The Raw Basics Writing 150 – Writing and Critical Reasoning Issues in Contemporary Economics Spring 2022 – Section # 64305 M/W/F 10am-10:50am – GFS 201 Instructor: Andrew De Silva Email: desilva@usc.edu Phone: (734) 646-0965 Office Hours: M/W 2-3pm by appointment, on Zoom The Grand Note on Writing Writing 150—or an introductory composition course at any institution—is designed to acquaint students with the academic discourse community and transition the high-school mind to the elevated expectations of college-level thought. In essence, now that you’re at USC we’d love for you to join the conversation, but you’ll need a more refined set of skills in order to do so. Writing is the basic unit of university conversation, and joining in will require deep consideration of what writing actually means. Is it merely an inscriptive act—the act of typing sentences into a Microsoft Word or Google Docs document? Unfortunately, in the high school experience of many USC students, academic writing has been a mechanism for “recording stuff you know about some other thing.” Writing is how we prove to our English teachers that we’ve read Huckleberry Finn or Othello; writing is how we demonstrate we’ve understood the Federalist Papers in our AP U.S. History classes; writing is how we exhibit our basic competency with grammar and five-paragraph structure to the overlords who score our SAT and ACT exams. This course will seek to redefine writing, in particular the nature of the academic essay. I’d like to propose that essays are not a bogus format invented by teachers as a homework vessel, or a simple container for relaying information about something else you have studied. This is boring. This is reductive. This sells writing WAYYYY short. In this course, in the university, and in life beyond the university, the essay might be redefined as: The most compelling way to work through—and ultimately package—our original understanding of something vital and complex. Notice that the packaging—the actual construction of the sentences and paragraphs; the typing in the Word document—comes second here. The first part, the working through, is the most significant task of our Writing 150 course. The writing process involves figuring out not just how to voice an opinion, but more fundamentally how to arrive at an opinion that is thoughtful, justified by the analysis of credible evidence, and aware of its own limitations (while still remaining convincing to its audience, of course). This is the domain of Critical Reasoning: the thought-tools that allow us to analyze with sophistication, generate compelling ideas, and push those ideas to even greater nuance and complexity. In doing so, we’ll also redefine our culture’s everyday definition of Argument: our papers will not “win” arguments by crushing the opposition or by screaming louder or with more conviction. To begin with, the issues we’ll be writing about this semester will rarely if ever break down into a simple binary of two opposing camps, an us vs. them. We’ll encounter an audience with a host of worldviews and philosophies, and they’re not likely to be persuaded by volume, venom, or superficial aggression. Rather, 1 we’ll need to master sound reasoning practices, and methods for handling the legitimate skepticisms our well-informed readers will surely have. But rest assured we’ll also spend time on packaging our thinking, because the actual writing of the papers is how we’ll deliver our rich ideas to our readership. This semester we’ll consider, in great detail, how the choices we make as writers impact our readers’ experiences, and how to craft papers that best navigate our readers through our arguments. By focusing on these proficiencies, Writing 150 nurtures the sophisticated analytical and communicative talents necessary for adult life (and, implicitly, democratic citizenship) in a highly connected, complex society. The Grand Note on Contemporary Economics Since this course is primarily tasked with acquiring skills—the ability to think and write well—our economics theme will not imbue the course with a traditional content load, a body of knowledge directly transmitted from professor (or massive-reading-load-selected-by-professor) to student. Does this mean that we’ll learn no content, no actual “stuff” about economics? Not at all, but in the spirit of our redefinition of writing as an epistemic process—a way of coming to know something—it is through your own writing that you’ll discover the facts about, and more importantly, your positions on the unsettled issues within contemporary economics. In truth, this will be a journey of co-discovery, because I’m not interested in teaching you a static body of facts in some simple, directive way. We’ll focus on issues and questions to which I genuinely don’t know the answers, either! Rhetoric—for our purposes, the pursuit of the best and most persuasive ideas that address genuinely unsettled issues—is interested in the realm of uncertainty, and almost everything related to contemporary economics is uncertain, if we really think about it. Even its definition is elusive. What is “economics”? Is it simply finance, a shorthand for Wall Street and the banking system and the Federal Reserve? Interest rates and currency valuations? Or is economics far more ancient and pervasive? The arena in which every human endeavor has played out, and will play out? Do our economic realities make life better for Americans? All or some? For citizens of other nations? Who controls the system? Does anybody? Is contemporary capitalism good, bad, or