In this section of Comp 101, we will explore the language and perspectives of writers from the North and South. Through the composing process, we will interrogate and examine the notion of a regional identity. Of primary focus will be an exploration of the issues of race and culture in Greensboro, NC, and Boston, MA, as presented in the Chafe and MacDonald texts. Supplementary readings will include short stories, poetry, non-fiction, and music by writers from the North and South. Additionally in this course, you will collaborate with not only students in this classroom, but you will also interact with students in a composition course at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, culminating in a project that includes visual and textual rhetoric.
English 101 helps students devise strategies they can use in all the writing you will do in college, especially writing in the academic discourse. You will learn skills of composing—how to come up with ideas, get them on paper, revise them and make them interesting and acceptable to readers. Writing well involves more than following set rules and formulas. Quite the contrary, it means understanding and using the relationship between who writers are and who their readers might be. This course aims to help you understand that relationship by practicing.
During the semester, you will do a lot of writing both in and out of the classroom. You will write for yourself and for others, analyze your peer’s texts as well as your own, reflect and respond and argue and do research. We will discuss how to develop your own ideas, develop your own writing style and voice, and how you understand audience. Our discussions will sometimes happen in small groups, and your work in your group is important to your success in this course. Writing in this class will make you more confident of your ability to write for a variety of purposes and help you discover how writing matters to your thinking.
Learning goals for 101 include the following:
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Writing and evaluating arguments
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Communicating clearly and effectively
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Evaluating and using relevant information
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Understanding aims and methods of intellectual discourse
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Evaluating and synthesizing different viewpoints
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Become confident thinkers and writers
Texts and materials:
o MacDonald, Patrick: All Souls: A Family Story
o Chafe, William H.: Civilities and Civil Rights
o Jones-Hyde, Summers, and Vogel: Writing Matters
o Hacker, Diane: A Pocket Style Manual
o E-reserves
o 2-pocket folder
o Portfolio folder
o Computer Access, E-mail and & Internet Access
Course Requirements:
? 3 essays circa 4-5 pages (about 15 pages of revised, edited writing)
? Weekly reader responses
? Journal Writing
? In-class writing
? Digital Project (2 photos, circa 4-5 pages of writing)
? Group presentations and activities
? 2 conferences with me
? Portfolio (you must keep all of your work for this class in a folder)
Grading Policy:
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Participation 20%
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Weekly Posts 20%
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Digital Project 10%
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3 Formal Papers 30%
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Portfolio 20%
Attendance:
If we had world enough and time, your tardiness and absences were no crime.
However, this course lasts only sixteen weeks and so much depends on your
participation and attendance. In fact, your success depends on your classroom
participation. As a result, if you miss more than four classes, your grade
will be compromised.
There really is no excuse for frequent tardiness; heck, this isn’t the
8:00 am class after all! Frequent tardiness can also compromise your grade.
General Courtesy:
Make sure you come to class prepared to discuss the materials for that day,
turn off your cell phones before entering the classroom, and most importantly
respect your instructor and fellow students. Consider this classroom a safe
forum for you to express your ideas and opinions. If you are rude or inconsiderate,
I will send you to the closet to grab your ashes and sackcloth.
Participation:
Students will be asked to write in a journal, weekly responses/essays, and
in-class writing. In-class responses will be graded holistically. This means
that while they will not be scrutinized as much as your papers, you should
still take them seriously. In addition to in-class responses, students will
be required to participate in class discussion. To help facilitate this requirement,
occasionally the class will be split up into groups and will be required
to lead class discussion once during the semester. The instructor reserves
the right to handout unannounced quizzes.
Weekly Posts:
Most weeks, you will be required to hand in a response essay on any of the
assigned texts (I use the term text broadly) for the week. The essay should
be at least one page and no longer than two pages. It should address an aspect
of the text you found interesting. The papers should be clear and focused.
Weekly responses aren’t summaries, so they should always include a thesis
statement and be argumentative in nature. Each post must be submitted to our
course’s listserv of each week. Our listserv is housed on a yahoo server.
The group name is regionaldiscourses. The groups home page is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/regionaldiscourses.
The group email is regionaldiscourses@yahoogroups.com.
Late Assignments:
Assignments are due at the beginning of the class period noted on the syllabus.
Any late paper will lose a half a grade per day it is late, if the student
has not previously spoken to the instructor and requested an extension.
Conferences:
All your writing has a revision process built into it. You will meet with the
instructor twice for a 10-15 minute conference to discuss the ways in which
you can revise your essay for increased effectiveness. Following that meeting,
you will usually have a weekend to address the instructor’s suggestions
for improvement and turn in a final paper.
All papers should be typed and double-spaced. Use standard font styles (no larger than 12 point), and standard one-inch margins. Handwritten papers will not be accepted.
The Writing Center:
I encourage you to use the Writing Center to get new and different perspectives
on your writing. Think of the Writing Center as an extension of the classroom
community and the staff is available to give you useful feedback. The WC
is located in McIver 101 and is open every day and some nights. Drop by or
call for an appointment.
Disability Policy:
If you have any sort of disability that could affect your performance in the
class or for which you need accommodation, please contact the Office of Disability
Services at 334-5440.
Plagiarism:
Part of your work and responsibility as a scholar is that you accept the rules
and ethics of writing and documenting your outside sources. In addition to
downloading a paper off of the Internet or getting someone to write one for
you, plagiarism is:
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Verbatim copying without proper acknowledgement—whether you copy a phrase,
a sentence, a paragraph, or a whole paper, the source material must be introduced,
in quotation marks, and documented.
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Paraphrasing without proper acknowledgement—reworded source material
must be introduced and documented; again, the length of the paraphrased material
doesn’t matter—you still have to cite it!
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Failing to acknowledge sources—any time you use sources, you need to
identify the source material both within the essay and on a works cited page.
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Use of other's ideas without acknowledgement.
When you submit work, your reputation as a writer is at stake. Do not risk
your grade on an essay or in the course by either deliberately or accidentally
plagiarizing. Visit http://studentconduct.uncg.edu/policy/academicintegrity/ for
more information on the University’s Academic Integrity policy.
Tentative Schedule
August
M/15 Peru
W/17 Peru
F/19 Peru
M/22 Introductions
W/24 The Rhetorical Triangle
F/26 Group Work; “The New South”
M/29 Interpellation, Naming, and What is Southern?
W/31 The “N” Word: Who Can Use It and When?
September
F/2 Peer Review
M/5 NO CLASS
W/7 Conferences
F/9 Conferences
M/12 “The Lottery”
W/14 Terms CCR
F/16 Ch. 1 CCR
M/19 Ch. 2 and 3 CCR
W/21 Ch. 4 CCR
F/23 Ch. 5 CCR
M/26 Ch. 6 and 7 CCR
W/28 Ch. 8 CCR
F/30 Ch. 9 CCR
October
M/3 “Good Country People”
W/5 “A&P”
F/7
M/10 NO CLASS
W/12 Chs. 1-4 AS
F/14 Ch. 5, AS
M/17 Ch. 6-8, AS
W/19 Ch. 9, AS
F/21 Ch. 10-11, AS
M/24 PEER REVIEW
W/26 CONFERENCES
F/28 CONFERENCES
M/31 Ethnography Exercise
November
W/2
F/4
M/7
W/9
F/11
M/14
W/16
F/18
M/21
W/23 Thanksgiving Break
F/25 Thanksgiving Break
M/28 Poetry
W/30 Poetry
December
F/2 Turn in Portfolio
M/5 Last Day of Class