RWS 280: Academic Reading and Writing
San Diego State University, Fall 2012
Section 13, TT 9:30, CSQ 207
Instructor:
Office:
E-mail:
Office Hours:
Professor Sean Cissel
To be determined
cissel@hotmail.com
Wednesday 9:30-10:30, and by appointment
Description of the Course
Academic prose, emphasizing purposes, structures, and styles of academic writing, with particular emphasis on
elements of argument. Designed to improve students' ability to plan, draft, revise, and edit essays, as well as to
improve their ability to read and analyze complex academic texts.
Our focus for the first two essay cycles will be the 2012 election. Readings will come from periodicals and will be
assigned via Blackboard; therefore, you must have access to the internet to complete the reading for this course. In
addition, you are expected to follow the election in a reputable newspaper everyday in weeks 1 through 11 of the
semester.
Textbook
Keys for Writers, Sixth Edition (2010). Ann Raimes and Maria Jerskey
Assignments
15%
Essay 1
20%
Essay 2
10%
Movie Analysis
5%
Thesis/Outlines for Essay 3
25%
Essay 3
15%
Quizzes
10%
Participation/Shorter Assignments
Grading Scale
A
93-100%
A90-92
B+
87-89%
B
83-86%
B80-82%
C+
77-79%
C
73-76%
C70-72%
D+
67-69%
D
60-66%
F
Below 60%
Written assignments are due at the beginning of class on the dates listed on the syllabus. I do not accept
assignments via email, and I will not accept late copies of Essay 3. For assignments other than Essay 3, I will
subtract twenty points for every class date that an assignment is late. I will only accept assignments on class
dates; in other words, if an assignment is due on Wednesday, and you put it in my mailbox on Thursday, I will not
accept it until Friday anyway, so you might as well just give it to me on Friday at class.
Make sure you save your work frequently while composing it and after you finish, both to the computer’s hard drive
and to a disk. SDSU computer labs, especially, can easily erase your work if you do not save it to a disk. Sending a
copy of your work to your own email address as an attachment is also a good idea; doing so saves your work in
cyberspace. Make sure the computer and printer you use are in proper operating condition to avoid any last-minute
disasters like crashed systems, infected flash drives, broken or out-of-ink printers, et cetera. Computer problems
and the like do not excuse late or incomplete assignments.
Grading Rubric
I will give you a handout concerning the rules for writing in this class. Keep it; use it; bond with it.
An A essay contains a completely developed thesis or point of view and supports it throughout; is well organized
and coherently developed; clearly explains or illustrates key ideas; demonstrates variety in sentence structure;
clearly displays facility in the use of language; uses outside sources critically and insightfully; and is nearly free
from errors in mechanics and grammar. In short, an A essay makes the reader say, “Dang! That’s really good stuff!
Far superior to the writer’s peers.”
A B essay contains a well-developed thesis or point of view and generally supports it throughout; is generally well
organized and coherently developed; explains or illustrates key ideas; demonstrates some variety in sentence
structure; displays facility in the use of language; uses outside sources critically and insightfully for the most part;
and is generally free from errors in mechanics or grammar. A B essay makes the reader say, “Hey, that’s pretty darn
good. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it; it’s clearly better than the average essay.”
A C essay contains an adequate thesis or point of view and generally supports it; shows some organization and
development; explains or illustrates some of the key ideas; demonstrates some facility in the use of language;
incorporates sources, but allows sources to dominate and/or restrict flow; and may display errors in mechanics or
grammar, but not a consistent pattern of such errors. A C essay makes the reader say, “Not bad at all. It’s written
by an intelligent student who put some work into it, but it doesn’t rise above the average level of his or her peers.”
A D essay contains an underdeveloped thesis or point of view that is poorly supported; is inadequately organized or
developed; inadequately explains or illustrates key ideas; uses sources but poorly deploys them; contains a pattern or
accumulation of errors in mechanics or grammar; and has limited or inappropriate word choices. A D essay makes
the reader say, “Well, this is not particularly appealing. This is not up to the level set forth by this student’s peers.
Needs greater effort.”
An F essay has no thesis or clear point of view, a circular thesis or point of view, or a completely unsupported thesis
or point of view; is poorly organized or unorganized with very little development; has little or no relevant detail; has
no sources or uses sources uncritically; and has serious errors in mechanics and/or grammar. An F essay makes the
reader say, “I have serious doubts about this student’s level of interest and about the effort he or she put forth. This
is just not adequate.”
Essay Format: Please adhere to MLA style (see Keys for Writers and/or the website
<http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html> for a fairly thorough discussion of MLA style)
throughout your essays, including cosmetic concerns (i.e., what your essay looks like). Please purchase a small box
of paper clips at the beginning of the semester, if you do not have any already.
Unacceptable Essay Topics: You will choose your own topic for each essay. Certain topics are unacceptable to use
for essay topics because they are overly simplistic and, frankly, played out. These topics include: arguments for or
against abortion, capital punishment, gay marriage, stem cells, and euthanasia. Please review this list of topics
before you decide on your essay topics.
