Mission Statement and Learning Outcomes Overview

Link to mission statement


TME001 – English Composition First Writing Course 3 Semester Hours/4-5 Quarter Hours
Learning Outcomes

Outcomes marked with an asterisk are essential and must be taught.

1. Rhetorical Knowledge*
By the end of their first writing course, students should be able to recognize the elements that inform rhetorical situations. This understanding should enable them to produce expository texts that

• Have a clear purpose 
• Respond to the needs of intended audiences 
• Assume an appropriate stance 
• Adopt an appropriate voice, tone, style, and level of formality 
• Use appropriate conventions of format and structure 

2. Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing*
By the end of their first writing course, students should be able to

• Use reading and writing for inquiry, learning, thinking, and communicating 
• Analyze relationships among writer, text, and audience in various kinds of texts 
• Use various critical thinking strategies to analyze texts 

3. Knowledge of Composing Processes*
By the end of their first writing course, students should be able to

• Understand writing as a series of steps that includes generating ideas and text, drafting, revising, 
• and editing 
• Recognize that writing is a flexible, recursive process 
• Apply this understanding and recognition to produce successive drafts of increasing quality 

4. Collaboration*
By the end of their first writing course, students should understand that the writing process is often collaborative and social. To demonstrate that understanding, students should be able to

• Work with others to improve their own and others’ texts 
• Balance the advantages of relying on others with taking responsibility for their own work 

5. Knowledge of Conventions*
By the end of their first writing course, students should be able to

• Employ appropriate conventions for structure, paragraphing, mechanics, and format 
• Acknowledge the work of others when appropriate 
• Use a standard documentation format as needed 
• Control syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling 

6. Composing in Electronic Environments*
Developments in digital technology are expanding our understanding of “writing.” To the extent that technology is available and appropriate, by the end of their first writing course students should be able to

• Understand the possibilities of electronic media/technologies for composing and publishing 
• texts 
• Use electronic environments to support writing tasks such as drafting, reviewing, revising, editing, and sharing texts 

7. Minimal Course Requirements*
By the end of their first writing course, students will have written

• A variety of texts with opportunities for response and revision 
• A minimum of 5000 total words (roughly 20 total pages of written work). Electronic or other 
• projects of equivalent rigor and substance may be included, but the primary focus of the course must be the composing of formal written work

Thesis Response Instructions

You will read each of your classmates' theses and offer a brief response. You may write whatever you like as long as you keep your response constructive. Here are some things to consider:

• Do you agree or disagree with the thesis? Why or why not?
• What are some counterarguments to the thesis?
• What would it take to persuade you to agree with the thesis?
• Is the thesis arguable? If not, what would it take to make it more arguable?
• Do you know much about the topic? What?
• What would you like to know about the topic?
• Does the thesis matter to someone somewhere? Why or why not? If not, how could the focus be shifted?
• What is the most interesting aspect of the thesis?
• What do you think the author most needs to hear?

Here are some sample responses:

• I agree that the new World Trade Center tower is unimaginative, but demolishing it is an extreme and impractical proposal.
• What does the pork industry say about your proposal to alter school lunches?
• "Black male kindergarten teachers" is more of a topic than a claim. What can you say about them? Do we need more of them? Would they be good role models?
• I love the idea of banning cars from downtowns, but I don't think the auto industry would ever let this happen.
• Why does it matter that accordion sales have been declining steadily since the 1950s? Isn't this fairly obvious?
• Is it possible to prove that the Eagles have the best logo in the NFL? Isn't this more a matter of opinion?

Links

Here are a few short videos on some of the grammar and punctuation issues we have covered.


Problems with modifiers

Semicolons

Parts of speech with fun buffalo

Apostrophes and its/it's

The serial comma

Pronouns as subjects and objects

Class Cancelled 10/27

I need to cancel today's class due to illness. Sorry for the short notice.

Everything on the schedule, including the essay due date, will be pushed back one class. This means that essay two will be collected on Tuesday, November 3. For this Thursday, make sure you have at least a draft to work with in class.

Please spread the word to anyone who may not have seen this message.

Updated Schedule

This schedule supersedes all previous versions. I have attempted to indicate days when readings will be assigned, but this may change.

Tuesday 10/20: Commas in a series and after introductory elements. Evaluating and incorporating sources.
Thursday 10/22: Comma splices and run-ons. Documenting sources.

Tuesday 10/27: Revision workshop. Bring the most complete draft you have, along with any other notes or materials.
Thursday 10/29: Essay Two due. Into to imagery and figurative language.

