The syllabus is online at: www.risingpress.org/cnu
In this class...
You're going to read about what's going on in the world as it happens. Our textbook is the Sunday New York Times, mostly from the "Sunday Review" section.
You're going to interview several people on and/or off campus.
We're going to talk a lot in this class about culture, social issues and topics in the news.
Our focus in writing, per se, will be on exposition, interview, argument and research. We will be explaining things (exposition), interviewing people face-to-face and arguing an informed position. In all of your writing, you will consult authoritative sources (research) to complicate and contextualize your work.
Let's say that you enjoyed the New York Times Op-Ed essay on why algebra should no longer be required for everyone. You would do some research in education journals, in media such as the New York Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and other authoritative sources in databases such as ProQuest, as well as interview a local high school algebra teacher and a college math professor on campus. You begin your foray into this algebra project convinced that algebra should be banned. But maybe a funny thing happens during your wide reading and research. Maybe you decide that leaving college math instruction up to the folks at Toyota, at a new factory in Mississippi (this is true), is not such a good idea, after all. Armed with lots of reading and research, you disagree with Andrew Hacker's claim in "Is Algebra Necessary?" You are persuasive because a) you have an opinion, b) you have read widely and are informed and c) you assert a clear, focused thesis and support it well.
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Goals of the class (to reiterate, a bit more formally):
• To develop one's own informed, critical understanding and interpretation of complex texts, especially argument.
• To assert and support your own informed opinion and/or assessment of texts in a thesis-driven essay.
• To develop research to support your writing in three genres—argument, exposition (researched backgrounders) and interviewing (gathering, analyzing and synthesizing information).
• To develop and use vocabulary appropriate to a given subject in a formal, academic essay. No slang. No colloquialisms.
• To develop writing habits for successful college writing, to include mastery of thesis development, grammar and sentence control and editing skills.
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Texts
• Sunday New York Times—online. You will be required to print out the stories that we read together as a class and the stories that you write about.
• Student's Guide to Writing College Papers, 4th ed., Turabian
How it will go
Tuesdays—discussion, quizzes, in-class writing on readings from the Sunday New York Times, either readings that I have alerted you to Sunday afternoon or, as the semester progresses, readings that you have picked yourself. Come with print-outs, with underlining and with a 50-word synopsis/summary of each reading. Typically, we'll do two readings.
Thursdays—workshop in critical thinking, analysis and synthesis (pulling ideas together to make sense of them). In-class writing. For those presenting symposium papers on Friday, formulate a working thesis and get my approval to write the paper by Wednesday afternoon.
—Symposium. Up to five students per symposium present their work to the class in roundtable fashion. (See more details below under "Requirements.")
sym·po·si·um
[sim-poh-zee-uhm]
noun, plural sym·po·si·ums, sym·po·si·a [-zee-uh]
1. a meeting or conference for the discussion of some subject, especially a meeting at which several speakers talk on or discuss a topic before an audience.
2. a collection of opinions expressed or articles contributed by several persons on a given subject or topic.
3. an account of a discussion meeting or of the conversation at it.
4. (in ancient Greece and Rome) a convivial meeting, usually following a dinner, for drinking and intellectual conversation.
5. (initial capital letter, italics ) a philosophical dialogue (4th century b.c.) by Plato, dealing with ideal love and the vision of absolute beauty.
Requirements
• Three 250-word symposium papers—50%
Symposia 1-3: Backgrounder Summary
Symposia 4-6: Interview & Research
Symposia 8-10: Argument
You will present your symposium papers to your classmates, who will respond actively. Your 250-word symposium papers will be on topics that grow out of our Tuesday readings and your individual research. Formulate a working thesis and get my approval before writing the paper.
Papers are typed, polished and proofread. Use 12 point Courier or Courier New, double-spaced.
• Unannounced Writing—25%
Frequent, mostly in-class writing to include quizzes, symposia responses and our Comprehensive Assessment during finals week.
• Term paper—with revised rough draft (1,500 words) 25%
This paper is the result of an entire semester of reading and thinking and, to be successful, it needs to develop throughout the semester as the result of work that is documented in your journal, shorter writing assignments and the Symposium papers. That is, you will be using, building on and polishing your earlier work for the Term Paper.
The paper will assert an arguable thesis which is supported by evidence from broad reading and research and may include face-to-face interviews, if they are demonstrably relevant. Keep a reading / interview journal from the first week of class, noting your critical thoughts as you read from the New York Times and any source you explore in your research.
Submit the paper in a paper folder with the final draft on top, with rough drafts, research notes in typescript or handwriting, any photocopies or print-outs you have used and your Reading / Interview Journal.
• Successful Writing Skills
You'll need to pay attention to developing clarity and appropriate diction (word choice), style and grammar in sentences and paragraphs. You'll need, furthermore, to be responsive to errors that I note in your writing. What does that mean? If I note that you have comma-spliced sentences, if I note that paragraphs are wordy or if I suggest that your thesis is weak or diffuse, I'll expect to see in your next work that you have worked demonstrably to improve. This is important.
• Help with Writing Outside of Class
Come see me any time for help with your writing. You can also take advantage of the Writing Center for friendly help from a trained student writing consultant.
• Your Course Grade
You need to earn a course grade of C- to get credit for fulfilling this component of the Liberal Learning Core.
