WRA150: Evolution of American Thought

Instructor: Mike Tardiff Time: Tuesday and Thursday: 10:20-12:10 Location: 311 Bessey Hall Website: miketardiff.com/wra150 [super important] Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday: 12:15-1:15 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction to Course . . . pg. 1 Course/FYW Goals . . . pg. 2 Required Texts & Materials . . . pg.3 Major Assignments & Grading Scale . . . pg. 4 Course Website . . . pg. 6 Policies and Procedures . . . pg. 6 Resources . . . pg. 8
(Hint: If youre looking for something, use the Find feature to search for the word)

INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE Writing is the tissue that connects the university. Scientists and humanists alike use writing to communicate ideas, share thoughts, and push forward. But writing isnt limited to within university walls. Rather, the university represents but one community of writing. Writing permeates all facets of life, and, in many ways, shapes what we do from day-to-day. This class will ask you to push your understanding of writing and language; it will ask you think about writing as much more than black text on white paper; it will ask you to no longer think of writing as existing only in academic communities, but as something that resides in many places and spaces, as something that can and does take on many forms. Through our exploration of literacies yes, theres more than one this course will invite you to interrogate what it means to be literate in todays culture, what it means to be a writer for todays audiences, and who gets to decide the answer to both of those questions. This course is also designed to connect what you already know -- the literacies you bring with you into the classroom -- to what youll need to know for the future.

My hope is that when you leave this course, youll be able to not only navigate any communicative situation that arises in school, at work, etc. but to do so carefully and thoughtfully. This course requires five major assignments, each of which demands significant amounts of intellectual work. From this point forward, we are a community, one that seeks to help one another accomplish the goals set forth by this syllabus. Well support one another through our reviews of each others work, our conversations in class, and the insights we provide in our blog posts. I encourage you all to work together in and out of class and to seek my help whenever necessary. COURSE GOALS My aim in this course is to present to you the possibilities of writing in various communities and for you, in turn, to be able to write to, for, with, and against those communities as you see fit. To do this, youll need to develop a rhetorical tool-kit that allows you to evaluate genre, audience, purpose and context. Moreover, its my hope that youll leave this class with the skills and sensibilities needed to write for change and progress by understanding discourse communities and by developing your voice a voice that reflects your community and life experiences so that change and progress become an active process, not a passive one. TIER ONE GOALS As part of the general education requirement, Tier-One writing contributes to the Michigan State University mission by focusing on inquiry-based teaching and learning that encourages students to begin to understand themselves as:

contributing members of MSUs community of scholars committed to asking important questions and to seeking rich responses to those questions developing skills, knowledge, and attitudes that improve the quality of life for self and others through scholarly, social, and professional activities.

In pursuit of these goals, Tier-One writing courses engage students in writing and reflection activities that make overt the ways that invention, arrangement, and revision activities:

can be engaged across inquiry situations (scholarly, social, and professional)

require the development of knowledge about the importance of contextual factors that affect the application of these methods of inquiry

The Tier-One shared learning outcomes support inquiry-based learning that transfers across writing situations in relation to three major issues: writing, reading, and researching. Specifically, this course engages these goals by using the theme of how we invent, arrange, revise, and develop ourselves as members of a community in relation to texts. This semester we will examine the ways through which our identities in a community are constructed, reified, challenged, shaped by, and shaping the world around us. This relationship will be investigated through thinking about and examining our own communities as well as our relationships to a variety of texts we have encountered through our lives and to continue this process through the semester. REQUIRED TEXTS Reading and Writing Literacies (Craig, DeJoy and Lessner) Additional required readings will be posted to the course website To access Reading and Writing Literacies supplemental texts: www.pearsoncustom.com/mi/msu_composition/ User Name: msu_fall Password: fall 2012 RECOMMENDED MATERIALS A flash drive Laptop (Please bring everyday to class as we will be using our blog quite frequently.) The Elements of Style (Strunk & White) MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS & GRADING SCALE There are five major projects in this course: four papers and one alternative form of presentation. The schedule at the end of this syllabus outlines the due dates for these major projects. All assignments are due by 11:59 p.m. on the specified due date. Late work will not be accepted. YOU MUST COMPLETE ALL MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS TO PASS THIS CLASS. Heres how the grades are distributed throughout the semester:

Project #1: Literacy Memoir - 10% (100 points) Project #2: Cultural Artifact Analysis - 20% (200 points)

Project #3: Disciplinary Literacies Project - 20% (200 points) Annotated Bibliography: 75 points Final Paper: 125 points Project #4: Remix - 20% (200 points) Proposal: 50 points Project: 100 points Reflection: 50 Points Project #5: Revising Literacies - 10% (100 points) Participation, Blog Entries, Misc. Assignments (in-class & online) 20% (200 points) Blogs: 50 points Miscellaneous Assignments: 50 points Quality of peer reviews, engagement in class, etc.: 100 points

Your grade will be calculated based on a 1,000 point scale. Here are the equivalencies:

GRADING SCALE
93-100 87-93 82-86 77-81 72-76 67-71 62-66 <62 900-1000 points 870-929 points 869-820 points 770-819 points 769-720 points 719-670 points 669-620 points 619 or less 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.0

Grading Contract: Writing is not a linear process; pieces of writing can be revised infinitely, each team representing an improvement or change from the previous iteration. REPEAT: WRITING IS NEVER DONE, JUST DUE. I not only encourage but reward diligent revision of papers. For that reason, a 4.0 is guaranteed to students who complete all assigned writing (projects and blogs), participate in class, and thoughtfully their revise papers to the appropriate quality. The ball is in your court. DESCRIPTION OF MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS AND UNITS The following are brief descriptions of the five major assignments for this course. Full-length descriptions of each assignment will be available when the project is assigned, usually on the first day of the unit. See the course schedule or website for more details.

Literacy Memoir Unit & Paper: In light of our discussions about what literacy is and can be, this assignment asks you to reflect upon the development of a meaningful literacy that you possess. Hopefully, youll pick a literacy that is relevant to a community you belong to and discuss the connection between that community and your literacy development. Cultural Artifact Unit & Paper: This assignment asks you to critically examine the relationship between some artifact material or otherwise and a culture it is connected to. This essay should elaborate on what/how this artifacts reflects something about a particular culture. Again, its my hope that youll pick an artifact and culture relevant to you. Disciplinary Literacy Unit & Paper: Because literacies are valued differently in various communities, and since youll one day select a community to become your job/career/life, its important to know what literacy looks like and how it functions that community. This research-based paper asks you to describe the literate practices that comprise a community of which you are or would one day like to be a part. The first step in this process/project is the creation of an extensive and useful annotated bibliography, for a grade, which will help you immensely in the writing of this papr. Remix Unit & Project: So far youve been asked to write very traditionally. This assignment asks you use a new medium to revise and remix a previous assignment for a new audience. The medium you choose is up to you, but youll be ask to write a short reflective essay describing the rhetorical choices youve made along the way from the medium you choose to the particular rhetorical appeals you make. Ideally, youll use a medium important to you. This is essentially a three-stepped process: Proposal, Project, Reflection Revising Literacies Unit & Paper: In this reflective essay, youll explain how your perception of literacy and/or writing has changed throughout the semester if at all. Why is literacy important? Blog posts: Throughout the semester youll write a total of 5 blog posts. Youll be given a prompt for each post that corresponds to the readings and topics we cover in class. Some blog posts will ask you to respond to a reading, others might challenge you to reflect on an experience. Its my hope that youll use the blog to try new things with your writing, to capitalize on the affordances of digital spaces, and that youll create a strong community on our course website. If youre uncomfortable writing publicly

