WRD 104 syllabus

WRD 104 syllabus, Winter 2011 p. 1 1

 

WRD (Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse) 104, Rhetoric and Composition II

Winter 2011

Instructor: Beth Ann Bryant-Richards

Office: LC 1634

Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 8:00-8:30 pm and 12:00-1:00 pm and by

appointment

Phone: 312/362-8883 (no voicemail on this number)

E-mail: ebryantr@gmail.com

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Course Description: This will be a thematic course designed to give students a

background in knowledge about the role of religion in the United States. Student research

projects will focus on the experiences of people in the United States and their religious or

non-religious practices.

Students will:

--choose a topic and thesis and have it approved by the instructor;

--research and gather sources related to their approved topic;

--compile and write an annotated bibliography of sources;

--engage in peer review and evaluation of other student drafts;

--give a presentation to the class about their research;

--write a research paper about their approved topic;

--compile a portfolio from class writing and write a reflective essay.

 

 

Note well: Only research topics dealing with some aspect of U.S. religious

experiences will be approved.

 

Course Goals:

 

*Students will develop their concept of writing as an interaction between writer and

reader and their ability to analyze their audience’s knowledge, assumptions, and

disposition.

*Students will develop their ability to read and evaluate the writing of others with

accuracy, understanding, and insight.

*Students will develop strategies of effective research (including, but not limited to

library and Internet research, interviewing, field work) and learn appropriate conventions

for citation, documentation, summary, and paraphrasing.

*Students will learn to develop and support convincing arguments from their research.

*Students will learn to incorporate quotations and paraphrased passages into their writing

and to document such material with standard scholarly apparatus.

*Students should refine their skill in using written language in multiple genres with

greater stylistic sophistication, especially in the context of argumentative strategies.

*Specifically, students will learn how to research and write about a topic. Emphasis will

be on evaluation of sources, thesis development, writing to a specific discourse

community or audience, writing as readers, and learning to read sources critically and for

analysis of the thesis and bias of the writer. A portfolio of writing and a reflective essay

will engage students in the notion of writing as a recursive activity, that is, an activity that

develops over time. Students will be expected to demonstrate college-level grammar,

punctuation, spelling, and other sentence-level skills. Students will learn proper use of

MLA format.

 


 

WRD 104 syllabus, Winter 2011 p. 2 2

 

Learning Outcomes for First year Writing:

Rhetorical Knowledge

 

By the end of FYW, students should be able to demonstrate that they can:

 

• Define and focus on a purpose or purposes

• Interpret and respond to different audiences

• Respond appropriately to different kinds of rhetorical situations

• Apply conventions of format and structure appropriate to the rhetorical situation

• Apply appropriate tone, diction, and level of formality

• Demonstrate how genres shape reading and writing

• Write in several genres

Critical Thinking, Reading and Writing

 

By the end of FYW, students should be able to demonstrate that they can:

 

• Employ writing and reading for inquiry, thinking, and communicating

• Respond and evaluate texts in multiple genres and media

• Demonstrate that a writing assignment is a series of tasks that includes finding, analyzing, and synthesizing appropriate primary and secondary sources

• Integrate their own ideas with those of others

• Interpret and explain the relationships among language, knowledge, and power Processes

 

By the end of FYW, students should to demonstrate that they can:

 

• Recognize and articulate the value of using multiple drafts to create and complete a successful text

• Exhibit flexible strategies for generating, revising, editing, and proof-reading

• Demonstrate understanding that writing is an open process that permits writers to use later invention and re-thinking to revise their work

• Explain their collaborative and social aspects of writing processes

• Critique their own and others’ works

• Apply a variety of technologies to address a range of audiences.

Knowledge of Conventions

 

By the end of FYW, students should be able to demonstrate that they can:

 

• Demonstrate competency in using common formats for different kinds of texts.

• Apply a variety of genre conventions ranging from structure and paragraphing to tone and mechanics.

• Correctly document their work.

• Correctly apply in their writing such surface features as syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

Texts and Reading Materials:

 

St. Martin’s Guide (you should have this left over from English 103)

Additional readings posted on Blackboard; you must print out these readings, annotate

them, and bring them to class for discussion

access to a dictionary

Students should bring whatever text is under discussion to class on that day.

 

Grading Information

 

Percent of final

 

course grade

Short assignments (This category includes reading responses,

film responses, annotation assignment, pop quizzes,

online library assignment, topic paper, and any other short

or draft assignments)………………………..………………………………25%

Presentation on research topic………………………………………………25%

Final Portfolio………………………………………………………………50%

 


 

WRD 104 syllabus, Winter 2011 p. 3 3

 

Grading Scale

 

Note that not turning in an assignment or being absent for a quiz automatically makes your grade for that portion of the class an “F,” which gives you zero points. Pop quizzes will be given in the first 10 minutes of the class period and are not eligible for make up.

 

90-100 A

 

 

89-80 B

 

 

79-70 C

 

 

69-60 D

 

 

59-0 F

 

Attendance and tardiness: Attendance is crucial to your success in this class and in your

life. If you are absent more than three times, you run the risk of failing this class. Coming

to class late two times equals an absence. I take attendance and I keep track of

latecomers. Students who have not attended class by the first regular class meeting after

the last day to add will not be admitted to this class. In addition, new program policy

states that you will receive a grade of F if you miss more than four class meetings.

