jennifer rose forsthoefel filejennifer rose forsthoefel 1327 s ponce de leon ave ne atlanta, ga...

JENNIFER ROSE FORSTHOEFEL 1327 S PONCE DE LEON AVE NE

ATLANTA, GA 30306 (850) 545-5913

[email protected]

EDUCATION Ph.D., English, Georgia State University, Atlanta, expected Spring 2013

Women’s Studies Certificate Concentration: Rhetoric and Composition

M.A., English, Literary Studies, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Summer 2009 Thesis: “Naming Experience and Revealing Sentiment: The Archetypal Journey in

Edna St. Vincent Millay’s ‘Renascence’ ” Chair: Dr. Marti Singer; Committee Members: Dr. Paul Schmidt; Dr. Mary Hocks

M.Ed., University of Florida, Gainesville, Summer 2006 Secondary English Education with endorsement in ESL instruction

B.A., English, minor in Education, University of Florida, Spring 2005

HONORS AND ACADEMIC AWARDS

Sigma Tau Delta, International English Honor Society, Omega Iota Chapter, Georgia State University, 2009-present.

Golden Key International Honor Society, Alpha Chapter, Georgia State University, 2007-present.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Writing Center Studies/Writing Program Administration, Composition Theory, Feminist Theory, Feminist Pedagogy, Feminist Rhetorics, Digital Rhetorics

WORK IN PROGRESS/ON-GOING RESEARCH

“Fostering Resistance Through Digital Strangeness” Re-visioning the Public and Private in New Media Spaces: Writing, Community, and Materiality. Conference Presentation. Computers and Writing. May 2011. Accepted.

“Composing Student Learning Communities as Assistant Director of the Writing Studio.” Graduate Students as University Administrators. Learning, Seeing, Building Frameworks for Success. Conference Presentation. Writing Program Administrator Conference. Summer 2011. Submitted.

ACADEMIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE APPOINTMENTS

Graduate Teaching Assistant, English Department, Georgia State University, August 2007–present

Assistant Director, The Writing Studio, Georgia State University, August 2010-present

Online Tutor, The Writing Studio, Georgia State University, August 2010-present

Graduate Assistant and Writing Tutor, The Writing Studio Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, January 2008-present

TEACHING EXPERIENCES

Post-secondary Teaching

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Courses Taught:

English 1101 (Freshman Composition I)—Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Fall 2008, Summer 2010, Fall 2010, Spring 2011

RGTE 0199 (Regents’ Writing; Basic Writing), Summer 2008

English 1102 (Freshman Composition II)—Fall 2009, Spring 2010

Teacher Education

Writing Studio Staff Half-day Workshop: “The Conversational Model: Education, Collaboration, Improvisation,” January 8, 2010.

Writing Studio Staff Half-day Workshop: “Pedagogy and Practice in the Writing Studio,” October 1st, 2010.

Writing Studio Staff Half-day Workshop: “Working with ESL Students and Online Tutor Training,” December 3rd, 2010.

Writing Studio Staff Half-day Workshop: “The Writing Studio this Semester,” January 7th, 2011.

EPY 7975: Seminar for Psychology Department Graduate Assistants, “Academic and Professional Writing: An Introduction to Genres and Strategies for Publication,” Guest Lecturer, with Dr. Beth Burmester, Andrew Davis, and Oriana Gatta., November 8 & 12, 2010.

Writing Across the Curriculum Staff Training Workshop: “The Conversational Model and Conferencing Strategies.” August 16th, 2010.

Guest lecture, in collaboration with Diana Yildiz and Benjamin Barrett, for Dr. Beth Burmester's Senior Seminar: Secondary English Education (ENGL 4330) class on February 25, 2010.

Secondary Teaching

Student Teacher, Gainesville High School, Gainesville, FL, January 2006-May 2006 11th Grade American Literature; 11th Grade Honors American Literature ESL Tutor, Gainesville High School, Gainesville, FL, August 2005-December 2005

PUBLICATIONS

“Expressing Ourselves.” In First Essays: A Peer Approach to Freshman Composition, 4th edition. Eds. Marti Singer and Cara Minardi. Hayden McNeil, Plymouth, MI, 2009. 27-47.

“Beginning.” In First Arguments: A Peer Approach to Persuasion, 2nd edition. Ed. Cara Minardi. Hayden McNeil, Plymouth, MI, 2011. 1-14.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

National

"(Little) Five Points: Navigating the Boundaries of Graduate Student Administrative Experience" 2011 IWCA@CCCC Collaborative, Atlanta, GA. April 2011. Workshop. April 5, 2011.

"’From now on, we're gonna have a little less ritual... and a little more fun around here’:The Scooby Squad as Heuristic” Saving the World with the Talking from Their Mouths: Rhetoric, Pedagogy, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Presenter Spring 2009 National Popular Culture Association and American Culture Association. New Orleans, Louisiana, April 9, 2009.

“Lowering the Drawbridge: Connecting Teaching and Tutoring in Pictures and Words” 2009 IWCA @CCCC Collaborative, San Francisco, CA. March 2009. Workshop. March 11, 2009.

Regional

“The Conversational Model of Tutoring: Talking As Teaching.” Panel Presenter Spring 2011. Georgia Tutoring Association (GATA) Eleventh Annual Conference. Macon, Georgia. Macon State College, February 26, 2011.

“Considerations for Using the F-word in Recuperating “Peer” for Graduate Student Tutors.” Identity, Mutuality, and Agency in the Writing Center Panel, Presenter. Southeastern Writing Center Association Conference. University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. February 18, 2011.

“Historical Development of Improvisation in Writing Center Pedagogy and Practice.” Panel Presenter and Chair Spring 2011 Southeastern Writing Center Association Conference. Tuscaloosa, Alabama. University of Alabama, February 18, 2011.

“Releasing the OWL: The Burkean Pentad as Generative Method for Inquiry.” Explorations in Theory Panel, Presenter. Sigma Tau Delta Xi Alpha Chapter Graduate Student Conference, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, October 17, 2009.

“Writing Center Pedagogy in the Classroom: Secondary and Post-Secondary Perspectives on Student Success.” Panel Presenter. Southeastern Writing Center Association Annual Conference. North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro. February 27, 2009.

Local

“Who’s Laughing Now? Humor and Improvisation in Writing Center Practice.” Panel Presenter. New Voices International Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference. Theme: “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.” Atlanta, GA. October 21st 2010.

“The Conversational Approach to Student Conferences.” Presenter Fall 2010. GTA Pedagogy Conference. Atlanta, Georgia, Georgia State University August 19, 2010.

“Popular Culture and Cultural Studies in the Composition Classroom” Presenter Fall 2009 English Department Semi-Annual Pedagogy Conference. Atlanta, Georgia, Georgia State University August 14, 2009.

Writing Studio: “Talking to Students About Writing: The Student Conference” Presenter. Spring 2008 English Department Semi-Annual Pedagogy Conference. Georgia State University, January 26, 2008.

ACADEMIC SERVICE

Professional Sponsorships Coordinator and Conference Planning Committee, Southeastern Writing

Center Association (SWCA) State-by State Mini-Regional Conference-Georgia, “Back to the Tutor/Back to the Future,” February 12-13, 2010.

University Sherpa, University-wide Graduate Teaching Assistants’ Conference; Georgia State

University, January 25th-26th 2008

Departmental

President, Graduate English Association (GEA) Executive Board elected member; January 2011-present

Tutoring Mentor, The Writing Studio, Georgia State University, August 2009-August 2010

Teaching Mentor, Lower Division Studies, Georgia State University, August 2009-August 2010

Event Chair, Graduate English Association Executive Board elected member; January 2009-2010

Coordinator, Graduate English Association; Conference for Professional Development, Georgia State University, April 3, 2009.

Co-Chair, Graduate English Association Executive Board elected member; New Voices International Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference Theme: “Transitioning (Through) Tradition,” Atlanta, GA, September 25-27, 2008.

Fundraising Coordinator (Book Sale), Graduate English Association; for New Voices Conference; Theme: “Maps and Boundaries,” Atlanta, GA, September 2007.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Spanish: reading and translation knowledge.

ACADEMIC AFFILIATIONS International Writing Center Association (IWCA); National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE); Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC); National Council of Teaching English (NCTE); Writing Program Administrators Association (WPA; Popular Culture Association (PCA); Southeastern Writing Center Association (SWCA), Georgia Tutoring Association (GATA)

REFERENCES

Dr. Beth Burmester Associate Professor of English and Director of The Writing Studio 2011 Southeastern Writing Center Association (SWCA) Achievement Award Department of English

Georgia State University Atlanta, GA [email protected] Dr. Mary Hocks Associate Professor of English Dr. Michael Harker Assistant Professor of English

mailto:[email protected]

Teaching/Tutoring Philosophy

I firmly believe that there is a “good writer” in everyone. While we will not all

necessarily become the great classic authors of our time, it is possible to encourage students to

write in a way that speaks to a variety of audiences under various contexts. I believe that it is my

role as a teacher and tutor to facilitate students in discovering tools and resources that may assist

in their journey towards confidence in their abilities as writers. For example, while the process in

place for moving from brainstorming to a final draft can be explained in a step-by-step process, I

feel that helping students to become more confident within themselves, and thus their writing,

brings a more individualized development in their abilities than sticking to a rigid procedure.

Therefore, I explain the writing process in detail when teaching and when necessary as a tutor,

but invite students to expand upon this explanation with insights into their own writing processes

drawn for their experiences as writers.

As students provide insights into their processes in class and tutorial discussions by

drawing from their own experiences, I hope to cultivate a writing community in the classroom

and in the Writing Studio that fosters individual graduate and undergraduate student growth, both

in terms of the students’ writing and as well as critical thinking abilities. I hope to nurture a

collaborative environment that invites collective encouragement in the classroom and in the

Writing Studio. Thus, I frequently incorporate group work into my classroom activities that

facilitate the feeling of a community of writers, rather than focusing on individual instruction.

However, having been a tutor in the Writing Studio, I can recognize individual concerns within

these group activities and call upon my experience assisting in a student’s understanding of a

similar problem in the tutorial space, practice that I can also draw from in individual

conferencing sessions that I hold throughout the semester. Inversely, I can use experience from

collaborative discussions that I have had in the classroom setting when I have conversations with

students that I tutor, employing what is applicable from the more generalized experience from

the classroom to the individual student’s writing needs addressed in a tutorial.

My preparation for each class period usually includes a short lecture, collaborative work

in groups of three or four, and a final discussion with the class as a whole. Having been

influenced by tutoring in the Writing Studio, this format supports a teaching style that fosters a

conversation as a class, with students taking a portion of the responsibility for comprehending

their learning processes and achieving the intended outcomes of the course. I believe that this

collaboration not only increases the depth of ideas expressed within the time limitations of the

class period and tutorial session, but also provides the affirmation that students often need when

tackling unfamiliar material in their specific essays as well as in a writing course overall. While

students may be initially unsure of themselves and their abilities as writers, listening to the ideas

of their peers in both small groups and larger class discussions can encourage students to bring

their own perspective to the writing community. Similarly, engaging with a tutor in a

conversation, asking questions and receiving support, can foster the student’s voice within the

tutorial space, rather the encouraging the student to view the tutorial as extended class instruction

by implementing directive approaches primarily.

Having been influenced by feminist theory, I am drawn to the idea of having a greater

understanding of the individual tutors that are working in the Writing Studio space. As Sandra

Harding states in “The Instability of the Analytical Categories of Feminist Theory,”“once we

understand the destructively mythical character of the essential and universal “man” which was

the subject and paradigmatic object of nonfeminist theories, so too do we begin to doubt the

usefulness of analysis that is essential, universal woman as its subject and or object-as its thinker

or the object of its thought” (646). Similarly, training manuals and workshops often essentialize

the tutor, simplifying appropriate tutoring practice to a single method. I, however, would like to

become increasingly familiar with each tutor on an individual level, learning and understanding

what each of our strengths and interests are so that we can consider these when working with

students. For example, some tutors may be particularly comfortable discussing titles,

introductions, conclusions, or even specific points of grammar. With this knowledge, I am better

able to refer certain students, who plan to return to our service in the future, to tutors that I know

have these particular strengths, thus adding to my efficiency as a tutor and assisting in making

the students tutorial experience more helpful. This knowledge of the individuals that make up

our community can also be advantageous in terms of teaching; I hope to learn from the practices

of individual instructors in the Department and thus apply what I think would be successful to

my own classroom, considering the particular conditions that each new group of students bring.