something far more complex? In what ways does it shape the human experience of living, loving, working, learning, dying? The concept of “economics” is so vast, it engages with almost every discipline on campus: business, political science, and international relations may come first to mind, but it also invokes psychology, art and culture, history, sociology, anthropology, law, literature, philosophy, ecology, et cetera. Our contemporary economy is multifaceted, complex, and evolving as we speak: our job this semester is to use writing as a tool for making sense of it. 2 The Grand Note on COVID-19 and Our Return to IRL Academic Experience I waited a minute to get to this, didn’t I? My main reason: I wanted to foreground everything that will stay the same about your USC experience versus, say, a student who took my class in Fall 2019, back when everything seemed so straightforward. For those with serious Zoom fatigue: we will hopefully join together soon in our physical classroom, and continue as often as we can safely manage it. But we’ll need an extra dose of pandemic flexibility. Despite our best efforts, some students will test positive for SARS-CoV-2 this semester. Some students will be quarantined for exposure. I may test positive or go into quarantine. We’ll do the right thing and stay home when we have symptoms, even if, in retrospect, they end up being common colds. Talking through our masks every day will be difficult— and let’s be honest, annoying. But we’ll make it work. Practical Principals: Once the mandatory remote-attendance period ends and we “re-start,” our classroom will not—as of this typing—be a hybrid form, with an option to attend by Zoom or in person. Our expectation is live, physical attendance, with best public health practices at the forefront. But there’s the rub, isn’t it? I want you to come! But I don’t want you to come! (if you are likely to have been exposed, are asymptomatically positive, or are ill). I have an unvaccinated three-year old and unvaccinated eleven-month old baby who I am trying to protect—and we all should be trying to protect each other, to think deeply about the greater good. So, like I said—it’s tricky. We don’t want warriors who battle through illness like we all would have in 2019, hiding our sore throats, dragging our exhausted tails to class to prove our diligence. Nor do we want positivetesting but asymptomatic students to attend just because they feel okay, or to avoid the shame of diagnosis. There is no shame—Delta and even more so Omicron are extremely contagious. Becoming infected is not a personal failure or referendum on your responsibility. You will not be penalized for missing physical class for any COVID-related concern, for up to two weeks (e.g. four classes, whether consecutive or in aggregate). I don’t need test results or doctor’s notes to “prove” anything; a simple email explaining your scenario will be fine; you are adults and I trust you to manage your attendance. (Note: in certain circumstances, we can discuss even more excused absence.) Unless you are severely ill, you will be expected to follow class asynchronously while missing the live, synchronous class. But: we equally won’t want to take advantage of these strange times by leaning into our inherent slackerdom. The disruption we may experience in campus life is not an excuse to miss classes we could otherwise attend. The asynchronous version of class will inevitably be less engaging, less dynamic, less robust than the shared synchronous experience. Take ownership of your education; you are adults and I trust you to manage your attendance. Takeaways: • The default is in-person attendance. Come when it’s safe and prudent—for you and our fifteen-person Writing 150 community. With some luck and best practices, let’s hope this can be most of the time. • Don’t come when it’s not safe or prudent. You’ll be able to “attend” through another mechanism. It won’t be the same, but you won’t be penalized or thought less of. • Communicate proactively with me and we’ll work through it. • If I’m out for any extended period, the class will pivot to Zoom—so we’ll channel our 2020 selves and attend via laptop. Case counts on campus may also force this outcome. • Let’s be flexible; let’s be conscientious; let’s be kind. 3 The Tools of the Trade Writing 150 Digital Course Book (available at this link). Print-at-home expectations for certain readings and your own work, so consider your printing/copy responsibilities a replacement for an onerous book budget. All of the wonderful content available in the digital age that will help inform you about your world, because you cannot write sophisticated analyses of your economic, social, and political moment if you do not know what that moment is! (Read The New York Times/The Wall Street Journal/The New Republic/The Economist/The Atlantic/The New Yorker, browse your favorite political blog, watch The Daily Show or John Oliver, et cetera.) The Work That Must Be Done Four major essays (which we’ll call Writing Projects) written in response to different assignment prompts, each to be developed over the course of several weeks. How to submit: On their respective due dates, papers will be submitted as .doc/.docx (please, no other formats) via Turnitin on our Blackboard page. A set of less formal writing assignments (e.g. responses to readings or class discussions, prewriting exercises, rough drafts) assigned within any major paper’s multiweek cycle. This is the ancillary work that makes up 15% of your grade. It might be easiest to think of this