Future Of Writing
Class: English 150-06
Meeting Times: Tuesday & Thursday 12:30 – 1:45 pm
Location: LBR-3233
Instructor: Katie Morrissey
Office: LBR (Bldg 6) A-317
Email: [email protected]
Office Hours: Tues/Thurs 10:00 – 11:00 am (and by appointment)
Course Description
This First Year Writing Intensive course is designed to develop first-year students’ proficiency in analytical
writing, rhetorical reading, and critical thinking by focusing on particular uses of narrative. Increasingly,
professionals, scholars, artists, and public figures recognize the use of stories across genres. Students will
acquire informed practice in using narrative in different disciplines, and become aware of storytelling as one
among a number of rhetorical strategies for inquiry. Students will be expected to give presentations as well
as write papers both in response to the reading material and in services of their own independent arguments.
Learning Outcomes
Students completing First Year Writing classes will learn to:
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Revise and improve their writing
Express themselves effectively in common college-level written forms using standard American
English
Use relevant evidence gathered through accepted scholarly methods and properly acknowledge
sources of information (General Education Framework)
Account for ways communication media and tools impact their research. Students will be familiar
with different modes of research, different digital tools and collaborative research practices.
Account for ways communication media and tools impact their writing. Students will be familiar with
different venues for interpretation and analysis, different communication tools and collaborative
writing practices.
Texts and Materials
Our readings will be uploaded to our RIT MyCourses site (http://mycourses.rit.edu). You are free to save the
articles and print your own hard copies to read. There may be readings that I expect you to print and bring to
class. I will tell you about these ahead of time.
Our class will also be using computers to screen digital texts, do media analysis, and our own writing. As
part of this class you will need access to a computer with an internet connection. There will also be times
where you need to print your work and bring multiple copies to class. Plan ahead so that you have budgeted
for printing expenses and have the materials you need. You may also need to pay $30 (est) for software or
make arrangements to work in an RIT computer lab that has the software you need. Any media you are
assigned in class will be on reserve in the library or available online.
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Course Expectations and Requirements
Your final grade is calculated in the following way:
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Attendance & Participation (15%)
Weekly Assignments (30%)
Projects (40%)
Reflective Essays (15%)
Attendance & Participation (15%)
Course participation is vital to your success in class. Your questions, opinions, feedback, and ideas are
invaluable to your classmates. We want to hear your voice! Participation is not just about being present in the
room. Your grade takes into account your contributions in class, online, and your overall preparation for class
discussion. It is important that you come prepared and ready to share your questions, ideas and insights. If
you are regularly unprepared and/or miss assignments this will seriously impact your grade. Using mobile
phones and/or other electronic devices in class for non-class related reasons will also impact your
participation grade.
Class Attendance Policies
Since this class relies heavily on the active participation and presence of all students, attendance is a
critical component of the course. You are allowed to miss 2 weeks of classes for the
semester (that’s 4 classes for T/TH sections). Beginning with the next absence after this limit,
your course grade will be lowered 1/2 letter grade for each absence. Extenuating circumstances (a
death in the family, serious illness, etc.) are considered on a case-by-case basis. However, they
generally require documentation.
Please note, the first year writing program does not differentiate between excused and
unexcused absences, so you do not need to tell me why you missed class. However, if you
anticipate exceeding the 2-week absence limit, you should contact me immediately. Any student who
misses more than 9 classes (1/3 of the course) will be given an "F" in the course.
If you fall asleep in class, this means you are not present and will be marked as absent for the day.
Being regularly late to class will also impact your grade. Two instances of being more
than 10 minutes late become one absence.
If you miss a class:
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You are still responsible for turning in your work on time. (If you cannot attend, assignments
should be posted to MyCourses or emailed to me.)
You are responsible for speaking with your classmates to collect any documents, notes or news.
Copies of all assignments will be posted on MyCourses. You are responsible for looking up this
information. I will not recap missed classes over email. However, you are welcome to come to my
office hours to review the missed material and/or address any questions you have.
You are expected to make up missed material on your time and come prepared for the next class.
Weekly Assignments (30%)
There are assignments due nearly every day of class. These will typically be reading/writing assignments due
on MyCourses by 10:00 am the day of class. There may also be times when you are asked to post work on
other days of the week (for example, when participating in group projects or preparing for in-class
workshops).
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Turning in your assignments on time and completing them in full is vital to your success in this class. Each
assignment in the sequence builds upon the last and it is important that you stay on top of this work. If an
assignment is incomplete, missing work, or I feel it is unacceptable, I will ask you to re-do it. Aside from
significant medical or family emergencies, late work will not be accepted. I may ask you for documentation to
verify the circumstances contributing to late work.
