Shakespeare was called The Upstart Crow as a young writer. Image ©1962 and used with the kind permission of The Upstart Crow Theatre Company.

En 11 Composition (Web)

Dr. Richard Regan

Donnarumma Hall 103

Fairfield University

Email: rjregan@mail.fairfield.edu

This online course will begin on Monday, July 2. We will work from this web page for our course structure, and we will use our email accounts daily (Monday through Friday) to discuss topics in the course. It's a good idea to have more than one email account in case one is down when you need it; Yahoo and Hotmail offer free accounts. You will of course need internet access, as well as a copy of Microsoft Word which we will use to exchange papers as email attachments. We can practice the exchange of files as soon as students contact the professor at the beginning of the course.

I am also available for consultation in my campus office by arrangement.

The course is divided into four modules, for four types of writing: narration, exposition, description, and persuasion. This organization is reflected in the textbook, Patterns for a Purpose, 4th edition (2005), ed. Clouse (McGraw-Hill), available in the bookstore. You must have this textbook. If you have any difficulty getting your hands on it, contact me immediately. For each type of essay, we will develop several rewrites in our e-mail conversations. The grade for the course will be the average grade on the final versions of the four essays, on the assumption that class members also participate in daily emails, which will be our discussion forums. A final portfolio with a metanarrative is also required.

Patterns for a Purpose, 4th edition (2005)

Take a look an the green navigation menu which floats in the left column of this page. Clicking of the name of any module will bring you to that place on this course page, and will also open a submenu of links to helpful websites. So bookmark this course page in your browser, and when you get here just click on the part of the course you're working on. The floating menu will follow you as you scroll through that module. If you scroll down or up to another module, however, the floating main menu will remain open the the module you just clicked. I recommend that you navigate this page by clicking on module names in the floating green menu.

Module 1 - Narration

Narrative Essays: (pp. 169-182)
Chris Abani, "The Lottery"
Langston Hughes, "Salvation"
William Glaberson, "Seeking Justice After a Fatal Spin of the Cylinder"

Read the inside covers of Patterns for a Purpose, which describe Narration, Description, and six different kinds of Exposition. Then read pp. 1-11 and pp. 33-40 as a general introduction. Then read pp. 155-164, which contain some ideas about narrative writing as well as several sample essays.

Then try writing in Microsoft Word a brief narrative (take 20-30 minutes - length is not important) and email it to me (rjregan@mail.fairfield.edu) as an attachment to your email message. Put your last name and a short title in the subject line of the email, like "Smith Narrative mini-essay." You can try one of the following topics suggested in our book: p. 172 #2; p. 176 #2; pp.181-82 #2. Notice that these topics are related to the essays you have just read. This is an ungraded assignment, but you must do it to practice the form of narration. As you write these mini-essays, remember that you can turn any one into the main narrative essay.

Narrative mini-essay #1 due Friday, July 6

I will send an email message each day, Monday through Friday, prompting you to talk about the narrative essays in our book. We'll also talk about some of the main points made about narrative writing in the book and also in the linked pages from the floating menu.

After you hear back from me about your mini-essay, read pp. 182-198.

More Narrative Essays:
Natalie Kusz, Ring Leader"
Jean Shepherd, "Lost at C"

Choose another topic for another mini-essay. I suggest the topics on p. 188 #2; 197-98 #2. Send your essay to me as "Smith Narrative mini 2," then get to work on your main effort in the narrative essay. This essay should be 3-4 pages, and will be graded. There are some interesting topics on p. 205. Put your last name and a short title in the subject line of the email, like "Smith Narrative #1."I will send back to you some suggested revisions, and we can have an extended email conversation. 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.

Narrative mini-essay #2 due Monday, July 9

Graded Narrative Essay due Friday, July 13

First Narrative Rewrite due Monday, July 16

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

Module 2 - Exposition

Notice that we're not following the order of the sections in Patterns for a Purpose. I liked (okay, loved) this book at first sight because it's so clear and so helpful. I decided to rearrange the order for my presentation because exposition and persuasion are the two hardest modes of writing for most students. So I split them up, and put description in between. But you may discover that any one of these forms is the one (or two) that you find most appealing as a writer. One of the purposes of this course is to help you discover your writing strengths, and to develop them as you also work on forms you find more difficult.

Writing situations outside the classroom (or classnet, in this case) call for mixing several forms, as your book tells you frequently in the "Using...for a Purpose" section in each Module's reading assignment. I'll call your attention to this frequently.

Read pp. 443-451 (Classification-Division), our first kind of expository writing. Send me a mini-essay based on one of these topics: pp. 458 #2; p. 462 #2; p. 468 #2; p. 485 #2. Put your last name and a short title in the subject line of the email, like "Smith Classification mini."

Essays:
Sissela Bok, "White Lies"
Martin Luther King, Jr., "The Ways of Meeting Oppression"
David Bodanis, "What's in Your Toothpaste?"
Desmond Morris, "Territorial Behaviour"

Reply All to my emails on these four classification/division essays.