Geller et al’s discussion of the “Trickster--an icon of spontaneity, shape-shifting, and the creative

potential of chaos” in The Everyday Writing Center captures the role of my own, as well as my

community’s, ever-changing practice in these various spaces, with the “ordinary disruptions”

evolving into learning moments. These “Trickster” moments call for an acknowledgement of the

fluid identity embodied in my role a teacher within the larger classroom community and English

Department as a whole, as well as a tutor within the Writing Studio community and, again, the

Department as a whole.

Having taught Composition and worked in the Writing Studio since 2007, it is the

formation of relationships with the individual tutors and fellow teachers in the Department that

have strengthened by pedagogical abilities, both in the classroom as well as the in the Studio

space. Although teachers and tutors should have a general understanding of the expectations of

the discipline, it is the individual’s molding of these ideas into a workable practice that actually

influences the service we provide as instructors and tutors. Therefore, with this knowledge of

what each of us focus on and feel is our strength, we can tap into the recourses of our collogues,

recommending to students particular tutors that might be helpful in terms of engaging with

specific skills that each student might need, and engaging in particular teaching practices that we

have learned from one another. As Geller, et.al discuss Etienne Wenger’s concept of

"community of practice" in The Everyday Writing Center, we as teachers, students, tutors, and

administrators are co-learners in a dynamic practice that evolves through our influences on one

another and as a result of our ever-changing audiences.

Course Reflections

Spring 2010 Engl 1102

Feeling like I was in a bit of a teaching rut, particularly in terms of 1102, I decided to

include a popular text in my list of required materials. I chose David Sedaris’s Me Talk Pretty

One Day because I personally find this text to be simultaneously entertaining and thought-

provoking. I saw including a Sedaris’s memoirs as a way to generate discussion in class on

topics of various kinds, including issues of personal space, addiction, self-discovery, and career

advancement. Unfortunately, I was not able to use this text as much as I would have liked. As

my student evaluations reflect, I would often schedule this as discussion material but the

“business” of the class and the consistent need to revisit the rhetorical texts required for the

course often put Sedaris on the back burner. Therefore, I assigned a text for the class that I did

not actually use at any great length. This seemed to frustrate students primarily because of the

money spent on materials that went unused and, unsurprisingly, this was the text they had most

looked forward to reading and discussing in class.

Summer 2010 Engl 1101

Having taught 1102 for several semesters, I decided to revisit 1101 for this summer

course. This was my first time teaching in the summer and I began the semester particularly

worried about the lengthy class periods and frequent meetings. I was concerned that the time

needed between classes to read and critically engaged with the assigned texts would not be

available to students, thus making actual class time less productive and harder for me to conduct

for the assigned time period. In addition, I was interested in reexamining my perception of the

function of 1101, exploring how I could teach this course in a way that would both prepare

students for the expectations of 1102 while also serving the students’ needs for writing

instruction that will benefit their engagement in the future academic demands that their

individual degrees will entail. I decided I would focus primarily on analysis throughout the

course, but attempted to make the subject of analysis the students themselves instead of

advertisements or literature. The sequence of assignments necessitated that every piece of

writing that the student composed play an integral part in the assignments to follow, culminating

in a better understanding of the way the students understand and articulate their own experiences

in comparison to the ways popular culture and scholarly work interprets experiences similar to

their own.

Overall I found this to be a successful semester, despite some frustration on the part of

the students, as I did not tell them at the onset that the subject of their narrative assignment

would influence their topics for the remainder of the course. I hoped that by withholding this

information, the students would be forced to focus on an event or experience that was not chosen

with a larger plan in mind. Instead, the larger plan would develop and encourage students to look

at this event from a multitude of perspectives through various modes of writing and finish the

course with the skills to analyze themselves and the world around them. As the assignments

seemed particularly difficult for the students, the longer class periods were exceptionally

conducive to workshop and peer review sessions, activities students frequently requested.

Engl 1101 Fall 2010

While my 1101 assignments worked very well for the summer course, this success did

not transfer to my classes in the Fall. It seemed that the students that semester were more

frustrated and less available (or willing) to put in the time necessary to meet the expectations in

place for each of the assignments. In addition, I was assigned an FLC for the first time and,

unfortunately, did not have a very rewarding experience. Several problems arose throughout the

semester, particularly in terms of my attempts to navigate the dynamics within the student

community as well as my role as their instructor. These students were in large part science and

health majors and expressed several times that my course was too demanding, inappropriate for

freshman students going into the sciences. In addition, one student who was not a part of the

FLC was admitted into the course several weeks into the semester, a circumstance I know is

common and necessary to ensure that the classes meet capacity. This student, however, posed

quite a few problems for the class as a whole, frequently ignoring class policies and procedures

and complaining that she was being treated unfairly simply because she was a nontraditional

student and was not a formal member of the FLC. Even when exceptions were made and rules

were bent, she still did not seem comfortable with the way I ran my class. In addition, the rest of

the class recognized that she was then getting special treatment, and as you might expect,

resentment was felt on all sides. I am still working to understand why that class in particular was

exceptionally difficult for me, but I now feel better prepared to teach an FLC in the future

knowing the potential conflicts that might exist and ways that they can be addressed.

Georgia State University English 1102 Spring 2010

English 1102 10530

T/Th 1-2:15

Classroom South 219

Instructor: Jennifer Forsthoefel

Office: General Classroom Building 952

Office Hours: Wednesday 2:00-4:00

Phone: TBA

Email: [email protected]

Course Description

Prerequisite: grade of C or higher in English 1101. This course is designed to develop writing

skills beyond the levels of proficiency required by English 1101. It focuses on critical thinking

and critical reading, as well as the production of short argumentative essays. The readings for the

course readings will be drawn from a wide variety of texts, focusing on social and cultural

concerns. A passing grade is C.

Learning Outcomes

In addition to the skills acquired in 1101, by the end of the course, the student will be able to

analyze, evaluate, document, and draw inferences from various sources

identify, select, and analyze appropriate research methods, research questions, and

evidence for a specific rhetorical situation

use argumentative strategies and genres in order to engage various audiences

integrate others’ ideas with his/her own

use grammatical, stylistic, and mechanical formats and conventions appropriate to

rhetorical situations and audience constraints

produce well-reasoned, argumentative essays demonstrating rhetorical engagement

reflect on what contributed to his/her writing process and evaluate his/her own work

Course Policies

Attendance – This class relies heavily on student participation, so your attendance is expected.

The majority of our class meetings will begin with a short quiz or written response to the

readings assigned for that day. Therefore, in addition to your participation, your attendance will

be apparent to me throughout the semester. I make no distinction between “excused” or

“unexcused” absences. It’s simple: either you are here, or you are not. If you are not here, you

are not participating, and your participation portion of the overall grade will suffer as a result. If

you must miss class, consult a classmate to find out what you have missed and for copies of the

handouts.

Tardiness – Please do not be late to class. It is distracting and takes away from the learning

environment. I define “late” as more than ten minutes after the course is scheduled to begin. If

you are tardy, you will not be allowed extra time to complete the quizzes given at the beginning

of class. If you arrive after the ten minute grace period, you will not be permitted into the

classroom and you will be counted as absent. If you think you might have a problem arriving to

class on time despite this grace period, please consider registering for a different section of this

course.

Essay Submission –Please staple all final drafts (no binders or paperclips) BEFORE coming to

class. I will not accept papers that are not stapled. They should be typed on a word processor,

double-spaced with standard margins and font (Times New Roman, 12 point). I will not accept

emailed or faxed papers for final submission without prior discussion.

Late work – Assignments are due at the beginning of class. If you anticipate a problem with a

particular deadline, confer with me at least one class period before the assignment due date to

discuss the issue. Otherwise, I will not accept late work.

Technology –Please turn off cell phones and keep them out of sight throughout the duration of

the class period. Please do not listen to your iPod (or any variation thereof) in class. I also

request that you keep laptops off and closed unless you discuss it with me prior to class and have

a valid reason for its use. If any of this becomes a problem, you will be asked to leave the class

and your participation grade will be affected. I am sure that I am leaving something out, so for

that reason I will close by stating: If it beeps, blinks, buzzes or generally risks disrupting the

riveting class that I am sure we will be having, please be sure to turn it off, keep it closed, shut it

down, or leave it at home.

Academic Misconduct and Plagiarism

The Department of English expects its students to adhere to the university’s code of student

conduct, especially as it pertains to academic conduct, including plagiarism, cheating, and

multiple submissions. See http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwdos/codeofconduct.html for the policy.

Plagiarizing means you thwart your own education and forego your responsibilities as a writer.

Furthermore, you violate the ethical, academic standards of the academic community. These

standards include the value of research and informed argument, open and honest debate and

sharing of ideas, critical thinking about evidence, the careful presentation of research, and

acknowledgement of sources and ideas. We will devote class time to learning how to incorporate

others’ ideas honestly and effectively. Students who violate these policies in this course will

receive a range of academic and disciplinary penalties; see the handout provided for definitions

and consequences.

Accommodations for Students with Special Needs

Georgia State University complies with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans

with Disabilities Act. Students with disabilities who seek academic accommodations must first

take appropriate documentation to the Office of Disability Services

(http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwods/) located in Suite 230 of the New Student Center. Students with

special needs should then make an appointment with me during the first week of class to discuss

any accommodations that need to be made.

Writing Studio

The Writing Studio, located in room 976 in the General Classroom Building, provides personal,

one-on-one service for students in order to help them at all levels of the writing process. You can

schedule an appointment or just drop by and wait. The service is free. This is a valuable resource

for writers, and I highly recommend that you use it.

http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwdos/codeofconduct.html

http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwods/

English Major Senior Portfolios

The English Department at GSU requires an exit portfolio of all students graduating with a

degree in English. Ideally, students should work on this every semester, selecting 1-2 papers

from each course and revising them, with direction from faculty members. The portfolio includes

revised work and a reflective essay on what you have learned. Each concentration (literature,

creative writing, rhetoric/composition, and secondary education) within the major may have

specific items to place in the portfolio, so be sure to check the booklet located at the front office

of the English Department. Senior Portfolios due dates are published in the booklets or you may

contact an advisor or Dr Goodman, Director of Undergraduate Studies. See the main office for

additional information.

Required Texts

Lunsford, Andrea and John J. Ruszkiewicz. Everything’s An Argument.4th

ed. Boston:

Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, 2007.

Lunsford, Andrea. The Everyday Writer Georgia State University Edition. 4th

ed. Boston:


Sedaris, David. Me Talk Pretty One Day. New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 2000.

Recommended Text

Singer, Marti and Cara Minardi, eds. First Arguments: A Peer Approach to Persuasion.

Plymouth, Michigan, Hayden-McNeil Publishing, 2008.

Grading Scale-Point Value

A+ 97-100

A 93-96

A- 90-92

B+ 87-89

B 83-86

B- 80-82

C+ 76-79

C 70-75 (GPA = 2.0)

C- 65-69

D 60-64

F below 60

The Board of Regents requires a grade point of 2.0 in a freshman composition course to be

considered as “passing.”

A rubric which describes in greater detail how essays will be graded will be distributed at a later

date, prior to the due date of the first essay.

Course Requirements

Class Participation 20%

This includes reading responses, quizzes, homework, and in-class writing assignments. The

majority of our class meetings will begin with a short quiz or written response to the readings

assigned for that day. In addition, you are expected to participate in class discussion and

activities. Work done in class cannot be made-up or handed in late.

Essays and Presentation 80%

These will be discussed in more detail in class. An assignment sheet with explicit

instructions will be provided

Assignment 1: Argument From Personal Experience (3-4 pages) 10%

For this essay you will construct an argument without any outside research.

Assignment 2: Scholarly Essay Analysis (4-5 pages) 15%

Part of preparing to argue means researching what has already been written about the issue. In

order to thoroughly understand what others have written on the issue, we need to critically

examine how the arguments being made in our sources are constructed. The scholarly essay

analysis encourages you to do just that.

Assignment 3: Topic Proposal (1-2 pages) and Annotated Bibliography (5 sources) 20%

For this assignment you will select and propose a topic about which you wish to do further

research. You will then research that topic and provide annotations that summarize and critique

the arguments found in your sources.

Assignment 4: Final Paper (6-8 pages) 30%

In this essay, you will present a fully developed argument

Final Paper Presentation 5%

You will present your argument in a 5-7 minute presentation

Course Schedule

Note: You are required to bring to every class the book(s) which contain(s) the reading(s)

assigned for that particular meeting. The reading is due on the day it is listed. You must be

prepared to discuss the reading before you come to class that day.

