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Teaching English 110 - Composition
I English 120 - Composition II (Spring 2005) English 275 - Introduction to Writing Studies English 320 - Practical Writing Engineering 320 - Technical Communication English 358 - Intermediate Composition English 357 - English 458/658 - Advanced Writing Workshop English 457- Electronic Communication (Spring 2006) English 755 - Composition Theory English 757 - Composition Studies English 758 - Composition and Rhetoric
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English 358: Intermediate CompositionLast taught: Fall 2000 Texts Media Journal: Reading and Writing about Popular Culture. Second Edition. Joseph Harris, Jay Rosen, and Gary Calpas. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1999. Course Description and Objectives Intermediate composition is first and foremost a writing class–we will focus on how essays are written as much as we will focus on what they say. We will also discuss and explore how writing is central to the production of knowledge, whether one is drawing on personal experience, observation, or analysis and synthesis of others’ ideas. And finally, we will try to learn something about popular culture and the education of our vision–the way we look at the world. I have chosen popular culture as a topical focus for the course because composition courses generally benefit from a thematic focus and all of us have a wealth of knowledge about this topic already. I have sharpened that focus a little bit by emphasizing in the assignments ("stargazing," "looking around," and "offering insight") the need to be self-conscious about the way we look at the world. In addition to improving your writing, then, I hope that you will think carefully about the role of popular culture in your life and the way one of our "natural" senses, sight, is culturally shaped. More specifically, the objectives of this course are:
All three major essays will go through a cycle of two drafts with peer reviews and an editing session. I have suggested a due date for each essay, but I want you to take as much time as necessary (within the limits of your school, work, and social schedules) to complete the assignments to your satisfaction. The only firm deadline I am going to put on an essay is Friday, December 15; you can hand in revised drafts of all 3 essays at that point if you chose to. Being able to manage your time will be a necessary component for completing drafts after we have moved on from a unit. I will give you a grade out of 200 points for any paper you submit after the 2nd draft, but any subsequent drafts will get a new grade (no averaging). Essay 1: Stargazing: Writing about people and celebrity Writers often try to understand themselves and others through their writing. For this assignment, I would like you to try and explain, or make an implicit argument, as to why you are (or have been) attracted to a particular celebrity or celebrities. You will need to figure out what it is about the person or people that makes them interesting to you, and what it is about you that makes you receptive or vulnerable to that kind of person. If you don’t have any particular star attractions, find someone who does and figure that person out. Or figure out our general cultural/societal interest in celebrities, using a few chosen stars for your examples. Draw on personal experience and memories, observation of the celebrity (via appropriate mediums), observation of others’ attitudes towards that celebrity or celebrities, what the star has said about him or herself, and what others have said about the star. Make use of writing strategies discussed in class, strategies modeled in the readings we do, and peer feedback you receive. I expect that you will use first-person narration, but I am open to essays written using different, or multiple, perspectives. Essay 2: Looking Around: Writing about everyday people and places When writers aren’t writing about the rich and famous, they are often taking a close look at everyday life, places and people often overlooked by our celebrity-hungry society. This assignment asks you to look carefully at an overlooked or out of the way place, and the people who inhabit, or pass through, that place. Explain, or make an implicit argument, about why people come to (or pass through) that place, and what that place might mean to those people. While you can write about a place you are familiar with, I encourage you to explore a place you are unfamiliar with. You will do considerable "fieldwork" for this assignment–observation of a place, detailaed description of objects and people, interviews, mapping, etc. This fieldwork should be the basis of your essay, although you should also keep close track of your own responses and thoughts while doing the work–your experience might end up being a central part of the essay too. Secondary research on your kind of place might help you understand how your observations fit into, or challenge, accepted views of everyday places. First-person, third-person, or multiple perspectives are acceptable–be sure to include the voices of the people you are writing about. Essay 3: Offering Insight: Writing about seeing the world differently A common argumentative pattern in literary and cultural criticism (academic writing about literature or culture) is to say "most people see this poem/story/novel/event one way, but I think you should look at it from this (my) perspective." For this assignment, I would like to you write about an issue or aspect of popular culture (television show(s), musical artist(s) or style(s), genre of movie, etc.) that you think is misunderstood (either given more or less praise/respect than it deserves). Identify and describe your issue or aspect of popular culture, summarize how other people (primarily other writers) see the issue or pop culture product, and tell your readers how and why they should see the issue or product differently. You don’t need to approach the essay in this three-step format, however; we will look at some excellent examples of personal narratives that do all of these things in a much less rigid form. You will need to do some observational research (watch TV or movies, listen to music, read magazines, etc), and you will need to do some secondary research (find out what others have said about your topic or pop culture product). You can write this essay using a first-person perspective as long as the final product incorporates your research, or you can choose the more academic third-person. Multiple perspectives, as always, are welcome. ‘Zine essays: Looking good The class will be divided into two groups, each responsible for putting together a web ‘zine. You will prepare two of your essays for publication on the Web–one in each ‘zine. The publishing teams will give you editing comments, and certain design guidelines, but you will be responsible for adding any color, pictures, visually interesting elements, links, etc. An essay about a celebrity, for example, should probably contain a picture of that celebrity, and a link to appropriate fan web pages. I don’t expect bells and whistles, just a sense of design and style. |
Research Recently published "Remediation, Genre, and Motivation: Key Concepts for Teaching with Weblogs." Into the Blogosphere. Ed. Laura Gurak et al. University of Minnesota, 2004. "The McLuhan Retrieval Reviewed." Kairos 9.1, 2004. In-progress "Changing the Ground of Graduate Education: Wireless Laptops Bring Stability rather than Mobility to Graduate Teaching Assistants." Book chapter. McLuhan for Compositionists. Book project. Other Stuff The annual Regional Studies Lecture, which I have co-ordinated since spring 2001.
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