This is a hybrid class. With the exception of the first week, we will only have synchronous (Zoom) classes on Tuesdays.
Classwork will be assigned weekly, and due before class on Tuesday, but you will have the entire week to work on it. I highly suggest that you do not wait until the last minute to do the work, as the readings and discussion board posts are meant to be an entire week of work, so if you save it until the last minute, it will be very overwhelming. All discussion board posts are due on the Sunday before class, and responses to the discussion board posts are due before class time. The sooner you submit your work, the sooner classmates can respond, making it easier for everyone all around. If you do not submit your discussion board post by Sunday, I may not be able to respond to it.
During Tuesday’s Zoom classes, we will talk about the readings, and discuss an aspect of writing that will lead you towards whichever upcoming writing assignment you have. You are expected to be working on your research paper throughout the semester.
Occasionally I will send out a short lecture for the week as well, depending on what we are able to cover on Tuesdays. I will also occasionally send out Presentations that will summarize important aspects of what we will cover in the coming week. These will be uploaded to a Google Drive that I will share with you.
Readings are subject to change.
Week 1 – Syllabus Review, Rhetorical Terms, Literacy Narratives
Tuesday 2/2 – Introduction, Academic Commons
Thursday 2/4 – Introduction continued. Before class: Read “Writing As Inquiry” from the Norton Field Guide
Week 2 – Narratives, Language, Memory
By 11:59pm on Sunday 2/7:
- Read “If Black English Isn’t a Language…” by James Baldwin
- Read “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan
- Post to discussion board.
By class on Tuesday 2/9: Respond to two classmates’ discussion posts.
Week 3 – Rhetorical situations, more on narrative
By 11:59pm on Sunday 2/14:
- Read “Isn’t All Writing Environmental Writing?” by Camille Dungy
- Read Chapter Norton Field Guide Chapter 34 “Guiding your Reader” and Chapter 48 “Synthesizing Ideas”
- Post to discussion board.
By class on Tuesday 2/16: Respond to two classmates’ discussion posts.
Week 4 – Evaluating Sources, MLA format, common grammar mistakes
By 11:59pm on Sunday 2/21:
- Submit your Literacy Narrative
- Read “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott
- Read Norton Field Guide Chapter 3 “Summarizing and Responding”
No discussion board this week.
Tuesday 2/23: Library Day
Week 5 – Reporting information, choosing a research question, small detail
By 11:59pm on Sunday 2/28:
- Submit Literacy Narrative Reflection
- Read “Looking for Trouble” by Catherine Savini
- Read Norton Field Guide Chapter 45 “Developing a Research Plan” and pages 115-117 “Analyzing Texts”
- Post to discussion board
By class on Tuesday 3/2: Respond to two classmates’ discussion posts.
Week 6 – Outlining and Arranging, Thesis statements, Synthesis and Integration
By 11:59pm on Sunday 3/7:
- Submit research proposal
- Read “Strong Thesis Statements” from Purdue Owl
- Read excerpt from “The Uninhabitable Earth” by David Wallace-Wells and “Raising my Child in a Doomed World” by Roy Scranton
- Post to discussion board
By class on Tuesday 3/9: Respond to two classmates’ discussion posts.
Week 7
By 11:59pm on Sunday 3/14:
- Send me a draft of your rhetorical analysis essay, in whatever state it’s in.
- Read Chapter 12 “Reporting Information”
MID SEMESTER CONFERENCES
Week 8 –Making an Argument, Style
By 11:59pm on Sunday 3/21:
- Submit Rhetorical Analysis essay
- Submit reflection on mid semester evaluations
- Read more on integrating sources/synthesis
No discussion board this week.
Week 9
SPRING BREAK
Week 10 – Genres, Audience Strategy
By 11:59pm on Sunday 4/4:
- Read “Navigating Genres” by Kerry Dirk
- Listen to “Whole World’s Gone Crazy” from the Parable of the Sower opera
- Post to discussion board
By class on Tuesday 4/6: Respond to two classmates’ discussion board posts.
Week 11
By 11:59pm on Sunday 4/11
- Listen to “How to Save the World” Podcast
- Listen to Emergence Magazine Podcast
- Post to discussion board
- Report on Research in progress
By class on Tuesday 4/13: Respond to two classmates’ discussion board posts.
Week 12 –Writing and critical analysis beyond the classroom, Portfolio intro
By 11:59pm on Sunday 4/18:
- Read “The Marsh at the End of the World” by Elizabeth Rush
- Post to discussion board
By class on Tuesday 4/20: Respond to two classmates’ discussion board posts.
Week 13
By 11:59pm on Sunday 4/25:
- Send me your research paper, in whatever state it’s in.
INDIVIDUAL CONFERENCES
Week 14 – Selves we deliver online, Theory of Writing
Research paper due Tuesday 5/4 – no other homework
Week 15 (Last week of classes)
By 11:59pm on Sunday 5/9
- Research Paper reflection
- Read NFG Chapter 39, “Assessing Your Own Writing”
- Post to discussion board
By class on Tuesday 5/11: Respond to two classmates’ discussion board posts.
Final Portfolio and Self Assessment due by 11:59pm on Sunday, May 23rd.
