WRTG : Topics in Writing-- Cross Cultural Writing and Film

Transcription

1 WRTG : Topics in Writing-- Cross Cultural Writing and Film Instructor: Anna MacBriar, PhD Office Hours: Tuesdays, 6:30-7:30, and by appointment Time: T/Th, 5:00pm 6:15pm Room: HUMN 160 Textbook: N/A Course Overview Overview of Topics in Writing This 3000-level writing seminar satisfies upper-division core requirements in the College of Arts & Sciences because it extends student rhetorical knowledge and writing skills by engaging theoretical perspectives and addressing specialized communities. This upper division seminar is part of the state-wide Guaranteed Transfer pathway of courses. Thus, this course meets the goals of an Advanced Writing course (GT-CO3) through: Rhetorical Knowledge: The course focuses significantly on developing rhetorical awareness and knowledge of rhetorical forms and concepts through drafting essays on a variety of topics, for a variety audiences, purposes, and occasions. You will be asked to construct rhetorical contexts for your essays, and to deliberate on all aspects of through writing process in light of these contexts. Writing Process: The course provides multiple opportunities for you to understand audiencecentered writing by focusing on peer review of work in progress, in addition to gaining feedback on drafts from the instructor. You also will develop advanced information literacy skills needed for locating and incorporating high quality, and rhetorically appropriate sources into your essays. Writing Conventions: The documents you will write for the course will provide experience with the conventions of essay writing for a variety of rhetorical contexts, at the sentence, paragraph, and document level. Effective Communication Strategies: Assignments in the course are geared to real-world audiences, who are, themselves stakeholders in effective communication both within and cross cultures. Overview of Cross-Cultural Writing and Film While the title of the course is Cross-Cultural Writing and Film, students will have the choice to write about a variety of art forms including music, visual arts, literature, television, film, etc.-- 1

2 that engage issues pertaining to cultural difference, cultural diversity, and intercultural communication. Students will be required to write multiple drafts of three essays, as well as responses to readings and the writing of other students. The essays will be written with real world audiences and purposes in mind. Assignments In this course, you will write multiple drafts of three 3-5 page essays on topics pertaining to the course topic You will also compose a variety of shorter pieces of writing in response to course readings and your peers work. Essays Essay 1: For this assignment, you will explore your own, individual cultural and sub-cultural identities by writing about three sub-cultures to which you now belong, or which have strongly influenced who you are today. This highly structured assignment is designed to provide an introduction to (1) writing analytically about culture and cultural artifacts, (2) best practices for incorporating sources, and (3) constructing a clear written and tightly organized document. Essay 2: In this essay, you will explore the concept of cultural appropriation as it pertains to a specific cultural artifact (work of art, music, literature film, etc.) of choice. The purpose of this assignment is to provide experience in arguing from definition and using both textual, and contextual, evidence. The essay will be written for a specific rhetorical context that will likely develop throughout the planning, drafting, and revising process Essay 3: The final essay will be a rhetorical analysis of a cultural artifact (see Essay 2) that you find valuable, important or interesting. This essay will be written for a specific rhetorical context that will likely develop throughout the planning, drafting, and revising process. The essay may be composed in a traditional or multi-modal form. Students will make a 10 minute presentation of the content of the essay at the end of the semester. In-class writing On most days, students will complete in-class assignments such as reading responses, drafting exercises, and grammar exercises. These assignments cannot be made up if you miss class. Workshop Responses Students will be assigned to workshop groups at the start of the semester and will provide feedback on the first draft of essays to the other students in your group. For each essay, students will be assigned different roles, which are responsible for providing feedback on different aspects of the essays. 2

3 FAQ s (Extra Credit) At the top of the discussion forum on D2L, you will see an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) topic. If, after consulting the syllabus and other course materials, you have a question about due dates, policies, assignment specifications, or other aspects of the course, post these questions in the FAQ section. Students who post correct and helpful answers to these questions can receive.25%-.5% of a final grade percentage point per response. Grading Final Grade Breakdown Essay 1 15% total First Draft: 5% Final Draft: 10% Essay 2 30% total First Draft: 5% Second Draft: 10% Final Draft:30% Essay 3 35% total First Draft: 5% Second Draft: 10% Final Draft: 15% Class Presentation: 5% Short Assignments, In-Class Writing, and Exercises 5% total Workshop Responses 10% total Written: 5% Discussions: 5% Class Participation 5% total In-Class Assignments: 2.5% Class Discussions: 2.5% Grade Quantification The final drafts of your essays will receive a letter grade, which will be quantified as follows when I tabulate your final course grades. 3