stuff as plain old daily “homework.” Most assignments will be small, but the larger ancillary assignments will be weighted more heavily. These are graded on a simple check-plus/check/check-minus system, and will not be accepted late. How to submit: paste into your personal homework journal on Blackboard, or sometimes a class-wide blog/wiki, depending on my instructions. (Please paste the text in, rather than attaching a .doc, .pdf, or link.) Regular attendance throughout the semester and active engagement with the world of the course. How It Shall Be Graded 45% 35% 15% 5% The First Three Writing Projects WP #1: 10% **ghost-graded, see below** WP #2: 15% WP #3: 20% Final Writing Project (WP #4) Ancillary Work Course Engagement/Presence (formerly “participation”) **Ghost grade, huh? What’s that? For the first major essay, you’ll receive a provisional “ghost grade”: I’ll assess and write commentary on your paper so you know where it stands, but I won’t record the grade in my record book. At the end of the semester, you’ll revise this first project and I’ll retroactively enter the new grade into the WP#1 slot. How It Shall Appear All of the major writing projects should be typed, double-spaced, and page-numbered. Required length will be specified with each assignment. Please use a 12-point Times font and normal margins. Do not insert extra spaces between paragraphs. Writing 150’s workshop format focuses on evolving texts, from brainstorm to draft to final product, and as such, I will NOT ACCEPT a paper if all I see of it is the final draft. (i.e. you disappear from the course and magically submit a finished paper on the due date). 4 Please back up your data frequently to the cloud. Submission reminder: on their respective due dates, writing projects will be submitted as .doc/.docx via Turnitin on Blackboard. The top, left-hand corner of each assignment should contain the following items (single space this administrative information so that your paper doesn’t start halfway down the page): Your Name Course Name & Section Number Semester and Year (Fall 2021) Writing Project Number The Long, Boring List of Very Important Policies Laptops: Laptops/Tablets will not be used during class under normal circumstances. The class is not usually notes-intensive, but at the same time, there’s something to note every day. I recommend an oldfashioned paper and pencil. Please talk to me about Accessibility Paperwork or other challenges you foresee. Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. This is a workshop class and you must be present—whether live or through asynchronous engagement—for our various meeting sessions, conferences, and activities. If you are observing a religious holiday, or if you are participating in official University activities, it is your responsibility to notify me beforehand and arrange to make up the work that you have missed. Blackboard Blog: Everyone will have a personal Blackboard homework journal on which they’ll post their routine homework. For students following asynchronously because of quarantine, illness, or other excused absence: your journal will also host your responses to the recorded class sessions and those responses should be posted within twenty-four hours of a session’s conclusion (e.g. by 10:50am on Tuesday if you missed a Monday class). I’ll make it clear what the responses should entail/what the day’s prompt will be, and if I forget, remind me. Your response on Blackboard becomes your “face”—the evidence of your attendance. Late responses, more than twenty-four hours after the expected post time = a total absence. You may miss two classes entirely—no physical attendance, no evidence of asynchronous attendance— without specific attendance penalty, because I know unexpected things come up in a semester, but more than two of these total absences will incur formal penalties. Informally, total absence always affects your engagement grade. More than one total absence will cause your grade to drop 1% for each extra absence. • Four special physical absences for COVID protocols or symptoms are given with no penalty— • these are filed as pandemic absences (rather than total absences). Remember to communicate with me about these. You must still follow asynchronously (unless very ill), and absence does not absolve the absent student from submitting work that is due or keeping pace with work that is assigned. Two tardies (more than five minutes late to the room) count as one total absence. • More than nine total absences—for any reason, even COVID—will necessitate withdrawing from • (or failing) the course. Note: in the event of serious illness or hardship which prohibits both synchronous and timely asynchronous engagement, we can try and make a recovery plan, or in severe scenarios consider the merits of a Withdraw. Let’s be honest and in good communication with each other. 