Assignments
1/9—introduction
1/14
• New York Times readings
• "Shocking Truth about Piranhas," Richard Conniff
• "Kale? Juicing? Trouble Ahead," Jennifer Berman
1/16
• workshop
• Turabian pp. 1-9
• Turabian pp. 89-98 Exposition: Writing a Backgrounder Summary
1/21
• New York Times readings
• "How to Help Men? By Helping Women," Coontz
• "The War on Women," Douthat
• Turabian pp. 1-9
• Turabian pp. 89-98 Exposition: Writing a Backgrounder Summary
1/23
• symposium 1—Backgrounder Summary
• workshop
• Turabian pp. 10-25: Topic, Question, Significance
1/28
• snow day—class canceled
•
1/30
• another snow day!
2/4
• New York Times readings
• "Chinese Mothers?"
• Turabian pp. 26-39: Question the Obvious
• symposium 2—Backgrounder Summary
2/6
• symposium 3—Backgrounder Summary
• workshop
• Turabian pp. 39-43 The Working Hypothesis
• Turabian pp. 44-62 Finding & Engaging Sources
2/11
• Five-article summary
2/13
• symposium 4—Interview & Research
• workshop
• Turabian pp. 63-82 Planning & Developing your Argument
2/18
• Readings
• "The All-or-Nothing Marriage," Eli. J. Finkel
• "Parental Pity Party," Ross Douthat
• symposium 5—Interview & Research
• workshop
• Turabian pp. 83-98 Drafting, Quoting & Paraphrasing
• Turabian pp. 99-103 Avoiding Plagiarism
2/20
• workshop
2/25
• New York Times readings
Midterm grades due
2/27
• No class. I'll be presenting a paper at a Washington, D.C., conference.
3/4
• spring break
3/6
•spring break
3/11
• New York Times readings
• "The Fat Drug," Pagan Kennedy
• "Inheriting Stress, Inna Gaisler-Salomon
3/13
• symposium 6—Interview & Research
• workshop
3/18
• New York Times readings
3/20
• symposium 7—Let's Talk More About Argument
• workshop
3/25
• Three substantive readings of your choice on your topic. Bring one 250-word summary of all three.
• Turabian, Chapt. 22 "Punctuation"
• Useful guide for comma use
• workshop
3/27
• symposium 8—Argument
• workshop
4/1
• Three substantive readings of your choice on your topic. Bring one 250-word summary of all three.
4/3
• symposium 9—Argument
• workshop
4/8
• Three substantive readings of your choice on your topic. Bring one 250-word summary of all three.
4/10
• symposium 10—Argument
4/15
• conferences, reading and research
4/17
• conferences, reading and research
4/22
• conferences, reading and research
4/24
• Term Paper due in class
4/30, Wednesday, 5-7 p.m.
• Final / Comprehensive assessment
Reading & Thinking Come First
You're going to develop your critical thinking skills, and little else is as important as you look forward to a successful college experience and career beyond that. Actually, nothing else is as important.
The ability to read widely and critically, and to think analytically and synthetically (to pull things together and make sense of them) is essential to success in both the academic and professional worlds.
Writing, it turns out, is part of thinking. It helps you develop and refine your thinking. The ancient Greeks believed that we think, then express. That is, writing as expression suggests that we squeeze—ex-press—meaning, as we express juice out of an orange. But it doesn't work that way. Writing is a critical part of the thinking process because it allows us not only to shape and polish our thoughts, but to discover just what it is that we mean. Have you ever noticed that your thesis doesn't seem to pop out until the end of a rough draft? Right. That's discovery!
So, thinking and writing are skills that we use synergistically to explore the world and—here is the pay-off—to make sense of it.
General Course Policies
Attendance
Not Attending Class Can Result in Failure of Course.
You may miss two classes without any penalty or consequence. You are responsible for the material covered, of course.
Additional absences will result in reduction of your final course grade.
That means that a "B" in all of your coursework can become a "C," if you have excessive absences. It also means that a passing grade for the course can become a failing grade for the course.
In the case of an emergency, contact me as soon as possible. Emergency absences can be excused, and I may ask for documentation.
Coming Late to Class & Waltzing In and Out
Walking in late is disruptive and counts as absence, as does walking in and out during class. If you have a special, documented need, let me know.
Office Hours
My door is always open, and I am happy to see you during my office hours, as well as other times that I'm in my office. Drop by or call or e-mail to see if I'm in. You are welcome anytime to come by and talk about your class work in general, or about a specific reading or essay draft on which you are working. If you're just plain stumped about what a comma-spliced sentence is, come in for chat.
Learning Disabilities
CNU Disability Policy: Students with documented disabilities are required to notify the instructor on the first day of class and in private if accommodation is needed. The instructor will provide students with disabilities with all reasonable accommodations, but they are not exempted from fulfilling the normal requirements of the course. Work completed before the student notifies the instructor of his/her disability may be counted toward the final grade at the sole discretion of the instructor.
If you believe that you have a disability, you should make an appointment to see me to discuss your needs. In order to receive an accommodation, your disability must be on record in the Dean of Students’ office, 3rd Floor David Student Union/DSU (Telephone: 594-7160).
CNU Success Policy
We want you to succeed at CNU; therefore I may notify the Academic Advising Center if you seem to be having problems with this course. Someone may contact you to help you determine what help you need to succeed. You will be sent a copy of the referral form. I invite you to see me at any time that I can be of assistance in helping your with the course material.
Complete All Work
You must complete all work by the last day of class to receive a passing grade.
Incompletes
Given only in extraordinary circumstances. Plan to complete work by last day of class. Not completing the work results in an "F," not an "I."