4 Final Draft of Essay A: 100% A-: 92% B+: 88% B: 85% B-: 82% C+: 78% C: 75% C-: 72% D+: 68% D: 65% D-: 2% F: 0% Other assignments All other assignments, including first drafts of essays, reading responses, workshop responses, etc., will earn a grade of: Meets Expectations: 100% Needs Improvement: 75% Unacceptable: 0% Final Grade Range A: 94%-100% A-: 90%-93% B+: 87%-89% B: 84%-86% B-: 80%-83% C+: 77%-89% C: 74%-86% C-: 70%-83% D+: 67%-69% D: 64%-66% D-: 60%-63% F: 59% and below Grade Rubrics There are grade rubrics for each draft of the assignment. They are an important component of the course curriculum, and you should use them as tools for learning, as well as for selfassessment of your writing. Please note the following about the grade rubrics: They can be found under content on D2L. The rubrics contain in-depth guidance for the assignments consult them regularly as you plan, research, draft, edit, and revise. I will use the rubrics as grading tools, and as grade forms for the essay drafts. For the first draft of essay, I will assign a grade form based on the first draft rubric, and a grade form based on the final draft rubric. The grade form based on the final draft rubric does not reflect on your grade for the first draft it is meant to assist you in revising the first draft. 4

5 The rubrics are divided into categories (e.g., language mechanics, organization, rhetorical awareness, etc.) however these categories are not weighted with percentages of the grade. The relative importance of different aspects of a piece of writing can vary significantly from context to context and essay to essay. Readings You will read a variety of handouts on terms and concepts that pertain to writing rhetoric, and culture, as well as several longer essays that engage in in-depth of topics pertaining to multicultural. In addition to providing information that is necessary for the successful completion of Essay 2, Understanding Rhetorical Appropriation, an undergraduate honors thesis from a different university, provides an example of excellence in most of the skills we will be practicing throughout the course. Miscellaneous Policies Communicating with the Instructor My address is located at the top of the syllabus. I check for this course once a day. Please make your questions as specific as possible the more specific they are, the more helpful I can be. Please consult the syllabus and other course materials before sending me a question about due dates and other procedural issues. Also, please reading the assignment sheets carefully before sending me questions. If you ask a question that answer to which can be found in materials posted on D2L, I may refer you to those materials instead of this answering your question directly. This is not meant to be rude or punitive, but rather to encourage more efficient learning practices for both of us. That said, I encourage you to contact me if you are confused about any of the course materials, vocabulary, or concepts. I d much rather spend time chatting with you about issues pertaining to writing, rhetoric, and multicultural, than about going due dates you can easily access on the course schedule. Consider posting your questions in the FAQs and answering questions there for extra credit. Late Work All assignments are due before class (5:00pm) on their due date. Assignments may be turned in up to 24 hours late, with a grade deduction of 1/3 of a grade. Late assignments will not be accepted for credit after 24 hour past the due date. Absences 5

6 Students may miss three classes over the semester without penalty to their final course grade. For every absence thereafter, 2% will be deducted from the final course grade. Classroom Etiquette Please keep the following rules in mind when posting communicating with classmates and the instructor, through comments, workshop responses, , etc.. 1. Do not use profanity; do not use racial, ethnic, religious, gender, etc., slurs. 2. Provide constructive criticism on your peers writing. Constructive criticism is meant to help student s improve their writing and think more clearly and deeply about their ideas. 3. Respect the right of others to hold views that may be different from our own. The topic of this course can sometimes generate emotional heat, however the tone of our discussions should remain calm, respectful, and reflective of a genuine desire to understand diverse perspectives. Plagiarism Plagiarism is the act of intentionally or unintentionally taking someone else s work (including their theories, concepts, ideas, etc.) and presenting it as one s own. In this class, all sources must be cited using MLA style. Clear but incorrectly formatted citations will lead to a lower grade for an assignment. Work that is not clearly cited is plagiarism and will lead to the following penalties. In the first case of plagiarism, the student will fail the assignment and the Honor Code Council will be notified. In the second case of plagiarism, the student will fail the course and the Honor Code Council will be notified once again. Desire2Learn All course materials will be available on D2L.All assignments (except those written in class) should be turned in on D2L. You need to have familiarized yourself will all aspects of D2L before the beginning of the course. Please contact the Office of Information Technology (OIT) with questions about the course management system. University Policies Disability Accommodations If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to your professor a letter from Disability Services in a timely manner (for exam accommodations provide your letter at least one week prior to the exam) so that your needs can be addressed. Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities. Contact Disability Services at

