ENGL109 – Introduction to Academic Writing*
Section: #LEC007 Winter 2022
Instructor: sarah currie (prefers decapitalized)
Meeting: Mondays & Wednesdays 10:00AM – 11:20AM EST
Location: Environment 3 Building, Room 3406 & ENGL 109 Discord server
Office Hours: PAS 2213, Tuesdays 12:00PM—1:00PM EST
Contact: sarah.currie@uwaterloo.ca
* if you have this syllabus open on a computer, please play & modify! You can change the text size, orientation or background colour; order of elements/sections; highlight sections especially relevant to your needs; adjust spacing or port to reader/conversion programs; and more. This is your master document for this course, and it should appear in the format that feels most intuitive for you. The “default” version is just a suggestion.
Quick Navigation
Use CTRL + LEFT CLICK to follow the links listed below directly to the corresponding syllabus element. You can change the order of these elements in Microsoft Word.
- Quick Navigation(p1)
- Course Calendar Description(p1)
- Required Materials (p1-2)
- Accessibility and Inclusion(p2)
- Pandemic Planning & Living Syllabus(p3)
- Week-to-Week Breakdown(p3-6)
- Assessment Structure(p6)
- Assignment Expectations(p7)
- UW-Required Syllabus Statements(p8-9)
Course Calendar Description
The course will explore a variety of issues in academic writing such as style, argument, and the presentation of information. English 109 is designed to get you comfortable writing in an academic context. You will learn about different forms of academic writing, as well as the processes that great writers engage in to create their best work. You will read texts to learn more about how they were written, and thus to improve your own writing. Because we value learning as a social activity, and thus recognize that writers and readers learn from one another, much of your work in English 109 will involve different kinds of collaboration with your peers.
Required Materials
- a notebook of your choice
(physical notebook, Notion, Wordpress or other blogspace, Microsoft Notes notebook, etc.) with lined pages, 50+ pages. You will do in-class activities, take-home writing exercises and peer review with this notebook. If you choose the digital journal option, you will need to be able to bring the digital notebook to class via some form of portable tech.
- we will be using all open-access digital texts in this class
(read: freely available on the internet). This also requires technology capable of opening the links to readings we’ll explore together.
Accessibility and Inclusion
I like to talk about access before we talk about grading and assessments because I think that sends a clear message about what is important to me. Part of this inclusivity policy is providing a lot of freedom as to how you choose to participate and contribute to our writing community.
My job is to walk alongside you on this learning pathway and ensure you have everything you need to do well in this course. I want to work with you as individuals and as a class community to make sure we can navigate that pathway in the most equitable way we can imagine as a team. There is no formal attendance policy. There is no formal lateness policy. I choose to respect and trust your self-knowing and boundaries, and I hope you gain that for me over time as well.
I do wellness check-ins during weeks 3, 7 and 11 to regroup and assess our needs as a collective in the ever-changing circumstances of pandemic academy.
I don’t require medical validation for accommodations requested. I don’t require you to be registered with AccessAbility Services to talk about your needs inside and outside the classroom. I am aware that needs fluctuate and change throughout term, and I hope you’ll keep me in your circle of conversations pertaining to your ever-changing situations. I can leverage my access at this institution to help you best if I’m in the loop about your unique situation.
Pandemic Planning & Living Syllabus
This term (W2022) is starting as a remote-pandemic term, and I imagine it will continue that way at the end of January. We will navigate this as a community and re-adjust our living, resilient syllabus as we move through term as best we can. By making plans to accommodate ourselves later, we may save ourselves a lot of stress in the long-term. The wellness check-ins are designed to give us space to re-design and re-format what elements appear when in accordance with our community needs.
Week-to-Week Breakdown
When we use co-designed frameworks, we create resilient, living documents that can accommodate our changing needs as we move through this term (though this version should act as a good approximation in the meantime).
