Assignment calendar

28 August

29 August

In class

1. Exploration of reasons for and techniques for writing summaries
2. Discussion of techniques for reading complex texts
3. Discussion of techniques for improving reading speed
4. Accessing documents on Blackboard

1. Study Thomson Handbook pp. 156-158
2. Study Writing Analytically, pp. 109-120
3. For each of the above reading selections, evaluate how they tell you to write a summary, and why. You will be asked to discuss the texts in detail during class.
4. Read O'Rourke, Meghan. "The Copycat Syndrome." Slate 11 Jan. 2007.
5. Read all the linked items on the syllabus carefully.

10 September

In class

1. Discussion of your responses to the assigned texts
2. Discussion of your summaries of Atkins & Nelson
3. Develop ideas about how to write summaries: dealing with patchwriting, replicating keywords; focusing on claims and evidence rather than examples
4. Manuscript formatting and electronic transmission
5. Asking questions about the context of texts
6. Background information on authorship in Western culture

Today we're going to look at the "standard stories" about plagiarism, particularly student plagiarism. As you read the assigned texts, think about what they are saying, think about what you agree with, but also think about what you object to or feel uneasy or skeptical about--and why.
1. Read Atkins, Thomas, and Gene Nelson. "Plagiarism and the Internet: Turning the Tables." English Journal 90.4 (2001): 101-104.
2. Read McCabe, Donald L., and Gary Pavela. "Ten (Updated) Principles of Academic Integrity: How Faculty Can Foster Student Honesty." Change (May/June 2004): 10-15.
3. Read Bierut, Michael. "I Am a Plagiarist." Design Observer 11 May 2006.
4. Read Silverman, Gillian. "It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Plagiarism Buster!" Newsweek (15 July 2002): 12.

   We're also going to start the task of writing from sources, by focusing on a single source, the Atkins and Nelson text.

5. Write a 250- 350-word summary of Atkins and Nelson. Your objectives are to compress the article's ideas into a smaller number of words; to use fresh language as you write; and not to quote.

   In class you'll also have an opportunity to ask questions about the Robillard text (which you will summarize for a grade for September 12).

6. Read Robillard, Amy E. "Young Scholars Affecting Composition: A Challenge to Disciplinary Citation Practices." College English 68.3 (January 2006): 253-270. Mark any passages that you want to discuss in class.

12 September

In class

1. First paper due

1. Read Robillard, Amy E. "Young Scholars Affecting Composition: A Challenge to Disciplinary Citation Practices." College English 68.3 (January 2006): 253-270.
2. For your first graded paper, write a summary of the Robillard text.

17 September

In class

1. Marsh, Bill. "Turnitin.com and the Scriptural Enterprise of Plagiarism Detection." Computers and Composition 21 (2004): 427-438.
2. Simmons, Sue Carter. "Competing Notions of Authorship: A Historical Look at Students and Textbooks on Plagiarism and Cheating." Perspectives on Plagiarism and Intellectual Property in a Postmodern World. Ed. Lise Buranen and Alice M. Roy. Albany, NY: SUNY P, 1999. 41-54.

24 September

In class

1. In groups of 3 or 4, exchange descriptive paraphrases and talk about the similarities and differences in how you went about doing this exercise. As a group, choose one member's descriptive paraphrases that seem to work especially well. Then in whole-class discussion, explain what you valued in the group member's descriptive paraphrases. (You can use the document viewer to show it to the whole class.) Explore how you benefited from doing the exercise and what you gained from seeing how classmates did it.
2. In your group, compare definition lists and discuss why you chose the words you did and how helpful (or unhelpful) your dictionary was. Does anyone's lists contain better definitions than others? Find out what dictionary they came from. Then as a whole class, discuss the choice of dictionaries. Do you need to get a better one?
3. In groups or as a class, discuss the Marsh text, working toward a shared understanding of its argument.

1. Study Section 2 of Writing Analytically, pp. 11-15. This describes a method, "descriptive paraphrase" ("paraphrase x 3"), that will help you understand difficult passages of a complex text.
2. Re-read Marsh, Bill. "Turnitin.com and the Scriptural Enterprise of Plagiarism Detection." Computers and Composition 21 (2004): 427-438.
3. As you read Marsh, look up definitions for at least ten words whose meaning isn't immediately clear to you.
4. Choose at least five passages that you find difficult, and try the descriptive paraphrase technique on them. Bring your work with you to class.
5. Prepare to talk in class about how writing descriptive paraphrase differs from summarizing a text, and about how useful you find descriptive paraphrase for understanding a difficult text such as Marsh's.

