109 F21 Hancock

English 109: Introduction to Academic Writing Sections 4, 6, and 11

Department of English Language and Literature / St. Paul's College University

Instructor: Michael Hancock michael.hancock@uwaterloo.ca

Lecture: Tuesday 10:00-11:20 (Sec 11); 1:00-2:20 (Sec 04); 04:00-5:20 (Sec 5) Thursday: online (should be posted by 2:00 pm, or you'll receive advance notice) 

Office Hours: Thursdays 2-4 (virtually, by appointment—just send me an email, and we'll set up a Zoom call. In-person meetings can be arranged, but must by for Tuesdays, and must be set up in advance)

Course Description

This course teaches students the skills they require to write in an acceptable, academic manner. We will address issues of style, argument, and the presentation of information. Above all, the course is designed to teach the practices needed to participate in written discourse in an academic environment. Frequent written exercises and participation in oral discussions will be required. We will be studying the foundations of writing, including issues of grammar, basic sentence construction, and proper citation.

We will also be performing more complicated critical thinking processes, such as the construction and assessment of an essay, personal reflections, comparison of contrasting arguments, and original research. In fact, the small scale grammar and big scale composition are closely related: the foundations of writing require the ability to think critically about what you are writing, and critical thinking is significantly degraded without the ability to present your ideas in a clear and precise manner. There will also be an emphasis on assessing contemporary media artifacts, such as podcasts and YouTube videos. Ideally, this course should be more than fulfilling an English credit; it should be the development of skills valuable to both a learning-oriented career and critical discourse in general.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, students will have been introduced and be expected to successfully demonstrate some of the following skills:

• To organize their thoughts into a personal reflection that examines their past
• To apply these organizational skills in the composition and analysis of structured arguments
• To be able to summarize a given argument for meaning and provide meaningful discussion on its merits and fallacies in class
• To be able to compare and contrast opposing or overlapping views on a given structure
• To assess and describe existing research for a given research topic
• To construct a well-ordered argument concerning a given research topic

Suggested Text

Ruszkiewicsz, John J. and Jay T. Dolmage. How to Write Anything: A Guide and Reference with Readings. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2019. (Or some equivalent handbook on composition, grammar, and MLA use)

*This is a very quick turnaround, so submitting on the next following school day, after the break, would be fine.

The Blended Format

This class uses a blended format; on Tuesdays, we meet in the classroom, and on Thursdays, I will post a lecture online. The online lecture will be posted by 2:00 pm on Thursday, and should be viewed before the next Tuesday class. The in-person lectures will have discussion and exercises; the online lectures will end in a list of exercises, and you'll submit a post in response to at least one of them, and at least one reply to someone else's post. (see Participation below). This blended format is new, and it may not go entirely smoothly. Ideally, it will let us experience the best of both structures: in-person, we can experience the immediate feedback that face-to-face communication can create. And online, we have the option to be a bit more flexible, and give ourselves time to compose our responses. But there may be some issues to work out along the way, and I hope we can grant each other understanding and care while we work that out.

As with the rest of campus, the class has a masks-on, vaccinated policy. I'll ask that everyone keeps their masks on as much as possible, and keeps a safe social distance from each other. Whatever your beliefs, we owe it to each other to stay as safe as possible.

Finally, at some point in the term, it may be possible that we move the class to online-only, for a single week, or even for the rest of the course. If you think you're experiencing COVID-like symptoms and need to self-isolate, you won't be penalized for it in any way—contact me, and we'll work out alternative accommodations.

Weekly Readings

For each week, one lecture will be on issues of writing and one will involve a close study of or more videos, podcasts, or readings relating to the topic for the week. As such, students are expected to come to class prepared for discussion, and having gone through the assigned texts (In English studies, “text” can refer to anything we analyse, not just the written words!). Students are encouraged to make their own suggestions for possible texts as well; if there is a text that I think is of high enough quality, I may substitute it into the course, or suggest it for the assignments. The purpose of these texts and the subsequent discussions is to develop critical analytical skills. We're going to take the composition skills we learn in the more writing-focused class, and explore how we can apply them. Students are not only to respond to the content of the texts, but also to their structure, and how that structure supports (or fails to support) the larger piece. The readings will cover a wide variety of topics, sometimes controversial; if you feel uncomfortable discussing a particular topic in a classroom setting, please let me know, and we can talk about alternatives. Similarly, while contentious opinions are permitted and to an extent encouraged, students are instructed to remain civil, and to be aware that no hateful or abusive language will be tolerated.

