ENC 1101,
Section # 26
11:15 – 12:05 MWF
Instructor:
Heather Lang
Course Blog: http://enc1101-26.blogspot.com/
Email:hl12d@my.fsu.edu
Office: TBA, Office hrs: TBA
First
Year Composition Mission Statement
First-Year
Composition courses at FSU teach writing as a recursive and frequently
collaborative process of invention, drafting, and revising. Writing is both
personal and social, and students should learn how to write for a variety of
purposes and audiences. Since writing is a process of making meaning as well as
communicating, FYC teachers respond to the content of students‘ writing as well
as to surface errors. Students should expect frequent written and oral response
on the content of their writing from both teacher and peers. Classes rely
heavily on a workshop format. Instruction emphasizes the connection between
writing, reading, and critical thinking; students should give thoughtful,
reasoned responses to the readings. Both reading and writing are the subjects
of class discussions and workshops, and students are expected to be active
participants of the classroom community. Learning from each other will be a
large part of the classroom experience.
If
you would like further information regarding the First-Year Composition
Program, feel free to contact the program director, Dr. Deborah Coxwell Teague
(dteague@fsu.edu).
Course
Goals
This
course aims to help you improve your writing skills in all areas: discovering
what you have to say, organizing your thoughts for a variety of audiences, and
improving fluency and rhetorical sophistication. You will write and revise four
papers, write sustained exploratory journals, devise your own purposes and
structures for those papers, work directly with the audience of your peers to
practice critical reading and response, and learn many new writing techniques. Course
Outcomes In ENC 1101 and ENC 1102, students work to develop their own
thinking through writing. The First-Year Composition Program sees the
aims–goals and objectives–of the courses as outcomes for students, and we share
the position adopted by the Council of Writing Program Administrators (WPA)
regarding ―‗outcomes,‘ or types of results, and not ‗standards,‘ or precise
levels of achievement . . . [that] we expect to find at the end of first-year
composition‖ (from the WPA Outcomes Statement). The aims lie in several areas:
Rhetorical
Knowledge
·
By
the end of first-year composition, students should:
·
Focus
on a purpose
·
Respond
to the needs of different audiences
·
Respond
appropriately to different kinds of rhetorical situations
·
Use
conventions of format and structure appropriate to the rhetorical situation Adopt
appropriate voice, tone, and level of formality
·
Understand
how genres shape reading and writing
·
Write
in several genres
Critical
Thinking, Reading, and Writing
·
By
the end of first-year composition, students should:
·
Use
writing and reading for inquiry, learning, thinking, and communicating
·
Understand
a writing assignment as a series of tasks, including finding, evaluating,
analyzing, and synthesizing appropriate primary and secondary sources
·
Integrate
their own ideas with those of others
·
Understand
the relationships among language, knowledge, and power
Processes
·
By
the end of first-year composition, students should:
·
Be
aware that it usually takes multiple drafts to create and complete a successful
text
·
Develop
flexible strategies for generating, revising, editing, and proof-reading
·
Understand
writing as an open process that permits writers to use later invention and
re-thinking to revise their work
·
Understand
the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes
·
Learn
to critique their own and others‘ works
·
Learn
to balance the advantages of relying on others with the responsibility of doing
their part
·
Use
a variety of technologies to address a range of audiences
Knowledge of
Conventions
·
By
the end of first-year composition, students should:
·
Learn
common formats for different kinds of texts
·
Develop
knowledge of genre conventions ranging from structure and paragraphing to tone
and mechanics
·
Practice
appropriate means of documenting their work
·
Control
such surface features as syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Composing in
Electronic Environments
·
By
the end of first-year composition, students should:
·
Use
electronic environments for drafting, reviewing, revising, editing, and sharing
texts
·
Locate,
evaluate, organize, and use research material collected from electronic
sources, including scholarly library databases; other official databases (e.g.,
federal government databases); and informal electronic networks and internet
sources
·
Understand
and exploit the differences in the rhetorical strategies and in the affordances
available for both print and electronic composing processes and texts.
