Self-evaluation essay

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English 3305: Advanced Essay Writing

Fall 2019 Face-to-face CRN 11620

HOW TO CONTACT YOUR TEACHER Dr. William Waters Office N1051 Phone: (713) 222-5345 E-Mail: [email protected]

OFFICE HOURS: T & TH 1:30-2:30 and by appointment

TEXTBOOK INFORMATION

ALL READINGS ARE ON BLACKBOARD

The primary textbook for this class is The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present by Phillip Lopate; it is a collection of various personal essays that you will read and discuss in class in order to generate ideas for your own essays. We will begin at the back of the book and read toward the front.

I picked this book because:

• Contains a large number of complex, well-written essays • Is relatively inexpensive • Usually has a resale value

ABOUT THIS COURSE This course is an advanced study of writing, especially the techniques of rhetoric and argumentation. Since the prerequisite for this class is English 1302, I will assume that each of you has had significant experience defending a thesis.

This course builds on that skill. Our primary focus will be on making a written presentation based upon rhetorical choices; our mode will be the personal experience essay.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Read Critically • Comprehend, evaluate, and synthesize ideas from academic texts. • Demonstrate the ability to write a summary of a given writer’s

stance and major claims appropriate to a given writing task. • Demonstrate the ability to identify and describe the rhetorical

strategies employed by writers to achieve persuasion. • Demonstrate the ability to engage a dialogue with a text, by

responding to claims and situating one’s own ideas and those of the text in perspectives, discourses, and events outside of the text.

• Make sound assessments regarding the strength of particular sources.

• Cultivate a conception of all texts as parts of an ongoing textual conversation.

• Employ a variety of annotation strategies. 2. Manage the Writing Process

• Incorporate a variety of revision practices. • Apply effective proofreading and editing strategies. • Demonstrate invention strategies. • Produce Persuasive Argumentative Essays • Produce essays with multiple, well-developed, and focused

paragraphs. • Produce writing that demonstrates an easily recognizable thesis. • Produce writing that supports the thesis throughout the essay.

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• Use evidence that is appropriate to audience, purpose, and occasion.

• Use appeals that are appropriate to audience, purpose, and occasion. o Address opposing viewpoints through the construction of

counter-arguments. o Compose sentences of purposely varied length, syntax, and

word choice. o Integrate and document source materials (with signal

phrases) in service of the thesis. o Deploy source materials in service to claims rather than as

claims themselves. o Integrate sources such that quoted material is evaluated

rather than simply reported. o Choose relevant and worthwhile passages from outside

sources for quotation, paraphrase, and discussion appropriate to the writing task.

MANUSCRIPT FORMAT PREPARATION

All Reading Response Papers, Rough Drafts, and Revisions for formal assignments are to be word-processed, double-spaced, 12 pt font, with uniform one-inch margins. TURN THEM IN ON BLACKBOARD THROUGH ASSIGNMENTS WHEN DUE ON CALENDAR. Include in the heading your name, the assignment title (i.e. paper # 1 revised draft), and the date. Page numbers should be placed at the top right margin, preferably with your last name. Revised essays must be accompanied by a 1-2 page cover-letter that explains

what revisions you made, why you made those revisions, and what effect(s) you think those changes had upon your paper.

You might also discuss what parts of the paper you are particularly happy with, what parts you are not satisfied with, and what other changes you would make if you had more time.

CONTENT

A writing course involves lots of writing: daily writing, writing in-class and out-of-class, sharing of writing, reviewing and rewriting, and critiquing of the writing that you have read—both the published textbook examples and the pieces your classmates generate. Writing is one of those skills, which can be learned and improved by practice, with feedback insuring more efficient and faster learning and improvement. You will learn to use your classmates, your teacher, and yourself as resources for facilitating your writing processes and strengthening your written products. You will be guided to continue working with evolving pieces of writing to improve not just the presentation and polish, but also, the very content, ideas, and intentions.

GRADING

Assignments and Grading will be based on a 1000-point scale.

1000-967=A+ 966-934= A 933-900=A-

899-867=B+ 866-834=B 833-800=B-

799-767=C+ 766-734=C 733-700=C-

699-667=D+ 666-634=D 633-600=D-

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• WRITER’S PROFILE—100 POINTS

• READING RESPONSE PAPERS—180 POINTS 9 over the semester: 20 points each For each out-of-class reading assignment, you will write a relatively informal “response paper,” which is intended to get you started thinking about the content and style of these essays. While these response papers are not as formal as writing essays, instead they should demonstrate that you’ve done some in- depth thinking about the topic. Be encouraged to use these response papers as a space for exploring new ideas, ways of thinking, and as ways for exploring new styles of writing. Response papers should be at least a page in length and will graded on a basis of √±

• a √ shows that you’ve read the piece, understood it and have had something OTHER THAN JUST SUMMARY to say about the pieces (18 pts);

• a √+ is given if you have followed your observations or questions with a more detailed exploration of the implications involved (20pts) ;

• a √– is given if you have simply summarized or told me what the author has said(16 pts).

