Professor: Nicholas Anderson
TR 8:00-9:15 am
GC 278A
Today’s Goals:
 Learn about the expectations and policies of our
ENC1102 class
 Begin looking for possible research topics
 Begin ENC1101 Review (including wallowing in
complexity, reading with/against the grain, and the
believing and doubting game)
Introduce Yourself
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Name
Year
Major
Where you are from
Something that interests you
ENC1102 vs. 1101
 Less reading
 More writing (both long
 Less vocabulary
essays and short writing)
 Additional freedom to
research the topic of
your choice
 More responsibility to
keep up with work
outside of class
 More concentration on
contemporary issues
 Less grammar
 Less formatting
Our class vs. other ENC1102 classes
 You are in control of the format and pacing of the class
 Extensive use of Socratic method
 Informal atmosphere
 We will discuss grammar while most other 1102 classes will
not
 All of your feedback will be appreciate and considered for
future coursework
Tentative Course Schedule

Unit 0- ENC1101 Review
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1/12-1/16
Goals:
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No major essay for this unit
Unit 1- Exploratory Narrative
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1/19-2/15
Goals:
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Review important ENC1101 material
Start thinking of possible research topics
Lean how to conduct secondary research & work with licensed databases
Use reading with and against the grain to better understand a text
Use exploratory and reflective writing to deepen your understanding of an issue
Exploratory Narrative due 2/15
Unit 2- Research Proposal
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2/16-3/1
Goals:
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Formulate determinate research questions to focus your study
Learn APA formatting style
Define what problems/questions remain unanswered for you topic
Research Proposal due 3/1
Tentative Course Schedule
 Unit 3- Informative Article
 3/2-4/5
 Goals:
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Learn and conduct original primary research
Use primary research to support an argument
Use visual rhetoric, document design, and style factors to match a
particular type of writing
 Informative Article due 4/5
 Unit 4- Classical Argument
 4/6 to 5/1
 Goals:
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Create a clear, credible, original, and arguable thesis
Learn strategies for addressing and refuting counterarguments
Synthesize and utilize secondary sources to support an argument
 Classical Argument due 5/1
Major Essays Overview
 Major Essay 1: Exploratory Narrative
 The only open form prose assignment we will have in this class, the exploratory narrative
will introduce you to conducting secondary research on your own and show your
progression of thought as you gain deeper insight on your chosen topic.
 Major Essay 2: Research Proposal
 The shortest of the major essays, the research proposal will ask for approval to conduct
research on your chosen topic. A very important genre for science majors and for
conducting your own research.
 Major Essay 3: Informative Article
 The informative essay will ask you to conduct original primary research you create on your
own and ask you to present that information in the genre and style of a professional
publication of your choice.
 Major Essay 4: Classical Argument
 Our final essay, the classical argument will ask you to present an original thesis or solution
to the problem related to your chosen topic. Similar to the synthesis essay from ENC1101,
you will draw on secondary research to support your claim. The genre that will likely be
most similar to the writing you have to do throughout the rest of your undergraduate
career.
 No final exam, midterm, or cumulative exam of any kind.
Unit 0 Schedule
 1/12-Intro to 1102
 Goals:
 Learn about class expectations and policies
 Begin looking for possible research topics
 1/14-Rhetoric review
 Goals:
 Review most important concepts from ENC1101
 Use the believing and doubting game to deepen your understanding
of an issue
 1/16-Intro to Research
 Goals:
 Learn vocabulary for talking about research
 Use source evaluation criteria to analyze a text
What interests you?
 All research topics should be issues that are:
 Contemporary
 Contentious
 Complex
 You are encouraged to look for topics related to
 Your major
 Current events
 New developments in research
 First and foremost, pick something that interests you!