on the blog, we can certainly make alternative arrangements to fulfill this portion of the course. Please see me in advance of the first blog post. Its expected that students will read each others blogs and will respond when/if appropriate. Those who regularly comment on the blog will be rewarded with higher participation grades. Each blog post should no less than 200 words, though individual prompts/assignments may have other specific requirements (use of an image, etc.) COURSE WEBSITE Well have a course website, on which youll find everything needed for our class: assignment descriptions, class-by-class updates and agendas, the syllabus, and the course blog. It is your responsibility to check the site regularly for updates and/or changes. Major updates will be communicated by e-mail AND on the website. POLICIES AND PROCEDURES Class Participation This class requires active and engaged participation. It is expected that students will participate in ALL classroom activities and discussions. That said: I understand that we all have different personalities and ways of participating in class. Your participation grade will be calculated by assessing the sum-total of all channels of participation: class discussion, attending office hours, blog-writing, etc. Effectively, class participation reflects effort and should be thought of as such. If, at any time during the semester, youre interested in your participation grade, please see me. Peer Review We will devote a substantial amount of in-class time to peer review. Accordingly, this time needs to be used productively. I ask that at the end of every peer review day, you leave class with a thoughtful and comprehensive revision strategy based on any feedback youve received. YOU MUST ATTEND PEER REVIEW SESSIONS! Attendance Attendance is mandatory. You may miss only three (3) classes without penalty. For every absence beyond three, I will deduct .3 grade points from your final grade (e.g. 4.0 3.7). This is non-negotiable.

Tardiness will also not be tolerated. Be on time its the least you can do. Every two tardies equals a full absence and will affect your grade as stipulated above. Of course, life happens. Should you need to miss class, please contact me as soon as possible so that we can make alternative arrangements. You are always responsible for what has been covered in a missed class. **Peer Review days are 100% mandatory. Missing a peer review day will count as TWO missed classes.** Good Citizen Policy Well be talking about a wide-array of issues in the class, from gender to race to sexuality. Its expected that youll conduct yourselves maturely and civilly in class. You must respect others opinions, but, please, feel free to share yours as well. Each voice in our class is powerful, but should not drown out others. All I ask, as clich as it sounds, is that you treat others as youd like to be treated. Revision Policy Again, writing is not a linear process. We dont always get it right the first time around for a variety of reasons. Every assignment in this class can be revised and resubmitted for a new grade (multiple times if youd like). I will always award you the higher grade. Revising a paper does not mean simply fixing mechanical problems (e.g. spelling, grammar, citations, etc.). Instead, revision is usually a substantial and time-consuming process of reworking the rhetorical components of a piece of writing to better address context, audience and purpose. Each time you resubmit an assignment for a grade you must attach a 250-word memo explaining how youve decided to revise the paper. This memo, along with the quality of your revisions, will dictate your new grade. The first two assignments will need to be revised initially (i.e. the first time) by a certain point in the middle of the semester (TBD). Assignments #3 & #4 must be revised by the Monday of Finals week. Work Submission Policy All assignments for this course must be submitted on the due date, unless alternative arrangements have been made, or they are subject to a Grade Point deduction for each calendar day they are late.

All assignments must be submitted through e-mail to michael.t.tardiff@gmail.com Academic Honesty I take academic honesty very seriously. Plagiarism, of any sort, will not be accepted and/or tolerated in this class. If plagiarism is evident and/or suspected, I will pursue it in accordance with the WRAC Department Guidelines and University Policy. Michigan State University has adopted the following statement about academic policy: GENERAL STUDENT REGULATIONS

1.00 PROTECTION OF SCHOLARSHIP AND GRADES The principles of truth and honesty are fundamental to the educational process and the academic integrity of the University; therefore, no student shall: 1.01 claim or submit the academic work of another as ones own. 1.02 procure, provide, accept or use any materials containing questions or answers to any examination or assignment without proper authorization. 1.03 complete or attempt to complete any assignment or examination for another individual without proper authorization. 1.04 allow any examination or assignment to be completed for oneself, in part or in total, by another without proper authorization. 1.05 alter, tamper with, appropriate, destroy or otherwise interfere with the research, resources, or other academic work of another person. 1.06 fabricate or falsify data or results.

Procedures for responding to cases of academic honesty and possible repercussions are outlined in Spartan Life: Student Handbook and Resource Guide. They can also be found on the web at: http://www.msu.edu/unit/ombud/honestylinks.html. Note, the new procedures require that instances of academic dishonesty be reported through the registrars office and forwarded to the Dean of the College in which the students major resides. RESOURCES AND LINKS Department of Rhetoric, Writing, and American Cultures: www.msu.edu/~wrac/ Writing Center: http://writing.msu.edu Learning Resource Center: www.msu.edu/~lrc

Library: www.lib.msu.edu/ Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab): http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities: www.rcpd.msu.edu Counseling Services: http://www.couns.msu.edu/