History 100W
Fall 2010
TR 3:00-4:15
DMH 167
Patricia Lopes Don
DMH 217
Hour: R 4:15-6:00
924-5526
patdon@email.sjsu.edu
History Writing Workshop
The aim of this course is to help students to communicate well. This skill is of
utmost importance to you as a history major. It is also the defining characteristic of a
graduate of a good university. Overseeing the educational quality of general education
curriculum at San Jose State University, the Board of General Studies (BOGS) has
determined the goal of all 100W courses: “Students should demonstrate proficiency in
advance college level writing, including reading and writing articles, essays and
documents dealing with broad issues and specific concepts in their fields for both
specialized and general audiences.” More specifically,
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“Express in writing complex ideas clearly and correctly.”
“Integrate reading comprehension and writing competence, using outstanding
models that deal with general and specific issues in the discipline.”
“Read and write analytically and imaginatively.”
“Organize and develop essays and documents for both professional and
general audiences.”
“Write extemporaneously in subjects in the discipline and related fields.”
Apply “editorial standards of the discipline when citing primary and
secondary source materials.”
“Organize, compose, revise and edit” drafts of their essays.
The department of history requires that students must satisfactorily complete
HIST 99 before taking HIST 100W. If you have not completed HIST 99, you should
not take this course. Violation of this rule will result in a professor drop from HIST
100W. In addition, the department does not allow students to take History 100W in
the same semester with History 102 or History 100W after History 102. Moreover,
the Board of General Studies requires that all students taking upper division
general education courses in categories R, S, and V will be blocked from registration
unless they have already taken 100W or are concurrently enrolled. The proper
course of study for students in the history department is: HIST 99 in last semester
sophomore or first semester junior year, HIST 100W in first or second semester
junior year, and HIST 102 in the senior year.
Please be advised that this course will take a good deal of your time. It may be the
most difficult course you take this semester and it may be the most difficult course that
you have taken to date. That is to be expected because it is a foundation course for the
discipline. Historians produce historical interpretations about the past. In order to
produce these interpretations, we write. Writing is not easy, but it is the highest
intellectual skill that a human being can accomplish in the humanities and social sciences.
If you master the skill sufficiently to meet the standards of others in your discipline and
enhance the pleasure of readers, you join a select club. The entry dues to this club are
high, as they should be.
The majority of the documents and materials in this course will be made available
on the following website: www.sjsu.edu/people/patricia.don/courses/hist100W/.
Writing Center Update: The Writing Center in Clark Hall 126 offers tutoring services to
San Jose State students in all courses. Writing Specialists assist in all areas of the
writing process, including grammar, organization, paragraph development, coherence,
syntax, and documentation styles. For more information, visit the Writing Center website
at http://www.sjsu.edu/writingcenter or call 924-2308.
Required Texts
Turabian, Kate. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations, 6th ed.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.
Note: If you purchase books through Amazon or Barnes & Noble, you can make those
purchases via the History Department website and these corporations will make
donations to the Department of History, which is greatly appreciated in these difficult
economic times. Please see: http://ww.sjsu.edu/depts/history/donations/htm/
Course Requirements
Two Diagnostic Writing Samples
First 8-page Paper on Mexican History
Second 20-page Research Paper
Two Assignments on Essay Fundamentals
Event Report
Two History Journal Article Readings
Three Study Group Sessions
Two Library Reseach Workshops
Two In-class Writing Process Sessions
Three Words and Sentences Assignments
Individual Writing Conference
Total
60 points
100 points
300 points
40 points
75 points
60 points
75 points
40 points
30 points
60 points
50 points
890 points (to 915)
Note: Remember that in all 100W classes, instructors are prohibited from giving D’s or
F’s as final grades. Students must receive a C or higher to pass the course. Otherwise,
they will get an NC, meaning No Credit.
Essays
There are two essays in this class. There used to be three, but I feel that students
are better served if they have enough time to work on a longer assignment on a topic of
their choice and with primary sources of deep interest to them.
The first or short paper that comes before the long paper is primarily to practice
essay fundamentals that you learned in HIST 99; it is also for me to see how you do and
how self-sufficient you are. It has a slightly restricted topic of Mexican history in honor
of our neighbor’s 200th anniversary of independence and 100th anniversary of Mexican
Revolution (the equivalent of our Civil War). There will be a two-day exhibition and
symposium in the King Library on September 15-16. There will be no classes that week,
so that you can attend 5 hours of these sessions. After writing your event report, which
chronicles the various events you attended and your impressions, you should be inspired
to select primary source or sources for a first paper. I recommend that you ask presenters
a lot of questions about primary sources. This first paper is 8 pages long + cover sheet +
bibliography. In the addition to the primary sousrce(s), you should have at least 6
secondary sources, only two of which may be internet sources.
(Please note: On October 5, when I read your first paper, I will do a probation
check. Up to that point, you will have 300 potential points in this class. You must
maintain at least a C average (70% or 210 points) or I will put you on probation.
Probation means that you will have to see me for an individual conference where you will
have a two-page report in hand explaining to me your plan for the long paper assignment,
including what you will be doing to ensure a much improved performance in the class.)
The second or long research paper has no restrictions on topic. You select the
topic and the primary sources in consultation with your study group and your professor.l
I recommend something that is of deep interest to you. As we have study groups and
library research, you will develop the paper through the writing process--historical
question/thesis, introduction, body plan/topic sentences. There will be deadlines for the
parts of the paper that you bring to study groups. You must meet these deadlines or your
grade will suffer in study groups.