Since papers are designed to generate informed class discussion, Late response papers will not be accepted

• FORMAL ESSAYS—150 POINTS 3 over the semester: 50 points each Each essay will build from your in-class writings, response papers, and class discussions. Each will be approximately 3-5

pages typed and double-spaced, and, as I indicated earlier, each essay will be preceded by a draft and a conference. I will grade each essay based on your thesis, support, organization, paragraph development, sentence structure, style, and grammar. Cover letter/ progress report Additionally, you will turn in with each formal essay a short process report, in which you will briefly describe the process you went through while writing your essay, as well as your feelings about the resulting product. For example, you should mention why you picked your particular topic; what you like/dislike about it; what you think the strengths & weaknesses of this essay are; what you SPECIFICALLY did to revise it; what you might do if you had more time, etc. Failure to turn in a process report will result in a 5-point reduction from your essay grade. Late papers will be lowered by one letter grade for each day late.

• PORTFOLIO—470 POINTS

Your final grade in this class is determined in large part by your portfolio! Writing for both successful students as well as professional writers is a process of constant revision. Since I assume that your sincere participation in this class will help you improve your writing—this portfolio is a chance to revisit two of your favorite essays late in the semester at a time when you will have presumably acquired a greater control of particular writing skills. It is also a time to significantly improve your grade.

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Your portfolio will contain MAJOR REVISIONS of two formal essays (chosen by you from the three we’ve done this semester) and a cover letter. The purpose of the portfolio is to show that you have revised and improved your writing throughout the term. Therefore, it is in your best interest to put time and effort into the revision process and make actual improvements by engaging more fully with your ideas, choosing clearer language, strengthening your arguments, and so on. Your work should show a conscious effort at expansion of your ideas and revision of your writing strategies and styles. Writing assignments are rarely ever finished; however, the papers in your portfolio should be as polished as possible. Also, you should expect to use your cover letter to review and assess your own writing for strengths and weaknesses. In this cover letter I will expect you to identify the details of the changes that you made, give reason for choosing to make these changes; and finally to tell me something about what affects the changes had on your finished paper essays. This is also an opportunity to share with me the specific knowledge that you have gained in this class. A complete portfolio contains:

 A cover letter for the entire portfolio

 Major revision of a paper  All rough drafts of same paper  Peer edits of same paper

 Major revision of another paper  All rough drafts of same paper  writer’s profile  All Reading Responses (9)

 Your Writer’s Profile

 Your Self-evaluation

• SELF-EVALUATION—100 POINTS This counts as your final exam.

This self-evaluation will be a defense of what grade you feel is appropriate for your work this semester. It should include SPECIFIC consideration of the strengths, the weaknesses, and the improvements in your written work. In order to complete this assignment well, you should bring copies of this semester’s work with you to this final class to use to support your claim.

A WORD ON PLAGIARISM:

Plagiarism is a form of cheating. That all students must do their own work is basic to their learning experience. To submit a paper that is in part or in whole the work of another un-credited person is plagiarism. Students found guilty of plagiarism will fail the course and be reported under the guidelines on academic honesty found in the current Undergraduate Catalog. If you have ANY doubts about your work at all, please check with me BEFORE turning the work in for evaluation, so that we can discuss and avoid any accidental academic dishonesty..

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FURTHER ASSISTANCE

Students might consider making additional use of The Writing Center for independent work outside of this course. Whenever you do attend a writing center session, please ask the tutor to send notification to me; this will benefit your grade.

 Qualified students with disabilities needing appropriate academic adjustments should contact the instructor as soon as possible to ensure your needs are met in a timely manner.

week 1 20-Aug 22-Aug

Intro / Overview or Reading Paragraphing / Overview of Writing Writer's Profile DUE

week 2 27-Aug 29-Aug

Read Reading 1 / response 1 DUE Read Reading 2 / response 2

week 3 3-Sep 5-Sep

Read Reading 3 / response 3 in-class writing of rough draft #1

week 4 10-Sep 12-Sep Group Conferences Group Conferences

week 5 17-Sep 19-Sep

Read Reading 4 / response 4 Read Reading 5 / response 5 Revised version of Paper 1 with cover letter

week 6 24-Sep 26-Sep

Read Reading 6 / response 6 in-class writing of rough draft #2

week 7 1-Oct 3-Oct Group Conferences Group Conferences

week 8 8-Oct 10-Oct

Read Reading 7 / response 7 Read Reading 8 / response 8 Revised version of Paper 2 with cover letter

week 9 15-Oct 17-Oct

Read Reading 9 / response 9 in-class writing of rough draft #3

week 10 22-Oct 24-Oct Group Conferences Group Conferences

week 11 29-Oct 31-Oct Editing Proofreading

week 12 5-Nov 7-Nov Portfolio Prep #1 Portfolio Prep #2

week 13 12-Nov 14-Nov Individual Conferences IndividualConferences

week 14 19-Nov 21-Nov Individual Conferences Individual Conferences

week 15 26-Nov 28-Nov Portfolio Prep #3 NO CLASS

Final Exam Period: Dec 10th 2:30-5:00