Required
Textbooks and Materials
·
On Writing: A
Process Reader
(2010), FSU edition, by Wendy Bishop
·
The McGraw-Hill
Handbook
(2010), FSU edition, by Maimon, Peritz, and Yancey
·
Our Own Words, available
online
·
Access
to a Computer (the university provides a number of computer labs)
Requirements of
Course
·
All
of the formal written assignments below must be turned in to me in order to
pass the course.
·
Four
papers, edited and polished
·
Three
drafts and revisions of each of the four formal papers
·
Around
15 journals
·
Two
individual conferences—scheduled by you and your instructor, in lieu of class
time, to work one-on-one on a draft, writing strategy, etc.
·
Thoughtful,
active, and responsible participation and citizenship, including discussion,
preparation for class, in-class informal writing
Evaluation
Active
participation in class discussion, discussion boards, conferences, workshops,
and preparedness in class all factor into this section. Drafts will be graded
on completeness and potential—not on editing or other mechanical issues. Final
papers will be graded on audience awareness, organization, coherence,
supporting evidence, thorough analysis, and editing using rubrics we create
together in class. All other written and oral work will be graded on meaning or
content and appropriateness to the assignment.
Paper
1 = 15% Paper 2 = 20% Paper 3 = 25% Final Project = 25% Blogs = 10%
Participation = 5%
ALL
FORMAL PAPERS AND THEIR DRAFTS MUST BE COMPLETED AND TURNED IN TO EARN A
PASSING GRADE IN THIS COURSE.
All
final drafts receive “as is” grades. Students may turn in one additional
revision for reevaluation before Thanksgiving Break. No revisions will be
accepted after the break.
Attendance
The
First-Year Composition program maintains a strict attendance policy to which
this course adheres: six absences in a MWF class is grounds for failure. You
should always inform me, ahead of time when possible, about why you miss class.
Save your absences for when you get sick or for family emergencies. Not showing
up for a conference counts as an absence as well. Part of your grade is based
on class participation—if you are not here you can‘t participate!
First-Year
Composition Course Drop Policy
This
course is NOT eligible to be dropped in accordance with the ―Drop Policy
adopted by the Faculty Senate in Spring 2004. The Undergraduate Studies Dean
will not consider drop requests for a First-Year Composition course unless
there are extraordinary and extenuating circumstances utterly beyond the
student‘s control (e.g. death of a parent or sibling, illness requiring
hospitalization, etc.). The Faculty Senate specifically eliminated First-Year
Composition courses from the University Drop Policy because of the overriding
requirement that First-Year Composition be completed during students’ initial
enrollment at FSU.
Civility
I
absolutely will not tolerate the use of language or behavior that discriminates
against any individual’s gender, race, class, ethnicity, disability, religion,
or sexual orientation. Additionally, behavior that disrupts class is
disrespectful and will not be tolerated. During this class, we will discuss
many topics that students are very passionate about. If you sometimes feel
inclined to joke about these topics, you will want to keep in mind that such
jokes are rarely received lightly by everyone, and just because you may sit
next to someone, you cannot possibly know where their lines are on all these
topics. Thus, any comments, jokes, remarks, or quips that demean the worth of
an individual will not be tolerated. If you break this policy, I may ask you to
leave the classroom and count you absent. This policy also extends to all
assignments on class blogs. If you should break this policy, I will request
that your post be removed and you will receive a zero for the assignment.
Disruptive
behavior, including the use of cell phones, pagers or any other form of
electronic communication during the class session (email, web-browsing), will
not be tolerated. Although we have access to computers, the internet, and other
gadgets, please refrain from using them or visiting Facebook, Twitter, or other
off-topic web sites unless instructed to do so. Disruptive behavior also
includes whispering or talking when another member of the class is speaking or
engaged in relevant conversation (remember that I am a member of this class as
well). This classroom functions on the premise of respect, and you will be
asked to leave the classroom if you violate any part of this statement on
civility. Remember that you will send me an email that indicates you have read
and understand this policy.
