Rebecca Moore Howard
Office: 239A HB Crouse
Office hours: By appointment
Telephone: 443-1083
E-mail: rehoward@syr.edu
Home page http://wrt-howard.syr.edu

Schedule (tentative)
WRT 205-226
Unit 1: Researching the Writing Requirement

January 14

In class: Informal, ungraded writing:

1. Please write your name, major (if you don't know for sure, tell me one or two that you're thinking about), class (sophomore, etc.), local mailing address, local telephone number, and email.
2. Why is this course required for your major?
3. Why are you in this course?
4. What worries, fears, or suspicions do you have about this course?
5. What do you believe, wish, or hope you will learn about writing in this course?

January 16

Preparation:

1. Read chapter 47, Longman Companion.
2. Write a research report (2-3 pages): Why are you required to take this course? Part 1 of your report should answer that question; part 2 should list the research steps, strategies, and techniques you used to come to an answer that satisfied you. Which of these research steps, strategies, and techniques were recommended in ch. 47, Longman, and which were your own innovations? Which of these research steps, strategies, and techniques had you never done before? This report will be graded and will be part of your informal writing grade for the course.

Bring to class:

1. Longman Companion
2. Critical Convergences
3. Your research report

In class:

1. Research methods
   
2. Hand in your research report

January 21: ELECTRONIC CLASS (SNOW DAY)

Send me an email (rehoward@syr.edu) listing three research emphases that you would be interested in working on for your February 6 interim research report. Please rank the three choices you make, so I know which one you are most interested in. I'll assign students in the class to research groups, so that each of these research areas is covered; then you'll be able to draw on each other's research when you write your February 13 recommendation report at the end of the unit.

January 23: CLASS MEETS IN BIRD LIBRARY, ELECTRONIC TRAINING CENTER

Preparation:

1. Study three chapters in the Longman Companion: 46, 47, & 48 in the second edition (42, 43, & 44 in the first edition).
2. Make a list of research questions that you would like to ask and answer in the library training session. These should be questions pertaining to your research task for the February 6 interim research report. If you work on your research questions collaboratively with someone else in the class, be sure to note that at the end of your list. Make 2 copies of your list: one to hand in for me to grade (as part of your informal writing grade), and one for you to take notes on during the library session.

Bring to class:

1. Longman Companion
2. Two copies of your research questions

In class:

1. Research methods
2. Hand in one copy of your research questions.

January 28

Preparation:

1. Study Davis & Shadle, "Building a Mystery," Critical Convergences 5-26.
2. Study "The Summary Essay," http://wrt-howard.syr.edu/Handouts/SumEss.html and print out a copy.
3. Study ch. 48, sections a & b (44a&b in the first edition) of Longman Companion

Bring to class:

1. Longman Companion
2. Critical Convergences
3. A printed copy of "The Summary Essay"

In class:

1. Response to Davis and Shadle
2. Discuss Davis and Shadle
3. Discuss research reports
4. Discuss methods for summarizing texts

January 30

Preparation:

1. Write a 500-word summary essay of Davis & Shadle. Print out two extra copies, so that you can bring three to class. This essay will count as part of your formal graded writing for the course.
2. Study "Reports" (http://wrt-howard.syr.edu/Handouts/reports.htm); print out a copy and bring it with you to class.

Bring to class:

1. Longman Companion
2. Critical Convergences
3. Three copies of your Davis & Shadle summary essay
4. One copy of "Reports"

In class:

1. Intertextuality
2. Research methods
3. Sign up for individual conferences
4. Methods for writing reports

February 3, 5-5:30: Dan, Noah, Carignan, Shannon
February 4, 9-9:30: Angela, Steve, Fred
February 4, 11:30-12: Tricia, Jessica Chappell, Hsieh
February 4, 1-1:30: Jess Toro, Karen
February 5, 2-2:30: Michele, Dyer, Diana
February 6, 3:30-4: Scott, Lane, & Suzie

February 4: Interview techniques; critical reading

Preparation:

1. Read Roland, "Style," Critical Convergences 59-70
2. Conduct further research on reasons for (and arguments against) requiring college writing instruction

Bring to class:

1. Longman Companion
2. Critical Convergences
3. Notes from your research

In class:

1. Discuss research results
2. Draft interview questions for each research group that is conducting interviews
3. Combine research questions and appoint one or more representatives for the following interviews:

   Professor of English Charles Watson: February 7, 1-1:30 p.m.
   Arts & Sciences Associate Dean Stewart Thau: February 10, 1:15-1:45 p.m.
   Vice Chancellor Deborah Freund: February 11, 11:30-11:45 a.m.
   

