English 3210: Advanced College Writing
Dr. Scott Rogers
T/Th 8:30 – 9:45 | SS 333
Office: SS 346 | Phone: x7502 | Email: [email protected]
Course Web Site: http://faculty.weber.edu/srogers
Course
Composition provides students an introduction to the general requirements of
academic essay-writing; introduction to literature provides further experience
with this process. English 3210 seeks to build upon these experiences by
introducing students to the processes involved in writing academic essays
about literature. Too often, students find themselves in upper-division English
classes with little or no sense of how one goes about writing an academic
essay for an English class. This class will attempt to equip students not only
with a clear sense of how an academic essay in English “works,” but also with
a more involved sense of the processes academic writers go through when
they write. To this end, students will hone their argumentative skills with
position papers; they will gain a familiarity with academic journals and essays
through article treatments; they will write an abstract/proposal; they will write
and deliver a conference paper. Finally, the primary focus of the course will
be on the major essay, which will be heavily workshopped. In the end,
students in this course should leave with both a thorough understanding of
the process of writing academic essays in English and the skills necessary to
compose those essays for their other classes.
Textbooks
I have done my best to both keep this class about your writing and keep it
cheap. The only text you will need to purchase is Graham Swift’s novel
Waterland. I have ordered 25 copies through the bookstore, but you may
purchase a copy wherever you like. All other texts will be made available as
PDFs which you can download from the course web site. I will make no
photocopies of any texts, and so you should familiarize yourself with
the process of downloading and printing them if you are worried. If you
have slow internet access at home, I suggest you use the facilities on
campus deal with these handouts.
Requirements
Although it may seem that there are very few requirements here, do not be
fooled: You will be busy this semester.
Position Papers (5): 10%
Article Treatments (5): 10%
Workshop: 20% (40% responses, 60% draft grade)
Proposal/Abstract: 5%
Conference Paper: 20%
Major Essay: 35%
Assignments
Hereʼs how itʼs all going to work:
Position Papers: Over the course of the semester you will write five (5)
position papers. These are short, two page analyses/close
readings/arguments about a text. Because you only have two pages, you will
need to be very careful about what you choose to write. The purpose of these
papers is to force you to be concise and to cut out deadwood in your writing
and thinking. Ideally, you should focus on a single line or a single image in
the text. These must be written about the texts we read at the beginning of
the class, and should be turned in on the day we read that particular text (e.g.
if youʼre writing about “Dover Beach,” you must turn it in on the day we
discuss it). I cannot emphasize enough that you should work to get these
done quickly.
Article Treatments: One of the most important things we will do this
semester is read actual articles by actual academics writing about the texts
we are reading. These treatments are to be composed of three parts: 1) a
summary of the articleʼs argument, 2) a brief outline of the high points of the
article, and 3) an evaluation of the articleʼs argument—do not waste time
critiquing the writing; focus on the argument. Although we will read academic
essays with each text assigned, you will need to find other articles for your
treatments. To do this, you will need to use the libraryʼs MLA and JSTOR
databases. You may also write treatments of articles you plan on using for
your major essay. These must be turned in before you workshop your paper.
I will accept no more than two (2) of these at a time. NB: I do not want
treatments of articles from journals like Notes and Queries or The
Explicator. These tend to be too brief for you to do an adequate
treatment.
Proposal/Abstract: In the world of academic writing, abstracts are crucial.
When submitting papers or conferences or for consideration for publication,
we write abstracts of our work—that is, we write brief (250 word, usually)
descriptions of our argument so that others can get a sense of what weʼre
arguing—or planning to argue. In this assignment, you will provide a sense of
what is it you will argue in your conference paper, which will turn into your
major essay.
Conference Paper: For academics, the conference paper is one of the most
valuable tools we keep in our belts. There are hundreds of conferences every
year in the US alone, and they are where academic writers gather to gather
feedback on their arguments. Presentations at these conferences take place
in panels of usually four readers, each of which is granted 15-20 minutes to
read a paper. After all the papers on the panel have been read, there are 15
minutes for questions from the attendants. The idea is that these papers will
eventually be revised into full-dress arguments. We will attempt to simulate
this process, so think of this as an initial stab at your major essay.
Workshop: The workshop element of this course is far and away the most
important element of it. Here is how the workshops will work: We will go
through a minimum of two essays per class period. The students whose work
is under consideration that day will supply two copies of their essay—one for
me and one for each student in the class—to the class before their essay is to
be workshopped. We can discuss distributing them electronically. Your
grade for the workshop will be composed of two parts: 40% your workshop
responses to your peers and 60% the grade you receive on your workshop
draft.
