ENG 102 Composition II

Fall 2001

Katherine Holman - Library 115 - 735-4321

Email addresses: kholman@uwc.edu or kholman@new.rr.com

Office Hours: MWF 8:00-8:50; MW 10:00-10:50 and 2:00-2:30; TR 3:00-3:30 (Other times are available by appointment.)

Meeting Time and Place: Section 03: MWF 1:00-1:50 L-102

Section 04: MWF 11:00-11:50 M-107

Required Texts: Wood, Nancy V. Writing Argumentative Essays, 2^nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001; Troyka, Lynn Quitman. Simon & Schuster Quick Access Reference for Writers, 3^rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001; a college level dictionary of your choice.

Supplementary Materials Currently on Library Reserve: both the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Psychological Association (APA) style manuals; William Zinsser’s On Writing Well; M. Neil Brown and Stuart Keeley’s Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking (You will be notified in class as other materials are placed on library reserve.)

Recommended Internet Resources: < http://owl.english.purdue.edu/writers> (an excellent site with abundant resources);<http://waukesha.uwc.edu/stud/owl/> (the UW Colleges Online Writing Lab; you can mail an essay draft to this site to get a response from a student writing tutor); <http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research/> (a site recommended by Nancy Chick, one of my colleagues in the UWC English Department); and <http://ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/> (an excellent cite managed by Professor Charles Darling of Capital Community College in Hartford, CT). If you know of or encounter other sites that might be useful to us this semester, please share them with the class.

Course Description: “A rhetoric course that focuses on writing which presents information and ideas effectively, with attention to the essay and techniques of documentation. Emphasis will be on academic writing that is applicable across the curriculum. Prereq: ENG 101 or exemption through sufficiently high placement test score” (UWC Catalog 45). “Students will be expected to write essays totaling at least 5500 words, a majority of which are to be completed out of class” (UWC English Dept. Course Guidelines for ENG 102).

Course Rationale: ENG 102 is the course required by the UW-Colleges to satisfy the writing proficiency for the associate degree. To meet this proficiency, you must earn a C or better in the course. The primary text I’ve chosen for the course this semester (Wood) focuses on techniques of argumentation, research, and documentation; these are skills valued not only in academia but also in the world beyond the university. As we learn to analyze and evaluate the arguments of others and write arguments of our own, we become better able to participate in civilized debate, solve problems, and make decisions. As we engage in research, we are stimulated to add our own voices to the conversations of scholars. As we study documentation styles, we learn how to acknowledge our indebtedness to the scholars whose work has influenced our own. I am looking forward to studying and learning with you this semester.

Course Goals and Degree Proficiency Objectives: You will demonstrate through class activities and assignments significant progress toward the acquisition of the following proficiencies: the ability to write clearly, precisely, and in a well-organized manner; to analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and interpret information and ideas; to gather information from printed sources, electronic sources, and observation; to construct and support hypotheses and arguments; to integrate knowledge and experience to arrive at creative solutions; to read with comprehension and critical perception; to distinguish knowledge, values, beliefs, and opinions; to use and understand formal documentation of sources and to articulate accurately the strengths and weaknesses of your own work.

Course Procedures: You should expect to do lots of writing in this course. After all, it is the course that will enable you to demonstrate your writing proficiency. A typical class will include an analysis of assigned readings, often in small groups. You can also expect to do some informal writing in each class even though your major assignments will be completed outside of class. For homework, you will find that you have not only a reading assignment but also a written assignment due almost every day. Be sure to allow adequate time to prepare for each day’s class.

Course Policies: You are expected to attend all class sessions unless illness or emergency prohibits your attendance. If you must miss class, you should check with a classmate to determine what you missed and with me to secure any handouts that may have been distributed. Points will be deducted for assignments submitted past the due date, and I will not accept work submitted more than a week late except in extreme circumstances of illness or emergency. (To stay on top of things in this course, which many UW-Marinette students have found an especially challenging one, it is essential that you come to class prepared each day. If you have not done the assigned readings or do not have a completed draft on the day it is due for peer review, you may be asked to leave class.)

Grading: Each of the following course requirements is assigned a point value with a 1000-point total for the course. Your grade will be determined by the percentage of points you earn.

Five short papers (250 words each) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 points

[Issue Proposal, 3 Summary-Response Papers, Toulmin Analysis]

Exploratory Paper (750 words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 points

Position Paper Guided by Argument Theory (1000 words) . . 150 points

Researched Position Paper (1500 words) . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 points

Rogerian Argument Paper (1000 words) . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 points

Daily work (exercises, quizzes, reports, etc.) . . . . . . . . . . 200 points

Final essay examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 points

Grading Scale

A 93-100 B 83-86 C 73-76 D 63-66

A- 90-92 B- 80-82 C- 70-72 D- 60-62

B+ 87-89 C+ 77-79 D+ 67-69 F 59 or below

Tentative Class Schedule

*Note: Chapter assignments refer to the primary text (Wood); assignments designated as

QA refer to the handbook (Troyka).

9/5 Introductions to each other, the texts, and the course; informal in-class essay on

learning styles

9/7 Read Chap. 1, “A Perspective on Argument” (3-27); complete Exercise A. on p.

22 and Ex. C. on p. 24. Be prepared for a brief reading quiz.