The majority of these assignments are designed to help you prepare for class and to build into your class
projects. Since these assignments are designed to help you develop your ideas, they are not individually
graded. Instead, weekly assignments will be marked as received, not received, or late/incomplete. Most of
these assignments will be used during class and many will be returned to you without comments. Submitted
work that does not directly address the assignment may be marked as “not received.” Submitted work that
only partially addresses the assignment may be marked “incomplete.”
Projects (40%) & Reflective Essays (15%)
Our major class projects will consist of:
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Interpretive Projects
(Two traditional interpretive essays, one digital remix project, and a major revision.)
Four Reflective Essays
We will spend time in class prepping for these assignments. The weekly MyCourses assignments are
designed to help you develop these projects over time.
Grading and Assessment
Here is a breakdown of how grades are assigned in this class:
A:
Excellent work. Student goes well beyond minimum assignment requirements. Student pushes
themselves and their skills, is conscious of their peers, makes strong and useful contributions to class
discussions, and makes significant effort to collaborate with peers. Student’s work is original,
inventive and creative. Work uses clear and focused arguments that are accompanied by careful use
of strong evidence and analysis. Work is well organized, clearly written, and communicates its ideas
in effective and compelling ways.
B:
Above average work. Student exceeds minimum assignment requirements. Student pushes
themselves and their skills, is conscious of their peers, makes regular contributions to class
discussions, and regularly collaborates with their peers. Student’s work has clear and focused
arguments that are accompanied by strong evidence and analysis. Work is organized and
communicates its ideas effectively ways.
C:
Average work. Student meets minimum assignment requirements and class participation
requirements. Student’s work is relatively organized and coherent.
D:
Below average work. Student work does not meet or only meets a few of the minimum assignment
requirements and class participation requirements. Student’s work may struggle with organization
and coherency issues.
F:
Unsatisfactory work. Student work does not meet minimum assignment requirements and class
participation requirements. Student’s work may struggle with significant organization and coherency
issues.
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Work Submission Requirements
Most of your work this semester will be submitted on MyCourses. Feedback will be giving using the TurnItIn
commenting/grading features built into MyCourses. Documents uploaded to MyCourses can only be
submitted in the following formats: .doc, .docx, .rtf, .pdf. The TurnItIn commenting options on MyCourses
do not work well with .odt, .pages, and .wps files. If your word processing software does not automatically
save in one of the acceptable file formats, it is your responsibility to convert your work as needed. If you have
questions about converting files or using MyCourses, please see me or ask the IT Help Desk.
Email
I will frequently use email to contact the class. Make sure you have access to your rit.edu email address and
be careful to regularly check your email, even on the days we do not have class. Missing an email will not
excuse you from missed assignments or late work.
You are also welcome to email me with any questions and concerns you have about the class or your work. I
generally respond to email quickly and you can expect a response in 24 hours. If you do not receive a
response from me in 1-2 days, please email me again. I do receive a lot of email daily. It's rare, but
occasionally someone gets lost in the shuffle or inexplicably stuck in a spam/junk mail filter. Failure to followup with me regarding emails or questions asked in class will not excuse you from missed assignments or late
work.
Technology in the Classroom
Smartphones and computers can be helpful tools and we will often use them as part of our work in class.
Due to this, you are encouraged to bring technology to class. However, it is expected that you will turn off
the ringers on your phones and only use these tools for class-related purposes. I reserve the right to ask
anyone abusing this policy to put away their devices and/or leave the class.
Course Screenings & Lab Time
In addition to weekly readings and traditional writing assignments, we will also be using computers to
produce an array of digital writing assignments. To facilitate the digital projects, there will be times when we
meet in a campus computer lab instead of our regular classroom. Projects will often be started during class
time, however many of these will not be finished during class. Instead, you are responsible for completing the
work outside of class (either individually or with your group).
Lab time and in-class assignments are part of the work we do as a class and your attendance is expected. If
you miss these meetings it will be counted as an absence.
Content Warning
During this semester we will be discussing a variety of subjects and looking at materials that may represent
beliefs and life experiences that are different than your own. The materials for this course may contain adult
material. If you have any reservations, for whatever reason, about watching, reading, or discussing certain
types of content, contact me during the first week of class.
