Engl
3130 Advanced Composition, Spring 2017
[ Policies ]
[ Calendar ] [ Model
Student Essays ] [ Final
Exam/ Best Essays from This Semester ]
Calendar
last update: March 22, 2017
Class meets on Mondays and Wednesdays, 3:10-4:30pm, in
Burleson 201.
BAM = Best American Magazine Writing 2016
SS = The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing
in the 21st Century, by Steven Pinker
Week
1
Wednesday,
Jan 18:
Introductions.
Writing tools and processes. What makes good writing?
Week
2
Monday,
Jan 23:
1500
word rough draft of essay 1, narrative, due. As always,
on draft days, bring two extra copies (a total of 3 copies) for a writing
workshop.
Browse
the UNC-Chapel Hill Writing Center Handouts on Writing Groups: writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/writing-groups/.
Read "Responding to Other People's Writing"--writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/writing-groups/responding-to-other-peoples-writing/--
and read "Reacting to Other People's Responses to Your
Writing"-- writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/writing-groups/reacting-to-other-peoples-responses-to-your-writing/--at
the UNC Writing Center website.
Click
here for an ms word version of a writing response sheet: faculty.etsu.edu/odonnell/readings/WritingResponseWorksheet.docx.
Print two copies of the sheet and bring those to class.
Browse
the narrative student essays on the "Model
Student Essays" page.
Wednesday,
Jan 25:
In
SS, read "Prologue" p1-9, and "Chapter 1: Good Writing"
p11-26.
In
BAM, read "The Friend," by Matthew Teague, p 277-295.
Read
"What do students think about the five-paragraph essay?" By Jennifer
Gray. Teachers, Profs, Parents: Writers Who Care -- A blog advocating for
authentic writing instruction. May 26, 2015. writerswhocare.wordpress.com/2015/05/26/what-do-students-think-about-the-five-paragraph-essay/
Week
3
Monday,
January 30:
Essay
1, revised, due for a grade. Also bring to class the rough
draft, to submit along with the revised essay.
Bring
your grammar handbook to class today.
Browse
the tech writing student essays on the "Model
Student Essays" page. Read the following:
- Bare
to Brilliant in Thirty Minutes: a Makeup Tutorial for the Cosmetically
Challenged. By Kylie Hensley. 3130 F15
- Shaken,
Not Stirred: Recipes for the Creation of 4 Classic Cocktails. By C. Lynn
Blados. 3130 F12
At
the following Amazon.com website, browse the table of contents and read the
introduction for Word 2013 for Dummies: www.amazon.com/Word-2013-Dummies-Dan-Gookin/dp/1118491238/
Wednesday,
February 1:
Read
the following professional examples of tech writing, online:
-
"36 Hours in Asheville, N. C." By Shaila Dewan. New York
Times, Oct 13, 2016. www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/10/10/travel/what-to-do-36-hours-in-asheville-north-carolina.html
- "The Bacon Explosion: Take Bacon. Add Sausage. Blog." Food article
and recipe, New York Times online, January 27, 2009. www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/dining/28bacon.html
In
BAM, read the first 4 sections of "What Is Code?" by Paul Ford,
p9-36.
Week
4
Monday,
February 6:
1500
word rough draft of essay 2, tech writing, due. As
always, on draft days, bring two extra copies (a total of 3 copies) for a
writing workshop.
Wednesday,
February 8:
On
Youtube, view "Great Pacific Garbage Patch." By Hank Green and the
youtube channel SciShow. Published on August 7, 2012. Running time: 3:22. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh6lkv1udb0
In
BAM, read sections 5 through 7 of "What is Code?" by Paul Ford,
p36-60.
In
SS, read "Chapter 2: A Window onto the World--classic style as an antidote
for academese, bureaucratese, corporatese, legalese, officialese, and other
kinds of stuffy prose," p27-56.
Week
5
Monday,
February 13:
Essay
2, revised, due for a grade. Also bring to class the rough
draft, to submit along with the revised essay.
Bring
your grammar handbook to class today.
Browse
the review/ criticism student essays on the "Model
Student Essays" page.
Read,
here online, "Steven Pinker’s ‘The Sense of Style’" [book review]. By
Charles McGrath. The New York Times Sunday Book Review, October 17,
2014. www.nytimes.com/2014/10/19/books/review/steven-pinker-the-sense-of-style-review.html
Wednesday,
February 15:
In
SS, read "Chapter 3: The Curse of Knowledge--the main cause of
incomprehensible prose is the difficulty of imagining what it's like for
someone else not to know something that you know," p57-76.
In
BAM, read "Down for the Count," by Howard Bryant, p269-271; and read
"Stop Sending Me Jonathan Franzen Novels" by Barrett Brown, p258-266.
Read
the following professional examples of review/ criticism, online:
-
"Lead Us Not Into Debt: Finance guru Dave Ramsey wins followers with a
simple message: find God and lose your credit cards." By Megan
Mcardle. Atlantic Magazine, December 2009. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/12/lead-us-not-into-debt/7751/
-
"One Stop: A 'Super' Chicken Choice," by Fred Sauceman. Kingsport
Times-News, January 29, 2004. Cached at faculty.etsu.edu/odonnell/readings/one_stop_chicken.htm
Week
6
Monday,
February 20:
1500
word rough draft of essay 3, review/ criticism, due. As
always, on draft days, bring two extra copies (a total of 3 copies) for a
writing workshop.
