English
310: Advanced Composition — Course Guidelines — Spring 2005 — Dr. Lance Rivers
Course Description
EN310 Advanced Writing (3,0) An exploration of the theory and practice of
writing as it relates to the production of text, EN310 places emphasis on
developing a conscious approach to writing. The course is designed to assist students
in gaining control over the choices that create a coherent, precise, cohesive
and professional text. This course may be taught on a tutorial basis.
Prerequisites: a grade of C or higher in EN111 and junior standing.
My Philosophy of Writing Instruction
For most of you, writing courses have been tortuous
classes in which you attempt to learn a set of standard language skills (like
grammar, spelling, and punctuation), various modes of writing (like compare and
contrast, exposition, and narration), something vague called “process”, and
perhaps a few research skills.
Traditionally, these skills are taught without ever explaining why
they’re important to writing, much less any exploration of the theory
underlying them. It’s very much like
taking a course in watercolor painting without learning anything about the
theory of good design, or the relationships between color and form. In a sense, it’s learning to color in a coloring
book without ever learning how to draw your own pictures.
This is a good approach for
beginning writers, and it certainly works for most (but by no means, all) of
them. But this is an Advanced
Composition course. You are no longer a
beginning writer, and so it’s time to learn something about writing itself, not
just tips, tricks, and strategies. It’s
time to figure out what, exactly, writing is; how writing works as communication
(when it does work); how writing does not work (when it doesn’t); and most
importantly, how to make writing work for you.
In short, it’s time to stop thinking like a student and begin the journey
of learning to think like a writer—a good writer.
That’s what this course is designed
to teach you. There will be no lectures
in grammar or organization, audience or invention. Instead, the half of the course will be spent
reading and discussing the ideas that professional writers have had about writing. After that, we’ll spend the rest of the
semester figuring out what our own ideas about writing are, how they affect our
writing, and how we can use these ideas to improve our writing.
This is not an average writing
course.
What to Expect
The work you do in this class will be much different from
that you’ve done in previous writing courses.
You can anticipate writing a lot, though you will probably write fewer
actual papers than in most writing courses.
There will be research, but only into the field of writing. Most of the work you do for this course will
be uncovering your own beliefs about writing, and taking steps to fine tune the
processes you find most successful. And
most importantly, the only marks I will make on your papers are ones that I ask
your permission to make—all other feedback will be oral.
If you’re starting to get the idea that you’re going
to be held responsible for your own learning, that I see my role as more
facilitator and coach than the traditional teacher/lecturer and judge, you’re
right. My job is to create an
environment for improving your writing, and to provide you with opportunities
to learn something important about writing.
Period.
Required Course Materials
We will be using several books in
this course. These are listed in the
course bibliography (in no particular order).
We’ll start with Stephen King’s On
Writing: A Memoir of the Craft and proceed from
there. Generally, we’ll spend about one
week on each book.
In
addition to the obvious notebooks, pens, and pencils, you will need to purchase
a 25% or 100% cotton fiber, bright (brilliant) white, acid-free, 24 lb., and
archival quality paper. Although I
personally prefer Eaton Connoisseur (available at Office Max) or Strathmore
Oriole Linen Bond (not available in the
Required Coursework and Grading
As
the semester progresses, you will complete a variety of writing exercises and two
actual papers. The first of these papers
is an exploration of your writing, based on a rubric I will distribute during
the first couple weeks of class. The
second paper is your memoir of writing, and will be workshopped by the class
during the second part of the semester.
Together, these two papers will total around 40 to 50 pages, not including
rough drafts. (N.B. These assigned topics are
negotiable, so if you think you’d get more out of writing something else, let
me know, and we’ll discuss it.)
Toward
the end of the semester, we will discuss how teachers grade writing, and
establish a set of criteria for determining your grade in this class. Shortly after that, during finals week, you
will meet with me in conference to decide what your final grade will be for the
course. As part of this grading session,
you will provide a portfolio of materials drawn from your work for the semester
that you think best represents your ability and philosophy as a writer, as well
as what you think you’ve gotten out of the class. This portfolio must include a
selection of rough and final drafts you’ve completed for this course and an
analysis of your own writing practices based on a rubric that will be
distributed at the end of the semester. It
may also include writing you’ve done for other courses this semester, if you
think your writing has improved significantly, and that this is demonstrated in
that writing to a significant extent.
Since this sort of grading is a scary experience for most
students, you will be given the option of a midterm conference to discuss your
progress in class to that point.
Mid-term grades (S or U) will
be posted, based on writing you’ve done for the class up to that point.
Attendance Policy
You are permitted three unexcused absences for this
course—one letter grade will be deducted
from your final course grade for every unexcused absence beyond this limit. (For example, a student with a final course
grade average of “A” and six unexcused absences would receive a final course
grade of “D”.) Excused absences are
given only for medical emergencies, religious observances not included on the
University calendar, a death in your immediate family (i.e., parents, children,
or siblings), or participation in a University sanctioned event (i.e., it’s
been excused by the Provost’s Office).
All excused absences require documentation.
Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism:
I assume that at this point of your college career you
are well-acquainted with the University Policy in this regard. If you are not, or if you have questions
about how this policy will be implemented in this particular course, see the
The Nitty-Gritty “How to Get Hold of Lance” Details
I’ll make no bones about it; I can be hard to get hold
of when you most need to get hold of me.
I keep telling people that the best way to get hold of me is via
email, but no one seems to believe me.
Still, I’ll continue to insist on it and hope for the best, because it’s
true. I have several email addresses,
but check these two most often (at least five times a day): seraph9k@sbcglobal.net
and
My office phone number is 635-2116; I will make my home
phone number available once the class has settled in and those students who are
going to drop the course have done so.
Don’t let a long distance phone call stand in the way of getting the
help you need! If calling me is a long
distance call, drop me an email with your phone number, your question, and a
plea for mercy in it. I’ll call you
back. Long distance calls to my home
will not last more than 3 minutes—if it looks like it’s going to take longer
than that, I’ll call you back. (I can
write it off on my taxes, and I need the deduction!J)
Booklist for EN310: Advanced
Writing
Spring 2005
Dillard, Annie. The
Writing Life. rpt.
Goldberg, Natalie. Wild Mind:
Living the Writer’s Life.
King, Stephen. On Writing: A
Memoir of the Craft.
L’Engle, Madeleine. Madeleine
L’Engle Herself: Reflections on a Writing Life. Carole F. Chase, compiler. Writer’s Palette.
Tan, Amy. The Opposite of Fate:
A Book of Musings.
Zinsser, William. On Writing Well, 25th Anniversary: The Classic Guide
to Writing Nonfiction (rpt. of On Writing Well).
---.
Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir.
Revised Edition.