Week 1 — Jan 19-22
“What is Academic Writing?‘ by Lennie L. Irvin in Writing Spaces, Vol 1.
Pp. 355-369 in A Writer’s Reference
*“Pastoral Romance‘ by Brent Cunningham in Lapham’s Quarterly
*“Eating Myself Silly‘ by Adam Platt in Conde Nast Traveler
| Discussion 1 | 30 |
| 1-Page Introduction (Student Assessment) | 20 |
Week 2 — Jan 23-29
“Beyond Black on White: Document Design and Formatting in the Writing Classroom‘ by Michael J. Klein and Kristi L. Shackelford in Writing Spaces, Vol 2.
Pp. 408-412 in A Writer’s Reference
* “Treasure Hunt‘ by Alain de Botton in Lapham’s Quarterly
* “State of Play‘ by Mike Deri Smith in The Morning News
| Discussion 2 | 30 |
| MLA Quiz | 20 |
Week 3 — Jan 30- Feb 5
“Everything Changes, or Why MLA Isn’t (Always) Right‘ by Janice R. Walker in Writing Spaces, Vol 2.
* “Hitting Bottom‘ by Chris Norris from The New York Times
| Discussion 3 | 30 |
| Paper 1 (Analysis Essay) | 100 |
Week 4 — Feb 6-12
“The Sixth Paragraph: A Re-Vision of the Essay‘ by Paul Lynch in Writing Spaces, Vol 2.
* “What Defines a Meme?‘ by James Gleick in Smithsonian magazine
| Discussion 4 | 30 |
| Paragraph Exercises | 20 |
Week 5 — Feb 13-19
“Critical Thinking in College Writing: From the Personal to the Academic‘ by Gita DasBender in Writing Spaces, Vol 2
* “Confessions of a Former Environmental Skeptic‘ by Michael Shermer
Wikipedia entry on “Logical Fallacies‘
| Discussion 5 | 30 |
| Paper 1 Revision | variable |
Week 6 — Feb 20-26
“From Topic to Presentation: Making Choices to Develop Your Writing‘ by Beth L. Hewett in Writing Spaces, Vol 1.
“Taking Flight: Connecting Inner and Outer Realities during Invention‘ by Susan E. Antlitz in Writing Spaces, Vol 1.
* “Darkness Too Visible‘ by Megan Cox Gurdon in the Wall Street Journal
* “Why the Best Kids Books are Written in Blood‘ a response to Ms. Gurdon by Sherman Alexie in the Wall Street Journal
| Discussion 6 | 30 |
| Grammar Exercises | 20 |
Week 7 — Feb 27- Mar 4
“On the Other Hand: The Role of Antithetical Writing in First Year Composition Courses‘ by Steven D. Krause in Writing Spaces, Vol 2.
* “The Huffington Post is Crazy About Your Health‘ by Rahul K. Parikh in Salon
| Discussion 7 | 30 |
| Paper 2 (Comparison Essay) | 100 |
Week 8 — Mar 5-11
Pp. 123-160 in A Writer’s Reference (Section W)
* “The Ecstasy of Influence: a Plagiarism‘ by Jonothan Lethem in Harper’s Magazine
* “It’s Not Plagiarism. In the Digital Age, It’s ‘Repurposing’‘ a response to Lethem by Kenneth Goldsmith in The Chronicle
| Discussion 8 | 30 |
Spring Break Week — Mar 12-18
Week 9 — Mar 19-25
“Why Visit Your Campus Writing Center?‘ by Ben Rafoth in Writing Spaces, Vol 1.
* “The Gospel According to Andrew Carnegie‘ From “Wealth,” an article published in the North American Review.
| Discussion 9 | 30 |
| Paper 2 Revision (Comparison Essay) | variable |
Week 10 — Mar 26- Apr 1
“Finding the Good Argument OR Why Bother With Logic?‘ by Rebecca Jones in Writing Spaces, Vol 2.
Section A-2 in A Writer’s Reference (pp. 67-90)
* “Consider the Lobster‘ by David Foster Wallace from Gourmet Magazine
| Discussion 10 | 30 |
| Paper 3 (Argumentative Essay) | 100 |
Week 11 — Apr 2-8
“Walk, Talk, Cook, Eat: A Guide to Using Sources‘ by Cynthia R. Haller in Writing Spaces, Vol 2.
* “Annoying Ways People Use Sources‘ by Kyle D. Stedman in Writing Spaces, Vol 2.
Individual Student Research
| Research Paper Topic Proposal | 20 |
| Research Samples | 20 |
Week 12 — Apr 9-15
“Reading Games: Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources‘ by Karen Rosenberg in Writing Spaces, Vol 2
Pages 1-8 in “Crafting Your Query by using Special Characters” Pages 1-8 are linked on the main page.
Purdue OWL’s entry on “Annotated Bibliographies” and the “Bibliography Samples”
Individual Student Research
| Annotated Bibliography (10 sources) | 20 |
| Paper 3 Revision (Argumentative Essay) | variable |
Week 13 — Apr 16-22
“Introduction to Primary Research: Observations, Surveys, and Interviews‘ by Dana Lynn Driscoll in Writing Spaces, Vol 2.
Individual Student Research
| Research Paper Draft 1 | 50 |
| Annotated Bibliography (5 additional sources) | 20 |
Week 14 — Apr 23-29
“Wikipedia Is Good for You!?‘ by James P. Purdy in Writing Spaces, Vol 1.
“Googlepedia: Turning Information Behaviors into Research Skills‘ by Randall McClure in Writing Spaces, Vol 2.
Individual Student Research
| Research Paper Draft 2 | 50 |
| Research Paper Outline | 20 |
Week 15 — Apr 30- May 6
“Reflective Writing and the Revision Process: What Were You Thinking?‘ by Sandra L. Giles in Writing Spaces, Vol 1.
| Research Paper Final Draft | 100 |
| Reflective Memo | 20 |
Week 16 — May 7-13
Finals Week. Grades Due 5/16 at noon.