As for which class each week is going to be the writing one and which the close study—well, we're going to figure that out. The blended course structure is new to all of us, and I'm honestly not sure whether it would make more sense to put the close study on Thursdays or the writing lecture. We'll try out both, and pick the one that works best overall. For weeks two and three of class, we'll have our close studies on Thursday, and for weeks 4 and 5, we'll switch, and have the writing-focused classes on Thursday, then have a discussion to determine what method we do next. I'm not sure what will happen, but we'll work together to figure it out.

Participation – 15%

Your participation consists of three parts—responses to exercises in the online lectures, draft posting and feedback, and participation during in-class discussion. For each recorded lecture, as stated earlier, you're responsible for responding to at least one exercise and at least one other student (though the response to a student doesn't have to be to the same exercise!). For this portion, I'm looking at quality and quantity. Quantity means that each post and reply is of a minimum length (at least 250 words for the main post, and 100 for the reply—the exception here is for writing-related exercises, where fulfilling the objective can be under 250 words) and, barring an emergency, the post and reply have been submitted before the following Tuesday lecture. Quality means that for the writing-based posts, you've done exactly what the exercise have requested, without errors. And for the close study-based posts, you've illustrated that you've thought deeply on the reading, the lecture, or both.

Part of the participation mark will be participation in all three of our draft classes. For these classes, you are to bring a full draft of your assignment to class (or rather, post it to the class discussion board). And by full draft, that means at least 2/3 of its prose portion length written out (and Works Cited and title page don't count towards that length), with a point form for the rest of the paper, and a Works Cited page, when relevant. You are also to read and comment on at least two other students' paper, under a format that will be discussed later. The participation mark here depends both on submitting a proper draft, and commenting in detail in your feedback. If you have some sort of emergency, exceptions are possible, but they must be granted by me in advance of the draft submission deadline.

Additionally, there will be a classroom participation component. Occasionally, students will be given be small assignments involving minor exercises and activities that are conducted in class. Students will not be graded on these assignments, but completion will contribute to participation mark. Finally, the participation mark will also be a measure of participation in classroom discussions. If you feel uncomfortable participating in such discussions, that’s fine—not everyone excels under the same conditions, and there are certainly circumstances where I’m not comfortable speaking in group situations either. Contact me early in the term, and we’ll talk about some alternatives (more writing, finding alternative sources for the topics, sketching infographs) you could do instead.

Attendance -- I will be keeping track of attendance for the in-person classes, and using it to gauge leeway when it comes to extensions and other such issues. Further, you can’t participate if you’re not present (unless, again, you’ve made other arrangements). As students, you are under a lot of pressure and will not always be able to attend; I recognize that, and would appreciate a head’s up if you can’t make it class, particularly for multiple absences or a continual lateness. If you're ill or have any reason to suspect that you might have COVID—I hope this goes without saying, but don't come to class!

Your own health comes first, and there will never be any penalty for taking the responsible choice of self-isolation. If you can't make it to an in-person class, let me know, and we'll find a way to make up for it, and get you the information you need.

Assignments

Further information regarding each of the four major assignments—the reflection, the comparison essay, the annotated bibliography, and the research essay—will be provided on LEARN as the due date for the assignment approaches. In essence, each one has you approach critical arguments in different ways. For the reflection, you are showing your ability to accurately interrogate your experience and present it a coherent fashion. For the comparison, you are demonstrating that you can show how two arguments differ or build on each other. For the annotated bibliography, you are compiling a set of critical perspectives around a subject. And for the research essay, you are putting all of these skills together to construct your own, unique argument.

Reflection essay: students provide a brief reflection on a past event that was important for their personal development.

Comparison Essay: Students argue some thesis based on two of the texts from the course.

Annotated Bibliography: Students present an annotated list of sources, five academic and three non- academic, related to a topic chosen for the research essay.

Research Essay: Students argue a topic based in part on the readings and in part on independent research, optionally/ideally using the sources gathered in the annotated bibliography.

Late assignments will be deducted 2% per school day. However, I will be generous with extensions, provided they are asked for 24 hours before the assignment is due, and a draft of required length is brought (when appropriate) to peer review days.

