision, with peer review and formative teacher response; a class session with a reference librarian who introduces the use of reference databases; the use of research to inform or persuade; and a final portfolio prefaced by a reflective introduction. In completing this course successfully, you will become more confident in using a number of writing strategies; you’ll be able to respond effectively to the writing of others; you’ll recognize different genres and purposes and be able to adapt to different audiences or demands. Generally speaking, at the end of this class, you’ll be better prepared to face any writing task.

Course Objectives: Upon completion of WRT 105 you will have:

Gained experience in writing effectively, reading complex texts, and using information technologies;
Analyzed a number of rhetorical situations that writers face depending on the discipline, group, or community with whom they are attempting to communicate;
Improved your ability to write effectively in various academic and public genres;
Discovered, reflected upon, and improved your writing process;
Collaborated effectively with your peers to develop, draft, and revise focused, well-organized, coherent, polished documents;
Sharpened your ability to observe and gather various forms of data as well as to locate and use library, field, and electronic resources to support your ideas;
Identified, studied, and taken a stand on selected issues or cultural controversies.

Mandatory Requirements:

Completion of all projects or other assignments (reading) on due dates (including homework, reflective statements, post-writes, on-time submission of drafts, thoughtful revision between drafts, peer-review work).
Completion of a portfolio of revised, edited, and polished documents with supporting materials and a reflective introduction;
Active and consistent participation in small group, peer response, and collaborative work;
Preparation for each class and helpful contributions to class discussion;
Regular attendance (see below) and communication with instructor

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Behrens and Rosen, Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, 8^th ed. (Longman, 2003).

Anson, Schwegler, and Muth, eds. The Longman Writer’s Companion. 3rd ed. (Longman, 2004).

Reynolds, Nedra. Portfolio Keeping. (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000).

ATTENDANCE: The small-class environment of WRT classes makes dedicated attendance and full participation the responsibility of each and every class member. Students who miss classes are responsible for 1) explaining the absence and/or verifying its necessity; 2) getting the assignments from a classmate or the instructor; and 3) if the instructor agrees, making up the missed work. If students notify the instructor in advance, absences for religious holidays, athletic participation, or other university-sanctioned events are excused. Other absences (for illness, accident, or personal tragedy) may be instructor-approved; however, it is the student’s responsibility to contact the instructor—via email or a phone message—to explain the absence within 12 hours of the missed class, or to provide documentation at the following class meeting. Absences that are not university-sanctioned or instructor-approved will mean a loss of points or a deduction to the final grade. While allowance can be made for an emergency, generally students who miss a total of three weeks of classes, or 6 absences, will fail the course.

DEADLINES or DUE DATES: All work produced out of class is due at the beginning of the class meeting on the date specified. Unless special arrangements have been made, your grade will be dropped for every class period the work is late, and no papers will be accepted one week after the due date. Absolutely no papers will be accepted via email, except by specific, prior arrangement. You must complete all assigned writing projects in order to pass the course. Note: for each of the five projects, you will receive a grade for the entire working folder and for evidence of your writing process: planning, outlining, drafting, peer review, etc.

FORMATTING PAPERS: All drafts should be generated with a word processing program and saved on a hard drive or disk. As a precaution, you should generally email a copy of your paper to yourself; this way, should a disk fail, you can always retrieve a copy of your work. Last-minute corrections on copies may be made neatly in black ink. Please use 1-inch margins, double- spacing, and 12-point font, and include page numbers. Each project must be submitted with your name, the date, the course and section number, and the instructor’s name.

LAB: We will be going to the Computer Lab in IND 309 five times over the semester to write and peer review on the computers, as well as to conduct research. These classes are just as important as our regular class times, so please note carefully the days and locations when we are in the lab.

ACADEMIC HONESTY: You need to understand plagiarism and its consequences. Please consult the URI Student Handbook about academic honesty and related issues. The penalty for plagiarism is an F for the assignment, and the plagiarism will be reported to your academic dean, who has the option to fail you for the course; in addition, the charge of academic dishonesty will go on your record in the Office of Student Life. The paper that shows evidence of plagiarism will be ineligible for inclusion in your portfolio. In most cases, you will not be allowed to rewrite the project, and this will seriously jeopardize your ability to pass this course. The Longman Writer’s Companion offers extensive help on matters of plagiarism and how to acknowledge source material. If you need more help understanding when to cite something or how to make clear your references, PLEASE ASK.

COURTESY: If you must come in late, please do not disrupt the class. Please turn off all cell phones, pagers, or any electronic devices.

DISABILITIES: Any student with a documented disability is welcome to contact the instructor early in the semester so that reasonable accommodations may be worked out to support his or her success in this writing course. Please also contact Disability Services for Students, Office of Student Life, 330 Memorial Union, 874-2098.

WRITING CENTER: All writers, all disciplines, all levels, all stages of writing. If possible, call ahead for an appointment (874-4690). Drop-in tutorials are often available. 4^th floor, Roosevelt Hall.

FINAL EXAMINATIONS: Our class will meet at the scheduled exam time. You will submit your final portfolio at this time.