|
TIME |
TEXT |
TALK & TAKE HOME |
|---|---|---|
|
Week 1 (-) (Jan 5) |
Monday syllabus & what on earth is academic writing? “Genres/Types of Documents” (2018) NDSU Center for Writers Wednesday Writespace 1: one truth & one lie rhetoricity activity |
Syllabus breakdown, designing Cozy Space, creating community agreements |
|
Week 2 (Jan 10) (Jan 12) |
Monday “2.2 Genres, Stories and Academic Writing” (2020)“2.3 Academic Writing as a Genre” (2020) Why Write? A Guide for Students in Canada Writespace 2: our voices on the page Wednesday “Writing Op-Eds That Make a Difference” (2021) Indivisible & Op-Ed Projects “What I Want Your Voice To Do” (2018) Jessie Van Eerden |
(Wednesday) Take home: Writespace 3: my take/your take op-eds |
|
Week 3 (Jan 17) (Jan 19) |
Monday “1.2 Holistic Academic Writing” (2020)“1.8 Your Own Process” (2020) Why Write? A Guide for Students in Canada “Rethinking Our Compulsion to Comparison” Emily Beswick Wednesday Writing Workshop I: facilitated peer review |
(Wednesday) Take home: revising your peer-reviewed entry (Online) Wellness Check-in 1 |
|
Week 4 (Jan 24) (Jan 26) |
Monday “2.6 Common Sub-Genres of Academic Writing”“2.7 The Essay” (2020) Why Write? A Guide for Students in Canada sarah’s Academic Thesis Crash Course Wednesday Read-Around: peer-edited favourite journal entry (group feedback & cheerleading) |
(Wednesday) Take home: Writespace 4: conjuring an argument outline Read-Around Feedback dropbox |
|
Week 5 (Jan 31) (Feb 2) |
Monday “3.4 Knowing Your Audience” (2020)“3.5 Everything’s Persuasion” (2020) Why Write? A Guide for Students in Canada “Book Review: Counterstory” (2021) Danielle Pappo Writespace 5: imagining the counterstory Wednesday sarah’s Academic Argument Crash Course Writespace 6: arguing your case |
|
|
Week 6 (Feb 7) (Feb 9) |
“4.5 Quick Guide to Undergraduate Research” “4.6 Citational Practice” (2020) Why Write? A Guide for Students in Canada Pick 2 from this list + 1 other video of your choice: Video Essay: “The Philosophy of Rick and Morty” (2015) via Wisecrack Show Video Essay: “Superposition: the Genre of Life is Strange” (2017) via Innuendo Studios (!tw: suicide) Video Essay: “Who is Responsible for Climate Change? Who Needs to Fix It?” (2020) via Kurzgesagt: In a Nutshell |
Take home: Writespace 7 & 8: arguing your case II & critical review (of self-selected video essay) |
|
Week 7 (Feb 14) (Feb 16) |
Monday Breakdown of big takeaways from first half of course Breakdown of video essays and “viral” arguments Wednesday Writing Workshop II: facilitated peer review of arguing your case I and arguing your case II entries |
(Wednesday) Take home: revising one of the arguing your case entries |
|
Reading Week (Feb 21) (Feb 23) |
(Online) Wellness Check-in 2 |
|
|
Week 8 (Feb 28) (Mar 2) |
Monday “5.7 Breaking Rules (With a Purpose)” (2020)“5.8 Voice” (2020) Why Write? A Guide for Students in Canada Take up & Writespace 9: imagining alt-realities with voice sarah’s Rhetoricity roundtable Wednesday Read-Around: your favourite journal entry from entries 4 – 10 (group feedback & cheerleading) |
Read-Around feedback dropbox (Wednesday) Take home: Writespace 10: rhetoricity & audience appeal |
|
Week 9 (Mar 7) (Mar 9) |
Monday Beyond Academia: writing genres in STEM, Business, etc., co-op and professional writing Wednesday Writespace 11: drafting for business, co-operative education, internships and alt-academia |
(Wednesday) Take home: finishing edited draft of business entry |
|
Week 10 (Mar 14) (Mar 16) |
Monday Beyond Academia: bias and access – who is being left out of our conversations? Wednesday Arts190 Feedback Trade Day – trading journal entry with Dr. Lamont’s ECE students |
(Wednesday) Take home: Writespace 12: access and academic writing entry |
|
Week 11 (Mar 21) (Mar 23) |
Monday Writing Workshop III: revising best journal entries, self-facilitated peer review, workshopping best journal entries from this term Breakdown of big takeaways from second half of the course Wednesday Arts190 Feedback Trade Back Day – trading back feedback with ECE students sarah’s community callback overview: writing acknowledgements |
(Wednesday) Take home: Writespace 13: gratitude and community writing (Online) Wellness Check-in 3 |
|
Week 12 (Mar 28) (Mar 30) |
Monday Writing Workshop IV: revising best journal entries, self-facilitated peer review, workshopping best journal entries from this term Wednesday Read-Around Final Symposium: café & clever writings (your best journal entry from this semester) (polished peer feedback & extra cheerleading) |
(Online) Exit interview: writing crash course, key reflections (Online) SUBMIT BY 13 MARCH: 5 best journal entries (edited and polished) & 2 best peer feedback reviews (originals) |
Course Goals (Objectives)
I think it makes sense to tell you what I was trying to indoctrinate you with after you’ve read the syllabus outline. I have three clear expectations I hope you develop as a result from walking this academic writing pathway with me:
- Learner is able to rhetorically assess, value and critically comment on the validity and prescience of casual (non-academic) material and some academic (editorial or undergraduate) material.
- Learner is able to use voice, diction, genre and other rhetorical tools to present a reasonably compelling argument to a peer reader of similar academic background.
- Learner is able to present short written works to an audience in a manner which demonstrates appropriate style, tone and rhetoricity to academic situations.
Assessment Structure
The assessment layout of this course is a tripartite structure (three points, like a triangle): Writer’s Journal, Writer’s Workshops, and Read-Arounds. Laid out simply, the course unfolds like this:
Writer’s Journal (Writespace Exercises) [20%]
Your private practice, so be loud and experiment boldly. Complete 12 entries over 13 weeks (see weekly breakdown). You will have to submit these to the weekly dropbox, but I will not read them (proof of completion / this is otherwise your playground).
