Course Texts

The required text for this course isThe Norton Sampler: Short Essays for Composition. 9^th ed.

            ISBN:   978-0393602913

Note: You are required to bring a copy of the reading to class with you each day, along with the materials necessary to take notes in class; a flash drive to save your work on is also recommended but not required

 

Assignments

In this class, you will complete four formal writing assignments. Together, these assignments are designed to give you practice in the critical reading, writing, and analytical skills required in college. They are sequenced to challenge you by building on the skills practiced in the previous assignment, moving you from using your personal experience and knowledge to support your claims to finding and using effectively others’ ideas as support for your claims, and then putting others’ ideas in conversation with your own.

The four assignments will be revised at least twice based on your peers’ and your teacher’s feedback. Final drafts of the assignments should follow MLA format. In addition to these four formal writing assignments, there will also be assigned readings and informal, low-stakes writing throughout the course of the semester.

Assignment	Length	Description	Rationale
Reflective Essay	3-4 double-spaced pages	The Reflective Essay is a thesis-driven essay that uses specific personal experience or set of personal experiences as support.	The purpose of this assignment is to give you practice exploring the course theme from a personal perspective, drawing on your own knowledge and experience as support.
Critical Analysis	4-5 double-spaced pages	A summary and rhetorical analysis of a linguistic or visual text. The analysis should offer an evaluation of the text’s argument and evidence in light of the text’s specific rhetorical situation.	The purpose of this essay is to give you practice summarizing and analyzing a single text while also exploring further the course theme.
Weighing In Essay	6-7 double-spaced pages	An essay that summarizes two sources speaking to the course theme and then puts these sources in conversation with one’s own personal ideas and perspectives.	The purpose of this essay is to expand on the skills you practiced in the first two assignments. You will gain further practice summarizing others’ claims and evidence and then you will situate your own thoughts and ideas in relation to others’ ideas.
Rewind and Re-envision	Re-envisioned essay and 3-4 double spaced pages	A two-part assignment in which one of the three previous assignments is re-envisioned in a new genre and for a different audience. This re-envisioned text is accompanied by a written reflection that describes the audience, purpose, and genre of the re-envisioned text.	The purpose of this assignment is to invite you to think critically about the ways in which audience and purpose impact what we say and how we say it. This assignment also gives you the chance to creatively design your own text in a genre of your choice. When finished, you will submit two texts: the re-envisioned text and a 3-4 page written reflection.
In Class Blue Book Writing	various	In class writing prompts meant to deepen thinking about readings and practice various writing skills in a low stakes environment. Prompts may also include occasional reading quizzes to ensure that you have read.	By completing daily in-class writing activities, you have a low-stakes way to practice and I have
Reading Discussion Questions	3 questions	Twice during the semester, students will be assigned a reading for which they are responsible for creating discussion questions. Questions must be posted to the course website by 11:59pm the day before the reading is due	Students will become familiar with how to think about readings and pose questions that can lead to generative discussions
Assigned Readings	Varied lengths	Students are required to complete all of the assigned readings for class and come to class prepared to discuss these readings. Students must also bring the textbooks to class (or copies of the readings) on the days the class is scheduled to discuss them.	Reading is an important part of developing as a writer. Through reading, you will learn and engage with the conventions of academic and public writing, principles of strong writing, and a variety of arguments, claims, and evidence centered on exploring the course theme.