Week 1: Jan 11-15

T: Introductions. Discuss Syllabus

Th: Introduce Assignment 1; MTPOD pgs 3-15

Week 2: Jan 18- 22

T: EAA Chapter 1 pgs 3-32

Th: EAA Chapter 1 pgs 32-44

Week 3: Jan 25-29



Week 4: Feb 1-5


Th: Assignment 1 Due; Introduce Assignment 2

Week 5: Feb 8-12

T: EAA Chapter 5 pgs 102-115, 120-122

Th: EW 105-118

Week 6: Feb 15-19



Week 7: Feb 22-26

T: Assignment 2 Due; Introduce Assignment 3

Th: EW 149-171

Week 8: March 1-5

Semester Midpoint: Last Day to Withdraw and Receive a ‘W’



Week 9: March 8-12

Spring Break

Week 10: March 15-19

T: Library Day




Th: no class

Week 12: March 29-April 2


Th: TBA

Week 13: April 5-9

T: Draft of Assignment 4 due

Th: Conferences

Week 14: April 12-16

T: Conferences

Th: Conferences


T: Presentations

Th: Presentations


T: Presentations

Th: Final Paper Due

Disclaimer: This Syllabus represents a plan for the semester. Deviations from this plan may

become necessary as the semester progresses. Students are responsible for taking note of

any changes that may occur.

Assignment 1: Argument from Personal Experience

Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to familiarize you with writing an argument.

Through identifying an issue in your everyday life and your perspective to toward that issue, you

can begin constructing a cohesive argument out of the essential materials from their own

experience. The assignment also allows you to use their expository writing skills while beginning

to develop their argumentative skills.

Objectives




Assignment: In this first paper, you will write an argument based on personal experience,

without using sources. Therefore, you should explore what you already know about a particular

issue, formulate an argument, and defend you position logically. Your goal in this assignment is

to present and argue the issue, not in the way it is argued by the world at large, or determined by

research, but as you would argue it. As a result this essay will largely be expository in nature.

However, the exposition is to be used towards the purpose of identifying and outlining an

argument with which you have had personal experience. This means incorporating to a certain

extent the terms and characteristics of certain kinds of argument you learned about in Chapters 1-

4 in Everything’s an Argument. Focus on presenting an arguable issue, on presenting yourself as

a capable arguer, on establishing a common ground with your audience, and on creating a

suitable forum in which your argument can be heard and understood. Exploring the issue you

have chosen and explaining your understanding and experience with it best accomplishes this.

Choose a topic that interests you and that you have a strong perspective about, experience

with, and an opinion on

Your goal is to present and argue the issue not as it is argued by other people, or

determined by research, but as you understand it

All arguments (even personal ones) are based on evidence and a clear thesis

See the sample student paper, and analysis, on page 33 of First Arguments

Requirements

3-4 pages

MLA Format

1” margins top, bottom, left and right; left justified

Name block includes your name, instructor’s name, the class, and the date

Header should be ½” from the top right margin and include your last name and page number

The entire document should be double-spaced (no extra space between paragraphs) and in 12-

point Times New Roman font

Assignment 2

Scholarly Essay Analysis Purpose and Topic:

Part of preparing to argue is fully understanding and researching what has already been written

about the issue. We consider what others have written, think about what further ideas need to be

written, and then develop these in an analysis. This scholarly essay encourages you to do just

that.

Outcomes:






Assignment:

1. Choose a scholarly article/essay from a scholarly publication/journal (approximately 10-

20 pages long) from one of the following online databases: MLA International

Bibliography, Proquest Databases, or EbscoHost Databases.

2. Write a 4-5 page essay that analyzes the structure, rhetorical situation (and all the

elements included in that rhetorical situation), use of ethos, pathos, and/or logos,

language, tone, thesis of the article. And other information discussed in Chapter 5 of

Everything’s an Argument.

3. Provide your critical analysis (opinion) of the article and how it successfully argues its

thesis or unsuccessfully argues its thesis.

4. With all academic essays in the English Department, use MLA format. Also, your essay

should be double-spaced, use 12-point font, and 1” margins. Since you will cite only one

essay, your final page will read “work cited” and will be formatted according to MLA

style.

Evidence:

In an analysis of this nature, you will use ample borrowed material from the essay that is

paraphrased, summarized, and quoted. However, your essay should do more than summarize.

Instead, you should point out rhetorical moves and explain how they create meaning and

understanding.

Arrangement (Organization):

Part One

This part of the essay includes the introduction (which should provide the argument and support

being made in the article), background information about the author, the journal, and a

discussion of the structure of the article. Include a discussion of the author’s thesis, evidence,

transition sentences, and rebuttal/refutation sections.

Part Two

Use the second part of your essay to discuss the rhetorical situation, ethos, logos, and/or pathos,

language, tone, audience, and the other issues that are discussed in Chapter 5 of Everything’s an

Argument (pg 105).

Part Three

This is the conclusion of your paper . Here you should reflect upon the effectiveness of the

article. Does the article make its claim effectively? Are there issues/concerns that made the

article difficult to read? What would you change?

Requirements

4-5 pages in length

A copy of the scholarly article you are analyzing (10-20pgs and adhering to the

guidelines for that I deem “scholarly”)

MLA format

o 1” margins on top, bottom, left and right; left justified

o Name block includes your name, instructor’s name, the class (Engl 1102), and the

date

o Header should be ½” from the top right margin and include your last name and

page number

o Double-spaced and in 12-point Times New Roman font

o A correctly formatted Work Cites page in MLA style

Assignment 3: Topic Proposal and Annotated Bibliography.

English 1102 Topic Proposal

Purpose

Crafting an argument step by step often helps you assess an issue of interest. While crafting your

proposal, you should determine whether or not your topic is arguable and how you want to focus

your issue.

Objectives







Assignment

For this assignment, write a 1-2 page paper highlighting the issue you are interested in exploring

for your annotated bibliography and ultimately your final research paper. You should begin by

setting up the issue, providing your current understanding of the topic in order to establish the

context. This portion of your paper should end with the focus or thesis of your future argument

paper.

Following this section, provide an explanation of what you need to research further in order

construct an argument on this topic. Include a general plan of the way(s) you anticipate obtaining

this information and any constraints or concerns you anticipate encountering when constructing

the final research paper on this topic.

Requirements

1-2 pages in length

A title

MLA format



date. This should be single spaced.


page number


Annotated Bibliography

Purpose

An annotated bibliography is the next step in writing your research paper. In your annotated

bibliography, you will demonstrate what research you have done for your final research paper.

This assignment should help you to organize this material and encourage you to consider the

value of your sources before you attempt to use them.

Objectives





Assignment

For this assignment, you will provide a list of FIVE sources listed in MLA format that you have

considered using in your final paper (meaning they must relate to the topic you turned in for the

proposal portion of the assignment).

Of these FIVE sources, at least TWO must support the stance you plan to argue in your final

research paper.

Of these FIVE sources, at least TWO must refute the stance you plan to argue in your final

research paper.

The remaining 5th

source can either support or refute your argument. It is at your

discretion.

Of these FIVE sources, at least ONE must be a book or chapter of a book (depending on its

relevance to your argument)

Of these FIVE sources, you may include ONE popular source. The other four must be scholarly.

After providing the MLA citation for the source, you will write a summary/annotation of the

work. Each annotation should be about 200 words in length and should include:

the major assertion/claim of the text

how the author supports his claim

how you would use this source in your final paper

Requirements

5 sources each with an annotation of about 200 words in length

The support sources should be grouped together and placed in alphabetical order. This

should also be done for the refutation sources.

MLA format





page number


Assignment 4: Final Paper

Purpose

The purpose of writing an argument essay is to learn how to persuade your readers and offer a possible

solution to conflicts. You will draw on the research and writing you conducted in your earlier essays and

bibliography to build a focused, sustained, and developed argument.

Objectives


identify, select, and analyze appropriate research methods, research questions, and evidence for a

specific rhetorical situation



use grammatical, stylistic, and mechanical formats and conventions appropriate to rhetorical

situations and audience constraints


reflect on what contributed to his/her writing process and evaluate his/her own work\

Assignment

To get started, you will need to:

Identify the argument you wish to pursue

Identify the rhetorical situation

Identify your own position

In your final argument, you will develop and support a particular claim or perspective in order to persuade

an audience. As a responsible and ethical writer of an argumentative essay, you must also present the

complexity of the issue and distinguish the main arguments surrounding it, including those that refute

your argument. Drawing upon the research you have done and further research needed, and be sure to

incorporate more than one perspective on the argument, but only focus on one particular claim.

Provide background information on the issue followed by a clearly constructed thesis statement. Include

evidence and support for your claim, identifying and addressing the rebuttals and refutation arguments on

your stance. Consider the rhetorical situation, demonstrate your recognition of these elements, and

appropriately include appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos to support your stance while also maintaining an

appropriate tone for this academic essay.

Requirements

6-8 pages

A Works Cited pages with at least 6 sources (not a part of the page count). At least four of these sources

must be scholarly sources (including scholarly books or book chapters) and two may be “popular”

sources.

MLA format


o Name block includes your name, instructor’s name, the class (Engl 1102), and the date

o Header should be ½” from the top right margin and include your last name and page

number


o A correctly formatted Work Cited page in MLA style

Final Paper Presentation

Purpose

The purpose of presenting your final paper’s claim and support to the class is to not only solidify these

elements for yourself, but to ensure that you can clearly articulate them to an audience of your peers.

Objectives










Assignment

You will be asked to present the argument that you are making for your final paper in a 3 to 5 minute

presentation for the class. This presentation can take several formats must include a handout for the class

(25 copies) that clearly states:

1. your claim

2. support for your claim

3. rebuttal arguments and how you plan refute those rebuttals.

4. a bibliography of sources that you plan to cite in your essay, correctly formatted in MLA

style.

These can be bullet points or paragraphs, whatever you would prefer, and can be made visually

appealing in any manner that you choose (pictures, designs, colors, etc).

Your grade will be based on the clarity and creativity with which you tackled this assignment as well as

whether or not you met all of the aforementioned necessary requirements.

Please keep in mind that I will be giving attendance quizzes the week of April 19th and April 26

th to

encourage each of our presenters to have an audience.

Checklist for Assignment 4 and Final Paper Presentation

□ Schedule a conference with Miss Forsthoefel…………………..Date_____________ Time________

□ Turn in Draft of Assignment 4 on April 6

□ Attend Conference as scheduled with Miss Forsthoefel to receive feedback on my draft

□ Schedule Presentation on Assignment 4…………………………Date_____________ Time________

□ Make handout (25 copies) for presentation

□ Turn in Assignment 4 on April 29

Georgia State University English 1102 Spring 2010

English 1102 11917

T/Th 2:30-3:45

Classroom South 510


Office: General Classroom Building 952

Office Hours: Wednesday 2:00-4:00

Phone: TBA


Course Description

Prerequisite: grade of C or higher in English 1101. This course is designed to develop writing

skills beyond the levels of proficiency required by English 1101. It focuses on critical thinking

and critical reading, as well as the production of short argumentative essays. The readings for the

course readings will be drawn from a wide variety of texts, focusing on social and cultural

concerns. A passing grade is C.

Learning Outcomes

In addition to the skills acquired in 1101, by the end of the course, the student will be able to










Course Policies


The majority of our class meetings will begin with a short quiz or written response to the

readings assigned for that day. Therefore, in addition to your participation, your attendance will

be apparent to me throughout the semester. I make no distinction between “excused” or

“unexcused” absences. It’s simple: either you are here, or you are not. If you are not here, you

are not participating, and your participation portion of the overall grade will suffer as a result. If

you must miss class, consult a classmate to find out what you have missed and for copies of the

handouts.


environment. I define “late” as more than ten minutes after the course is scheduled to begin. If

you are tardy, you will not be allowed extra time to complete the quizzes given at the beginning

of class. If you arrive after the ten minute grace period, you will not be permitted into the

classroom and you will be counted as absent. If you think you might have a problem arriving to

class on time despite this grace period, please consider registering for a different section of this

course.

Essay Submission –Please staple all final drafts (no binders or paperclips) BEFORE coming to

class. I will not accept papers that are not stapled. They should be typed on a word processor,

double-spaced with standard margins and font (Times New Roman, 12 point). I will not accept

emailed or faxed papers for final submission without prior discussion.























and consequences.








Writing Studio



schedule an appointment or just drop by and wait. The service is free. This is a valuable resource

for writers, and I highly recommend that you use it.













Required Texts

Lunsford, Andrea and John J. Ruszkiewicz. Everything’s An Argument.4th

ed. Boston:



ed. Boston:


Sedaris, David. Me Talk Pretty One Day. New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 2000.

Recommended Text

Singer, Marti and Cara Minardi, eds. First Arguments: A Peer Approach to Persuasion.

Plymouth, Michigan, Hayden-McNeil Publishing, 2008.