Mini-essay due Wednesday, July 18

Read pp. 267-276 (Process), our second expository form. Send me a mini-essay based on one of these topics: p. 284 #2; p. 290 #2; p. 298 #2. Put your last name and a short title in the subject line of the email, like "Smith Process mini."

Student essay: "A Visit to Candyland"

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

Reply All to my emails on these three process essays.

Mini-essay due Friday, July 20

Read pp. 323-333 (Comparison-Contrast), our third form. Send me a mini-essay based on one of these topics: p. 342-43 #2; p. 347 #2; p. 352 #2; p. 358 #2; p. 367 #2; p. 373 #2. Put your last name and a short title in the subject line of the email, like "Smith Comparison mini."

Bruce Catton, "Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts"
Suzanne Britt, "Neat People vs. Sloppy People"
Nicholas Kristoff, "In Japan, Nice Boys (and Girls) Finish Together"
Alice Walker, "Am I Blue"
Deborah Tannen, "Squealy Wheeks and Protruding Nails: Direct and Indirect Speech"
Arthur L. Campa, "Anglo vs. Chicano: Why?"

Reply All to my emails on these six comparison-contrast essays.

Mini-essay due Monday, July 23

Read pp. pp. 381-389 (Cause+Effect), the fourth form. Send me a mini-essay based on one of these topics: p. 400 #2; p. 403-4 # 2; p. 408 # 2; p. 414 #2; p. 420-21 #2; p. 431 #2. Put your last name and a short title in the subject line of the email, like "Smith Cause mini."

Reply All to my emails on these six cause+effect essays.

Mini-essay due Wednesday, July 25

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

Classification-Division, Topics: 488; Checklist: 451

Process, Topics: 318; Checklist 276

Comparison-Contrast, Topics: 376; Checklist: 333

Cause+Effect, Topics: 440; Checklist: 389

Since Expository writing is often more formal than Narration, you might find it helpful now to read Chapter 3 "Writing and Rewriting," pp.61-84. 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. I will send back to you some suggested revisions, and we can have an extended email conversation. 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.

Graded Expository Essay due Friday, July 27

First Expository Rewrite due Tuesday, July 31

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.

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.

Read pp.101-113. Send me a mini-essay based on one of these topics: pp. 123 # 2; p. 128 # 2; p. 133 #2; p. 139 #2; pp. 148 #2. Put your last name and a short title in the subject line of the email, like "Smith Description mini."

N. Scott Momaday, "The Homestead on Rainy Mountain Creek"
Alfred Kazin, "My Neighborhood"
Rick Bass, "A Winter's Tale"
Annie Dillard, "The Deer at Providencia"
Gretel Ehrlich, "Struck by Lightning"

Reply All to my emails on these five descriptive essays..

Mini-essay due Friday, August 3

Now it's time to write your main descriptive essay. Put your last name and "#3 Description" in the subject line of the email.

Here are some useful topics and a checklist: Topics: 152; Checklist: 112

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.

Graded Descriptive Essay due Monday, August 6

First Descriptive Rewrite due Thursday, August 9

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.

First, we'll return to some basic strategies for organization: read pp. 37-49 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. 564-637 for three sets of short essays with distinct points of view on "Cloning," "Juvenile Offenders," and "Free Speech on Campus." Also start reading the editorial page of your local newspaper, or a major national newspaper.

Reply All to my emails on these three sets.

Also read pp. 50-57 on Outlining and Drafting. Writing persuasively calls for special care in organization and development.

Now read pp. 543-559 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.

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 Sources, Quoting, and Documenting: pp.685-701.

First Paragraph of Persuasive Essay due Wednesday, August 15

I'll get back to you with my opinion of the probability of success of your proposed essay. Then send me your persuasive essay, and we'll work on subsequent revision.

Graded Persuasive Essay due Monday, August 20

First Persuasive Rewrite due Thursday, August 23

Metanarrative, Portfolio, and Conclusion

The final new step in the course is the portfolio.

Writing Portfolios: What Teachers Learn…

Creating An Electronic Portfolio

It's your task to review each of your graded essays, together with one mini-essay from each module.Then write a 3-4 page essay (called a metanarrative) explaining how your writing has progressed during the course. What are your strengths and weaknesses? How can you mprove your writing where needed, and how can you use your strengths? Many writing tasks await you in college and in your profession. The more you're aware of how you write, the greater the chance of success.

Metanarrative due Friday, August 24

The course ends at midnight, August 27. You will see a link to an online course evaluation in Stagweb under "My Courses." Please fill it out to help us improve our online teaching. Here is a link to another evaluation done by the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium:

CDLC Online Evaluation

Thanks in advance for filling out both evaluations.

I hope you have enjoyed and profited from our Composition course. Please send me any suggestions for improving it, and good luck in your future studies.

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