Projects and
Assignments
What
follows are brief explanations of your major assignments for this class. Full
descriptions can be found online on the class blog. If you have questions or
concerns about any of these assignments, please refer to the online assignment
sheet and then ask me if you have other questions. I reserve the right to
change or rearrange these assignments at my own discretion. If changes are
made, students will be notified immediately of those changes.
Blog Posts (100
points)
Exploratory
blog posts usually deal with a reading assignment or class discussion. All
blogs must be posted before the class begins (we‘ll cover how to do this in
class) and should be at leasth 300 words in length. Posts should be thoughtful
and show the depth of your thinking process; you might tell stories to
illustrate your ideas, you might end up contradicting yourself, you might write
things you aren‘t certain are true or not—these are a few ways you can explore
in your journals. We will also use blog posts as a regular source of invention
by freewriting or brainstorming on topics. It is my hope that you will find
your blog a useful source of notes and information as we move through the
drafting process.
We
will regularly share posts in class, so be sure to write things you are
comfortable discussing with others.
You
must have a blog dedicated specifically to this class setup at blogger.com. You
may choose to make the information on your blog public or only visible to those
people who have the link. The choice is yours.
Class Blogger
Each
student will sign up to be the “class blogger” for a particular day. The
purpose of the classroom blogger is to record notes, summarize conversations,
and narrate classroom action as best you can. You are invited to take
photographs and video footage and use links or other multimedia in your blog
entry. In essence, the class blogger is a reporter documenting classroom
events. After your experience as class blogger, you will write a short
reflection blog entry about your experience that answers the following
questions: what aspects of the class did you focus on and why? If you chose to
use other media, what did you use and why? How did occupying the role of “class
blogger” change your perspective of the classroom?
Paper 1: Digital-Media History Narrative,
4–6 pages (150 points)
This assignment is a multimedia version of a literary history with
an emphasis on media such as computer games, online video, social networking
programs, and other web content. The limits of our experience are the limits of
our world, but in a technological age where Wii games engage millions and
YouTube videos sway voters, that experience might be indirectly broad. This
paper does need to be analytic in nature. It‘s fine for you to relate to me
your experiences with your cultural media history, but I want you also to be
able to interpret and critique the visio-cultural texts that have influenced
you to see how they have contributed to the overall development of your
character. More information about this assignment is available online at the
class blog. You will be given more information about this assignment at a later
time.
Paper Two: Visual/Textual Interaction, 7–8 pages (250
points)
For Paper Two, you will build on the observation and analytic
skills employed in Paper One with the objective of exploring connections
between written and visual texts. In achieving this goal, you will focus on how
elements from both visual and written texts serve to interpret, emphasize,
complicate, or mask one another. Think of your favorite magazine, for instance.
Now imagine if it had no visuals in it whatsoever, no pictures or cartoons or
ads. How different would your magazine be? The visuals that are included in
your magazine serve a distinct purpose, and for this essay you will consider
what that purpose is. You will be required to analyze elements of the visual
text like image, layout, color, design, and lighting. You will also consider
qualities of the written text, such as voice, tone, audience, and style.
Through a comparison of the two texts and how they work with and/or against
each other, you will make a specific claim about the media‘s ideas, values, and
overall message and support this argument with details obtained through close
observation and analysis. More information about this assignment is available
online at the class blog. You will be given more information about this
assignment at a later time.