A+ 97-100

A 93-96

A- 90-92

B+ 87-89

B 83-86

B- 80-82

C+ 76-79

C 70-75 (GPA = 2.0)

C- 65-69

D 60-64

F below 60





Course Requirements

Class Participation 20%

This includes reading responses, quizzes, homework, and in-class writing assignments. The

majority of our class meetings will begin with a short quiz or written response to the readings

assigned for that day. In addition, you are expected to participate in class discussion and

activities. Work done in class cannot be made-up or handed in late.

Essays and Presentation 80%

These will be discussed in more detail in class. An assignment sheet with explicit

instructions will be provided

Assignment 1: Argument From Personal Experience (3-4 pages) 10%

For this essay you will construct an argument without any outside research.

Assignment 2: Scholarly Essay Analysis (4-5 pages) 15%

Part of preparing to argue means researching what has already been written about the issue. In

order to thoroughly understand what others have written on the issue, we need to critically

examine how the arguments being made in our sources are constructed. The scholarly essay

analysis encourages you to do just that.

Assignment 3: Topic Proposal (1-2 pages) and Annotated Bibliography (5 sources) 20%

For this assignment you will select and propose a topic about which you wish to do further

research. You will then research that topic and provide annotations that summarize and critique

the arguments found in your sources.

Assignment 4: Final Paper (6-8 pages) 30%

In this essay, you will present a fully developed argument

Final Paper Presentation 5%

You will present your argument in a 5-7 minute presentation

Course Schedule




Week 1: Jan 11-15

T: Introductions. Discuss Syllabus

Th: Introduce Assignment 1; MTPOD pgs 3-15

Week 2: Jan 18- 22



Week 3: Jan 25-29



Week 4: Feb 1-5



Week 5: Feb 8-12

T: EAA Chapter 5 pgs 102-115, 120-122

Th: EW 105-118

Week 6: Feb 15-19



Week 7: Feb 22-26

T: Assignment 2 Due; Introduce Assignment 3

Th: EW 149-171

Week 8: March 1-5

Semester Midpoint: Last Day to Withdraw and Receive a ‘W’



Week 9: March 8-12

Spring Break


T: Library Day




Th: no class

Week 12: March 29-April 2


Th: TBA

Week 13: April 5-9

T: Draft of Assignment 4 due

Th: Conferences


T: Conferences

Th: Conferences


T: Presentations

Th: Presentations


T: Presentations

Th: Final Paper Due

Disclaimer: This Syllabus represents a plan for the semester. Deviations from this plan may



Assignment 1: Argument from Personal Experience

Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to familiarize you with writing an argument.

Through identifying an issue in your everyday life and your perspective to toward that issue, you

can begin constructing a cohesive argument out of the essential materials from their own

experience. The assignment also allows you to use their expository writing skills while beginning

to develop their argumentative skills.

Objectives




Assignment: In this first paper, you will write an argument based on personal experience,

without using sources. Therefore, you should explore what you already know about a particular

issue, formulate an argument, and defend you position logically. Your goal in this assignment is

to present and argue the issue, not in the way it is argued by the world at large, or determined by

research, but as you would argue it. As a result this essay will largely be expository in nature.

However, the exposition is to be used towards the purpose of identifying and outlining an

argument with which you have had personal experience. This means incorporating to a certain

extent the terms and characteristics of certain kinds of argument you learned about in Chapters 1-

4 in Everything’s an Argument. Focus on presenting an arguable issue, on presenting yourself as

a capable arguer, on establishing a common ground with your audience, and on creating a

suitable forum in which your argument can be heard and understood. Exploring the issue you

have chosen and explaining your understanding and experience with it best accomplishes this.

Choose a topic that interests you and that you have a strong perspective about, experience

with, and an opinion on

Your goal is to present and argue the issue not as it is argued by other people, or

determined by research, but as you understand it

All arguments (even personal ones) are based on evidence and a clear thesis

See the sample student paper, and analysis, on page 33 of First Arguments

Requirements

3-4 pages

MLA Format

1” margins top, bottom, left and right; left justified

Name block includes your name, instructor’s name, the class, and the date

Header should be ½” from the top right margin and include your last name and page number

The entire document should be double-spaced (no extra space between paragraphs) and in 12-

point Times New Roman font

Assignment 2: Scholarly Essay Analysis

Purpose and Topic:

Part of preparing to argue is fully understanding and researching what has already been written

about the issue. We consider what others have written, think about what further ideas need to be

written, and then develop these in an analysis. This scholarly essay encourages you to do just

that.

Outcomes:






Assignment:

5. Choose a scholarly article/essay from a scholarly publication/journal (approximately 10-

20 pages long) from one of the following online databases: MLA International

Bibliography, Proquest Databases, or EbscoHost Databases.

6. Write a 4-5 page essay that analyzes the structure, rhetorical situation (and all the

elements included in that rhetorical situation), use of ethos, pathos, and/or logos,

language, tone, thesis of the article. And other information discussed in Chapter 5 of

Everything’s an Argument.

7. Provide your critical analysis (opinion) of the article and how it successfully argues its

thesis or unsuccessfully argues its thesis.

8. With all academic essays in the English Department, use MLA format. Also, your essay

should be double-spaced, use 12-point font, and 1” margins. Since you will cite only one

essay, your final page will read “work cited” and will be formatted according to MLA

style.

Evidence:

In an analysis of this nature, you will use ample borrowed material from the essay that is

paraphrased, summarized, and quoted. However, your essay should do more than summarize.

Instead, you should point out rhetorical moves and explain how they create meaning and

understanding.


Part One

This part of the essay includes the introduction (which should provide the argument and support

being made in the article), background information about the author, the journal, and a

discussion of the structure of the article. Include a discussion of the author’s thesis, evidence,

transition sentences, and rebuttal/refutation sections.

Part Two

Use the second part of your essay to discuss the rhetorical situation, ethos, logos, and/or pathos,

language, tone, audience, and the other issues that are discussed in Chapter 5 of Everything’s an

Argument (pg 105).

Part Three

This is the conclusion of your paper . Here you should reflect upon the effectiveness of the

article. Does the article make its claim effectively? Are there issues/concerns that made the

article difficult to read? What would you change?

Requirements

4-5 pages in length

A copy of the scholarly article you are analyzing (10-20pgs and adhering to the

guidelines for that I deem “scholarly”)

MLA format



date


page number



Assignment 3: Topic Proposal and Annotated Bibliography.

English 1102 Topic Proposal

Purpose

Crafting an argument step by step often helps you assess an issue of interest. While crafting your

proposal, you should determine whether or not your topic is arguable and how you want to focus

your issue.

Objectives







Assignment

For this assignment, write a 1-2 page paper highlighting the issue you are interested in exploring

for your annotated bibliography and ultimately your final research paper. You should begin by

setting up the issue, providing your current understanding of the topic in order to establish the

context. This portion of your paper should end with the focus or thesis of your future argument

paper.

Following this section, provide an explanation of what you need to research further in order

construct an argument on this topic. Include a general plan of the way(s) you anticipate obtaining

this information and any constraints or concerns you anticipate encountering when constructing

the final research paper on this topic.

Requirements

1-2 pages in length

A title

MLA format





page number



Purpose





Objectives





Assignment

For this assignment, you will provide a list of FIVE sources listed in MLA format that you have

considered using in your final paper (meaning they must relate to the topic you turned in for the

proposal portion of the assignment).

Of these FIVE sources, at least TWO must support the stance you plan to argue in your final

research paper.

Of these FIVE sources, at least TWO must refute the stance you plan to argue in your final

research paper.

The remaining 5th

source can either support or refute your argument. It is at your

discretion.


relevance to your argument)

Of these FIVE sources, you may include ONE popular source. The other four must be scholarly.


work. Each annotation should be about 200 words in length and should include:


how the author supports his claim

how you would use this source in your final paper

Requirements

5 sources each with an annotation of about 200 words in length

The support sources should be grouped together and placed in alphabetical order. This

should also be done for the refutation sources.

MLA format





page number


Assignment 4: Final Paper

Purpose

The purpose of writing an argument essay is to learn how to persuade your readers and offer a possible

solution to conflicts. You will draw on the research and writing you conducted in your earlier essays and

bibliography to build a focused, sustained, and developed argument.

Objectives









reflect on what contributed to his/her writing process and evaluate his/her own work\

Assignment

To get started, you will need to:

Identify the argument you wish to pursue

Identify the rhetorical situation

Identify your own position

In your final argument, you will develop and support a particular claim or perspective in order to persuade

an audience. As a responsible and ethical writer of an argumentative essay, you must also present the

complexity of the issue and distinguish the main arguments surrounding it, including those that refute

your argument. Drawing upon the research you have done and further research needed, and be sure to

incorporate more than one perspective on the argument, but only focus on one particular claim.

Provide background information on the issue followed by a clearly constructed thesis statement. Include

evidence and support for your claim, identifying and addressing the rebuttals and refutation arguments on

your stance. Consider the rhetorical situation, demonstrate your recognition of these elements, and

appropriately include appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos to support your stance while also maintaining an

appropriate tone for this academic essay.

Requirements

6-8 pages

A Works Cited pages with at least 6 sources (not a part of the page count). At least four of these sources

must be scholarly sources (including scholarly books or book chapters) and two may be “popular”

sources.

MLA format




number


o A correctly formatted Work Cited page in MLA style


Purpose

The purpose of presenting your final paper’s claim and support to the class is to not only solidify these

elements for yourself, but to ensure that you can clearly articulate them to an audience of your peers.

Objectives










Assignment

You will be asked to present the argument that you are making for your final paper in a 3 to 5 minute

presentation for the class. This presentation can take several formats must include a handout for the class

(25 copies) that clearly states:

5. your claim

6. support for your claim

7. rebuttal arguments and how you plan refute those rebuttals.

8. a bibliography of sources that you plan to cite in your essay, correctly formatted in MLA

style.

These can be bullet points or paragraphs, whatever you would prefer, and can be made visually

appealing in any manner that you choose (pictures, designs, colors, etc).

Your grade will be based on the clarity and creativity with which you tackled this assignment as well as

whether or not you met all of the aforementioned necessary requirements.

Please keep in mind that I will be giving attendance quizzes the week of April 19th and April 26

th to

encourage each of our presenters to have an audience.

Checklist for Assignment 4 and Final Paper Presentation

□ Schedule a conference with Miss Forsthoefel…………………..Date_____________ Time________

□ Turn in Draft of Assignment 4 on April 6

□ Attend Conference as scheduled with Miss Forsthoefel to receive feedback on my draft

□ Schedule Presentation on Assignment 4…………………………Date_____________ Time________

□ Make handout (25 copies) for presentation

□ Turn in Assignment 4 on April 29

Georgia State University

English 1101 50263 Summer 2010

T/Th 1:50-4:35

Sparks 321


Office: GCB 952

Office Hours: T/Th 4:45-5:45


Course Description

This course is designed to increase the student’s ability to construct written prose of various

kinds. It focuses on methods of organization, analysis, research skills, and the production of short

expository and argumentative essays; readings consider issues of contemporary social and

cultural concern. A passing grade is C.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

engage in writing as a process, including various invention heuristics (brainstorming, for

example), gathering evidence, considering audience, drafting, revising, editing, and

proofreading

engage in the collaborative, social aspects of writing, and use writing as a tool for

learning

use language to explore and analyze contemporary multicultural, global, and

international questions

demonstrate how to use writing aids, such as handbooks, dictionaries, online aids, and

tutors

gather, summarize, synthesize, and explain information from various sources

use grammatical, stylistic, and mechanical formats and conventions appropriate for a

variety of audiences

critique their own and others’ work in written and oral formats

produce coherent, organized, readable prose for a variety of rhetorical situations

reflect on what contributed to their writing process and evaluate their own work

Course Policies


While I will take attendance the first few weeks of class to learn your names and to verify the

roll, this will not be a habit throughout the semester. Instead, the majority of our class meetings

will begin with a short quiz or written response to the readings assigned for that day. Thus, in

addition to your comprehension of the readings, your attendance will be apparent to me

throughout the semester. These quizzes/responses cannot be “made-up” at a later date. Please

note that I make no distinction between “excused” or “unexcused” absences. It’s simple: either

you are here, or you are not. If you are not here, you are not participating, and your participation

portion of the overall grade will suffer as a result. If you must miss class, consult a classmate to

find out what you have missed and for copies of the handouts.


environment. I define “late” as more than fifteen minutes after the course is scheduled to

begin. If you arrive before the fifteen minute grace period ends but are still late to class, you will

not be allowed extra time to complete the quiz given at the beginning of that class. If you arrive

after the fifteen minute grace period, you will not be permitted into the classroom and are

considered absent. If you think you might have a problem arriving to class on time despite this

grace period, please consider registering for a different section of this course.

