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Contents 1 Syllabus, Section 36 1.1 online feedback is NOT grading! 2 Spirit and Letter of the Writing Program 3 Plagiarism 3.1 online research 4 Official Writing Program Curriculum 4.1 Background on the Curriculum 5 Required Course Texts

Syllabus, Section 36

Here is the framework for our section of ENGWRIT 112, Fall 2007. It includes a description of the grading structure and names the major required projects. Our calendar will deviate somewhat from the general sequence provided by the Writing Program. (So, please do not be concerned if your friends in other classes are working on something different than you; we will still wind up doing the same things, just in a different order.)

online feedback is NOT grading!

The Writing Program's curriculum for ENG112 explicitly emphasizes the process of writing. While some individuals can write effectively in a stream-of-consciousness, one-draft-is-final style for creative literature, such freestyle, freeform methods rarely succeed in academic or civic writing. What the typical inadequacy of first draft means (within the purposes of this course) is that the process of writing necessarily involves re-writing. Until one develops habits and strategies of self-critique, external input is required. (Indeed, very few writers of any kind become successful without eliciting feedback.)

Feedback serves two crucial functions:

1. Informs you about audiences' interpretations - what you write is often not what others read!
2. Points you to specific instances where your ideas are fuzzy, contradictory, or alogical.

Additionally, feedback can draw your attention to patterns of improper punctuation and grammar.

Feedback, thus, is a critical element of the writing process. Because students' learning styles differ, there may be instances when you learn best from the teacher's feedback and other instances when you learn best from your peers' feedback. Regarding particular areas in which you are trying to improve, you may learn better from examples in other students' writing instead of your own. Always, examples from varied sources are instrumental in learning the scope of a specific problem and the broad range of possible solutions.

These are the reasons why some feedback on your writing will occur online, here in the wiki, where we can all look, discuss, and learn together, from and with each other. There is no direct correlation between feedback that you receive here (or on your written drafts) and final grades earned on your papers. If someone seeks to argue that there is an obvious relationship, they are operating from a perspective on "feedback" and "grading" which is radically different than my own. Feedback elicits response - giving and receiving messages is a natural part of ongoing cycles of communication. Grading is an endpoint, an evaluation which completes a specific cycle.

Spirit and Letter of the Writing Program

A handout was distributed to all hundred-plus teachers of the Writing Program, emphasizing the things every one of us must do to fulfill the criteria of our contract with the University and satisfy the mission of helping you develop as an academic writer. Common activities across sections of College Writing (ENGWRIT 112) are "the law." Goals and assumptions to keep in mind are the spirit.

Plagiarism

RESIST the temptation to find what seems like it might be an easy way to improve your grade! Please read the Plagiarism Policy, noting especially that "unintentional plagiarism is still plagiarism."

online research

There are questions about the reliability of [wikipedia]. We discuss this particularly in relation to Unit Three: Adding to a Conversation.

Official Writing Program Curriculum

The UMass Writing Program provides detailed information about this course. The introduction is worth quoting in full (bold added to highlight your teacher's particular leanings):

College Writing serves two purposes:

(1) to prepare students for writing in future academic situations, and

(2) to develop writing skills applicable to professional and civic contexts beyond the university.

The course gives students occasion to work on writing that presents a range of broadly applicable intellectual and composing challenges and, in so doing, help them develop as writers. Those challenges include writing to accomplish various purposes -- for example, to render experience, to interpret, to explain, to persuade -- for various audiences. Those challenges also include being able to make meaning and compose from various sources, including one's own experience and knowledge and new knowledge gleaned from reading, observing, and listening to others. Most fundamentally, those challenges include being able to link private interests with those of a public audience in order to accomplish one's purpose in writing.

English 112 aims to teach students to make informed choices about their writing processes and the form of their written product. By modeling the process and choice-making strategies within the contexts of each unit, our goal is to ensure writers will be able to apply these ways of thinking to future writing situations. Thus, the writing assignments included in the curriculum focus on educated audiences both inside and outside the academy.

The general requirements and syllabus for all sections of English 112, including this one (#36) are available from the English Department's webpage. The site includes Writing Program goals, the Program's philosophy of writing, and a site chock full of resources for students.

The specific grading schema for Section 36 is two tiered. Half the credit revolves around points you lose for not doing the basic assignments and other commonly accepted elements of being a committed learner. The other half of credit involves the actual quality of your writing, with a particular emphasis on improvement.

Background on the Curriculum

The University Senate authorized a committee of faculty to spend all of last year reviewing the Writing Program. A few excerpts are available in this teacher's weblog: Writing Program Background.

Required Course Texts

LeCourt, D. et al. The Text-Wrestling Book. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 2005.

Faigley, Lester, et. al. The Penguin Handbook, UMass Amherst Custom Edition. Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2007.

The Student Writing Anthology: Selected Essays, 2006-2007. Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2007.