26 September

In class

1. In small groups and then as a whole class, compare your homework. How much better do you understand Marsh's argument now? Whose homework brings particularly useful insights to the surface, and how? Use the document viewer to show samples that the whole class can discuss.
2. Preview the assignment for October 1.

1. Study Chapter 2 of Writing Analytically, pp. 41-48. (You may find it useful to read through to the end of the chapter.) At the bottom of 48, in the green-screened box, make a correction: in Step 5, the first sentence should be, "Select and list the one repeated detail, or one strand, or one binary that you take to be the most significant for arriving at ideas about that the image text communicates."
2. Using the Marsh article as your material, follow the directions in the green-screened box on 48 ("Looking for patterns of repetition and contrast"), and write out your analysis.

1 October

In class

1. Discuss the second writing assignment. How ready are you to write this paper? What will you need in order to be ready to write it?
2. In groups of four, read each other's homework and discuss what you see of value in your group members' work. Each group should then explain its findings to the entire class.
3. In your group, do Exercise 9-4 in "Analysis," discuss your findings with the entire class, and compare the work of the groups.
4. In your group, do Exercise 9-7 again, but instead of analyzing the Anthony Lewis selection, analyze Gillian Silverman's "It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Plagiarism Buster!" (available in Documents on Blackboard), explain your findings to the class, and compare the work of the groups.
5. In your group, answer the list of questions in the bulleted list that begins at the bottom of p. 1 of "Analysis." Half the groups should answer these questions for the Lewis text, the other half for Silverman. Explain your findings to the class and compare the work of the groups.
6. Preview the assignments for October 3, 8, 10

1. Preview the second writing assignment. How ready are you to write this paper? What will you need in order to be ready to write it? Send questions and comments to your Beloved Professor via IM (AOL screen name = ProfBfromWV) or email.
2. Choose your preferred meeting time for October 8 (see below) and email it to me.
3. Read "Analysis," a PDF on the Blackboard site.
4. Analyze the argument made by Anthony Lewis ("Another Model for Schools") by doing Exercise 9-7 in "Analysis."
5. Before class, send a copy of your homework to your Beloved Professor via email. You can paste it into the email or send it as an attachment. Also prepare a copy to take to class with you.

3 October

Virtual class; we will work together over email

1. If you have not already done so, choose your preferred meeting time for October 8 (see below) and email it to me.
2. Choose the source that you will analyze for the second writing assignment. Your options are listed on the assignment.

   In preparation for starting work on your paper, do the following exercises, applied to the text you have chosen:

3. For the source you have chosen, do the descriptive paraphrase described in Writing Analytically pp. 11-15 for at least three passages. Choose passages that you find especially difficult or thought-provoking.
4. Choose at least three words whose meaning isn't immediately clear to you; find a good dictionary; and look up the meanings. Copy down the most useful definitions you can find.
5. Follow the directions in the green-screened box ("Looking for patterns of repetition and contrast") on p. 48 of Writing Analytically, and write out your analysis.
6. In the PDF handout "Analysis," do Exercise 9-7.
7. Before noon on October 3, send a copy of your homework to me via email. You can paste it into the email or send it as an attachment. Be sure that each exercise is clearly labeled and answers numbered to correspond with the questions, so that I don't have any difficulty figuring out what you're doing. By midafternoon on October 3, I'll send a response to your homework, and then we can carry on any needed additional conversation over email or IM.

8 October

Individual meetings

1. Review the preliminary writing you did for October 3, and the conversation we had about it afterwards.
2. Study pp. 26-34 in Writing Analytically, thinking about possible thesis statements for your essay.
3. Write at least three thesis statements that you might choose for your paper. This will be three statements that say three different things, not three versions of a single statement.

10 October

In class

1. Peer workshop on draft in progress. You'll analyze classmates' papers and give advice on revisions.
2. Converting files from .docx to .doc
3. Preview the assignment for October 15

1. Write a full draft of your paper.
2. Review pp. 26-34 in Writing Analytically, paying particular attention to the two characteristics of good thesis statements that are listed on p. 27. In class, you'll be analyzing classmates' drafts and advising them on how to revise their thesis statements.
3. Review section D, "Assessing evidence," in the "Analysis" handout, pp. 6-7. In class, you'll be analyzing classmates' drafts and advising them on how to revise their evidence.