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RIT Honor Code & Academic Integrity Policies
As an institution of higher learning, RIT expects students to behave honestly and ethically at all times,
especially when submitting work for evaluation in conjunction with any course or degree requirement. All
students are encouraged to become familiar with the RIT Honor Code and with RIT's Academic Integrity
Policy. The RIT policy on Academic Integrity is online: http://www.rit.edu/~w-policy/sectionD/D8.html
“As members of an academic community, both students and faculty share responsibility for maintaining high
standards of personal and professional integrity. If a student violates these standards, the Academic Integrity
Process affords a fair resolution. The committee outlined herein may be called upon to hear cases where a
breach of student academic integrity is alleged by instructor. In all cases, it is the responsibility of any
university representatives to render fair and appropriate decisions reaffirming standards of integrity expected
in the academic community.” (RIT policy introduction)
RIT Honor Code URL: http://www.rit.edu/academicaffairs/policiesmanual/sectionA/honorcode.html
Student Accommodations
RIT is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities. If you would like to
request accommodations such as special seating or testing modifications due to a disability, please contact
the Disability Services Office. It is located in the Student Alumni Union, Room 1150; the Web site is
www.rit.edu/dso. After you receive accommodation approval, it is imperative that you see me during office
hours so that we can work out whatever arrangement is necessary.
Writing Commons Resource Information
The UWP Writing Commons provides free writing instruction for all RIT students at any stage of the writing
process. Located on the first floor of the Wallace Center, the Writing Commons is staffed by peer and
professional writing consultants with diverse backgrounds and from a variety of academic disciplines.
Whether you need help getting started, organizing your thoughts, developing ideas, struggle with grammar
and mechanical issues, using sources effectively or properly formatting your citations, we help students
develop productive writing habits and revision strategies. For more information, or to schedule an
appointment, go to: http://www.rit.edu/WritingCommons.
Finally…
Remember that this syllabus and the course calendar are subject to some change over the course of the
semester. Always defer to the most recent version of the syllabus and course calendar. These are kept
current on our MyCourses site.
Whew! Did you read all that? If so, now you’re ready to get started! J
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Course Schedule
Tuesday
Thursday
Week 1
1/27 – Introduction to the class.
1/29 – Argument & Rhetorical Analysis
READ: Intro to Rhet Analysis; DUE: R1
Week 2
2/3 – Unit 1: Blogs & Analysis
READ: New Literacies, Blogs; DUE: B1
2/5 – Begin analysis & blogging.
READ: Fun Home (excerpts); DUE: B2
Week 3
2/10 –
READ: Structure of Narrative; DUE: B3
2/12 – Work on essay #1 ideas/questions.
READ: Surface of Narrative; DUE: B4
Week 4
2/17 – Workshop essay #1 drafts.
DUE: B5
2/19 – Continue working on essay #1.
DUE: B6
PROJECT 1 DUE SAT. 2/21 by 11:59pm.
Week 5
2/24 – Unit 2: Wikis & Analysis
READ: Wikis; DUE: R2
2/26 – Begin analysis & wiki work.
READ: Read Persepolis (excerpts); DUE: C1
Week 6
3/3 – Class meets in lab today.
READ: Reread narrative chapters, DUE: C2
3/5 – Class meets in lab today.
READ: Reread all relevant texts; DUE: C3
Week 7
3/10 – Wiki complete. Work on essay ideas.
DUE: C4
3/12 – Begin drafting essay #2.
DUE: C5
Week 8
3/17 – Workshop essay #2 drafts.
DUE: C6
3/19 – Continue working on essay #2.
DUE: C7
PROJECT 2 DUE SAT. 3/21 by 11:59pm.
Week 9
3/24 – 3/26 – SPRING BREAK
Week 10
3/31– Unit 3: Argument via remix.
READ: Remix; DUE: R3
4/2 – Class held online today.
Begin planning remix project. DUE: D1
Week 11
4/7 – Begin working on remix projects.
DUE: D2
4/9 – Working Day
DUE: D3
Week 12
4/14 – Working Day
DUE: D4
4/16 – Remix drafts due.
DUE: D5
Week 13
4/21 – Workshop remix drafts.
DUE: D6
4/23 – Tentatively: Remix screenings.
DUE: D7
TENTATIVE DEADLINE: PROJECT 3 DUE THURS. 4/23 by 10:00 am. (May be pushed to weekend)
Week 14
4/28 – Remix screenings.
DUE: R3
4/30 – Revisit argument & analysis.
DUE: E1
Week 15
5/5 – Begin revisions.
DUE: E2
5/7– Revision drafts due.
DUE: E3
Week 16
5/12 – Workshop revisions.
DUE: E4
FINALS
FINAL REVISIONS & FINAL REFLECTIONS DUE WED., 5/20 by 11:59pm.
Note: This schedule is tentative and subject to some change. Always defer to current version on MyCourses.
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