E-mail- I will only read and respond to emails sent to [email protected]. Although I am a

student at GSU as well as an instructor, and thus have a student account, I do not check my

student account regularly, and therefore will not respond to email sent to this or any other

address that is not my langate account. Although I check my langate e-mail often, there is a

chance that I will not receive an email from you on the day that you send it. Therefore, please

anticipate waiting at least 24 hours for me to respond to emails.

Plan to check your GSU email daily for announcements regarding this class. If you prefer an

email address other than your GSU one set your GSU account to forward your email to that

address. It is against university policy for me to discuss private information with students

through any address other than their GSU account.

Essay Submission –Please staple all final drafts of your essays (no binders or paperclips)

BEFORE coming to class. I will not accept papers that are not stapled. They should be typed on

a word processor, double-spaced with standard margins and font (Times New Roman, 12 point).

I will not accept emailed or faxed papers for final submission without prior discussion.

Peer Response-The class before the final due date of your essays with be dedicated to peer

response workshops, during which we will be reading each other’s work. In addition, you will

have the opportunity to discuss with me any questions or concerns you have about your essay at

that time. You are required to bring a draft of your essay to participate in this activity. The credit

for this will be a part of the 25% participation grade discussed later in the syllabus. I strongly

encourage that you take advantage of this portion of this course.
























and consequences.








Writing Studio



schedule an appointment at writingstudio.gsu.edu. There are only virtual tutoring sessions

offered this summer enabled by a chat feature available through Windows Live, a service

provided free through your student account. The tutoring service is free. This is a valuable

resource for writers, and I highly recommend that you use it. I will provide more detailed

information about this in class.











Required Texts


ed. Boston:


Sedaris, David. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. New York: Little, Brown, and

Company, 2004.



Singer, Marti. First Essays: A Peer Approach to Freshman Composition. Plymouth: Hayden

McNeil Publishing, 2008.

Recommended Text

Bean, John C, Virginia A. Chappell and Alice M. Gillam. Reading Rhetorically. GSU ed. New

York: Pearson Longman, 2007.


A+ 97-100

A 93-96

A- 90-92

B+ 87-89

B 83-86

B- 80-82

C+ 76-79

C 70-75 (GPA = 2.0)

C- 65-69

D 60-64

F below 60





Course Requirements

Essays (4-5 pages) 75%

You will complete four essays over the course of this semester. These essays will increase in

value as the semester progresses. In addition, you will do an individual class presentation

towards the end of the semester.

1. Narrative Essay (20%)

3. Analysis Essays (25%)

4. Persuasive Essay (25%)

5. Class Presentation (5%)

In-Class Assignments 25%

This grade will include

1. Daily Quizzes

2. Daily written assignments

3. Participation in peer response workshops

4. Participation in class discussions

5. Homework

Guidelines for Writing From Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism

Department of English, Georgia State University

The following descriptions are designed to help explain plagiarism and its consequences to help

you avoid it in your writing for this course. We will devote class time to learning and

understanding how to use sources in your writing, how to research and take notes effectively,

how to use and cite electronic resources, and how to get help from various writing aids and

resources.

Insufficient Citation and Undocumented Paraphrasing: Students are expected to cite both written

(print and electronic), oral, and visual sources consulted in writing papers. All borrowed

ideas―both direct quotations and paraphrasing from another’s work―require accurate citation,

and direct quotations require quotation marks. Fully paraphrase and summarize borrowed ideas

to avoid stylistic plagiarism, which is using the same words and sentence structure as the source.

Drafts of papers with insufficient citation or undocumented paraphrasing will require mandatory

revisions; final papers will receive an F.

Patchwriting, or Cutting and Pasting: Cutting and pasting passages from your source into your

own paper and turning in the paper as your own is plagiarism. Students are expected to

accurately and amply paraphrase borrowed material using their own stylistic features rather than

the source’s style and language and cite this material accurately. In addition, students are

expected to develop their own framework for their papers rather than borrowing their source’s

argument wholesale (even if acknowledged). Drafts with these problems will require mandatory

revision; final papers will receive an F.

False Submissions, Ghostwriting, or Fraud: Students are expected to write their own original

papers for each assignment, from development of ideas and research to revision. If students turn

in final papers written by someone else (i.e. acquired or bought through the Internet, an

organization, friends, family members, another student, etc.), the paper will receive an F for the

course and face disciplinary action as per the GSU College of Arts and Sciences policy. If such a

paper is submitted for a rough draft, the student will receive a 0 for the draft and be required to

do a mandatory revision.

If you have any doubt about whether or not you’re plagiarizing, talk with your professor or a

Writing Studio tutor before submitting your paper.

Course Schedule




In addition, you are required to bring to every class Dress Your Family in Corduroy and

Denim as we will be reading sections of this book in class.

Week 1: June 14-18

T: Introductions; Discuss syllabus; Discuss writing studio

watch National Conversation on Writing video:

< http://ncow.org/browse/video/who/who_is_writer.html>

Th: Everyday Writer “The Composition Program at Georgia State University” GSU-1-GSU

7; “Expectations for College Writing” 12-17; “US Academic Conventions” p 493-496

“Writing Situations” 43-51; Syllabus Quiz

Week 2: June 21-25

T: First Essays Chapter 1&2

Introduce Narrative Essay assignment

Th: First Essays Chapter 3 and First Essays “Peer Response” 65-66

Discuss grading rubric and peer response guidelines

Week 3: June 28-July 2

T: Narrative Essay Draft due for workshop

Th: Narrative Essay due

Introduce Analysis Essay assignment

Week 4: July 5-July 9

T: First Essays Chapter 4

Th: Handouts provided


T: Analysis Essay workshop

Th: Analysis Essay due

Introduce Argument Essay assignment


T: First Essays Chapter 5

Th: Everyday Writer p105-125


T: Class Presentations

Th: Argumentative Essay due

Disclaimer: This syllabus represents a plan for the semester. Deviations from this plan may


any changes that may occur

Assignment 1: Narrative Essay

“We use narrative in everyday life beyond the classroom, when we tell a friend about our day, when we describe a

sporting event, when we write in diaries, journals, or personal correspondence such as email. We narrate annoying

problems when we write complaint letters, entertaining anecdotes when we write speeches, inspiring stories when

we write sermons. Narratives form the basis of religious systems, myths, and legends the world over in documents

such as the Holy Bible, the Koran, the Torah, classical mythology, as well as in the oral tradition of tribal cultures.

Picture accounts of events are found in Neanderthal cave drawings, chambers in pyramids, frescoes in Roman ruins,

art galleries, advertising campaigns, as well as television and movie dramatizations” (2). Narration: A Short

History by Maurice Scharton.

Purpose and Topic

Your purpose for this assignment is to reflect on a personal experience and explore how that special moment in your

life has affected you, influenced the person you are today, or perhaps how it changed your outlook on life. When

you finally reach these conclusions, you should compose a short essay in which you narrate the event to your

audience and explain the impact that this previous experience had on you.

Objectives

engage in writing as a process, including various invention heuristics (brainstorming, for example),

gathering evidence, considering audience, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading

use grammatical, stylistic, and mechanical formats and conventions appropriate for a variety of audiences



Things to Remember

You must have some distance from the experience to write about its meaning effectively. You really need

to understand the changes you went through as a result of this occurrence if you hope to explain them to

your audience.

This essay is short so it is important that you make good decisions about what details should be included.

On the other hand, your audience is not familiar with the people and places you will be mentioning in your

essay, so relevant details are important.

Use plenty of description to narrate your experience. Rely on narration to tell your audience what

happened. Be creative about using dialogue and details from your past (hint: you may take poetic license to

fill in details you may have forgotten).

Be sure to indicate the time and sequence of events clearly. Consider variations on chronological order, but

be sure to save an effective scene for the end.

This is an academic essay and should be treated as such. Thus, while your tone for the paper may be serious

or more lighthearted, but you should be writing with your intended audience in mind (intelligent adults).

Requirements

4-5 pages in length

MLA format



o Header should be ½” from the top right margin and include your last name and page number


You will need to bring three copies of a COMPLETE typed draft to class on June 29th

for peer workshop.

The final draft of your paper is due July 1st along with your rough drafts, including the three copies of your draft

which were used for peer workshop

Assignment 2: Analysis Essay

Purpose

When we analyze something, we break down information into parts which we then consider more closely

to determine what the information means or why it is important. With analysis we move to explain why

we view, understand, or use the subject the way we do. Thus, the analysis essay explores specific aspects

of information from the writer’s perspective and uses specific criteria in order to come up with a

conclusion that is frequently not obvious with a quick look. This assignment should demonstrate your

abilities to analyze literature, music, film, television, etc., and describe your analysis in detail providing

your own comments and critiques.

Objectives


example), gathering evidence, considering audience, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading


use grammatical, stylistic, and mechanical formats and conventions appropriate for a variety of

audiences



Assignment

For your first assignment you have constructed a narrative that describes a significant event in your life

and you have reflected on why this has affected you, influenced the person you are today, or perhaps how

it changed your outlook on life. For this next assignment, you will select two pieces of popular culture, be

it literature, music, film, television, etc. that echo your experience/reflection or an aspect of the

experience/reflected that you described your narrative essay. These popular culture pieces do not need to

mirror your experience as a whole, but can merely reflect parts, be it actions, reactions, emotions,

thoughts, or feelings about the initial impactful experience you described in your personal narrative. You

will summarize these two pieces of popular culture (remember to consider your audience as I might not

be familiar with the material you are describing) and construct criteria which you will then apply to your

own experience/reflection that you wrote for your narrative essay in order to find similarities and

differences to your own experiences. In a sense, this is a compare and contrast essay, as you are

comparing your own experiences to those reflected in the popular culture pieces. For example, should

your narrative have been about a loved one passing away and your own reflections on how this has caused

you to appreciate certain aspects of your life, you may select a popular culture piece that deals with death,

grief, or newfound hope, and, using criteria that indicates how you define these emotions, conclude how

the piece reflects and does not reflect your own experiences. These conclusions should be reflected in a

thesis statement that you provide in your essay.

Requirements

4-5 pages in length

MLA format


o Name block includes your name, the class (Engl 1101), and the date


number


o A correctly formatted Work Cites page in MLA style for the popular culture pieces you

select

Assignment 3: Persuasive Essay

Purpose and Topic:

Part of preparing to argue is fully understanding and researching what has already been written about the issue. We consider what

others have written, think about what further ideas need to be written, and then develop these in an analysis. This scholarly essay

encourages you to do just that.

Outcomes:

engage in the collaborative, social aspects of writing, and use writing as a tool for learning

demonstrate how to use writing aids, such as handbooks, dictionaries, online aids, and tutors





Assignment:

9. Choose a scholarly article/essay from a scholarly publication/journal (approximately 10-20 pages long) from one of

the following online databases: MLA International Bibliography, Proquest Databases, or EbscoHost Databases. This

article should relate in some way to an issue you have discussed in your narrative and analysis essays.

10. Write a 4-5 page essay that analyzes the organization, rhetorical situation (author, audience, purpose), use of ethos,

pathos, and/or logos, language (is it specialized? For a specific discourse community?), and over all thesis/claim of the

article.

11. Provide your critical analysis (opinion) of the article and how it successfully argues its thesis/claim or unsuccessfully

argues its thesis/claim.

12. With all academic essays in the English Department, use MLA format. Also, your essay should be double-spaced, use

12-point font, and 1” margins. Since you will cite only one scholarly essay, your final page will read “work cited” and

will be formatted according to MLA style. You may also include other citations that reference background information

that you have acquired. The work cited page is not included in your page count.

Evidence:

In an analysis of this nature, you will use ample borrowed material from the essay that is paraphrased, summarized, and quoted.

You should appropriate cite this material in MLA format. Keep in mind that your essay should do more than summarize. Instead,

you should point out rhetorical moves and explain how they create meaning and understanding.


Part One

This part of the essay includes the introduction which explains to me a bit about why you have chosen the article that you have,

more specifically how it relates to your personal experience (narrative essay) and the trends you see in popular culture (analysis

essay).

Part Two

This part of the assignment should discuss the argument and support being made in the article you have chosen, background

information about the author , the journal (gives hints about the audience and purpose of the article), and a discussion of the

organization of the article. Include a discussion of the author’s thesis, evidence, and rebuttal/refutation sections.

Part Two

Use the second part of your essay to discuss the use of ethos, pathos, and/or logos, and language (is it specialized? For a specific

discourse community?) in the article.

