Composition En11

Introduction

En 11 Composition (Web)

En 11 Composition

Dr. Richard Regan

Donnarumma Hall 103

Fairfield University

rjregan@fair1.fairfield.edu

203-254-4000 ext. 2794

Office hours: Monday 11:30-12:15; Wednesday 1-1:45, 3-4; Thursday 11:30-1:15

and by appointment

There are four principal grades in the course, each worth 25%. The final grade will also be affected by performance on homework and quizzes, and by attendance. You are expected to attend every class: a point is deducted from your semester average for every two cuts. Excused absences by written note from a Dean’s office, Student Services, or your faculty advisor.

Each essay must be submitted on time by email as an attached file. All work for the course must be saved in a portfolio for evaluation. All work must be written In Microsoft Word, for editing purposes.

Email is a crucial tool in the course. This class has worked especially well when we can look at student essays emailed in class. You will also be e-mailing work from our lab/classroom to your own e-mail address and to me (rjregan@mail.fairfield.edu). You should have at least two ways of sending and receiving email; Hotmail and Yahoo offer free email accounts.

I will remove names from emailed papers I share with the class, but we will also share essays with each other in small groups (4 or 5) during class. This peer editing has proven quite helpful, and is an important part of the course.

Students with documented learning disabilities should see me for assistance.

Thursday, September 4 - Introduction and Writing Sample

Introduction

Narration

The Personal Essay

Writing Informal Essays

Discovering What to Write

Module 1 - Narration

Monday, September 8 - "Reading Critically," pp.1-13; "Planning an Essay," pp. 32-38;

Patterns of Narration and Essays: pp. 160-185:
Robert Satter, "Whom to Believe"
Natalie Kusz, Ring Leader"
Langston Hughes, "Salvation"

Mini-essay topics: pp. 175-176 #4, 5, 6; p. 181-182 #2, 4, 5; pp.186 #1, 3, 4

Thursday, September 11 -

Read the inside covers of Patterns for a Purpose, which describe Narration, Description, and six different kinds of Exposition.

More Narrative Essays: pp. 188-203
Jean Shepherd, "Lost at C"
Santha Rama Rau, "By Any Other Name"

Mini-essay topics: p. 197 #3, 4, 5; p. 204 #4, 5

Topics for main essay: pp. 219-220; Checklist: pp. 166-167; Stuck? pp.57-65

Monday, September 15 - Main Essay due - #1 Narration.

You may rewrite this essay as many times as you wish. Each new version will be graded, and the new grade will replace the former grade.

Sign up for conferences. Rewrite #1 is due Monday, September 22. Hints on paragraphs and use of detail: pp, 65-71. Hints on revision, p. 76.

More Narrative Essays: pp. 205-217
George Orwell, "A Hanging"
Lee K. Abbott, "The View of Me From Mars"

Mini-essay topics: p. 210 #2, 4; p. 218 #3, 4

Here are some web sites you might be interested in. Some of their pages are linked in the green column on our course page, on your left.

Paradigm Online Writing Assistant is an interesting collection of advice about several different types of writing. There is no magic formula which guarantees good writing, so it's helpful to hear different voices on the subject.

Guide to Grammar and Writing is a large site with enough parts to keep you busy all summer, and beyond. There are interesting sections on different kinds of writing, and grammar sections with interactive quizzes. I'm not one of those writing teachers who believes that grammar study helps make good writers. It probably makes good grammarians. When I went to high school and sudied Latin for the first time, I discovered that I finally understood the rules for English grammar because the early grammarians had based their rules for English on the rules for Latin. Times have changed somewhat, and most enlightened writers and editors now believe in the principle of usage, meaning that "correct" language is what the majority of educated speakers use, and it's always changing. The Word Detective is an up to date site with creative ideas about language.

Purdue University's Online Writing Lab is the most famous of its kind. Notice the section on Student/Teacher Handouts, which addresses many common problem areas in writing.

Here is a web page which provides editing aids:

The Editing and Rewriting Process

Note the editing checklist at the bottom of the page. And here's another:

The Deadly Sins Checklist

Introduction

Narration

Exposition

Revising Your Writing

Classification & Analysis

The Process Essay

Comparison & Contrast

Cause & Effect

Developing a Definition

Description

Persuasion

Portfolio

Module 2 - Exposition

Thursday, September 18 - Classification - Division, pp. 464-471

Essays, pp. 474-491

Russell Baker, "The Plot Against People"
Sissela Bok, "White Lies"
Martin Luther King, Jr., "The Ways of Meeting Oppression"
David Bodanis, "What's in Your Toothpaste?"

Mini-essay topics: pp. 476 #1, 2, 3, 4; p. 485-486 #2, 3, 4, 5; p. 490 #2, 4. Put your last name and a short title in the subject line of the email, like "Smith Classification mini."

Monday, September 22 - Process, pp. 285-292. REWRITE OF #1 DUE

Essays, pp. 297-331

Miklos Vamos, "How I'll Become an American"
Garrison Keillor, "Attitude"
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., "In the Kitchen"
Diane Cole, "Don't Just Stand There"

Mini-essay topics: p. 300 #3, 4; p. 306 #3, 4; p. 315 #2, 3, 5; p. 330-331 #1, 2, 3. Put your last name and a short title in the subject line of the email, like "Smith Process mini."

