The Syllabus (not including The Schedule)

English 102: Writing II
M/W: 4:15-5:30
Instructor: Olivia Cronk
Office: CLS-2084
Phone: 773.442.5958
E-mail: o-cronk@neiu.edu
Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 12-1, 3-4, or by appointment

A few introductory words: first of all, please call me “Olivia” or “Ms. Cronk.” I prefer my first name, as it contributes to the conversational atmosphere of our class, but if you are more formal, you may use “Ms. Cronk”—but not “Mrs.” or “Miss.”

Second, you can always e-mail me with questions or to set up a mutually convenient meeting-time. I will answer as soon as I get the message, and I check my e-mail at least once a day.

Third, syllabi are legal documents. Your teachers owe you a thorough explanation of the course via the syllabus; it’s your contract and your guide. Get familiar with the basics (my contact info, our texts, necessary materials, etc.), and learn how to find answers to specific questions (policies, breakdown of points, list of assignments, reading and writing schedule, etc.). This document is posted on our blog, “Writing as History” at http://composition2neiu.blogspot.com, where our schedule will be updated or revised as necessary. Please note that there will be several handouts (one of which creates the foundation for your class) and many electronic-reserves readings (accessed through neiuport). You should keep your supplies in a folder for class. If you misplace anything, most documents will be on the blog or in the E-Reserves of the NEIU Library. Please know, also, that I have a library of student examples of all the writing assignments available for check-out (just come to my office).

Course Description:
This course will provide you with strategies for planning, writing, and revising a research paper. Before you get to the research paper, you will complete many small writing exercises, and you will also plan and execute your own “history” project upon which to base your paper. We will write about and discuss many different kinds of texts (readings, images, videos, sound clips, news articles, art, literature). The formal emphasis is on critical reading and analysis, structuring and argument via thesis, and the use of sources. In addition, our course is structured around a theme. There are three important concepts that serve as our foundation: 1) Social Justice, 2) Oppression, and 3) Documentation of Underrepresented Voices. In order to discuss our reading and create new projects, we will be considering a few sets of questions: 1) What is Documentation? What criteria do we use to determine what is “true” Documentation? 2) What voices in our society, past and present, are underrepresented? 3) How then is documentation of the lives of such voices an act of social justice? What wrongs have been committed in the way we organize our histories? 4) What unheard “voices” make up your own experience of the world? How can you document those voices? What kind of research helps you put your documentation into historical, cultural, or societal context?

Some terms you will learn, know, and practice include: audience, citation, deductive reasoning, Documentation and documentation, ethos, fallacy, inductive reasoning, logos, paraphrase, pathos, social justice, summary, thesis, Toulmin logic. Although I expect you to employ editing and proofreading skills you obtained in Writing 1, I will cover grammatical issues as they arise, and I will assign exercises from our handbook to help you with your individual concerns and our class issues.

Course Objectives:
• Write in a variety of modes, for multiple purposes—with the intent of building your larger projects
• Read for multiple theses; Connect texts under our themes
• Construct theses using clear sentence structure
• Use thesis to form an argument
• Respond—as both writer and thinker—to texts and cultural documents, especially under our themes
• Produce: 1) your own Documentation Project that adheres to our class criteria and responds to your concept of Social Justice, 2) a 10-page research paper that places your own project in a historical, cultural, or societal context, 3) a clear and thorough Social Justice Statement
• Follow MLA guidelines for using and citing sources

Textbooks and Materials:
You need all of the books and supplies listed here. You can keep track of what books to bring on what days by following the schedule (at the end of this document).

Division Street: America by Studs Terkel. 2006 edition.
Impounded (photographs by Dorothea Lange, essays by Linda Gordon/ Gary Okihiro). 2006
Rules for Writers by Diana Hacker
a folder or binder in which to keep ALL handouts and comments
a notebook/journal dedicated exclusively to this class
a gmail address (free and easy to set up) AND an NEIU address

(A note about e-mail: I expect you to use your NEIU address to e-mail me. It’s a good habit to have an academic address from which you conduct school business; keep your personal address for personal use. You do NOT have to use or check your gmail account; we simply need to set up gmail names for the purpose of blogging—another useful thing to practice and know about.)

Academic Integrity:
Please refer to NEIU’s student conduct code at http://www.neiu.edu/~DeanSt/survival/conduct.pdf. In general, anything that falls under the following list is a violation:
• cheating,
• plagiarism (turning in work not written by you, or lacking proper citation*),
• falsification and fabrication (lying or distorting the truth),
• helping others to cheat,
• unauthorized changes on official documents,
• pretending to be someone else or having someone else pretend to be you,
making or accepting bribes, special favors, or threats
*Generally, this is the most relevant issue for an English class. Do NOT turn in anything that fails to distinguish between your writing and someone else’s. You will fail the assignment and will NOT be allowed to make it up. More than once incident will result in failure of the course.