FINAL GRADE DISTRIBUTION:

Five projects (10% each) = 50%

(including complete project folder, thoughtful post-writes, on-time submission of drafts, genuine revision between drafts)

Attendance and class participation = 15%
Final portfolio = 35%

(evaluation based on the finished quality of the writing of all documents in the portfolio and the impact and clarity of the reflective introduction)

Note: any changes to these pages will be announced and/or distributed in class.

Students please note: BRING Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum (WRAC) TO EVERY CLASS MEETING. If there is a reading assignment from one of the other two textbooks, or where specified below, bring that book with you, too: The Longman Writer’s Companion (LWC) and/or Portfolio Keeping (PK).

T 1/18

Introduction to course / Assignment for Thursday clarified

Th 1/20

READING: Introduction and Part One of PK, pages 1-30; AND Introduction and Chapter 1 from WRAC.

IN CLASS: portfolio keeping; genres of writing

T 1/25

READING: LWC, Chapters 2 & 4

WRAC, ch. 8, review Ch. 1

IN CLASS: Using Reference handbooks; Project 1 assigned

Th 1/27

READING: WRAC, ch. 8

IN CLASS: Review of readings for summary

T 2/1

IND 309 LAB

BRING TO CLASS: Email draft to yourself/disc of your draft

IN CLASS: Writing Workshop for Project 1

Th 2/3

DUE: Project 1, the summary, revised after Tuesday’s workshop

IN CLASS: Post-write / Mini-lesson on grammar, punctuation, or mechanics / Editing and Proofreading Workshop before drafts are turned in

Project 2 assigned

T 2/8

READING: WRAC, ch. 2

IN CLASS: Discussion of readings in ch. 12 / (WRAC, p. 72)

Th 2/10

READING: WRAC, ch. 12

IN CLASS: Discussion of readings in ch. 12 / (WRAC, p. 72)

T 2/15

LIBRARY VISIT

Th 2/17

IND 309 LAB

BRING TO CLASS: Email draft to yourself/disc of your draft

IN CLASS: Writing Workshop for Project 2

T 2/22

NO CLASS MONDAY CLASSES MEET

Th 2/24

DUE: Project 2, the critique, revised after Tuesday’s workshop

IN CLASS: Post-write / Mini-lesson on grammar, punctuation, or mechanics / Editing and Proofreading Workshop before drafts are turned in.

Project 3 assigned

T 3/1

READING: WRAC, ch. 3, 5 and 9

IN CLASS: Theses, Introductions, and Conclusions

Discussion of readings in Ch. 5

Th 3/3

READING: WRAC, ch. 5 and 9

IN CLASS: your introduction and conclusion to Project 3

Discussion of readings in WRAC, ch. 9

T 3/8

IND 309 LAB

BRING TO CLASS: Email draft to yourself/disc of your draft

IN CLASS: Writing Workshop for Project 3 with written feedback

Th 3/10

DUE: Project 3, the synthesis, revised after Tuesday’s workshop; Postwrite

Project 4 assigned

T. 3/15-Th. 3/17 NO CLASS SPRING BREAK

T 3/22

READING: WRAC, ch. 6

LWAC, ch. 19-21

IN CLASS: Research techniques and approaches

Th. 3/24

READING: WRAC, ch. 6

BRING TO CLASS: Research Proposal/ Research question

T 3/29

READING: LWAC, ch. 12 & 23

IN CLASS: Citing sources, quoting, MLA style

BRING TO CLASS: Final Research proposal with sources

Introductory paragraph

Th 3/31

BRING TO CLASS: Works Cited Page

Summary of sources with differing viewpoints

T 4/5

IND 309 LAB

WRITING WORKSHOP on Project 4; Email draft to yourself/disc of your draft

Th 4/7

Due: Project 4, research

IN CLASS: Post-write / Mini-lesson on grammar, punctuation, or mechanics / Editing and Proofreading / Project 5 assigned.

T 4/12

READING: WRAC, ch. 13

IN CLASS: Hamlet, film clips

Th 4/14

READING: WRAC, ch. 13

IN CLASS: Hamlet, film clips

T 4/19

BRING TO CLASS: Selected quotes from essays

IN CLASS: Sharing introductory paragraphs

Th 4/21

IND 309 LAB

WRITING WORKSHOP Email draft to yourself/disc of your draft

T 4/26

DUE: Project 5, the interpretive essay

IN CLASS: Post-write on Project 5/ Mini-lesson / Editing and Proofreading / Final Portfolio assigned and discussed.

Th 4/28

DUE: Taking Stock #10/#7 from PK

READING: PK, Part Two

IN CLASS: portfolio planning/ discuss

BRING TO CLASS: entire working folder and a one page revision and editing plan for your final portfolio.

T. 5/3

WRITING WORKSHOP on draft of reflective introduction. Bring 4 copies.

Th 5/5

T. 5/10

GROUP/INDIVIDUAL CONFERENCES

YOUR FINAL PORTFOLIO WILL BE DUE AT THE TIME OF THE FINAL EXAM, SATURDAY, MAY 14, 10:00 – 11:00 AM. NO LATE OR EMAILED PORTFOLIOS OR PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

NOTICE: Changes or additions to this schedule will be announced in class or distributed.