Major Essay: The primary currency of academic writers is the article.
Depending upon the specific journalʼs requirements, these articles can range
from the very short (5-10 pages) to the very long (30-35). Most journals
expect drafts in the range of 15-25 pages. Your final essay should be a
minimum of 15 pages.
Policies
Attendance: This is a class that depends upon your presence in order for us
to discuss the texts under consideration. Because of this, attendance is
mandatory. I will take roll every day. You may miss 4 times without penalty.
After the 4th absence, one-half letter grade (5 points) will be deducted from
your final grade for each absence.
Plagiarism: Plagiarism will result in failure of the course. Plagiarism is the
attempt to perpetrate an academic fraud by claiming another’s work as your
own. It will not be tolerated. The WSU Student Code defines plagiarism as
“the unacknowledged (uncited) use of any other person or group's ideas or
work” (Section 6-22, part IV, subsection D). Any attempt to claim credit
another’s work, in whole or in part, is a violation of this policy and is regarded
by the English department as a serious offense.
Late Work: I will not accept late daily work, so get it in early if you have to
miss. I will accept it via email if you cannot turn them in during class, but
bring a hard copy to the next class you attend.
Behavior: I expect you to behave civilly and respectfully to both me and your
classmates at all times. Disrespectful or threatening behavior will not be
tolerated and will be penalized. Doing work for other classes (or goofing off,
reading magazines, etc.) will not be tolerated, and any students engaged in
such conduct will be asked to leave and counted absent. Additionally, it is
imperative that you develop a fairly thick skin with regard to the workshops.
All major writing assignments in this class are public, and all comments will be
geared toward making your writing better.
Accommodations
Any student requiring accommodations or services due to a disability must
contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) in Room 181 of the
Student Service Center. SSD can also arrange to provide materials (including
this syllabus) in alternative formats if necessary.
Weber State University recognizes that there are times when course content
may differ from a student's core beliefs. Faculty, however, have a
responsibility to teach content that is related to the discipline and that has a
reasonable relationship to pedagogical goals. If you, as a student, believe
that the content of the course conflicts with your ability to pursue a topic, you
may request a resolution from the instructor. Please see WSU policy 6-22 for
further clarification on this policy.
The Order Of Things
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
T 1/8
Introductions, syllabus
Th 1/10
Marquez, “A Very Old Man With
Enormous Wings” (PDF)
T 1/15
Anderson, "Hands" (PDF); Elledge,
"Dante's Lovers In Sherwood Anderson's
'Hands'" (PDF)
Th 1/17
Dubus, “A Father’s Story” (PDF); Ferriss,
“’Never Truly Members’: Andre Dubus’s
Patriarchal Catholicism” (PDF)
T 1/22
Arnold, "Dover Beach" (PDF); Svensson,
"A Note on 'Dover Beach,' Lines 21-23"
(PDF); Ulmer, "The 'Bright Girdle' of
'Dover Beach'" (PDF); Yeats, "The
Second Coming" (PDF); Murpy, “The
‘Rough Beast’ and Historical Necessity”
(PDF)
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Th 1/24
Kafka, "A Hunger Artist" (PDF);
Sheppard, “Kafka’s ‘Ein Hungerkunstler’:
A Reconsideration” (PDF)
T 1/29
Rossetti, “Goblin Market” (PDF);
Helsinger, “Consumer Power and the
Utopia of Desire” (PDF)
Th 1/31
Swift, Waterland
T 2/5
Swift, Waterland
Th 2/7
Swift, Waterland
T 2/12
Swift, Waterland; All position papers in
Th 2/14
TBA
T 2/19
Presentations
Th 2/21
Presentations
T 2/26
Presentations
T 2/28
Presentations
T 3/4
Presentations
Th 3/6
Presentations
T 3/11
Spring Break
Th 3/13
Spring Break
T 3/18
Workshopping
Th 3/20
Workshopping
T 3/25
Workshopping
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Th 3/27
Workshopping
T 4/1
Workshopping
Th 4/3
Workshopping
T 4/8
Workshopping
Th 4/10
Workshopping
T 4/15
Workshopping
Th 4/17
Workshopping
T 4/22
Workshopping; All Article Treatments In
Th 4/24
Major Essay Due (15 pages minimum)