Part Three

This is the conclusion of your paper . Here you should reflect upon the effectiveness of the article. Does the article make its

claim effectively? Are there issues/concerns that made the article difficult to read? What would you change?

Requirements

DUE JULY 29th

4-5 pages in length

A copy of the scholarly article you are analyzing (10-20pgs and adhering to the guidelines for that I deem “scholarly”)

MLA format







Purpose

The purpose of presenting your article’ claim and support to the class is to not only solidify these

elements for yourself, but to ensure that you can clearly articulate them to an audience of your

peers.

Objectives



proofreading


learning




tutors







Assignment

You will be asked to present the information you are providing for your final paper in a 5 minute

presentation for the class. This presentation can take several formats must include a handout for

the class (25 copies) that clearly states:

9. how the article relates to what you wrote for your narrative and analysis essays

10. the article’s claim and support

These can be bullet points or paragraphs, whatever you would prefer, and should be made

visually appealing in any manner that you choose (pictures, designs, colors, etc).

Your discussion of the handout should include your critical analysis (opinion) of the article and

how it successfully argues its thesis/claim or unsuccessfully argues its thesis/claim citing the

rhetorical elements asked for on the assignment sheet (rhetorical situation, ethos, pathos, and

logos, etc)

Your grade will be based on the clarity and creativity with which you tackled this assignment as

well as whether or not you met all of the aforementioned necessary requirements.

The presentations will be made to the class on July 27th


English 1101 80396 Fall 2010

M/W 12:00-1:15

GCB 521


Office: GCB 966

Office Hours: T 2:30-4:30 and by appointment


Course Description





Learning Outcomes




proofreading


learning




tutors







Course Policies












environment. I define “late” as more than 10 minutes after the course is scheduled to begin.

If you arrive before the fifteen minute grace period ends but are still late to class, you will not be

allowed extra time to complete the quiz given at the beginning of that class. If you arrive after

the fifteen minute grace period, you will not be permitted into the classroom and are considered

absent. If you think you might have a problem arriving to class on time despite this grace period,

please consider registering for a different section of this course.












































and consequences.








Writing Studio


one-on-one tutoring in order to help you at all levels of the writing process. The Studio offers a

space for conversation, coffee, and writers, by creating a welcoming community for graduate and

undergraduate students to practice the art of writing. Their purpose is to enhance the writing

instruction that happens in academic classrooms by pairing you with an experienced reader, who

engages you in conversation about your writing assignments and ideas and familiarizes you with

audience expectations and academic genre conventions. The Studio focuses on the rhetorical

aspects of the text and provides one-on-one, student-centered teaching on works in progress.

In addition to face-to-face sessions in the physical space, the Writing Studio offers online

tutoring sessions. One of their online programs enables you to chat with a tutor about your

writing through Windows Live Messenger, which is accessible for free through your student

account. The program also has a feature that allows you to email papers, along with the

assignment sheets and explanations of the kinds of feedback needed, to [email protected].

All tutoring sessions are free of charge and are valuable resources for you as a writer. I highly

recommend that you use them. You can find out more information about the Writing Studio and

schedule an appointment for all of their services at www.writingstudio.gsu.edu. Or feel free to

contact the Writing Studio directly at [email protected]. They are looking forward to seeing you!









http://www.writingstudio.gsu.edu/






Required Texts


ed. Boston:



Company, 2004.



St. John, Warren. Outcasts United. New York: Spiegal & Grau Trade Paperbacks, 2009.

Recommended Text




A+ 97-100

A 93-96

A- 90-92

B+ 87-89

B 83-86

B- 80-82

C+ 76-79

C 70-75 (GPA = 2.0)

C- 65-69

D 60-64

F below 60





Course Requirements





1. Outcasts United Response (5%)



4. Annotated Bibliography (20%)

5. Rhetorical Analysis (25%)



6. Daily Quizzes




10. Homework

Outcasts United

Georgia State University has implemented a program in which several of your classes will be

engaging with a text called Outcasts United. On August 30th

we will take class time to write a

response paper to this text on a prompt that I will provide. This essay will be worth 5% of your

grade and will be evaluated on both your writing capabilities as well as your reading

comprehension. Following your completion of this essay and my evaluation of it, I will be

submitting copies of this essay to the Assessment Office at GSU for further conclusions to be

drawn about freshman student reading and writing capabilities. I encourage you all to read

Outcasts United and to take your response essay to this text very seriously.







resources.
























The Writing Studio at Georgia State

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why should I go to the Writing Studio?

A: At the Writing Studio tutors will work with you one-on-one at whatever stage of writing

you are in – the idea-development stage, the drafting stage, or the revision stage – and can help

you with writing issues such as how to choose an appropriate topic, how to develop a thesis

statement and paragraphs, and how to revise your essay for clarity.

Q: Do I need to make an appointment or can I just walk in?

A: You can do both. You may go online for an appointment (www.writingstudio.gsu.edu) or you

may walk in and make an appointment at the Writing Studio’s computer that is available to

students for this purpose.

Q: What should I do to prepare for a tutoring session?

A: It is a good idea to have a copy of the assignment sheet, so you can give the tutor you’re

working with an idea of what requirements your project is expected to fulfill. Also, having an

idea of the kind of feedback you would like on your work (e.g. thesis, clarity, organization),

will help you and the tutor create a set of goals for the session and for further revision. Many

tutors prefer looking at paper copies of drafts, so please also bring one of these as well.

Q: How long is a tutorial session? How often may I come to the Studio?

A: Undergraduate students have the opportunity to participate in one 30-minute session on

each day that the Writing Studio is open, and graduate students have the opportunity to

participate in one 1-hour session on each day that the Writing Studio is open.

Q: I don’t have a printed copy of my paper with me, but it’s in my laptop. Can I we just

use the laptop during my tutorial?

A: Maybe. Our goal is not to “fix” your paper but to help you become a better writer; tutorials

are not proof-reading sessions, which is why we don’t encourage lap-top based tutorials.

However, some of our tutors do use laptops, but this is an individual choice they make. Bottom

line: it’s your tutor’s decision!

Q: Who are the tutors?

A: All of the tutors are graduate students in Georgia State’s Department of English focusing

their studies on rhetoric and composition, literary studies, or creative writing. Many of the tutors

also teach English 1101, 1102, and Business Writing. To get a better sense of who the tutors are,

you can also read their bios when making an appointment on the Writing Studio website.

Q: What should I expect from a tutoring session?

A: We emphasize writing as an art-- an art that students learn through conversation and practice

within a community of writers and readers. So, you should expect to have a conversation,

rather than a proof reading session, with a tutor about your writing.

Q: What do I do if I arrive late to a session?


A: Students are given a 5-minute grace period when arriving to their sessions. If students arrive

to their sessions beyond that 5-minute grace period, their session will have to be cancelled. So,

please do your best to arrive to sessions on time.

Q: I heard somewhere that the Writing Studio also does tutoring online. What does that

mean?

A: This means that we now offer online chat sessions and email sessions, in addition to the

face-to-face sessions held in the Writing Studio.

For more information on the chat sessions: http://www.writingstudio.gsu.edu/online.html.

For more information on the email sessions: http://www.writingstudio.gsu.edu/email.html

http://www.writingstudio.gsu.edu/online.html

Course Schedule






Week 1: August 23rd

-27th

M: Introductions; Discuss syllabus; Discuss writing studio

Read “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott (handout)

W: Everyday Writer “The Composition Program at Georgia State University” GSU-1-GSU



Week 2: August 30th

–September 3rd

M: Outcasts United response essay

W: TBA

Week 3: September 6th

- September 10th

M: NO CLASS Labor Day

W: First Essays Chapter 1&2

Introduce Narrative Essay assignment and grading rubric


-September 17th

M: First Essays Chapter 3

W: Kurt Vonnegut “How to Write With Style” (handout)

Sarah Allen “The Inspired Writer vs. The Real Writer” (handout)


-24th

M: No Class

W: Peer Review


-October 1st

M: Narrative Essay Due

Introduce Analysis Essay

W: First Arguments “Analyzing Texts” Chapter 2 (handout)

Week 7: October 4th

- 8th


W: Toni Morrison Nobel Lecture 1993 (handout)

Week 8: October 11th

-15th

M: Peer Review

W: Analysis Essay Due

Introduce Annotated Bibliography


-22nd

M: Library Research Class

W: First Arguments “Conducting Research” Chapter 4 (handout)


-29th


W: Peer Review

Week 11: November 1st-5

th

M: Annotated Bibliography Due

Introduce Rhetorical Analysis

W: The Everyday Writer pg 105-125

Week 12: November 8th

-12th

M: The Everyday Writer pg 168-192

W: TBA

Week 13: November 22nd

-26th

NO CLASS THANKSGIVING BREAK


-December 3rd

M: Peer Review

W: Rhetorical Analysis Due




Narrative Essay

“We use narrative in everyday life beyond the classroom, when we tell a friend about our day, when we

describe a sporting event, when we write in diaries, journals, or personal correspondence such as email.

We narrate annoying problems when we write complaint letters, entertaining anecdotes when we write

speeches, inspiring stories when we write sermons. Narratives form the basis of religious systems, myths,

and legends the world over in documents such as the Holy Bible, the Koran, the Torah, classical

mythology, as well as in the oral tradition of tribal cultures. Picture accounts of events are found in

Neanderthal cave drawings, chambers in pyramids, frescoes in Roman ruins, art galleries, advertising

campaigns, as well as television and movie dramatizations” (2). Narration: A Short History by Maurice

Scharton.

Purpose and Topic

Your purpose for this assignment is to reflect on a personal experience and explore how that special

moment in your life has affected you, influenced the person you are today, or perhaps how it changed

your outlook on life. When you finally reach these conclusions, you should compose a short essay in

which you narrate the event to your audience and explain the impact that this previous experience had on

you.

Objectives




audiences



Things to Remember

You must have some distance from the experience to write about its meaning effectively. You

really need to understand the changes you went through as a result of this occurrence if you hope

to explain them to your audience.

This essay is short so it is important that you make good decisions about what details should be

included. On the other hand, your audience is not familiar with the people and places you will be

mentioning in your essay, so relevant details are important.


happened. Be creative about using dialogue and details from your past (hint: you may take poetic

license to fill in details you may have forgotten).

Be sure to indicate the time and sequence of events clearly. Consider variations on chronological

order, but be sure to save an effective scene for the end.

This is an academic essay and should be treated as such. Thus, while your tone for the paper may

be serious or more lighthearted, but you should be writing with your intended audience in mind

(intelligent adults).

Requirements

4-5 pages in length

MLA format




number


Analysis Essay

Purpose

When we analyze something, we break down information into parts which we then consider

more closely to determine what the information means or why it is important. With analysis we

move to explain why we view, understand, or use the subject the way we do. Thus, the analysis

essay explores specific aspects of information from the writer’s perspective and uses specific

criteria in order to come up with a conclusion that is frequently not obvious with a quick look.

This assignment should demonstrate your abilities to analyze literature, music, film, television,

etc., and describe your analysis in detail providing your own comments and critiques.

Objectives



proofreading






Assignment

For your first assignment you have constructed a narrative that describes a significant event in

your life and you have reflected on why this has affected you, influenced the person you are

today, or perhaps how it changed your outlook on life. For this next assignment, you will use this

narrative to construct criteria that reflects your experience. You will select two pieces of popular

culture, be it literature, music, film, television, etc. that echo your experience/reflection or an

aspect of the experience/reflected that you described your narrative essay. These popular culture

pieces do not need to mirror your experience as a whole, but can merely reflect parts, be it

actions, reactions, emotions, thoughts, or feelings about the initial impactful experience you

described in your personal narrative.

After providing a brief summary of the experience you discussed in your narrative, you will then

explain to me the criteria you have constructed as a result of that experience. You will then

summarize the two pieces of popular culture (remember to consider your audience as I might not

be familiar with the material you are describing). You will then apply the criteria you constructed

from your narrative essay to the popular culture pieces in order to find similarities and

differences to your own experiences. In a sense, this is a compare and contrast essay, as you are

comparing your own experiences to those reflected in the popular culture pieces.

For example, should your narrative have been about a loved one passing away and your own

reflections on how this has caused you to appreciate certain aspects of your life, you may select a

popular culture piece that deals with death, grief, or newfound hope, and, using criteria that

indicates how you define these emotions because of your experience, conclude with a statement

of how the piece reflects and does not reflect your own experiences. These conclusions should be

reflected in a thesis statement that you provide in your essay.