Successful past topics
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Technology in schools
Effects of technology on language
Student loan debt
Psychological effects of video games
Censorship/coverage in the media
Rape prevention and culture
Women’s rights issues
Efficacy of online classes
Government invasion of privacy
Police corruption and reform
Athletes and steroid usage/regulations
Global warming and CO2 emissions
Ethics of stem cell research
Costs and effects of prison in the US
Topics to Avoid
 Abortion
 Gun control
 Assisted suicide/euthanasia
 Gay marriage/adoption
 Capital punishment
 Changing the legal drinking age
 Legalization of marijuana
 Legalization of prostitution
ENC1101 Review
 Believing and doubting
 Reading with/against the grain
 Wallowing in complexity
 What do these terms have in common? What is their
ultimate goal?
Believing and Doubting Game
“It is not easy to calculate all the costs of English spelling. What is the price of demotivation
and turning large numbers of young children off learning at a young age? Teachers are regularly
reminded that when it comes to motivation, 'Nothing succeeds like success'. English spelling ensures
that many children have to become accustomed to failure from a very young age. Presumably the
obverse of success is true of failure, and therefore 'nothing fails like spelling failure'?
[...] The most serious drawback of English spelling, however, is undoubtedly that it dooms
around 20 % of all learners to guaranteed failure. For about 1/5 of all school children it is quite simply
too difficult.
When a system is too difficult, large numbers of people inevitably fail to cope with it. We have
seen a vast expansion in the use of computers once they became more user friendly. If one country
had decided to stick with the DOS system and forbidden the adoption of windows, the use of computers
in that country would almost certainly still be very low. The refusal to modernize English spelling has a
similar effect. We insist that English spelling must stay fiendishly difficult, even though it is clearly
beyond the intellectual powers of many millions (7 mil. in the UK, 40 mil. in the US.)
Inability to read and write reduces an individual's life and job prospects in many ways. For
example, in the summer of 2000 it was reported in the UK that around 25% of British women fail to take
up the offer of free breast screening. How much is illiteracy responsible for this? May functional illiteracy
also be the reason why millions of people living in poverty regularly fail to claim the benefits which are
aimed at alleviating their problems? How many resort to theft and robbery instead because they cannot
cope with filling in an application form?
In June 1999 the Los Angeles Times carried a full page advertisement for voluntary classroom
reading assistants. This claimed that some US states project future numbers of prisoners from child
illiteracy rates. According to a recent audit by the UK's Youth Justice Board, half of all young men in
custody in the UK have a reading age of 11 or below. The US and the UK both jail a relatively high
percentage of their populations. The UK's rate is by far the highest in Europe. English spelling may well
be at least partly responsible for this difference. “
Believing and Doubting Game
 **The Believing and Doubting Game passage from the
previous slide was adapted from “Critical thinking I:
Being Skeptical” by Mark Sebba
Believing and Doubting Game
 Examples of words which may cause difficulties:
 Knife/gnome
 Night/Nite/Knight
 Queuing
 Cwm
 Food/good
 Connoisseur
Class Discussion
 What was your experience like with reading and writing growing
up? Did the English spelling system pose any problems for you?
 If English was not your first language, what was it like to try and
learn the English spelling system after learning a different
spelling system first?
 Do you think the English spelling system should be changed?
Why or why not?
 How does the author utilize the three rhetorical appeals within
the text? How might you utilize the three rhetorical appeals to
support the opposing side?
Short Write
 Focus: possible research topics
 Based on our class discussion, enumerate and discuss one or
more ideas you have for possible research topics. Be sure to
consider:
 What interests you in this topic?
 What are the unresolved questions or problems related to this
issue?
 What is your stance on this issue?
 How and where might you get more information about this issue?
 Respond to this prompt in essay form and in complete sentences
 For this introductory assignment, two paragraphs will suffice
Homework:
 Read syllabus
 Acquire Allyn & Bacon (A&B) textbook
 Acquire journal/composition book
 Continue thinking about possible research topics!
 If necessary, review the following ENC1101 material
before next class:
 Wallowing in complexity (p. 27)
 Believing and Doubting Game (p. 33)