Study Group Sessions
At the beginning of the semester, I will have you fill out a survey of your reading
and writing background, your career intentions, your interests, your current status in the
department, and your current schedule of classes and work. Out of this information, I
will place you in a study group with five other people from this class. There will be
several class sessions in which we will not meet as a class but rather in your groups.
Most of these will be in my office but some will be in the library. I will also give 25
points extra credit to each person in your group who can demonstrate to me that the group
met on or around November 9. The meetings with me will be 1.5 hours long. Please be
advised that I will be using my office hour for this class to meet the groups, and so I will
be canceling the office hour for that week. These group study meetings will be devoted
to reviewing your required drafts and discussing improvements and writing strategies, as
well as following a clear research plan in the library. While part of your grade in these
sessions will be based on bringing the right materials to the session, part will be on your
contribution and support of others in the session. The study groups are motivated by three
factors:
• Research indicates a strong correlation between group study and better performance on
academic tests and tasks.
• Research indicates that individual or small group time with a professor is the best way
to improve student writing.
• Research indicates that peer expectations to attend and succeed are more powerful than
grades or individual expectations.
In addition to group study workshops, there are also research workshops with
History Librarian Nyle Monday and Special Collections Director Danelle Moon. Also,
there is a very important individual writing conference with me in the last two weeks
before you paper is due.
Diagnostic Writing Samples
At the beginning and end of the History 100W course, you will be required to
complete two pieces of diagnostic writing in class based on a prompt. We use this test to
measure your growth in writing and report this the college asssessment coordinator.
Other Assignments
There are a variety of assigments in this class that instruct through the two essay
assignments. These include: essay fundamentals review, journal artcile readings, in-class
writing process work, and words and sentences strategies.
Class Schedule
First Paper
August 26
August 31
September 2
September 7
September 9
September 14
September 16
September 21
September 23
September 28
September 30
Second Paper
October 5
October 7
October 12
October 14
October 19
October 21
October 26
October 28
November 2
Introduction to the Course
Individual Survey
Diagnostic Writing Sample (30)
Group Formation
Lecture: Purpose of the Historian
Introduction of First Paper
Review of Essay Fundamentals (20)
Review of Essay Fundamentals (20)
Introduction of the Event Report
No Class/ Students attend King Library events
No Class/ Students attend symposium panels in King Library
Read 1st History Journal Article (30)
Due: Event Report (75)
Read 1st History Journal Article
Study Group (25)
Study Group
Research Workshop in Library (20)
Due: First Paper on Mexico (100)
Probation Check on 300 points
Research Workshop in Library (20)
In-class Group Analysis of 2nd Paper Topics (10)
Read and Analyze 2nd History Journal Article (30)
Read and Analyze 2nd History Journal Article
Study Group/Research in Library (25)
Study Group/Research in Library
In-class Reading of 2nd Paper Introduction and Body Plan (20)
Study Group (25)
November 4
November 9
November 11
November 16
November 18
November 23
November 25
November 30
December 2
December 7
December 9
Exam
Study Group
Voluntary Study Group (25)
Holiday
Better words and sentences workshop (20)
Better words and sentences workshop (20)
Better words and sentences workshop (20)
Holiday
Individual Writing Workshop (50)
Individual Writing Workshop
Individual Writing Workshop
Individual Writing Workshop
Wednesday, December 15, 2:45-5:00
Diagnostic Writing Sample (30)
Due: Second Paper (300)
Course Parameters
This course will be run as a seminar/workshop. Therefore, you will be expected
to read the course assignments on time and participate actively in class discussion. You
will also be required to attend the tours of the library. Because participation in such
activities will count heavily in the final grade, poor class attendance will count against
you. Students should practice classroom etiquette. You should arrive on time, leave at
the end of class, and engage completely in the whole class discussion.
The university requires that each student write at least 8000 words during the
semester. I estimate that the total written product for the class is about 9000 words. All
papers are to be typewritten, except the in-class essays. A late paper will be marked
down 50% in the first week and 100% after that. (In order to complete the university
requirement that you complete 8000 words of formal writing to receive CR, you will
have to turn in a paper even if you ultimately receive zero points for the paper.)
Academic integrity is essential to the mission of San Jose State University. As
such, students are expected to perform their own work except when collaboration is
expressly permitted by the course instructor. When using sources from literature,
presentations or the internet, students must cite fully and accurately. Students are not
permitted to use old tests and quizzes when preparing for exams, nor may they consult
with students who have already taken exams. When practiced, academic integrity
ensures that all students are fairly graded. Violations to the Academic Integrity Policy
undermine the educational process and will not be tolerated.
I do not drop students from my roll in the first week of class. If you are enrolled
in the class and choose to drop, please make sure that you take care of the computer drop.
If you have not dropped and do not attend class and, therefore, appear on my roll at the
end of the semester, I will issue an NC. In order to receive an incomplete in this class,
university policy dictates that you must have completed 65% of the coursework and have
a compelling reason, such as personal injury or family emergency, which prevented you
from completing the requirements of the class. Students who have a disability and who
are registered with the Disability Resource Center should see me early in the semester so
that I can make the legally-mandated adjustments necessary for you to succeed in this
class.
I am on campus Tuesday and Thursday most of the day. Check my posted office
hours. I may make appointments to meet students at other times. Please see me with any
concerns or questions you may have about your progress in the class or about particular
assignments. I like to see students and rest assured you are not “bothering” me.