Tuesday 11/3: Book review presentations. All book reviews due.
Thursday 11/5: Book review presentations.

Tuesday 11/10: Commas with nonrestrictive elements. Essay Three assigned and discussed. Intro to persuasion.
Thursday 11/12: Misplaced modifiers. Persuasion, continued. Reading discussion.

Tuesday 11/17: Punctuation with quotation marks. Reasoning and fallacies.
Thursday 11/19: Dashes and hyphens. Other types of writing: business, technical, etc.

Tuesday 11/24: Literary writing. Reading discussion.
Thursday 11/26: Thanksgiving.

Tuesday 12/1: Final essay workshop. Last day for guaranteed comments.
Thursday 12/3: Last day of class. Recap and wrap-up.

Thursday 12/10: Final exam (bring handbook and #2 pencil). Final essay due.

Link to Podcast

I will be referring to this episode of the Freakonomics podcast during today's class. It serves as a good example of a curious researcher formulating and then answering a question.

The topic is the popularity of belts versus suspenders. The research question is "How did belts become more popular than suspenders?" The podcast spends about forty minutes examining a variety of evidence before reaching any conclusion. As you listen, pay attention to the piece's conclusion/thesis and the evidence used to support it.

Link to Reading Assignment

Link to Reading Assignment

For Thursday's class, please read this review of Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan's memoir, It's So Easy (and Other Lies). We will discuss the review's paragraphing and its thesis; it will also serve as a useful model for the book review you are writing.

Be prepared to discuss the review in detail, and have a printed copy to refer to during that discussion. A quiz is likely.

Art Museum Assignment

This Thursday, October 8, our class will meet in the lobby of the Zanesville Museum of Art at 5:45 PM. The museum is at 620 Military Road, about a half-mile east of Maple Avenue. You will see a large, red, metal sculpture on the lawn. The museum has two driveways; if you are coming from Maple, use the second one. Please let me know as soon as possible if you anticipate any problems with transportation or directions.

After a brief introduction, you will be sent to explore the museum and identify some works that suggest a research topic. Photographing your chosen works as well as their labels would be a good idea. Your assignment for Tuesday is to complete steps 1 and 2 from the assignment instructions and bring in at least one written research question to use during an in-class workshop.

Essay Two Instructions

In addition to the skills already covered, this essay requires you to conduct research and use information from outside sources to formulate and support your claims. This assignment is similar to one you might encounter in a class like art history, sociology, or history; your writing should, therefore, adopt an academic tone, and your research should be conducted with as much objectivity as possible. (Objective research involves trying to discover the answer to a question through an unbiased examination of all available evidence--rather than simply searching for evidence to support a claim you already believe to be true.)

Your assignment is to write a 1200-1500 word essay, using an artwork from the Zanesville Museum of Art as a point of departure to pose and (at least tentatively) answer a question of some academic merit.

Below are some suggested steps:

1. Identify a work from the ZMA that intrigues you in some way. Your interest may be based on the artist, the work or its style, the subject, the historical context, or some other aspect of the work.  
2. Conduct preliminary research on whatever intrigues you. At this point, any type of source material is suitable. Narrow your focus until you can pose a suitable research question: one that is sufficiently challenging, narrow, and grounded. See page 332 in the handbook.
3. Continue your research, gathering as much information as possible that pertains to your question. Begin limiting your sources to those that meet the criteria for credibility. See the "Evaluating Sources" in the handbook, beginning on page 346. Be sure to record all information needed for documentation. 
4. Analyze your findings and formulate a working thesis (the answer to your research question). This should meet the criteria described in the handbook, beginning on page 16.
5. Begin to organize your examples. Sketch a brief outline, recalling that your goal is to provide effective support for your thesis. Revise your outline as necessary.
6. As you begin drafting, pay attention to how you integrate source material. Be sure to make effective choices relating to paraphrases, quotations, and summaries. Ensure that your in-text citations conform to MLA guidelines (see p. 389).
7. After completing your draft, do your best to forget about it for a day or two. When you return, reread the essay and evaluate its effectiveness in articulating and supporting its thesis. Revise as necessary.
8. Compile your bibliographic information and create your works cited page. Remember, each in-text citation must correspond to a works-cited entry.
9. Proofread your essay. 

This essay is due on Wednesday October 22. 

Updated Class Schedule

Here is an updated schedule for the rest of the course. Readings, assignments, and quizzes are not listed here. These will be announced in class.

Just for Fun

Take a look at George Orwell's rules for writers from his essay "Politics and the English Language."

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than saying anything outright barbarous.