In Brief:

1. Create criteria from you narrative experience

2. Summarize you narrative experience in a way that supports the criteria you have chosen.

3. Choose two popular culture pieces

4. Summarize these popular culture pieces

5. Apply your criteria ( drawn from your narrative) to these popular culture pieces to draw

conclusions about how the popular pieces reflect what you know from your own

experience.

Requirements

4-5 pages in length

MLA format




page number


o A correctly formatted Work Cites page in MLA style for the popular culture

pieces you select


Purpose





Objectives





Assignment

You will begin with a brief introduction (about 250 words) to the annotated bibliography that

entails a discussion of the relevance of the sources you have chosen in terms of a particular area

of focus. In addition, you should relate this area of focus in some way to your narrative essay

and/or your analysis essay.

Then you will provide a list of FIVE sources listed in MLA format that relate to in some way to

your focus in addition to the personal narrative and/or your analysis essay.


relevance to your area of focus)

Of these FIVE sources, you may include ONE popular source that is not one of sources you

discussed in your analysis essay. The other four must be scholarly.


work. Each annotation should be about 150-200 words in length and should include:


how the author supports this claim

a explanation of the author’s apparent purpose including an “in order to” phrase

how this sources in particular relates to the focus of your annotated bibliography that you

discussed in your introduction

Requirements

5 sources each with an annotation of about 150-200 words in length

Sources should be in alphabetical order

MLA format





page number


Rhetorical Analysis

Purpose and Topic:

Part of preparing to argue is fully understanding and researching what has already been written about the issue. We

consider what others have written, think about what further ideas need to be written, and then develop these in an analysis.

This scholarly essay analysis encourages you to do just that.

Outcomes:







Assignment:

Choose TWO scholarly articles from a scholarly publication/journal (approximately 10-20 pages long) from one

of the following online databases: MLA International Bibliography, Proquest Databases, or EbscoHost

Databases. This article should relate in some way to an issue you have discussed in your narrative, analysis

essays, and/or annotated bibliography. ONE of the articles you choose may come from you annotated

bibliography but not both. You may also choose two complete new articles if you would like.

The two articles that you choose should represent two different viewpoints/perspectives on a single issue.

Write a 4-5 page essay that analyzes the organization, rhetorical situation (author, audience, purpose), use of

ethos, pathos, and/or logos, language (is it specialized? For a specific discourse community?), and over all

thesis/claim of the two articles. You should be comparing and contrasting the two articles in terms of these

criteria, explaining how you see each of these articles tackling these elements in similar and/or different ways.

Consider investigating information about the journal and author of each article to help you come to a clearer

understanding of these elements.

Provide your overall critical analysis of the articles and how they each successfully argue their thesis/claim or

unsuccessfully argue their thesis/claim. What was done well? What would you change? AT THIS POINT, YOU

SHOULD NOT BE PROVIDING YOUR OPINION ON THE ISSUE DISCUSSED, BUT YOUR OPINION OF

HOW WELL THE ARGUMENT WAS CONSTRUCTED.

Conclude your essay with your opinion on the subject matter ( what #4 said not to do) that the two articles are

focusing on, citing information you discussed/examined in your narrative, analysis, and annotated bibliography

to explain how these things have influenced you to come to the conclusions that you have about the issue.

With all academic essays in the English Department, use MLA format. Also, your essay should be double-

spaced, use 12-point font, and 1” margins. Since you will cite only two scholarly essay, your final page will read

“work cited” and will be formatted according to MLA style. You may also include other citations that reference

background information that you have acquired. The work cited page is not included in your page count.

Evidence:

In an analysis of this nature, you will use ample borrowed material from the essay that is paraphrased, summarized, and

quoted. You should appropriate cite this material in MLA format. Keep in mind that your essay should do more than

summarize. Instead, you should point out rhetorical moves and explain how they create meaning and understanding.

Requirements

DUE DECEMBER 2ND

4-5 pages in length

MLA format







English 1101 84177 Fall 2010

M/W 3:00-4:15

Kell 290


Office: GCB 966

Office Hours: T 2:30-4:30 and by appointment


Course Description





Learning Outcomes




proofreading


learning




tutors







Course Policies












environment. I define “late” as more than 10 minutes after the course is scheduled to begin.

If you arrive before the fifteen minute grace period ends but are still late to class, you will not be

allowed extra time to complete the quiz given at the beginning of that class. If you arrive after

the fifteen minute grace period, you will not be permitted into the classroom and are considered

absent. If you think you might have a problem arriving to class on time despite this grace period,

please consider registering for a different section of this course.












































and consequences.








Writing Studio


one-on-one tutoring in order to help you at all levels of the writing process. The Studio offers a

space for conversation, coffee, and writers, by creating a welcoming community for graduate and

undergraduate students to practice the art of writing. Their purpose is to enhance the writing

instruction that happens in academic classrooms by pairing you with an experienced reader, who

engages you in conversation about your writing assignments and ideas and familiarizes you with

audience expectations and academic genre conventions. The Studio focuses on the rhetorical

aspects of the text and provides one-on-one, student-centered teaching on works in progress.

In addition to face-to-face sessions in the physical space, the Writing Studio offers online

tutoring sessions. One of their online programs enables you to chat with a tutor about your

writing through Windows Live Messenger, which is accessible for free through your student

account. The program also has a feature that allows you to email papers, along with the

assignment sheets and explanations of the kinds of feedback needed, to [email protected].

All tutoring sessions are free of charge and are valuable resources for you as a writer. I highly

recommend that you use them. You can find out more information about the Writing Studio and

schedule an appointment for all of their services at www.writingstudio.gsu.edu. Or feel free to

contact the Writing Studio directly at [email protected]. They are looking forward to seeing you!















Required Texts


ed. Boston:



Company, 2004.



St. John, Warren. Outcasts United. New York: Spiegal & Grau Trade Paperbacks, 2009.

Recommended Text




A+ 97-100

A 93-96

A- 90-92

B+ 87-89

B 83-86

B- 80-82

C+ 76-79

C 70-75 (GPA = 2.0)

C- 65-69

D 60-64

F below 60





Course Requirements





1. Outcasts United Response (5%)



4. Annotated Bibliography (20%)

5. Rhetorical Analysis (25%)



11. Daily Quizzes




15. Homework

Outcasts United

Georgia State University has implemented a program in which several of your classes will be

engaging with a text called Outcasts United. On August 30th

we will take class time to write a

response paper to this text on a prompt that I will provide. This essay will be worth 5% of your

grade and will be evaluated on both your writing capabilities as well as your reading

comprehension. Following your completion of this essay and my evaluation of it, I will be

submitting copies of this essay to the Assessment Office at GSU for further conclusions to be

drawn about freshman student reading and writing capabilities. I encourage you all to read

Outcasts United and to take your response essay to this text very seriously.

CLA Testing

The Office of Institutional Research has chosen your section of English 1101 to complete the

Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA). Every student who completes the assessment will

receive a Georgia State University t-shirt. The CLA will measure your critical thinking, analytic

reasoning, problem solving, and written communication skills. After the assessments have been

scored, you will receive a copy of your performance report. This report will provide you

information on your strengths and weaknesses in the aforementioned skills, compare your scores

to other students at Georgia State University and nationwide, and help the University gauge its

performance in helping students develop these skills. Your scores will be kept confidential and

will not be a part of your academic records.

The CLA is designed to be completed in approximately 90 minutes. The test will be

administered in room 200 of the Arts and Humanities Building during one of your English 1101

class periods as indicated on the syllabus. Participation in the CLA is voluntary. If you have

questions, feel free to contact Sheika Kendi at [email protected] or (404) 413-2591.








resources.
























The Writing Studio at Georgia State

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why should I go to the Writing Studio?

A: At the Writing Studio tutors will work with you one-on-one at whatever stage of writing

you are in – the idea-development stage, the drafting stage, or the revision stage – and can help

you with writing issues such as how to choose an appropriate topic, how to develop a thesis

statement and paragraphs, and how to revise your essay for clarity.

Q: Do I need to make an appointment or can I just walk in?

A: You can do both. You may go online for an appointment (www.writingstudio.gsu.edu) or you

may walk in and make an appointment at the Writing Studio’s computer that is available to

students for this purpose.

Q: What should I do to prepare for a tutoring session?

A: It is a good idea to have a copy of the assignment sheet, so you can give the tutor you’re

working with an idea of what requirements your project is expected to fulfill. Also, having an

idea of the kind of feedback you would like on your work (e.g. thesis, clarity, organization),

will help you and the tutor create a set of goals for the session and for further revision. Many

tutors prefer looking at paper copies of drafts, so please also bring one of these as well.

Q: How long is a tutorial session? How often may I come to the Studio?

A: Undergraduate students have the opportunity to participate in one 30-minute session on

each day that the Writing Studio is open, and graduate students have the opportunity to

participate in one 1-hour session on each day that the Writing Studio is open.

Q: I don’t have a printed copy of my paper with me, but it’s in my laptop. Can I we just

use the laptop during my tutorial?

A: Maybe. Our goal is not to “fix” your paper but to help you become a better writer; tutorials

are not proof-reading sessions, which is why we don’t encourage lap-top based tutorials.

However, some of our tutors do use laptops, but this is an individual choice they make. Bottom

line: it’s your tutor’s decision!

Q: Who are the tutors?

A: All of the tutors are graduate students in Georgia State’s Department of English focusing

their studies on rhetoric and composition, literary studies, or creative writing. Many of the tutors

also teach English 1101, 1102, and Business Writing. To get a better sense of who the tutors are,

you can also read their bios when making an appointment on the Writing Studio website.

Q: What should I expect from a tutoring session?

A: We emphasize writing as an art-- an art that students learn through conversation and practice

within a community of writers and readers. So, you should expect to have a conversation,

rather than a proof reading session, with a tutor about your writing.


Q: What do I do if I arrive late to a session?

A: Students are given a 5-minute grace period when arriving to their sessions. If students arrive

to their sessions beyond that 5-minute grace period, their session will have to be cancelled. So,

please do your best to arrive to sessions on time.

Q: I heard somewhere that the Writing Studio also does tutoring online. What does that

mean?

A: This means that we now offer online chat sessions and email sessions, in addition to the

face-to-face sessions held in the Writing Studio.

For more information on the chat sessions: http://www.writingstudio.gsu.edu/online.html.

For more information on the email sessions: http://www.writingstudio.gsu.edu/email.html

http://www.writingstudio.gsu.edu/online.html

http://www.writingstudio.gsu.edu/email.html

Course Schedule






Week 1: August 23rd

-27th

M: Introductions; Discuss syllabus; Discuss writing studio

Read “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott (handout)

W: Everyday Writer “The Composition Program at Georgia State University” GSU-1-GSU



Week 2: August 30th

–September 3rd

M: Outcasts United response essay

W: CLA Testing


- September 10th

M: NO CLASS Labor Day

W: First Essays Chapter 1&2

Introduce Narrative Essay assignment and grading rubric


-September 17th


W: Kurt Vonnegut “How to Write With Style” (handout)

Sarah Allen “The Inspired Writer vs. The Real Writer” (handout)


-24th

M: No Class

W: Peer Review


-October 1st

M: Narrative Essay Due

Introduce Analysis Essay

W: First Arguments “Analyzing Texts” Chapter 2 (handout)

Week 7: October 4th

- 8th


W: Toni Morrison Nobel Lecture 1993 (handout)


-15th

M: Peer Review

W: Analysis Essay Due

Introduce Annotated Bibliography


-22nd

M: Library Research Class

W: First Arguments “Conducting Research” Chapter 4 (handout)


-29th


W: Peer Review

Week 11: November 1st-5

th

M: Annotated Bibliography Due

Introduce Rhetorical Analysis

W: The Everyday Writer pg 105-125


-12th

M: The Everyday Writer pg 168-192

W: TBA

Week 13: November 22nd

-26th

NO CLASS THANKSGIVING BREAK


-December 3rd

M: Peer Review

W: Rhetorical Analysis Due




Narrative Essay

“We use narrative in everyday life beyond the classroom, when we tell a friend about our day, when we describe a

sporting event, when we write in diaries, journals, or personal correspondence such as email. We narrate annoying

problems when we write complaint letters, entertaining anecdotes when we write speeches, inspiring stories when

we write sermons. Narratives form the basis of religious systems, myths, and legends the world over in documents

such as the Holy Bible, the Koran, the Torah, classical mythology, as well as in the oral tradition of tribal cultures.

Picture accounts of events are found in Neanderthal cave drawings, chambers in pyramids, frescoes in Roman ruins,

art galleries, advertising campaigns, as well as television and movie dramatizations” (2). Narration: A Short

History by Maurice Scharton.