15 October

In class

Class will meet in 227 HB Crouse

1. Second paper due
2. Techniques for contextual analysis: peer review, author's credentials, publisher, target audience, purpose, presentation
3. Contextual analysis of texts: Silverman, Atkins & Nelson, Robillard, Beirut, O'Rourke
4. Background on copyright
5. Set up del.icio.us accounts; record your username and password; give me your username
6. Preview the assignment for October 17

1. Watch the video "Social Bookmarking in Plain English." You don't have to set up a del.icio.us account (we'll do that in class); just watch the video so you have a sense of how social bookmarking works. You will probably find uses for del.icio.us right away, but you'll also be using it later this semester.
2. Review your notes from your October 8 peer group work. Review not only what people said about your paper but also what you observed in the other papers.
3. Study pp. 18-28 of the Thomson Handbook, thinking about what principles there might be usefully applied to a revision of your paper.
4. Write the final draft of your second paper.
5. Send a copy of the paper to me as an email attachment before class time.

17 October

In class

1. Searching del.icio.us
2. Small- and whole-class discussion of your analysis of the Stearns text
3. Preview the assignment for October 22
4. Assign specific tasks for the October 22 homework

1. Read "Evaluating Information," sect. 18a
2. Read Stearns, Laurie. "Copy Wrong: Plagiarism, Process, Property, and the Law." Perspectives on Plagiarism and Intellectual Property in a Postmodern World Ed. Alice Roy and Lise Buranen. Albany, NY: SUNY P, 1999. 5-18.
3. Take notes on what Stearns says; on your contextual analysis of the piece (use your class notes from Oct. 15); on your analysis of her claims and evidence (see "Analysis," pp. 6-7); and on your analysis of her language. (Refer to Writing Analytically p. 48 for ideas on language analysis.) Write your notes so that you can explain your analysis to the rest of the class when we meet to talk about this text.
4. Be prepared, too, to talk about how you respond to the Stearns text: What do you learn that you didn't already know, and how useful is it to you? Where are you especially interested, happy, disinterested, aggravated, etc.--and why?
5. Review the texts that you have previously been assigned in this course, and pick one that you believe can be usefully read in the context of Stearns. Write a paragraph in which you explain how the text you have chosen, when read in the context of Stearns, can be better understood, appreciated, or challenged--and why.
6. Browse the internet for interesting or useful sources on copyright. Save at least five to your del.icio.us account, giving them the tag "copyright" (as well as any other tags that you consider useful).

22 October

In class

1. Discussion of your response to and analysis of Butler
2. Discussion of your analysis of the conversation between Butler and Stearns
3. Small-group and whole-class work analyzing the integration of quotations in the Butler and Stearns texts
4. Preview the assignment for October 24

1. Read Butler, Paul. "Copyright, Plagiarism, and the Law." Authorship in Composition Studies. Ed. Tracy Hamler Carrick and Rebecca Moore Howard. New York: Wadsworth, 2006. 13-27. As you read, (1) using sect. 18a in the handout "Evaluating Information," conduct a contextual analysis of the piece (to be presented by Manny, Dave, Nick); (2) using pp. 6-7 of the handout "Analysis," analyze his claims and evidence (to be presented by Nate, Shawn, Michael); and (3) using the green-screened box on p. 48 of Writing Analytically, analyze his language (to be presented by Pamela, Scott, Megan). Take notes as you work; you'll need them for class.
2. Come to class prepared to talk about what Butler says; about your contextual analysis of the piece; about your analysis of his claims and evidence; and about your analysis of his language.
3. Be prepared, too, to talk about how you respond to the Butler text: What do you learn that you didn't already know, and how useful is it to you? Where are you especially interested, happy, disinterested, aggravated--and why? (to be presented by Brittany, Sam, Anthony)
4. Review the Stearns text: what do you learn in Butler or Stearns that you don't in the other? (to be presented by Sara, Khana, Vicky) Where do the two disagree? What do they both say, how do they say it, and what evidence do they give for it? (to be presented by Amanda, Abby, Ahmed, Andrew) Take notes as you work; you'll need them for class.
5. In They Say/I Say, study Ch. 3

24 October

In class

1. Discuss your responses to Lessig
2. Discuss what you have learned about the Creative Commons, looking at class members' del.icio.us accounts
3. Small-group brainstorming of possible topics for the third writing assignment
4. Design the third writing assignment
5. Preview the assignment for October 29

1. Read Chs. 1-2 of Lessig, Lawrence. Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity. New York: Penguin, 2004. You can buy this book in print if you wish, but the PDF is available free online.
2. Browse the internet for interesting or useful sources on the Creative Commons. Save at least five to your del.icio.us account, giving them the tags "copyright" and "commons" (as well as any other tags that you consider useful).
3. Review the sources you have read so far this semester. What have you learned that you have found useful, surprising, annoying, reassuring, etc.? Take notes; you'll be asked to talk about this in class.

