Imagine that you enter a parlor. You come late. When you arrive, others have long preceded you, and they are engaged in a heated discussion, a discussion too heated for them to pause and tell you exactly what it is about. In fact, the discussion had already begun long before any of them got there, so that no one present is qualified to retrace for you all the steps that had gone before. You listen for a while, until you decide that you have caught the tenor of the argument; then you put in your oar. Someone answers; you answer him; another comes to your defense; another aligns himself against you, to either the embarrassment or gratification of your opponent, depending on the quality of your ally's assistance. However, the discussion is interminable. The hour grows late, and you must depart. And you do depart, with the discussion still vigorously in progress.

This course focuses on all aspects of the writing process: pre-writing, drafting, revising. Much of class time will be spent discussing, writing, and working in small groups in the classroom and online at mahara: The Writing Study.

• your own "voice" in writing;

• a repertoire of writing styles appropriate to your purpose, audience, and occasion for writing;

• your ability to compose sentences and paragraphs in a variety of syntactic patterns and with sufficient specific details;

• your skill in reading, analyzing, and assessing longer pieces of expository prose by professional writers and peers;

• your sensitivity to the impact of language on differing readers and listeners;

• your ability to use appropriate research methods and materials efficiently, clearly, and effectively for all disciplines;

• your ability to analyze, assess and contribute to online sources. We will be using The Writing Study for our online writing portfolio.

• your skill in writing prose that conforms to the features of standard written English.

• Four in-class, timed essays (20%)
  • Timed Writing (SAMPLE)
  • Timed Writing (2 CRITICAL RESPONSES TO A TEXT)
  • Timed Writing (REFLECTION)

• Three revised papers (30%): links activated when assigned
  • Research Paper
  • Web Community
  • Novel- critical analysis

• Research web project (10%): individual and group project on sustainability. Includes:
  • footprint
  • proposal
  • annotated bibliography
  • field research and report
  • final position paper

• Mahara Web Journal (30%): consists of:
  • Reading log: summaries and responses to all texts and two in-class short writes
  • bi-weekly progress reports and any other short homework assignments.

• Annotated Bibliography (10%): Students will research a topic of choice for the research project and construct an annotated bibliography documenting and evaluating their findings, using Janice Walker's online MLA Style formating. The bibliography will be posted to the web as part of the research project.

  Required Texts and Materials

  • Sustainability: a Reader for Writers. Ed. Carl Herndl. Oxford UP. New York. 2014. ISBN: 978-0-19-994750-8.
  • Silverman et al. Rules of Thumb. 9th ed. San Francisco: McGraw Hill, 2013.
  • Choose a novel from the whole text booklist

  Required Materials:

  A personal computer. While information can be accessed with a variety of devices, papers and online work cannot be completed on smart phones or tablets. Emails from smart phones are discouraged as they are rarely thoughtfully processed or clearly written.

  • Pocket Folder for handouts.
  • Stapler: all work over one page must be stapled.
  • Memory device: all work must be saved (backed-up) in a safe, stable environment until final grade is recorded.

  Recommended materials:

  • College level pocket dictionary (to be used in class). Electronic dictionaries not acceptable.
  • colored hi-liters
  • post-it notes or small colored tabs

  Eng MO2-A Eng M02-B Eng M01A

  Policies Office Hours Janet Cross

  Index Readings Schedule