Paper Three: Exposing Advertisements and Uncovering
Truths, 6–7 pages
Since we are trying to build on each paper, pulling elements from
the previous for the subsequent, the logical step for the final project is to
create a text that utilizes some of the rhetorical strategies that we‘ve
studied or evaluated up until this point. To begin this project, you will need
to think about how current advertisements work—what images and texts do they
use? How are these images displayed on the ad? What makes this product look
appealing? Does it even relate to the product‘s purpose? However, we don‘t want
to perpetuate the type of mentality in implementing those strategies, so
instead of simply creating an advertisement we are going to create an
anti-advertisement. You will need to spend some time looking at adbusters.org
and researching a topic you’d like to know more about. You advertisement will
be accompanied by a paper dealing with questions related to how the advertisers
for the ad you are spoofing manipulate or create their ad. This paper will
include at least one secondary source. More information about this assignment
is available online at the class blog. You will be given more information about
this assignment at a later time.
Final Project: Anti-Ad Zine (250 points)
For this project, you will be placed in groups of three or four
and you will work together to create a magazine that could utilize all of your
own specific anti-advertisements. Again, you can base this on a real magazine
or completely create a new one. The point is that you work together to produce
a magazine that could include all of the anti-ads you created in Paper Three.
Therefore, you need to think about the audience each anti-ad targets and the
type of ideas that you are trying to convey to that audience. Then, create or
find a magazine that would fit these specific requirements. As a group, you
will compose a detailed rationale for your magazine, which provides a
justification for the content and relates the magazine to the individual
anti-ads. This group rationale should be 2-3 pages. Also, the group will work
together on creating a magazine cover and a table of contents, which will
include the placement of each anti-ad. You will need to create the actual
visual representation of the magazine cover and table of contents as well as
including each person‘s anti-ad from the previous paper. In addition to
creating the cover and table of contents as a group, each individual member will
also write a process memo describing their own experience (1-2 pages). This
assignment brings all of the rhetorical, visual, and textual aspects of media
together. During the final week of class, each group will present their
magazine and anti-ads to their classmates. More information about this
assignment is available online at the class blog. You will be given more
information about this assignment at a later time.
Participation
Grade (50 points)
Your Participation Grade will be figured in four parts:
attendance, completion of blogs, class blogger report, and group participation
grading. To receive full participation points, students should miss no more
than three classes, complete at least 15 journal entries and their class
blogger report, and receive satisfactory reviews after the completion of the
group project.
Late Work, Drafts,
Revisions, and Final Papers
Major
assignments will be accepted late for up to 10 days with a 10 percent penalty
for each day after the due date. For example, a paper turned in one day late
will receive, at most, 90%. Blog posts cannot be posted late to receive credit.
You‘ll
need to make copies of your drafts and revisions (not final papers) before you
come to class on days we workshop. The number of drafts needed will be provided
to you prior to each workshop. I require that all drafts and revisions be typed
(MLA format, 1-inch margins). You have access to a number of computer labs
around campus, so if you don‘t have your own computer take advantage of one of
FSU‘s. Final papers do not need covers or title pages. All your written work
must have your name, my name, and the date at the top of the first page. You
will be responsible for some photocopying expenses for this class on occasion,
in order to share your writing with your peers. You will generally be choosing
your own topics and structures for the drafts and papers in this class (after
the first week). You will be required to share your work with your classmates
so take care in what you choose to write about. Your writing for this class is
nearly always public writing in the sense that others will be reading, hearing,
and commenting on it.
Failure
to turn in a rough draft to the instructor will result in a 10 percent
deduction from the final grade. Similarly, failure to come prepared to peer
review (on time, with copies for peers), will also result in a 10 percent
deduction from the final grade.