Purpose and Topic

Your purpose for this assignment is to reflect on a personal experience and explore how that special moment in your

life has affected you, influenced the person you are today, or perhaps how it changed your outlook on life. When

you finally reach these conclusions, you should compose a short essay in which you narrate the event to your

audience and explain the impact that this previous experience had on you.

Objectives

engage in writing as a process, including various invention heuristics (brainstorming, for example),

gathering evidence, considering audience, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading




Things to Remember

You must have some distance from the experience to write about its meaning effectively. You really need

to understand the changes you went through as a result of this occurrence if you hope to explain them to

your audience.

This essay is short so it is important that you make good decisions about what details should be included.

On the other hand, your audience is not familiar with the people and places you will be mentioning in your

essay, so relevant details are important.


happened. Be creative about using dialogue and details from your past (hint: you may take poetic license to

fill in details you may have forgotten).

Be sure to indicate the time and sequence of events clearly. Consider variations on chronological order, but

be sure to save an effective scene for the end.

This is an academic essay and should be treated as such. Thus, while your tone for the paper may be serious

or more lighthearted, but you should be writing with your intended audience in mind (intelligent adults).

Requirements

4-5 pages in length

MLA format





Analysis Essay

Purpose

When we analyze something, we break down information into parts which we then consider more closely

to determine what the information means or why it is important. With analysis we move to explain why

we view, understand, or use the subject the way we do. Thus, the analysis essay explores specific aspects

of information from the writer’s perspective and uses specific criteria in order to come up with a

conclusion that is frequently not obvious with a quick look. This assignment should demonstrate your

abilities to analyze literature, music, film, television, etc., and describe your analysis in detail providing

your own comments and critiques.

Objectives





audiences



Assignment

For your first assignment you have constructed a narrative that describes a significant event in your life

and you have reflected on why this has affected you, influenced the person you are today, or perhaps how

it changed your outlook on life. For this next assignment, you will use this narrative to construct criteria

that reflects your experience. You will select two pieces of popular culture, be it literature, music, film,

television, etc. that echo your experience/reflection or an aspect of the experience/reflected that you

described your narrative essay. These popular culture pieces do not need to mirror your experience as a

whole, but can merely reflect parts, be it actions, reactions, emotions, thoughts, or feelings about the

initial impactful experience you described in your personal narrative.

After providing a brief summary of the experience you discussed in your narrative, you will then explain

to me the criteria you have constructed as a result of that experience. You will then summarize the two

pieces of popular culture (remember to consider your audience as I might not be familiar with the material

you are describing). You will then apply the criteria you constructed from your narrative essay to the

popular culture pieces in order to find similarities and differences to your own experiences. In a sense,

this is a compare and contrast essay, as you are comparing your own experiences to those reflected in the

popular culture pieces.

For example, should your narrative have been about a loved one passing away and your own reflections

on how this has caused you to appreciate certain aspects of your life, you may select a popular culture

piece that deals with death, grief, or newfound hope, and, using criteria that indicates how you define

these emotions because of your experience, conclude with a statement of how the piece reflects and does

not reflect your own experiences. These conclusions should be reflected in a thesis statement that you

provide in your essay.

In Brief:

Create criteria from you narrative experience

Summarize you narrative experience in a way that supports the criteria you have chosen.

Choose two popular culture pieces

Summarize these popular culture pieces

Apply your criteria ( drawn from your narrative) to these popular culture pieces to draw

conclusions about how the popular pieces reflect what you know from your own experience.

Requirements

4-5 pages in length

MLA format




number


o A correctly formatted Work Cites page in MLA style for the popular culture pieces you

select


Purpose





Objectives





Assignment

You will begin with a brief introduction (about 250 words) to the annotated bibliography that

entails a discussion of the relevance of the sources you have chosen in terms of a particular area

of focus. In addition, you should relate this area of focus in some way to your narrative essay

and/or your analysis essay.

Then you will provide a list of FIVE sources listed in MLA format that relate to in some way to

your focus in addition to the personal narrative and/or your analysis essay.


relevance to your area of focus)

Of these FIVE sources, you may include ONE popular source that is not one of sources you

discussed in your analysis essay. The other four must be scholarly.


work. Each annotation should be about 150-200 words in length and should include:


how the author supports this claim

a explanation of the author’s apparent purpose including an “in order to” phrase

how this sources in particular relates to the focus of your annotated bibliography that you

discussed in your introduction

Requirements

5 sources each with an annotation of about 150-200 words in length

Sources should be in alphabetical order

MLA format





page number


Rhetorical Analysis

Purpose and Topic:

Part of preparing to argue is fully understanding and researching what has already been written about the issue. We

consider what others have written, think about what further ideas need to be written, and then develop these in an analysis.

This scholarly essay analysis encourages you to do just that.

Outcomes:







Assignment:

Choose TWO scholarly articles from a scholarly publication/journal (approximately 10-20 pages long) from one

of the following online databases: MLA International Bibliography, Proquest Databases, or EbscoHost

Databases. This article should relate in some way to an issue you have discussed in your narrative, analysis

essays, and/or annotated bibliography. ONE of the articles you choose may come from you annotated

bibliography but not both. You may also choose two complete new articles if you would like.

The two articles that you choose should represent two different viewpoints/perspectives on a single issue.

Write a 4-5 page essay that analyzes the organization, rhetorical situation (author, audience, purpose), use of

ethos, pathos, and/or logos, language (is it specialized? For a specific discourse community?), and over all

thesis/claim of the two articles. You should be comparing and contrasting the two articles in terms of these

criteria, explaining how you see each of these articles tackling these elements in similar and/or different ways.

Consider investigating information about the journal and author of each article to help you come to a clearer

understanding of these elements.

Provide your overall critical analysis of the articles and how they each successfully argue their thesis/claim or

unsuccessfully argue their thesis/claim. What was done well? What would you change? AT THIS POINT, YOU

SHOULD NOT BE PROVIDING YOUR OPINION ON THE ISSUE DISCUSSED, BUT YOUR OPINION OF

HOW WELL THE ARGUMENT WAS CONSTRUCTED.

Conclude your essay with your opinion on the subject matter ( what #4 said not to do) that the two articles are

focusing on, citing information you discussed/examined in your narrative, analysis, and annotated bibliography

to explain how these things have influenced you to come to the conclusions that you have about the issue.

With all academic essays in the English Department, use MLA format. Also, your essay should be double-

spaced, use 12-point font, and 1” margins. Since you will cite only two scholarly essay, your final page will read

“work cited” and will be formatted according to MLA style. You may also include other citations that reference

background information that you have acquired. The work cited page is not included in your page count.

Evidence:

In an analysis of this nature, you will use ample borrowed material from the essay that is paraphrased, summarized, and

quoted. You should appropriate cite this material in MLA format. Keep in mind that your essay should do more than

summarize. Instead, you should point out rhetorical moves and explain how they create meaning and understanding.

Requirements

DUE DECEMBER 2ND

4-5 pages in length

MLA format






.

Walt Foreman’s Observation of Jennifer Forsthoefel 9/15/10 Jen entered just before 3:00, greeted the class, introduced me and explained briefly to the class about observations; she then segued smoothly to asking the class to take out some paper for a quiz. She wrote a two-part question on the blackboard, the question pertaining to reading the class had been assigned for that day, two essays on the writing process: “What did you find most relatable about the readings in terms of your own writing process? What surprised you?” I felt the question was a well-chosen one that not only required students to display knowledge of the reading material but also called on them to synthesize said knowledge with their own pre-existing knowledge, thereby using a higher order of thinking than just rote memory. A couple students asked questions trying to clarify which essay was which, and then began writing; the students for the most part wrote freely, seeming to indicate a good connection with the readings. After collecting the quiz, Jennifer asked the students what would be happening the following class period, and several of them responded, “Peer Review,” indicating the upcoming class activity had been well-discussed in previous classes. Jennifer talked briefly about the Outcasts United essays the students had recently done, then returned to talking about the upcoming peer review. She mentioned the Writing Studio and encouraged students to go there for help with their essays. She then reiterated a point made a few moments before of how many copies students needed to bring of their essays on Monday. She discussed with the students what a peer review is and how to do one; this included having the students look at a handout they had already that details what to look for in an essay when peer reviewing, and Jennifer went over each point on the handout, explicating briefly each one. She then told the students they did not have to bring a full draft of their essays, but enjoined them that they would get more out of the process if they did. She asked if there were any questions, and a student asked a question about how much of a draft to bring. Jennifer clarified the length requirement for the essay and encouraged students again to bring as close to a full draft as possible, for their own benefit. Jennifer then talked very briefly about why she had had the class read those certain readings for that day. She then transitioned smoothly to the novel the class is currently reading, one by David Sedaris. She asked the class to take out a handout about Sedaris; she asked them for details about the author, and the class responded immediately with several details, evincing a high level of engagement with the material and author. Jennifer then asked what kind of writing the book was, and more than one student responded correctly that it was personal writing. Jennifer stated that the class would look at how details of Sedaris’s life had influenced his writing. She asked the class to look at the beginning of the book for answers to this question, and some of the students were able to make good observations that answered the question. Jennifer related the novel to the essays the students would be bringing in on Monday by suggesting the students tell someone their story as a way of finding an introduction and a conclusion for their essays, which I thought was an indication of how well-planned and coherent the entire lesson was. Jennifer then had the class read aloud the first essay of the book, which I thought was a good exercise that was very specific to this particular

institution and the average level of students here; this particular exercise would not be as apt at an Ivy-league university, but I felt it was insightful and well-chosen for this class, and showed that Jennifer knows her students well. The students seemed to genuinely enjoy reading aloud. Roughly seventeen minutes were spent on this portion of the class. After reading the essay aloud, Jennifer asked the class to get into groups of three; she wrote questions on the board for the groups to consider:

1. What was the implied thesis or message of the essay?

2. How does the author introduce the narrative? How does he conclude?

3. How is background info reflected in the story?

The students worked well together, and most focused in on the task at hand though there were a couple who seemed less engaged; but for the most part the class dove in and worked well in the small groups. After roughly fifteen minutes, Jennifer led a discussion of the essay, and participation was excellent; the students seemed eager to respond to her questions, which not only indicates an admirable engagement with the text but also a respect for and rapport with Jennifer. After a few minutes of discussion, Jennifer deftly concluded with a very down-to-earth and student-centered question: did they like the book? More than one student said they did, not always an easy response to generate in a freshman comp class.

Overall I feel Jennifer was extremely well-prepared and handled the class well from beginning to end. The activities were varied enough that the students never tuned out, and along those same lines talking or other disruptions were very minimal, not an easy feat at an inner-city state university. The pacing was excellent from beginning to end, and I felt that Jennifer had really thought out every phase of the lesson and that every phase tied in well with the others. What I admired the most about the lesson and Jennifer’s teaching was how every phase of the class period was very elegantly focused and streamlined around one or two ideas: it’s often the most difficult thing to achieve for a teacher to teach simply and effectively moment by moment, and I felt Jennifer did an exceptional job of this; here again, she knows her students well, and teaches in a way that is very relatable to them and that I am sure cannot fail to make them better writers. Jennifer is an exemplary composition teacher, one that I believe any English department would be fortunate to employ.

PDC Reflection/Proposal

While I believe that the concept of professional development communities is a good one,

I think there are improvements that can be made to the current organization of this program. I

welcome the opportunity to engage with faculty on ways to augment my professional progress

and mentor me in creating a professional plan; however, it seems that there are far too many

demands placed on faculty, making it difficult for them to meet the intended objectives of the

professional development communities. Instead, I propose that advanced graduate students be

given the opportunity to be PDC leaders as a “professionalization” option provided in the

teaching contract, similar to the ways in which “advisement” is already counted as such. In

addition to meeting with the other GTAs that have been assigned to their individual PDCs, PDC

leaders would be a community unto themselves, meeting to brainstorm ideas and collaborate on

presentations and projects, allowing the possibility several PDCs to meet at one time if

appropriate. With this proposal, I am not implying that graduate students have more time to do

this kind of mentoring and advisement work than faculty members. Instead, I hope to promote

department appointed opportunities for advanced graduate students to prepare for their future

academic careers, careers that often entail leading committees and facilitating the success of

continuing programs. In addition, having peer leaders for the communities will allow a more

timely discussion of the professional landscape that graduate students face, terrain that changes

frequently with little reassurance from the academy at large. Thus, graduate students who have

navigated the graduate space for several years prior are able to mentor others in their community

on how to problem-solve when concerns arise. In addition, if given the responsibility to mentor

graduate students on how to professionalize, this will encourage our advanced graduate students

to lead by example, making their own professional development a priority.

jennifer rose forsthoefel filejennifer rose forsthoefel 1327 s ponce de leon ave ne atlanta, ga...

Documents