Wednesday,
February 22:
Read
the following, online: "Steven Pinker’s Bad Grammar." By Nathan
Heller. The New Yorker, November 3, 2014. www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/steven-pinkers-bad-grammar
Read
Dawes’
Most Dawes Record Yet: A Review of All Your Favorite Bands, by
Kayla Hensley, English 3130 ETSU Spring 2016.
Week
7
Monday
February 27:
Essay
3, revised, due for a grade. Also bring to class the rough draft,
to submit along with the revised essay.
Bring
your grammar handbook to class today.
Browse
the academic student essays on the "Model
Student Essays" page. Read the following:
- Attention
Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder: One Parent’s Battle to Understanding the
Disorder. By Kim Rigsby. 3130 F15
- The
Woman Behind the Curtain: A Look at the Life of Mildred Benson, original author
of the Nancy Drew series. By Scottie Garber. 3130 F15
Online,
read "The Answer Man: An ancient poem was rediscovered—and the world
swerved." By Stephen Greenblatt. The New Yorker, August 8,
2011. www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/08/08/110808fa_fact_greenblatt
Wednesday,
March 1:
Read,
here online, "MLA Eight Edition: What's New and Different," at the
Purdue University Online Writing Lab website, last updated August, 2016: owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/22/
In
BAM, read "The Really Big One," by Kathryn Schulz, p183-200.
Due: Topic proposal
for essay 4, academic writing. Write a memo to me and your classmates,
proposing a topic. (For the purposes of this assignment, academic writing is
writing that draws from, and otherwise meaningfully engages with, two or more
substantial written sources.) Consider the following guidelines:
1.
Include a generous working title (including a subtitle after the colon).
2.
Describe why you are interested in the topic, and why you are qualified to
write about it.
3.
If you are choosing, for this essay, to revisit a topic about which you've
already written: describe the previous writing you've done on this same
topic.
4.
Also, include at least one complete, formal citation for one good written
source that you plan to use for your essay. Write an annotation for that source
-- that is, a short paragraph describing the source and how you think it will
be useful for your essay.
SPRING
BREAK: MARCH 6 - 10
Reading
assignments for weeks 8 to 14 will be announced before spring break.
Week
8
Monday,
March 13:
Draft
of essay 4, academic writing, due. As always, on draft days,
bring two extra copies (a total of 3 copies) for a writing workshop.
Wednesday,
March 15:
Week
9
Monday,
March 20:
Revision
of essay 4 due.
Wednesday,
March 22:
Week
10
Monday,
March 27:
Draft of
essay 5, nonfiction in the genre of your choice, due. As always, on
draft days, bring two extra copies (a total of 3 copies) for a writing
workshop.
Wednesday,
March 29:
Read,
in BAM: "The New American Slavery," p63-88.
Week
11
Monday,
April 3:
Revision
of essay 5 due.
Wednesday,
April 5:
Revision
plan due: Write a memo to me and your classmates, in which you
discuss your plans for revising your best essay. Which essay do you plan to
revise? What is its title? Describe the piece. Why are you choosing to revise
it? What qualities does this essay have, which will lead it to find a genuine
audience on the internet? What specific revisions do you plan to make, so that
the essay will be ready to send out into the world?
Also,
bring to class a copy of the essay (or essays--plural) that you are
considering revising.
Also
read, in BAM: "Purgatory," p154-180.
Week
12
Monday,
April 10:
Bring
to class a copy of the essay (or essays--plural) that you are
considering revising.
Click here
for a revision checklist.
At
3:45, we'll walk over to the Reece Museum on campus, for this event:
4-5pm: "Ginsberg in
Johnson City: A Talk and Reading by Scott Honeycutt, on the Fiftieth
Anniversary to the Day of Alan Ginsberg's Visit to Johnson City." PARENTAL ADVISORY: EXPLICIT CONTENT
Wednesday,
April 12:
Read,
in BAM: "How It Feels," p297-310.
Week
13
Monday,
April 17:
Bring
to class a copy of the essay (or essays--plural) that you are
considering revising.
Wednesday,
April 19:
Read,
in BAM: "Pregnant? Scared? Need Options? Too Bad," p111-126.
Week
14
Monday,
April 24:
Revised
best essay due. Email me an MS word file by 12 noon today, so that
I can post your revision on the internet by class time: odonnell@etsu.edu. Also
bring a printed version ("hard copy") to class. I will read and grade
the printed version, but I must first receive your electronic version, as a
condition for grading the printed essay.
Wednesday,
April 26:
In
class writing, based on your notebook entries regarding your essay grades and
comments.
Be
sure to review and bring to class your notebook with the following entries,
regarding the grades and comments you received on each of your 5 essays:
-
Monday, Feb 6, essay 1 (narrative)
-
Monday, Feb 20, essay 2 (tech writing)
-
Monday, March 20 (??), essay 3 (review essay)
-
Monday, April 3, essay 4 (academic essay)
-
Monday, April 10, essay 5 (genre and topic of your choice)
Final
exam period:
Wednesday, May 3, 2017: 10:30 a.m -12:30 p.m.