29 October

In class

1. Review questions for the third writing assignment generated in class on Oct. 24
2. Revise the third writing assignment
3. Prepare for November 7 visit from Damian Baca
4. Small groups produce a single summary for each section of Baca
5. Discuss questions you want to ask Baca
6. Preview the assignment for October 31

1. Read Baca, Damian Patrick. "Contesting U.S. Cultures of Authorship." An Introduction to Authorship. Ed. Tracy Hamler Carrick and Rebecca Moore Howard. New York: Wadsworth, 2006. 117-133.
2. What is Baca's thesis or main claims? What evidence does he give for them? Make a list.
3. Make a list of 5 questions you would like to ask Baca.
   
4. Abby, Ahmed, Nate, Sam, Vicky: In Baca, write a 150-word summary of the section "Cultural Obstacles of Authorship in the Writing Classroom"
5. Anthony, Brittany, Dave, Khana, Shawn: In Baca, write a 150-word summary of the section "Authorship, History, and Western Expansion"
6. Manny, Megan, Michael, Amanda: In Baca, write a 150-word summary of the section "A Call for 'Owning Up'"
7. Nick, Pamela, Andrew, Sara, Scott: In Baca, write a 150-word summary of the section "Writing and Owning Otherwise"

31 October

In class

1. Discuss what you have gleaned from Chs. 3 & 5 of They Say/I Say
2. Integrating quotations from sources: Illustrations in Robillard of the use of signal phrases and parenthetical citations (Thomson 181-184); introductions to quotations (They Say/I Say 43); explanations following quotations (They Say/I Say 44); and voice markers (They Say/I Say Ch. 5)
3. Small-group work: analyze Stearns' and Simmons' use of and representation of sources; contextual analysis of Stearns and Simmons. How does your contextual analysis account for their use of and representation of sources?
4. Preview the assignments for November 5 & 7; designate a Nov. 5 film-shower and a roll-taker

1. In They Say/I Say, review Ch. 3 and study Ch. 5
2. Study pp. 181-184 of the Thomson Brief Handbook
3. Review the Simmons and Stearns texts
4. Pamela, Amanda, Anthony, Dave, Manny, Michael, Nick, Sam, Scott, Vicky: Analyze Stearns' use of signal phrases and parenthetical citations (Thomson 181-184); introductions to quotations (They Say/I Say 43); explanations following quotations (They Say/I Say 44); and voice markers (They Say/I Say Ch. 5)
5. Abby, Ahmed, Andrew, Brittany, Khana, Megan, Nate, Sara, Shawn: Analyze Simmons' use of signal phrases and parenthetical citations (Thomson 181-184); introductions to quotations (They Say/I Say 43); explanations following quotations (They Say/I Say 44); and voice markers (They Say/I Say Ch. 5)

5 November

In class

1. Watch Alternative Freedom. Dir. Twila and Shaun. Project Free Zarathustra, 2006.
2. Circulate a sign-in sheet
3. Send me an email telling me what you thought of the film. This can be individual emails from each class member, or collaborative emails. If you do collaborative emails, tell me who participated in drafting the email.
4. Return the film and the sign-in sheet to 239 HB Crouse

1. Read "Student Cheating Rife among Chinese." The Press [Christchurch, NZ] 28 Feb. 2007. Take notes on your reaction to this article.
2. Read Hann, Arwen, and Janine Bennetts. "Chinese Students 'Biggest Cheats.'" The Press [Christchurch, NZ] 28 Feb. 2007. Take notes on your reaction to this article.
3. Read Saltmarsh, Sue. "'White Pages' in the Academy: Plagiarism, Consumption and Racist Rationalities." International Journal for Educational Integrity 1.1 (2005).
4. Using all the tools and techniques we've been practicing this semester, analyze the Saltmarsh article. Take notes as you work.
5. Write a paragraph in which you interpret the first two articles (from the Christchurch NZ Press) through Saltmarsh's perspective. Email your paragraph to me.