Schedule

Topics: fear of technology, science fiction and language, construction of fantasy, food and politics, superheroes, horror stories, satire, race in Canada, games and play, digital media, sports, cartoons and propaganda.

Tuesday classes are in person, and Thursday classes are online.

(Note: after week 5, we can swap the writing and close study classes, depending on how we feel about the scheduling)

Course Policies

Course policies are essentially based on respectful communication and setting clear expectations. If something about the course, be it an assignment or policy, is not clear to you please write me and we will sort the issue. Please take the time to read the syllabus and the assignments carefully and ask me questions if you’re not sure about something. A syllabus functions as a kind of agreement between instructor and student: I'll do my best to maintain what's stated here and not change anything without your input, or at least knowledge. But in addition to being a contract, it is a resource and connects you to resources both in the classroom and around campus. I want to make this course as useful to you as possible, and that means clearly communicating our expectations of each other and making sure everyone is on the same page.

Accessibility Statement

The AccessAbility Services office, located on the first floor of the Needles Hall extension (NH 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 the AS office at the beginning of each academic term.

Mental Health Support

All of us need a support system. The faculty and staff in Arts encourage students to seek out mental health supports if they are needed.

On Campus

• Counseling Services: 519-888-4567 ext 32655
• MATES: one-to-one peer support program offered by Federation of Students (FEDS) and Counselling Services
• Health Services Emergency service: located across the creek form Student Life Centre

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: 519-749-433 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 Water- loo. Phone: 519-884-0000 extension 213

Full details can be found online at the Faculty of ARTS website Download UWaterloo and regional mental health resources (PDF)

Download the WatSafe app to your phone to quickly access mental health support information

Territorial Acknowledgement

We acknowledge that we are living and working on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron (also known as Neutral), Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land promised to the Six Nations that includes 10 kilometres on each side of the Grand River.

For more information about the purpose of territorial acknowledgments, please see the CAUT Guide to Acknowledging Traditional Territory (PDF).

Academic freedom at the University of Waterloo

Policy 33, Ethical Behaviour states, as one of its general principles (Section 1), “The University supports academic freedom for all members of the University community. Academic freedom carries with it the duty to use that freedom in a manner consistent with the scholarly obligation to base teaching and research on an honest and ethical quest for knowledge. In the context of this policy, 'academic freedom' refers to academic activities, including teaching and scholarship, as is articulated in the principles set out in the Memorandum of Agreement between the FAUW and the University of Waterloo, 1998 (Article 6). The academic environment which fosters free debate may from time to time include the presentation or discussion of unpopular opinions or controversial material. Such material shall be dealt with as openly, respectfully and sensitively as possible.” This definition is repeated in Policies 70 and 71, and in the Memorandum of Agreement, Section 6.

Emergencies and Absences

In the event of a major campus emergency, course requirements, deadlines, and grading percentages are subject to changes that may be necessitated by a revised semester calendar or other circumstances beyond the instructor’s control. Relevant changes to this course will be posted on the course website or can be obtained by contacting the instructor via email. You are expected to read your @uwaterloo.ca email on a frequent basis. Personal emergencies should be communicated to me as soon as possible, but attend first to you and your family’s well-being. Whatever happens, to be your particular situation is not my business and all I need to know is there was a medical emergency. You do not need to provide any details. For extended absences, I would like a note from a doctor, but again no details about why you away ever need to be provided in these notes and you do not need to disclose the reason to me.

Grade Concerns and Incompletes

Should your grades concern you then you must speak with me within the first 3/4 of the term; the last quarter of the term will not provide sufficient time to markedly improve your final grade. Finally, I will not grant an incomplete in the course; if you have concerns about completing your term please write to me as soon as possible.

Academic Honesty

All work in this course should be original. Any material that you paraphrase or quote must be cited according to an accepted style format (MLA, in this course). Over citing will not be penalized and, in fact, I’m always happy to see you’re doing research. If you’re not sure if you should cite something, go ahead and cite it. We can chat about it later, but when in doubt give credit. Remember you want to give credit for words and ideas.

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 academic offences, 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.

Grievances and Appeals

Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her 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.

The Writing and Communication Centre

The Writing and Communication Centre works with students as they develop their ideas, draft, and revise. Writing and Communication Specialists offer one-on-one support in planning assignments, synthesizing and citing research, organizing papers and reports, designing presentations and e-portfolios, and revising for clarity and coherence.