Reflective Essay

Course Description

Prerequisite: Satisfactory performance on a placement test or EDCP 103. Practice in effective writing and clear thinking at all levels, including the sentence and paragraph, with emphasis on the essay and research report. The objective is to apply specific steps within the writing process, including formulating purpose, identifying an audience, and selecting and using research resources and methods of development. Revision and recursive writing practice are emphasized and encouraged. Assignments include comparison-contrast and research essays, as well as other rhetorical tasks. Students may receive credit for only one of the following courses: ENGL 101, ENGL 101X, WRTG 101, WRTG 101S, or WRTG 101X. Course Goals/Objectives

After completing this course, you should be able to

· apply the writing process to develop essays using various rhetorical patterns in order to inform and persuade an audience

· construct unified, coherent, and well-supported paragraphs using principles of persuasion and exposition

· demonstrate accurate grammar and mechanics in writing

· analyze source material in order to integrate valid and reliable sources using accepted documentation style

Course Introduction

This course will help you develop the writing skills demanded by college-level writing assignments. We will discuss the writing process, practice writing for specific audiences, review strategies for revision, and analyze model writings. You will practice identifying and applying expository (conveying information by means of classification, comparison-contrast, process analysis, causal analysis, and other rhetorical forms) and persuasive (argument supported by reasoning and evidence) modes of writing. Your work this semester will culminate in a research-supported essay that combines these modes of writing. Research-supported writing will give you practice in gathering, evaluating, integrating, and documenting sources of evidence as supporting material in your own writing.

Courses that fulfill the General Education Requirements (GERs) at UMUC all have a common theme—technological transformations.  In following this theme throughout this semester in WRTG 101, we will read the analysis of one author, Neil Postman, on the impact of technology on various aspects of society.

The course consists of the following modules:

· Module 1: The Writer's Toolbox

· Module 2: Expository Writing

· Module 3: Persuasive Writing

· Module 4: Writing for Research

Project Descriptions

Essay 1: Summary Essay

This assignment requires you to summarize in a few paragraphs the content of Postman's first two chapters.   Your instructor will provide more details on the assignment. The essay should be 500 words. Essay 2: Synthesis Essay

This assignment requires you to combine information from Part I of the Postman text and some other sources to write an essay that examines the role of technology in transforming society.  In this "three-source" essay, you must demonstrate the ability to synthesize your findings in a sound organizational pattern and with a clear thesis statement.  This essay will be written in at least two drafts. Your instructor will provide more details on the assignment.   The essay should be 1000 - 1200 words. Essay 3: Research-Supported Essay

You will be given several choices for selecting a topic for this essay.  The choices will related to the themes in Portman's text.  You will choose a topic, gather source material, focus on a particular thesis, analyze and gather additional materials, and in the process write an essay that examines the topic based upon a carefully developed and clearly stated thesis. Use of UMUC's Information and Library Resources databases is required.  This essay will be written in at least two drafts. The essay should be 1500 - 2000 words and include a references page. Final Project: Reflective Essay 

You will be given two choices to approach this essay.  The essay will represent your own reflections on your writing overall or your research journey overall during the semester.  This essay should be 800-1200 words.

Course Schedule

Week	Topics	Readings/Assignments
1	From N. Postman: -The medium as a metaphor -Media as epistemology Other Writing Topics: -Orientation to Writer's Help	Reading from Postman (Foreward, chapter 1, and chapter 2)   Watch videos on chapters 1 and 2 of  Amusing Ourselves to Death   ·  Chapter 1:   http://info.umuc.edu/academicwrtg/Postman_Amusing/Postman_Amusing_ch1_sm_anim.html   ·  Chapter 2:   http://info.umuc.edu/academicwrtg/Postman_Amusing/Postman_Amusing_ch2.html  Conference Due Dates: Original Post(s) by Thursday and Follow-Up Post(s) by Saturday.
2	From N. Postman: -Typographic America -The typographic mind Other Writing Topics: -Library research -Summarizing , paraphrasing, and quoting -The thesis statement -Introductory paragraphs -Concluding paragraphs	Reading from Postman (chapter 3 and chapter 4) Tutorials on using OneSearch Conference Due Dates: Original Post(s) by Thursday and Follow-Up Post(s) by Saturday. Writer's Help exercises First draft of Summary Essay #1 due in Study Groups.
3	From N. Postman: -The Peek-a-Boo World -The Age of Show Business Other Writing Topics: -Library research (cont.) -Effective paragraphs and topic sentences	Reading from Postman (chapter 5 and chapter 6) Tutorials on using OneSearch (cont.) Conference Due Dates: Original Post(s) by Thursday and Follow-Up Post(s) by Saturday. Exercises from Writer's Help Final draft of Essay #1 due in Assignment Folder
4	From N. Postman: -“Now…This” -Shuffle Off to Bethlehem Other Writing Topics: -Library research (cont.) -Transitions -Synthesizing sources	Reading from Postman (chapter 7 and chapter 8) Mini-annotated bibliography of three sources Video tutorial on synthesizing sources – http://polaris.umuc.edu/ewc/web/writ_synth.html Video tutorial on developing transitions in one's writing -- http://polaris.umuc.edu/ewc/tutorials/transitions/ Conference Due Dates: Original Post(s) by Thursday and Follow-Up Post(s) by Saturday. Exercises from Writer's Help First draft of Synthesis Essay #2 due in Study Groups.
5	From N. Postman: -Reach Out and Elect Someone -Teaching as an Amusing Activity Other Writing Topics: -The writing of the research-supported essay	Reading from Postman (chapter 9 and chapter 10) Conference Due Dates: Original Post(s) by Thursday and Follow-Up Post(s) by Saturday. APA citation exercises from Writer's Help Final draft of Synthesis Essay #2 due in Assignment Folder.
6	From N. Postman: -The Huxleyan Warning Other Writing Topics: -APA style -Library and research skills (cont.) -Grammar review	Reading from Postman (chapter 11) Conference Due Dates: Original Post(s) by Thursday and Follow-Up Post(s) by Saturday. APA citation exercises from Writer's Help First draft of Research-Supported Essay #3 due in Study Groups.
7	Reflective writing Grammar review	Conference Due Dates: Original Post(s) by Thursday and Follow-Up Post(s) by Saturday. Final draft of Research-Supported Essay #3 due in Assignment Folder
8	Reflective writing	Conference Due Dates: Original Post(s) by Thursday and Follow-Up Post(s) by Saturday. Final project, the Reflective Essay, due in Assignment Folder.   NO ESSAYS ACCEPTED AFTER 7 / 7 / 13