7 November

In class

1. Talk with guest author Damian Baca
2. Workshop thesis statements
3. Discuss the Miller essay
4. Preview the assignment for November 12

1. Read Miller, Keith D. "Martin Luther King, Jr., Borrows a Revolution: Argument, Audience, and Implications of a Secondhand Universe." College English 48 (March 1986): 249-65. Some questions to think about as you read Miller:

   (a) Textual analysis: What are Miller's major claims, and what evidence does he give for them?
   (b) Contextual analysis: What do you know about Miller, and why do you think he wrote this essay?
   (c) Intertextual analysis: Miller says, "Because King borrowed without acknowledgement from the sermons of both black and white Protestant ministers, much of his rhetoric had been tested--often repeatedly tested--with both listeners and readers before King employed it" (250). How might these borrowings of King's be examples of the "owning up" that Baca mentions in his essay?
   (d) Rhetorical analysis: Why does Miller use italics on 256?
   (e) Application: How would King's writing practices fare if he were an undergraduate student at Syracuse?

2. Write a thesis statement for your third essay: a statement of your position that gives your answer to whatever question or issue you are raising. Email it to me before class.
3. Prepare at least one question that you want to ask Prof. Baca. Write it down and bring it with you to class.

12 November

Individual meetings

1. Write a draft of the third paper

14 November

In class

1. Differences between plagiarism and copyright
2. Peer workshop on draft in progress. You'll analyze classmates' papers and give advice on revisions.
3. Preview the assignment for November 19

1. In the Thomson Brief Handbook, study pp. 74-75, and think about how the guidelines there might help you clarify your argument.
2. Review They Say/I Say, Chs. 3 & 5, and consider how the suggestions for introducing and explaining quotations (Ch. 3) and identifying the speaker (Ch. 5) might help the revision of your paper.
3. Revise your paper.

19 November

In class

1. Design the fourth (and last) paper
2. Preview the assignment for November 26

1. Review your notes from your October 31 peer group work. Review not only what people said about your paper but also what you observed in the other papers.
2. Study pp. 18-28 of the Thomson Handbook, thinking about what principles there might be usefully applied to a revision of your paper.
3. Write the final draft of your third paper.
4. Send a copy of the paper to me as an email attachment before class time.

26 November

In class

1. Analyzing sources and exploring possibilities
2. Considering counterevidence: Rogerian argument
3. Drafting theses for paper #4
4. Preview the assignment for November 28

1. Read Sapp, David. "Towards an International and Intercultural Understanding of Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty in Composition: Reflections from the People's Republic of China." Issues in Writing 13.1 (2003): 58-79.
2. For one of the following, write down the thesis; list the evidence for the thesis; list the ways in which you find the source useful; and list your questions about or objections to the source. Email your work to me before class.

   Ahmed, Abby, Sam, Pamela, Sara, Anthony: Sapp, David. "Towards an International and Intercultural Understanding of Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty in Composition: Reflections from the People's Republic of China." Issues in Writing 13.1 (2003): 58-79.
   Manny, Amanda, Nick, Scott, Nate, Vicky, Andrew: Miller, Keith D. "Martin Luther King, Jr., Borrows a Revolution: Argument, Audience, and Implications of a Secondhand Universe." College English 48 (March 1986): 249-65.
   Megan, Brittany, Khana, Michael, Shawn, Dave: Saltmarsh, Sue. "'White Pages' in the Academy: Plagiarism, Consumption and Racist Rationalities." International Journal for Educational Integrity 1.1 (2005).

28 November

In class

1. Workshop on forming arguments: evidence and counterevidence
2. Preview the assignments for December 3 and 5

1. In the Thomson Brief Handbook, study Ch. 7, paying particular attention to the thesis checklist on 74 and the description of Rogerian argument on 77.
2. Draft the thesis for your fourth paper. Email it to me before class.

3 December

In class

1. Study Ch. 13 of the Thomson Brief Handbook, paying particular attention to pp. 181-184 and 193-195
2. Draft your fourth paper

5 December

In class

1. Revise your draft of the fourth paper, taking into account the instruction in Ch. 13.
2. Review They Say/I Say, Chs. 3 & 5

10 December,
4:45 p.m.