4. Discuss Roland

February 6: Prose style

Preparation:

1. Write a 500-word summary essay of the Roland source. This essay will be graded as one of your formal writing assignments.
2. Conduct further research on reasons for requiring college writing instruction. In addition to the leads that Wendy Bousfield provided, many of you will find the CompPile bibliography useful: http://comppile.tamucc.edu/. Searching for "writing requirement," "universal requirement," "abolition," or "abolitionism" may get you some sources on the history of required writing instruction in the U.S. Most of the journals indexed in the CompPile bibliography are available in hardcopy at Bird library. Full texts of a few are available online: College Composition and Communication is at http://www.ncte.org/ccc/front.html. Archives of JAC: Journal of Advanced Composition are at http://jac.gsu.edu/. Written Communication is at http://gessler.ingentaselect.com/vl=28724703/cl=50/nw=1/rpsv/ij/sage/07410883/contp1.htm. If you need some help with search keywords, the Longman Companion, ch. 47e, "Making the Most of Your Keyword Searches" (ch. 43d in the first edition) explains Boolean operators.
3. Study ch. 28, "Using Coordination and Subordination," Longman Companion (ch. 25 in first edition).

Bring to class:

1. Longman Companion
2. Critical Convergences
3. Your Roland summary essay

In class:

1. Writing with style
2. Hand in Roland summary essay

February 11: Organizing reports; CLASS MEETS IN 009 HB CROUSE

Preparation:

1. Read Sennott, Charles M. "Report on Iraq Didn't Credit U.S. Scholar." The Boston Globe 8 February 2003.
2. Conduct further research on reasons for (and arguments against) requiring college writing instruction
3. Study ch. 7f, "Revising for Paragraph Development," Longman Companion (ch. 6f in the first edition). This section describes principles of paragraph development that can also be applied to larger texts such as your informational report. Consider which of these patterns might help you organize the presentation of the data you have gathered.

Bring to class:

1. Longman Companion
2. Online copy of all your research notes: you can bring it to class on a floppy disk formatted for a Mac, or you can send it to yourself attached to an email.

In class:

1. Discuss research results
2. Organize informational reports
3. Hand in Roland summary essay

February 13: Document design; CLASS MEETS IN 009 HB CROUSE

Preparation:

1. Study ch. 13, "Document Design," Longman Companion (ch. 10 in the first edition)
2. Study "Reports" (http://wrt-howard.syr.edu/Handouts/reports.htm); print out a copy and bring it with you to class.
3. Compose a full draft of your informational report.

Bring to class:

1. Longman Companion
2. Draft of your informational report: you can bring it to class in hardcopy or send it to yourself attached to an email. You'll be working on this draft in class. (See "Preparation" for February 18, below, for specifications about the paper.)

In class:

Document design workshop

February 18: Editing punctuation

Preparation:

1. Overview ch. 34, "Using Commas," Longman Companion (ch. 30 in the first edition). Identify the punctuation conventions with which you have the most difficulty or which you find most unfamiliar.
2. Conduct further research on reasons for requiring college writing instruction.
3. Write an analytical report, 3-4 pages. Overview the information you have gathered. Identify the significant connections, contradictions, and gaps in the data. This report will count as part of your formal graded writing for the course.
   (a) As you structure this report, refer to the "Business reports" handout. At the end of that handout is a suggested way to organize your report. I am not requiring that you follow this plan, but only offering it to you as a good boilerplate for a report.
   (b) For this particular assignment, you will need to add a list of Works Cited. For that, I recommend following the instructions in section 51b of the Longman Companion (section 46c in the first edition). Keep in mind that interviews, websites, and emails are sources and should therefore be listed in your Works Cited.
   (c) If you have consulted potentially valuable sources that you are not including in your report, you can list them in an additional section, "Works Consulted."
   (d) This is a report. It should have headings. You can use the four categories in the "Business Reports" handout ("Introduction"; "Summary"; "Discussion"; "Conclusion"), along with "Works Cited," as your headings, or you can write headings that are specific to your material.
   (e) What goes in your conclusion? Consider talking about the implications of each of the options you've described in your report. Consider talking about what further research needs to be conducted on your topic.

Bring to class:

1. Longman Companion
2. Notes from your research

In class:

1. Discuss research results
2. Sign up for individual conferences

February 20: NO CLASS MEETING

February 25: Argument workshop; CLASS MEETS IN 009 HB CROUSE

Preparation:

1. Study ch. 26, "Making Persuasive Arguments," Longman Companion (ch. 52 in the first edition)
2. Compose a full draft of your recommendation report.

Bring to class:

1. Longman Companion
2. Online draft of your recommendation report: you can bring it to class on a floppy disk formatted for a Mac, or you can send it to yourself attached to an email.

In class:

Argument workshop: Thesis, evidence, counterevidence

February 27: Collaborative planning

Preparation:

1. Read Bartlett, Thomas. "Why Johnny Can't Write, Even Though He Went to Princeton." The Chronicle of Higher Education 49.17 (3 January 2003): A39.
2. Read Ridgley, Stanley. "College Students Can't Write?" National Review 19 February 2003. .

Bring to class:

1. Your research essay
2. Critical Convergences
3. Longman Companion

In class:

1. Design next units

March 4:

Preparation:

Write a recommendation report, 5-7 pages, about whether writing courses should be required of students in your major at this university. Include a list of works cited. This essay will count as part of your formal graded writing for the course.

Bring to class:

1. Your research essay
2. Critical Convergences
3. Longman Companion

In class:

1. Hand in research essay

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