Grammar and Punctuation Errors: This is not a class on grammar or punctuation, but grammar and punctuation
are necessary elements of written language. In your four essays, I will put a checkmark at the end of any line in
which a grammatical or stylistic error occurs and deduct one point for each error:
√c
= a misused, unnecessary, or missing comma.
√p
= a misused, unnecessary, or missing punctuation error besides a comma.
√g
= a grammatical error.
√pv
= a passive voice verb construction.
√e
= an empty expression, such as those that use “there” or “it” without a clear antecedent.
Two checkmarks at the end of a line means two errors, three checkmarks means three errors, and so on. You may
correct each error within a week of me returning the exam to you and bring it back to me on the check-marked copy
to regain points, with the exception of Essay Three, where you can regain none of the points. Again, you must
correct your errors on the check-marked copy, or they will not count.
Someone correcting these errors for you is an honor code violation and will be treated as such. Someone helping
you correct these errors and/or using a handbook is okay.
Spelling, Proofreading, and Essay Format Errors: Any time you misspell a word, commit a proofreading or
typographical error (for example, omitting a word or writing a word twice in a row), or use incorrect essay format
(for example, incorrect spacing, font, or page numbers), I will deduct one point that you cannot get back. I will,
however, “spot” you three of these errors per essay. If you spend sufficient time on your essay and revise it, you
should not make any of these errors.
Attendance: Students are allowed three absences for any reason, although quizzes cannot be made up except in
cases of pre-excused, university-related absences. For each absence after three, your final grade will drop one-third
of a letter grade (i.e., your A will become an A-, your B will become a B-, your B- will become a C+, etc.).
Arriving late (especially with a cup of coffee or food in your hand) or leaving early will likely result in getting
marked absent for that entire day. These behaviors are rude and distracting to everyone else in the class.
Any class you miss counts as an absence. “Excused absences” do not exist, even for family emergencies (even
death) or personal illness. You have an important responsibility not to waste your absences in case you become
sick or encounter an instance in which you cannot come to class for personal or family reasons. Attendance policy
is only negotiable in cases of prolonged serious illness or hospitalization. Hangovers, relationship problems, going
out of town, oversleeping, colds, flues, and the like do not fall into this category.
Electronics/Classroom Etiquette: Please do not use electronic devices in class. Fair warning: I will deduct two
points (nearly a third of a letter) from your participation grade any time your phone is in use this semester, including
during workshops and film viewing.
Communication with Me: Email and office hours are the best means through which to get in touch with me. From
time to time, I will need to email you regarding the class. Check your email at least twice a day. You are
responsible for keeping your email account active and making sure your inbox is not full. I will only deal with the
email address on file with SDSU Blackboard. Also, do not assume that I am “on call” to answer your email at all
hours or that the SDSU email system and the internet as a whole are immune from technological problems or service
outages. I usually try to end my workday at four or five o’clock in the evening.
Academic Dishonesty: Everything you will do this semester must adhere to the SDSU Honor Code. Err on the side
of asking questions, especially concerning proper citation and quotation, before submitting work of which you are
unsure.
Turning in an essay you’ve written in the past or for another class this semester, even if you revise it, is a form of
plagiarism.
Other forms of academic dishonesty include the following:
Collusion – lending your work to another person to submit it as his or her own;
Fabrication – deliberately creating false information on a works cited or reference page;
Plagiarism – the presentation of another person’s work as your own.
I am well aware that several thousand websites offer (for sale or otherwise) downloadable essays for students to use
to cheat. Please resist the urge to cheat for a number of reasons: 1) You are paying good money to learn here; 2)
You have a conscience; 3) I will find out about it, take your offense seriously, and pursue it with the Honor Council
doggedly; 4) The late penalty is not that bad, really; and 5) I have internet access and have not, as far as I know, had
large portions of my brain removed with a soldering iron.
Access: If you have a disability (physical or learning) that you think may affect your performance in this class,
please see me during the first week of the term so we can discuss whatever accommodations may be necessary to
assure your access to all classroom activities. Student-athletes should also see me during the first week of class
regarding any time that they will have to miss for school-sponsored activities.
Tentative Schedule
Week 1
Course introduction, syllabus.
Week 2
Election/current events. Readings assigned via Blackboard.
Week 3
Election/current events. Readings assigned via Blackboard.
Week 4
Election/current events. Readings assigned via Blackboard.
9/20: Topic of Essay 1 due.
Week 5
Election/current events. Readings assigned via Blackboard.
9/27: Full draft of Essay 1 due.
Week 6
Group conferences. No regular class meeting.
Week 7
10/9: Peer workshop.
10/11: Essay 1 due.
Week 8
Election/current events. Readings assigned via Blackboard.
Week 9
Election/current events. Readings assigned via Blackboard.
Week 10
Election/current events. Readings assigned via Blackboard.
Week 11
11/6: Peer workshop.
11/8: Essay 2 due.
Week 12
11/13: Topic of Essay 3 due. Film.
11/14: Thesis and Preliminary Outline of Essay 3 due. Film.
Week 13
11/20: Film Analysis due. Film.
11/22: No class. Thanksgiving.
Week 14
Group conferences. No regular class meeting. Detailed Outline of Essay 3 due during conference.
Week 15
12/4: Peer workshop.
12/6: Essay 3 due. No late work accepted.