Writer’s Workshops (Community Agreement) [20%]
Facilitated paired peer reviews in week 3 and 6, self-facilitated peer reviews in weeks 11 and 12. There will be dropbox submissions where you will submit your peer feedback, as well as a workshop feedback (just for me to see).
Read-arounds (Community Engagement) [20%]
Facilitated full-class community feedback and cheerleading in weeks 4, 8 and 12. There will be dropbox submissions where you will submit your group feedback, as well as a read-around feedback (just for me to see).
“Final Exam” Writing Portfolio [35%]
Your ‘exam’ submission for this course is a portfolio dropbox submission of your 5 best journal entries, your 3 best peer reviews, and 1 exit interview from this semester’s produced work.
Gratitude & Community Care [5%]
The final 5% of this course is awarded by your community (not me!) – you will have the chance in your exit interview to name classmates who you felt improved, helped you improve, or contributed cheerleading that created a greater sense of community in the writing classroom.
Assignment Expectations
We will discuss and revise the expectations in line with how our syllabus morphs and changes throughout term. I also think it’s important to have your input on how these elements are evaluated, because we exist as a reciprocal writing community.
Below are ideas of expectations, which we can evaluate as a class in weeks 1 and 2.
Writer’s Journal: Entries should be 300-500 words. There are 12 entries, but we can make 2+ non-penalized. We can also agree to “write 8 of your choice” toward your Portfolio. Can be assessed primarily by completion, or by quality. Can be assessed weekly, or at half-terms.
Writer’s Workshops: Peer review entries should be 200-300 words. This activity is very difficult to opt-out of, because it creates unfairness for others. We can talk about how to deliver the feedback, “deadlines” for feedback, and formats for delivery (including video calls or video recordings). Submission of your best reviews to me can also be video clips. Can be assessed at the end of term, or after the workshops.
Read-arounds: Same general guidelines as WRITER’S WORKSHOPS. Submit reflection exercise component with what you have learned from other students. This can be accomplished as a large-group or in 3-4 “team” groups. If the class takes a “team” structure, feedback would be organized by teams about each other.
Portfolio: 5 best entries and 3 best reviews, as well as the exit interview, is required (I need something to formally evaluate this term). How this is accomplished is up for discussion. The workshops and read-arounds are designed to help you submit the best portfolio possible and learn from your community, as well as myself, about how to be a rhetorically convincing academic writer in Canadian communities.
Gratitude & Community Care: How many classmates to name, who can be named, or team dynamics can all contribute to this component. Extenuating circumstances during term can also be applied to this component.
UW-Required Syllabus Statements
Academic Integrity
In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. See the Office of Academic Integrity webpage for more information.
Discipline
A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity to avoid committing an academic offence and to take responsibility for his/her actions. Check the Office of Academic Integrity for more information. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course professor, academic advisor, or the undergraduate associate dean. When misconduct has been found to have occurred, disciplinary penalties will be imposed under Policy 71 – Student Discipline. For information on categories of offenses and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71 - Student Discipline. For typical penalties check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties.
Grievance
A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of their university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4. When in doubt, please be certain to contact the department’s administrative assistant who will provide further assistance.
Appeals
A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances (other than a petition) or Policy 71 - Student Discipline may be appealed if there is a ground. A student who believes he/she has a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72 - Student Appeals.
Note for Students with Disabilities
AccessAbility Services, located in Needles Hall, Room 1401, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with AcessAbility Services at the beginning of each academic term.
Turnitin.com
Text matching software (Turnitin®) may be used to screen assignments in this course. Turnitin® is used to verify that all materials and sources in assignments are documented. Students' submissions are stored on a U.S. server, therefore students must be given an alternative (e.g., scaffolded assignment or annotated bibliography), if they are concerned about their privacy and/or security. Students will be given due notice, in the first week of the term and/or at the time assignment details are provided, about arrangements and alternatives for the use of Turnitin in this course.
It is the responsibility of the student to notify the instructor if they, in the first week of term or at the time assignment details are provided, wish to submit alternate assignment.
Cross-listed Course (if applicable)
Please note that a cross-listed course will count in all respective averages no matter under which rubric it has been taken. For example, a PHIL/PSCI cross-list will count in a Philosophy major average, even if the course was taken under the Political Science rubric.
Due to COVID-19 and campus closures, services are available only online or by phone.
- Counselling Services: counselling.services@uwaterloo.ca / 519-888-4567 ext. 32655
- MATES: one-to-one peer support program offered by the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA) and Counselling Services
Off campus, 24/7
- Good2Talk: Free confidential help line for post-secondary students. Phone: 1-866-925-5454
- Grand River Hospital: Emergency care for mental health crisis. Phone: 519-749-4300 ext. 6880
- Here 24/7: Mental Health and Crisis Service Team. Phone: 1-844-437-3247
- OK2BME: set of support services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning teens in Waterloo. Phone: 519-884-0000 extension 213
Full details can be found online on the Faculty of Arts website
Download UWaterloo and regional mental health resources (PDF)
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