 

Academic Integrity: Students are responsible for understanding DePaul’s Academic

Integrity Policy, which you will find online in the Student Handbook. If you violate the

Academic Integrity Policy, you will fail the course.

 

University Writing Centers: The Writing Center is a good place to go for feedback

during the quarter. They offer help in the form of tutorials. That means one-on-one

learning, which is the best way to learn anything. The Writing Center uses students as

staff. The Writing Center at the Loop Campus is in Lewis Center, 16th floor. At any time

during the quarter, I may require you to go to the Writing Center to seek help with your

writing.

 

Classroom Issues/Notes

 

1. Only one person at a time should be speaking during class. If we are having a

class discussion, participants should expect others to listen with respect. During

infrequent lectures, I will be passing on vital information for your success in the class.

Carrying on separate conversations or whispering will not be tolerated. Students who

engage in such activity will leave the class and their next graded assignment will be

reduced by one letter grade.

2. Please turn off and put away your cell phones, pagers, and all other electronic

devices before class begins. You must keep your electronic devices in your bag at all

times. Students who display such devices in class will have their next graded

assignment reduced by one letter grade and will leave the class.

3. You are welcome to bring food or something to drink to class. Please use the time

between classes to use the facilities and get a drink from the water fountain. Students

who enter and exit class during class time are disruptive and such disruptions will not be

tolerated. Students who engage in such activity will have their next graded

assignment reduced by one letter grade.

Course Schedule

 

TUE Jan 4

Introduction/Syllabus/Survey/In-class Writing

 

THUR Jan 6

Rhetorical Arguments, The Rhetorical Triangle

Discourse, Reading, and Writing in the Academy

 


 

WRD 104 syllabus, Winter 2011 p. 4 4

 

TUE Jan 11

Reading: Reading #1 from D2L

Reading #1 Annotation Assignment Due (in class)

Overview of Religion in the U.S.

 

THUR Jan 13

Reading Response Due for Reading #1 (submit via D2L)

 

TUE Jan 18

Reading: Reading #2 from D2L

 

Reading #2 Annotation Assignment Due (in class)

 

THUR Jan 20

Discuss Research Topics/Assign Research Topic Paper

 

TUE Jan 25

Topic Paper Due (in class)

Reading Response Due for Reading #2 (submit via D2L)

Discuss and Assign Annotated Bibliography

 

THUR Jan 27

Online library assignment due.

Library visit. Class will meet in the Loop Campus Library.

 

TUE Feb 1

Reading: Reading #3; Reading Annotation due in class;

Reading Response Due for Reading #3 (submit via D2L)

Students must have an approved topic by this date.

 

THUR Feb 3

MLA format, List of Works Cited, Annotated Bibliographies

Reading: Reading #4 from D2L; Reading Annotation for

Reading #4 due (in class) due and Reading Response for

Reading #4 due (submit via D2L)

Bring two of your sources to class on this day.

 

TUE Feb 8

Rough Draft Annotated Bibliography Due for Review

Bring or email a digital copy of your Annotated Bibliography

to the computer classroom on this day. Failure to bring your

annotated bibliography rough draft to class on this day will

result in the lowering of your final course grade by one letter

grade.

 

THUR Feb 10

Annotated Bibliography Due

Discuss MLA format for in text citations

Review details of research paper assignment

 

TUE Feb15

Reading: Reading #5 due; Reading Annotation for Reading #5

due in class and Reading Response for Reading #5 due (submit

via D2L)

Assign and Discuss the Presentation Assignment

 

THUR Feb 17

Research Paper Due for Peer Review

Bring a digital copy of your Research Paper to class on this

day. Failure to bring your paper to class on this day will result

in the lowering of your final course grade by one letter grade.

 


 

WRD 104 syllabus, Winter 2011 p. 5

TUE Feb 22 Research Paper Due

Assign and Discuss the Final Portfolio

5

TUE Feb 22 Research Paper Due

Assign and Discuss the Final Portfolio

 

THUR Feb 24

Reading: Reading #6 due; Reading Annotation for Reading #6

due in class and Reading Response for Reading #6 due (submit

via D2L)

 

TUE Mar 1

Final Portfolio and Reflective Essay Revision

 

Film Response Due via D2L

 

THUR Mar 3

Final Portfolio and Reflective Essay Due for Review

Bring a digital copy of your final portfolio and reflective essay

to class on this day. Failure to bring your paper to class on this

day will result in the lowering of your final course grade by one

letter grade.

 

TUE Mar 8

Presentations

 

THUR Mar 10

Presentations

 

THUR, Mar 17

Scheduled final exam time

During our final exam slot, your Final Portfolio is due. You may

turn the portfolio in early; however, you MUST turn it in by

 

2:00 pm on March 17. Your final portfolio will include the

following: a reflective essay, the revised final draft of your

research paper, the revised final draft of your annotated

bibliography, two revised reading responses, and an author's note.

You will receive a comprehensive assignment sheet detailing the

expectations of the final portfolio, which will account for 50% of

your final course grade.


 

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