Reading Writing
Center (RWC)
The
Reading/Writing Center, located in Williams 222-C, is devoted to individualized
instruction in reading and writing. Part of the English Department, the RWC
serves Florida State University students at all levels and from all majors. Its
clients include a cross-section of the campus: first-year students writing for
composition class, upper-level students writing term papers, seniors composing
letters of applications for jobs and graduate schools, graduate students
working on theses and dissertations, multilingual students mastering English,
and a variety of others. The RWC serves mostly walk-in tutoring appointments;
however, it also offers three different courses for credit that specifically
target reading, undergraduate-level writing, and graduate-level writing. The
tutors in the RWC, all graduate students in English with training and
experience in teaching composition, use a process-centered approach to help
students at any stage of writing: from generating ideas, to drafting,
organizing, and revising. While the RWC does not provide editing or
proofreading services, its tutors can help writers build their own editing and
proofreading strategies. Our approach to tutoring is to help students grow as
writers, readers, and critical thinkers by developing strategies for writing in
a variety of situations. During the fall and spring semesters, the RWC is open
Monday through Thursday from 10 - 6 and Friday from 10 -2. Hours of operation
vary in summer. Visit the RWC website or call 644-6495 for information.
Strozier
Satellite Location
The
Strozier location serves students where its most convenient for them and
alongside the research and advising services the library offers. Only walk-in
appointments are available at this RWC location, on a first-come first-served
basis, but students can sign up in advance the day of an appointment at the
tutoring area. Hours vary by semester, but are updated on both the RWC website
and the Strozier Library website at the start of each semester.
Digital Studio
The
Digital Studio provides support to students working individually or in groups
on a variety of digital projects, such as designing a website, developing an
electronic portfolio for a class, creating a blog, selecting images for a
visual essay, adding voiceover to a presentation, or writing a script for a
podcast. Tutors who staff the Digital Studio can help students brainstorm essay
ideas, provide feedback on the content and design of a digital project, or
facilitate collaboration for group projects and presentations. Students can use
the Digital Studio to work on their own to complete class assignments or to
improve overall capabilities in digital communication without a tutoring
appointment if a work station is available. However, tutor availability and
workspace are limited so appointments are recommended. To make an appointment
email us at fsudigitalstudio@gmail.com or visit the Digital Studio in Williams
222-B. Hours vary by semester and are updated at website.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
is grounds for suspension from the university as well as for failure in this
course. It will not be tolerated. Any instance of plagiarism must be reported
to the Director of First-Year Composition and the Director of Undergraduate
Studies. Plagiarism is a counterproductive, non-writing behavior that is
unacceptable in a course intended to aid the growth of individual writers.
Plagiarism
is included among the violations defined in the Academic Honor Code, section
b), paragraph 2, as follows: ―Regarding academic assignments, violations of the
Academic Honor Code shall include representing another‘s work or any part
thereof, be it published or unpublished, as one‘s own. A plagiarism education
assignment that further explains this issue will be administered in all
first-year writing courses during the second week of class. Each student will
be responsible for completing the assignment and asking questions regarding any
parts they do not fully understand.
Gordon Rule
In
order to fulfill FSU‘s Gordon Rule ―W‖ Designation (writing) credit, the
student must earn a ―C-‖ or better in the course, and in order to receive a
―C-‖ or better in the course, the student must earn at least a ―C-‖ on the
required writing assignments for the course. If the student does not earn a
―C-‖ or better on the required writing assignments for the course, the student
will not earn an overall grade of ―C-‖ or better in the course, no matter how
well the student performs in the remaining portion of the course. The
University stipulates that students must write 7,000 words in ENC 1101 and 1102
(at least 3,500 words per course).
ADA
Students
with disabilities needing academic accommodations should in the first week of
class 1) register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability
Resource Center (SDRC) and 2) bring a letter to the instructor from SDRC
indicating the need for academic accommodations. This and all other class
materials are available in alternative format upon request. Papers and
Grades
The
university uses the following 4-point scale when calculating grade point
averages:
A
= 4.0 93-100%
A
- = 3.75 90-92%
B+
= 3.5 87-89%
B
= 3.0 83-86%
B-
= 2.75 80-82%
C+
= 2.5 77-79%
C
= 2.0 73-76%
C-
= 1.75 70-72%
D+
= 1.5 67-69%
D
= 1.0 63-66%
F
= 0 0-62%
You
may calculate your grade at any time during the semester by diving possible
points by the number of points earned.