Thursday, September 25 - Comparison - Contrast, pp. 346-352

Essays, pp. 359-379

Suzanne Britt, "Neat People vs. Sloppy People"
James Collins, "Lords of the Ring"
Bruce Catton, "Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts"
Alice Walker, "Am I Blue"

Mini-essay topics: p. 362 #2, 3, 4; p. 367 #3, 4, 5; p. 372 #2, 3, 4; p. 379 #2, 4. Put your last name and a short title in the subject line of the email, like "Smith Comparison mini."

Monday, September 29 - Cause - Effect, pp. 402-410

Essays, pp. 413-434

Rick Reilly, "Gentlemen, It's Gut-Check Time"
Eyal Press, "Fouled Out"
Richard Rodriguez, "Complexion"
Brent Staples, "Just Walk on By..."

Mini-essay topics: p. 416 #1, 3, 4, 5; p. 421 # 4, 5; p. 427 #1, 2, 3, 4, 5; p. 433-434 #1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Put your last name and a short title in the subject line of the email, like "Smith Cause mini."

Now it's time to choose an expository form for your second major essay, due Monday, October 6.

There are some good topics and checklists on the following pages:

Classification-Division, Topics: 513-514; Checklist: 470-71

Process, Topics: 344-345; Checklist 291-292

Comparison-Contrast, Topics: 399-400; Checklist: 353-354

Cause+Effect, Topics: 462-463; Checklist: 408-409

Since Expository writing is often more formal than Narration, you might find it helpful now to read Chapter 3 "Writing and Rewriting," pp.63-87. Part of this chapter deals with rewriting, which we'll be doing a lot of.

Choose a form and write a three to four page essay. Remember that you can develop one of your mini-essays into the major essay. Send the essay to me as an email attachment. Put your last name and "#2 Exposition" in the subject line of the email. Sign up for a conference time. You may rewrite this essay as many times as you wish. Each new version will be graded, and the new grade will replace the former grade.

As you write and revise these essays, remember that an important element of your approach is the voice you write in. You can be serious, playful, earnest, calm, excited, sarcastic, or any other quality which you think might be effective and which you feel comfortable with.

Linguists often divide speech into five levels of social interaction:

Oratorical language is the formal speech of important public occasions, like an inauguration.

Deliberative language is the speech of lectures, for example, where the speaker controls the occasion and doesn't expect questions or interruptions.

Consultative language is less formal, and the speaker expects some response from the listener(s).

Casual language is everyday speech, often full of slang, where the speaker pays little or no attention to language standards.

Intimate language is spoken in families, in couples, between siblings or close friends, and has private references or code which the outsider has little chance of understanding.

Thursday, October 2 - MANDATORY LIBRARY SESSION

Monday, October 6 - Definition, pp. 515-521. PAPER #2 DUE (Exposition)

Essays, pp. 525-538, 551-559

Denise Graveline, "The Blue Book"
Judy Brady, "I Want a Wife"
Jo Goodwin Parker, "What is Poverty?"
Malcolm Cowley, "The View from 80"

Mini-essay topics: pp.527-528 #2,3,4,6; p. 532 #2, 3, 4, 5, 6; p. 537 #2, 3, 4; p. 559 #1, 5, 6. Put your last name and a short title in the subject line of the email, like "Smith Definition mini."

Thursday, October 9 - Exemplification, pp. 221-228.

Essays, pp. 232-248, 265-272.

George Felton, "I Hear America Blathering"
Trip Gabriel, "Computers Help Unite Campuses But Also Drive Some Students Apart"
Ralph Ellison, "On Being the Target of Discrimination"
Jonathan Kozol, "Untouchables"

Mini-essay topics: p. 235 #3,5; p 241 #2, 3, 4, 5, 6; p 250 #1, 4, 5, 6; p 274 #2, 3, 5. Put your last name and a short title in the subject line of the email, like "Smith Exemplification mini."

Monday, October 13 - HOLIDAY - #2 RW DUE before noon Tuesday

Narrative & Descriptive

Module 3 - Description

Description is a technique you can use in any kind of writing to make the essay more vivid. Here we'll concentrate on the description itself.

Thursday, October 16 - Description pp.101-110

Essays, pp. 115-135

Garrison Keillor, "Walking Down the Canyon"
Mary E. Mebane, "My Backyard"
Alfred Kazin, "My Neighborhood"
Annie Dillard, "The Deer at Providencia"

Mini-essay topics: pp. 118 # 3, 4; p. 124 # 2, 3, 4, 5; p. 129 #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; p. 135 #2, 3. Put your last name and a short title in the subject line of the email, like "Smith Description mini."

Now it's time to choose an description topic for your third major essay, due Monday, October 20.

Here are some useful topics and a checklist: Topics: p. 157; Checklist: p. 110

Take time to explore the websites in the left (green) column for advice and examples of good descriptive writing. As you work on your main descriptive essay, remember that the techniques you are encouraged to use, especially showing rather than telling, can be used to good effect in all your writing, including rewrites you are doing in this course. You can't write good description without being specific, which is good advice for everything you write.