Course Requirements and Breakdown of Points:
Your points will be recorded on the grade sheet you fill out at the start of the term. At any time, you can request the total points earned thus far, as an estimate of your grade. You can also record your points for yourself on the miniature grade sheet provided below. There are 765 points; your final grade is calculated as a percentage of points earned vs. total points. Basically, each and every point is worth 0.13%. For example, if you earn 649 total points, your grade would be 649/765 (84.8%). The relationship between percentages and letter grades is as follows.

A=90-100
B=80-89
C=70-79
D=60-69
F=59 and below

765 points total
(Class Membership=355 points, Writing & Research=410 points)




____________________________________
Name:
Class Membership
Participation/Attendance: /80

Journal: /35

Leadership of RN discussion: /40

Reading Notes: /200

Writing & Research
News Analysis 1: /30

Creative Response 1: /20

Oral History Practice Project: /20

News Analysis 2: /30

Creative Response 2: /20

“Bridge” Paper: /30


Documentation Project
a) Proposal: /10

b) Project: /50

c) Presentation: /20

Research Paper Components
Annotated Bibliography: /10

Explanation (Draft 1) // first 3 pages of the paper (Draft 1): /20

First 5 p. (Draft 2): /20

Explanation (Draft 2) // Seven p. (Draft 3) // Works Cited: /30

Final Product: /100

Total Points:
__________________________________________


Class Membership
Participation=80
This portion includes your blog postings (5 to 8 times, worth 2 points each), your attendance (no more than 3 misses, “present” days are worth 2 points each), and your in-class efforts. I expect you to be alert and engaged, to either make thoughtful contributions to our conversation or to carefully and respectfully listen to others’ comments.

Journal and other informal writing=35
We will begin many class meetings with a journal entry, and we will regularly complete writing exercises in class. Please keep ALL informal writing in one notebook, each entry clearly marked. I’ll collect your notebook pages (stapled together) at the end of the term.

Leadership of an RN discussion=40
You will volunteer to lead one or two discussions with one to two other people, based on the assigned reading. You are responsible for creating: 1) a thoughtful journal question for the day, 2) discussion questions and/or an activity for 20-25 minutes of class time. This is NOT a presentation. I do not want a summary; I want a critical reflection.

Reading Notes=200 (10 @ 20 points each)
There are 12 RNs assigned; you are responsible for 10 (worth 20 points each). RNs can ONLY be turned in during class, on the day for which the readings are scheduled. Please follow the guidelines carefully (see below), as your points are based on the respective questions. Typos and errors result in grade deductions and/or mandatory grammatical help from me or from the Writing Lab.

Writing & Research
The details for each assignment will be posted on the blog and covered in class; it is your responsibility to ask questions at the time of assignment, contact me and/or classmates for missed directions, and follow MLA formatting issues (also covered in class) when relevant.

News Analysis 1=30
Creative Response 1=20 (blog posting)
Oral History Practice Project=20 (blog posting)
News Analysis 2=30
Creative Response 2=20 (presented in class)
“Bridge” Paper=30

Documentation Project=80
a) Proposal: 10
b) Project: 50
c) Presentation: 20

Research Paper=180
There are many steps in the completion of your paper. Some steps, like the completion of Drafts, are simply checked in for points; others are graded. Missing steps means losing points. NONE of the following components may be turned in late (except in the case of a documented emergency). You may use ANY/ALL of the above assignments to help build your final paper. These steps might seem confusing in a list like this, but they are meant to allow you to steadily build up to your final version.

Steps: 80
a) Annotated Bibliography: 10
b) Explanation of your Documentation Project/Defense according to class criteria (Draft 1) plus First three pages of your Research Paper (Draft 1): 20
d) First five pages of your Research Paper—not including Explanation (Draft 2): 20
e) Explanation (Draft 2) plus seven pages of paper (Draft 3) plus Works Cited (Draft 1): 30

Final Product: 100
Explanation (20) // Thesis (20) // Research, Organization of evidence and supporting materials (20) // Social Justice Statement (20) // Overall presentation (including grammar, mechanics, adherence to MLA rules) (20)