Class discussion of preliminary papers and the first major essay: an exploratory

paper (See due dates below for draft and final paper.)

9/10 Read Chap. 2, “Developing Your Personal Argument Style” (28-59); reading

quiz; Issue Proposal Due (For guidelines, see Exercise F on p. 25.)

9/12 Read QA on Thinking and Reading Reflectively (1-16) and explore the Troyka

website references on the front of the divider of this section.

9/14 Read Chap. 3, “A Process for Reading Argument” (60-87); Summary-Response

Paper #1 Due (For guidelines, see E.1 on p. 86.)

9/17 Read Chap. 4, “A Process for Writing Argument” (88-119); Summary-Response

Paper #2 Due

9/19 Read QA on the Writing Process (17-50) and explore your choice of the websites

listed on the front of the divider of this section; Summary-Response Paper #3

Due

9/21 Typed Draft of the Exploratory Paper Due for Peer Review

9/24 Read Chap. 5, “The Essential Parts of an Argument: The Toulmin Model” (122-

57); be prepared for a brief reading quiz.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: REQUIRED ATTENDANCE AT THE FALL CONVOCATION WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 26

9/28 Bring to class a copy of your exploratory paper for an in-class analysis using the

Toulmin model. (See Exercise F on page 150.)

10/1 Exploratory Paper Due

Class discussion of preliminary papers and the second major essay: a position

paper guided by argument theory (For guidelines, see pp. 238-39.)

10/3 Begin reading Chap. 6, “Types of Claims” (158-72).

10/5 Finish reading Chap. 6 (172-90); do Exercise E on page 190.

10/8 Read pp. 191-221 of Chap. 7, “Types of Proofs”; be prepared for a reading quiz.

(Note the mnemonic devices on pages 203 and 207.)

10/10 Finish reading Chap. 7 (222-44).

10/12 Write responses to Exercise F on p. 237.

Selection of debate topic and formation of groups

10/15 Day One of the Debate (See pp. 242-44.) Informal position papers due from

Groups 1 and 2

10/17 Workshop on “GUMP Stuff” (Grammar, Usage, Mechanics, and Punctuation)

(Be sure to bring QA to class on this day.)

10/19 Day Two of the Debate; informal response papers due from Group 3

10/22 Typed Draft of the Position Paper Guided by Argument Theory Due for Peer

Review

10/24 Mid-term course evaluation

10/26 Position Paper Guided by Argument Theory Due; read Chap. 8, “The Research

Paper: Clarifying Purpose and Understanding the Audience” (246-61).

Class discussion of the next major essay assignment, a researched position paper

Formation of peer groups for the research-paper assignment

10/29 Complete Exercises A, B, and C on pages 261-63.

10/31 Read Chap. 9, “The Research Paper: Invention and Research” (265-96); complete

the Invention Worksheet on pp. 289-90.

11/2 Class will meet in the library today. (Use your time wisely since your research

worksheet will be due next class period.) Read QA on Research (113-36) and

explore the recommended Internet resources for evaluating online sources.

11/5 Research Worksheet Due; workshop on MLA documentation

11/7 Annotated Bibliography Due (See sample on pages 292-96.)

11/9 Class will not meet today. Use class time to prepare for Monday’s assignment.

11/12 Read Chap. 10, “The Research Paper: Organizing, Writing, and Revising” (297-

318); bring to class an outline or a partial manuscript that will serve as a plan for

your paper. Note: November 13 is the last day to withdraw from the course

with a grade of “W.”

11/14 Draft of Researched Position Paper Due for Peer Critique (For documentation

of sources, see the MLA Handbook on reserve and the Appendix to Chap. 10 in

your text.)

11/16 Final Researched Position Paper Due; read pages 344-55 of Chap. 11, “Rogerian

Argument and Common Ground.”

Class discussion of the next essay assignment, a Rogerian argument (For

guidelines, see B on page 353.)

11/19 Finish reading Chap. 11 (355-70).

11/21 Drafting workshop; focus group assignments for Monday, November 26

11/23 THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

11/26 Read pages 371-89 and prepare for focus-group discussion.

11/28 Focus-group discussions continued

11/30 Draft of Rogerian Argument Paper Due for Peer Critique

12/3 Final Rogerian Argument Paper Due; begin reading Chap. 12,

“Argument and Literature” (390-404); group assignments for Wednesday’s

discussion of Susan Glaspell’s Trifles

12/5 Read Chap. 12, Trifles (404-15) and prepare for your group’s role in today’s

discussion; group assignments for Friday’s discussion of Antony’s Funeral Speech

for Caesar

12/7 Read Chap. 12, Antony’s Funeral Speech for Caesar from Shakespeare’s Julius

Caesar (416-20).

12/10 Discussion of the Undergraduate Research and Performance Conference to be held

next spring

12/12 Course evaluation and review for the final examination

12/14 Continuation of review for the final examination

(The final examination for ENG 102(03) is tentatively scheduled for Monday, December 17, from 1:00-3:00 p.m.; for ENG 102(04), Wednesday, December 19, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. If there are changes in the final examination schedule, you will be notified by the Office of Student Services. Be sure to check your mailboxes, but note also that I always post a copy of the “final” final examination schedule on the window of my office.