Write a three to four page essay. Remember that you can develop one of your mini-essays into the major essay. Send the essay to me as an email attachment. Put your last name and "#3 Description" in the subject line of the email. Sign up for a conference time. You may rewrite this essay as many times as you wish. Each new version will be graded, and the new grade will replace the former grade.

Monday, October 20 - Description PAPER #3 DUE (Description)

Essays, pp. 137-155

Gretel Ehrlich, "Struck by Lightning"
E. B. White, "Once More to the Lake"
Alberto Riós, "The Vietnam Wall" (poem)

Mini-essay topics: pp. 144-145 #2, 3, 4, 5; pp. 152-153 #2, 3, 4, 5; p. 156 #3. Put your last name and a short title in the subject line of the email, like "Smith Description mini 2."

Thesis/Support Essays

Argument

Documentation

Developing an Argument

Using Examples

Portfolio

Module 4 - Persuasion

This module is the most challenging for most students. Notice that Patterns for a Purpose deals with Argument and Persuasion, and makes a distinction between them. Argument generally refers to formal argument based on classic rhetorical strategies, and is a difficult form which I think needs its own course. Here we will study persuasive writing, which is the kind you are most likely to use in college and in your professional life, as well as in your life as a citizen.

Thursday, October 23 - Persuasion

First, we'll return to some basic strategies for organization: read pp. 39-51 on Topic and Thesis. We have not spent time on the thesis directly, but you have used a thesis approach in your expository essay. It's important to see the difference between a topic, which is a subject you wish to write about, and a thesis, which is your specific interpretation of the topic, your attempt to persuade the reader to agree with your point of view, or your call to action.

Read pp. 592-599 on "Reparations"

Manning Marable, "An Idea Whose Time Has Come"
Shelby Steele, "A Childish Illusion of Justice"

Mini-essay topics: p. 599 #2,3,4

Also start reading the editorial page of your local newspaper, or a major national newspaper.

Monday, October 27 - Persuasion #3 RW DUE

Read pp. 51-56 on Outlining and Drafting. Writing persuasively calls for special care in organization and development.

Read pp. 575-581 to learn some of the basic techniques of persuasive writing. Notice especially the three modes of rhetoric: reasoning and logic (called logos, Greek for word), emotions (called pathos, Greek for feeling), and values and beliefs (related to the Greek ethos or ethical appeal). Ethos is a quality which a speaker or writer projects to persuade the audience to agree with him or her: expertise, personal experience, or any other quality the audience might find appealing.

For another set of examples of persuasive writing, read pp. 600-609: "Should Law Enforcement Officials Torture Suspects?"

Jonathan Alter, "Time to Think About Torture"
Henry Porter, "How the Talk is about Bringing Back Torture"

Mini-essay topics: p. 609 #1,2,3,4

Thursday, October 30 - Persuasion

Read pp. 581-591 on Argumentation-Persuasion

For another set of examples of persuasive writing, read pp. 610-625: "Does the First Amendment Protect Hate Speech on College Campuses"

Nat Hentoff, "Free Speech on Campus"
Charles R. Lawrence III, "The Debate Over Placing Limits on Racist Speech Must Not Ignore the Damage It Does to Its Victims"
Derek Bok, "Protecting Freedom of Expression at Harvard"

Mini-essay topics: p. 626 #1,3,5,6

Monday, November 3 - Persuasion

For another set of examples of persuasive writing, read pp. 627-648: "Is Justice Served by Trying Juvenile Offenders as Adults?"

New York Times editorial, "Little Adult Criminals"
Laurence Steinberg, "Should Juvenile Offenders Be Tried as Adults?"
Linda J. Collier, "Adult Crime, Adult Time"
Timothy Roche and Amanda Bower, "Young Voices from the Cell"

Mini-essay topics: p. 650 #1,3,5

Thursday, November 6 - Brainstorming topics

I'm going to rule out the most famous controversial topics, since experience teaches me that even experts have great diffuculty with topics which are emotionally loaded. So please do not suggest capital punishment, euthanasia, abortion, affirmative action, or other loaded topics. You are looking for a topic which you have some familiarity with, something local, not national or global. If you become a famous editorial writer later in your career, you can tackle the impossible topics.

Here more than anywhere else follow the classic advice: write about what you know. One student wrote successfully about how her local government needed reform in hiring policies after she observed during a summer job at Town Hall how personal favorites were promoted over competent job applicants.

If your topic requires you to present background material, like data or quotations, read the section on Quoting, Summarizing, and Documenting: pp.652-670.

Monday, November 10 - Peer editing PAPER #4 DUE (Persuasion)

Peer Editing Guide

Thursday, November 13 - Peer editing

Peer Editing: Serving as a Reader

Monday, November 17 - Peer editing #4 RW DUE

Peer Editing Students' Papers

Thursday, November 20 - Peer editing

How To Ask For and Receive Feedback on Your Writing

Monday, November 24 - Peer editing

THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

Introduction

Narration