Policies
• Turn cell phones off completely before coming to class. If you need to be available for a call, inform me in advance and turn the phone to vibrate. If your cell phone rings during class, you may be asked to leave.
• Do not come to class if you are more than 20 minutes late. If you are late three times, those tardies will count as one absence.
• If you appear to be unprepared for class (have not completed the reading, do not have the necessary supplies), I may ask you to leave and will mark you absent.
• I will shuffle our schedule as necessary if things come up; I will never move a deadline closer.
• You are entitled to three absences without penalty. I do not distinguish between excused or unexcused absences. After three, you lose 5 points per day. You are responsible for contacting a classmate to find out what handouts you are missing. After an absence, you should e-mail me to request handouts or any other relevant information.
• I do NOT accept late RNs (see below). They can ONLY be turned in the day of discussion, in class (typed).
• I can accept late essays up to five days (but NOT in the case of Research Paper components), but they will lose 2 points for each day late. If you have documentation of an emergency, I will accept late work without a penalty. If you miss class on a deadline day, you may e-mail your essay to me as an attachment THAT SAME DAY, by 5:00 p.m. I will use the e-mail as a way to verify that you will not be penalized for lateness, but you MUST bring me a hard copy during our next class meeting. I will NOT print your essay. You can also drop essays in my mailbox. When an e-mailed essay is accepted as “on time,” you have one week to get me the hard copy. After one week, I will not accept it. I do not guarantee the speed/thoroughness of grades/comments on late essays.
• If you miss more than half of the RNs or fail to complete either the Documentation Project or the Research Paper, you will not be eligible to pass the class.
• Drafts are due in class only; if you do not have a Draft on a deadline day, you will be asked to leave class and you will be marked absent. If you do not come to class on a Draft (Peer Review) day, you will only get half of the points.
• I will give 10 points extra credit for every documented visit to a Writing Tutor at the Writing Lab (http://www.neiu.edu/~ewlab/).
• You may revise any of your short essays/assignments over the semester for a higher grade. When you get it back from me, you can use my comments—and, I recommend, the help of the Writing Lab—to correct errors, re-shape your argument or supporting ideas, and fix any other problems. The new revision must be turned in within one week of the return of the first version. The new grade will be an average of your old and new points.
• I will announce occasional extra credit as it arises; it is your responsibility to take advantage of those opportunities in a timely manner.
• I will return your essays as quickly as possible, with notes identifying the components of the grade and containing brief comments for you to consider. I may sometimes attach a grammar/mechanics checklist that you will need to use in order to look up your errors in your handbook. Please feel free to meet with me to discuss any unclear comments or notes.
• I expect all members of the class to share opinions, ideas, writing samples, and observations. Because of this, it is necessary to have an environment that is completely open to diversity in background and ideas. No negativity in this way will be tolerated. Because the theme of this class requires that we consider marginalized groups, it is very important that all class members exercise extreme sensitivity and open-mindedness. You should be mindful of diversity when you make comments in conversation, being careful to avoid generalizations and stereotypes. Our class must be anti-racist, anti-heterosexist, anti-label. Exercise great care in listening to others respectfully and quietly.
• I think of my job as a conversation with you all. I try to expose you to an interesting variety of readings, give you a variety of forms in which to write, give you concrete mechanical and grammatical information, provide feedback on the technical details and content of each of your essays, and generally encourage an atmosphere of “ideas.” Please feel free to bring in any outside materials that you think have some sort of value. Please also let me know if there are topics/rules/writers that you want me to cover in lectures.

What are Reading Notes (RNs) and how do you complete them?
Reading Notes are a set of questions and concepts you should apply to each reading. These are typed assignments (a FULL page, double-spaced). I expect you to bring these with you to class and to contribute your ideas and responses during class. As you move forward with your own ideas, these might turn into useful “seeds” for your own research. NO late RNs will be accepted; there are no exceptions. If you miss class, you will not be able to turn the RN in at the next class. You can think of the RNs as miniature essays that demonstrate the reading and thinking you have done to prepare for class. RNs should be 1-3 paragraphs long (FULL paragraphs). You can focus on particular parts of the reading, but your RNs should reference all the reading you have done for that day’s homework assignment.

• (10 points) What is the thesis you have gathered from the reading? What statement do the readings, together or separately, make about our country, culture, society, or the world at large? Do the words or images you see make an argument, or call for action?
• (2 points) What are the themes you see in this reading selection? Go beyond injustice; think about the specific circumstances of the lives being documented.
• (2 points) Compare this to something else you have read/seen/heard/learned about in other classes. How is it like that? Feel free to make a strange connection. Feel free, also, to connect the two texts. You might also consider browsing a reliable news source (like nytimes.com) for connections.
• (2 points) Think about what kind of class conversation can come out of the reading. What idea would you like to discuss? Create 1-3 thoughtful discussion questions; expect to share these with the class.
• (2 points) If you were going to expand this reading and your thinking into a larger project, what three topics would you research? Be as specific as possible.
• (2 points) Make a list of any unknown words. Look them up and write out brief definitions. If no words are new to you, write down information or an idea that is new to you.