7 or by at If you have a temporary medical condition or injury, see Temporary Medical Conditions: Injuries, Surgeries, and Illnesses guidelines under Quick Links at Disability Services website and discuss your needs with your professor. Accommodations for Religious Holidays Because this is an online course, no accommodations for absences during religious holidays are needed. Assignments may NOT be turned in late if a due date falls on the date of a religious holiday. Observant students should plan to turn the assignment in ahead of time. Appropriate Behavior Even in online classes, students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an appropriate learning environment. Those who fail to adhere to such behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, color, culture, religion, creed, politics, veteran's status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and gender expression, age, disability, and nationalities. Class rosters are provided to the instructor with the student's legal name. I will gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or gender pronoun. Please advise me of this preference early in the semester so that I may make appropriate changes to my records. See policies at and at Discrimination and Harassment The University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder) is committed to maintaining a positive learning, working, and living environment. The University of Colorado does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status in admission and access to, and treatment and employment in, its educational programs and activities. (Regent Law, Article 10, amended 11/8/2001). CU-Boulder will not tolerate acts of discrimination or harassment based upon Protected Classes or related retaliation against or by any employee or student. For purposes of this CU-Boulder policy, "Protected Classes" refers to race, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or veteran status. Individuals who believe they have been discriminated against should contact the Office of Discrimination and Harassment (ODH) at or the Office of Student Conduct (OSC) at Information about the ODH, the above referenced policies, and the campus resources available to assist individuals regarding discrimination 7

8 or harassment can be obtained at Honor Code All students of the University of Colorado at Boulder are responsible for knowing and adhering to the academic integrity policy of this institution. Violations of this policy may include: cheating, plagiarism, aid of academic dishonesty, fabrication, lying, bribery, and threatening behavior. All incidents of academic misconduct shall be reported to the Honor Code Council ). Students who are found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy will be subject to both academic sanctions from the faculty member and non-academic sanctions (including but not limited to university probation, suspension, or expulsion). Other information on the Honor Code can be found at and at 8

9 Spring 2013: WRTG Course Schedule Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Tuesday, January 15 Introduction to the Course In-Class Writing Icebreaker Tuesday, January 22 Read: From the Silva Rhetoricae: What is Rhetoric, Encompassing Terms, Persuasive Appeals, Branches of Oratory Introduction to Rhetoric Discussion: Cultural Identity Tuesday, January 29 Read: Cultural Capital Reading Discussion Introduction to Logos Thursday, January 17 Read: Overview of Culture ; What is Multiculturalism In-class Writing Reading Discussion Introduction to Essay 1 Thursday, January 24 Due: First Draft of Essay 1 Post under Discussions in D2L Essay 1 Workshop Thursday, January 31 Due: Final Draft of Essay 1 Post under Dropbox on D2L Logos, cont.

10 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Tuesday, February 5 Read: Understanding Cultural Appropriation, pg In-class Writing Introduction to Cultural Appropriation Introduction to Essay 2 Tuesday, February 12 Read: Understanding Cultural Appropriation, pg In-class Writing Cultural Appropriation, cont. Tuesday, February 19 Avoiding Plagiarism Thursday, February 7 Due: Essay 2 Topic Worksheet post under Discussions in D2L Read: Understanding Cultural Appropriation, pg In-class Writing Cultural Appropriation, cont. Topic Workshop Thursday, February 14 Due: First Draft of Essay 2 Workshop of First Draft of Essay 2 Thursday, February 21 Due: Second Draft of Essay 2 Post under Discussions in D2L Language and Style Review of Full Class workshop procedures

11 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Tuesday, February 26 Due: Reading Response Second Draft of Essay 2 Group 1 post under Discussions in D2L Read: Second Draft of Essay 2 Group 1 Workshop: Second Draft of Essay 2 Group 1 Tuesday, March 5 Due: Reading Response Second Draft of Essay 2 Group 3 post under Discussions in D2L Read: Second Draft of Essay 2 Group 3 Workshop: Second Draft of Essay 2 Group 3 Tuesday, March 12 Conferences Thursday, February 28 Due: Reading Response Second Draft of Essay 2 Group 2 post under Discussions in D2L Read: Second Draft of Essay 2 Group 2 Workshop: Second Draft of Essay 2 Group 2 Thursday, March 7 Due: Reading Response Second Draft of Essay 2 Group 4 post under Discussions in D2L Read: Second Draft of Essay 2 Group 4 Workshop: Second Draft of Essay 2 Group 4 Thursday, March 14 Due: Final Draft of Essay 2 Language and Style

12 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Tuesday, March 19 Read: Colonialism and Education Film: The Class Tuesday, April 2 Introduction to Essay 3 Tuesday, April 9 Read: TBD In-class Writing Reading Discussion Thursday, March 21 Film: The Class, cont. Thursday, April 4 Due: Essay 3 Topic Worksheet post under Discussions on D2L Essay 3 Topic Workshop Thursday, April 11 Due: First Draft of Essay 3 Workshop: First Draft of Essay 3

13 Week 13 Week 14 Week 15 Tuesday, April 16 Conferences Tuesday, April 23 In-class Exercise bring draft of Essay 3 Tuesday, April 30 TBD/Class Presentations Thursday, April 18 Due: Second Draft of Essay 3 post on D2L under Discussions Workshop: Second Draft of Essay 3 Thursday, April 25 Due: Final Draft of Essay 3 Post under Dropbox in D2L TBD/Class Presentations Thursday, May 2 Due: All Final Revisions (optional) TBD/Class Presentations