5 Engagement/Presence: Engaging with the course and being “present” involves more than just raising your hand (though vocal participation is always appreciated). It is the attitude and energy you bring to the class in all of its facets—whether we see your face or your words. It’s whether you act as a benefit, detriment, or non-entity within the collective atmosphere. Tardiness and absence, being chronically late with homework, ghosting from groupwork, being lax about masking or other health expectations, and being blatantly distracted (e.g. texting underneath the desk) are all things that will lower a participation grade, no matter how brilliant and engaging your comments are. It’s pretty simple: to be engaged, just be engaged. Be prepared, be curious, chip in, help out, be thoughtful in person and through your textual legacy (your emails and posts and commentary with peers). Conferences: For each writing project, I will cancel two classes in order to meet with you and your fellow students in small groups on Zoom. We will schedule these meetings in advance; I will attempt to offer a range of times so that you can fit our meeting into your schedule. Our goal will be to discuss your ideas and arguments in preparation for drafting. Absences from conference count as total absences— conferences are not optional. Late Writing Projects: Different than the no-late daily homework policy, late papers on Writing Projects #1-3 will drop 1/3 grade (such as B- to C+ or C+ to C) for every class session that goes by. e.g. if a paper is due on Monday, then submissions on Monday night, Tuesday, or Wednesday before class begins all receive the same penalty, 1/3 of a grade. Use the Turnitin portal on Blackboard—it will remain open even beyond the posted due date. Note: our final assignments, Writing Project #4 and WP#1 Revision, cannot be turned in late without severe penalty (one whole letter grade off within the first 24 hours late, then another whole grade within the second 24 hours late, etc). Extension: You have the option to request a one-week extension for one paper during the semester (not eligible on WP4, our final paper). It will be granted with no questions asked. Please send me an e-mail by 5:00 p.m. the day before the paper is due (do not expect an instant reply from me). E-mail: Check your email carefully, since I will make class announcements (e.g., homework reminders, changes, cancellations) via e-mail. Reasonable Expectations: If a question or problem arises, feel free to email me at any time. But let’s be realistic about timeframes and responses (e.g., do not e-mail me at noon that you’re going to miss a 12:30p.m. conference, and please expect your evening or weekend emails to be answered on the morning of the next business day). Papers will not be accepted over email. Draft-Reading: While I’m happy to talk about your papers as you think through them and draft them, and I’m certainly willing to look at specific and reasonably-lengthed sections of text (if guided by specific questions from you), I cannot read multiple pages under the vague directive of “providing feedback.” In other words, I cannot vet every section of your paper as it's being produced. That's the role of a private tutor, interested only in producing a final document that gets you a good grade and gets the tutor a paycheck. Professors like me are invested in your long-term skillset, in producing good writers for life rather than good writing in the moment. If I play a super-active, heavy-handed role in shaping, validating, or fixing your papers, you can’t take me with you next semester, to Writing 340 or graduate school, or to your first high-stakes writing task in your first big job. I want you to become a more independent, confident writer than you’ve ever been, who can make tough content decisions on your own once the semester ends. 6 Additional Support: The USC Writing Center offers physical and virtual one-on-one appointments with Writing Consultants at any step in a paper cycle. Even—and sometimes especially—during brainstorming and research time. This is a free service available to all USC students, so you should consider taking advantage. Check it out, and schedule an appointment: https://dornsife.usc.edu/writingcenter/ The Writing Program also has a web site that offers some good techniques for approaching the papers required for this class: http://dornsife.usc.edu/writing-program-links/ Students With Accessibility Concerns: Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability should register with the Office of Student Accessibility Services (OSAS) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from OSAS. Please be sure the letter is sent to me as early in the semester as possible. https://osas.usc.edu/ Writing Within An Academic Community: Students must at all times adopt a tone that is respectful of others’ racial, ethnic, and class backgrounds, religious and political beliefs, sexual orientations, and genders. The national and international response to George Floyd’s death reminds us that we all play a part in interrogating the privileges and hardships that come with our identities, and trying to be anti-racist, anti-bias citizens, even when it’s uncomfortable. The University will not tolerate verbal or written abuse. Also, the University takes a very strict outlook on matters of academic integrity, especially in cases involving plagiarism, multiple submission (recycling your old work or submitting the same material to two different courses), and illegitimate assistance (private tutor or parent or friend contributing too much to your work, such that the work exceeds your own abilities). In order to protect the sincere efforts of ethical students, I consider it my duty to forward suspected incidents of academic dishonesty to Student Judicial Affairs. THE WRITING PROGRAM IS GEARED TOWARD TEACHING PROCESS BUT GRADING PRODUCT. You will be graded on the quality of the product you turn in, not on how far you have progressed or how hard you have worked. This is a reality of life beyond the university. Make sure that every assignment you turn in meets the stated requirements. The Summative, Encouraging Note During this semester your job is to become a better critical thinker—a more thorough dissector of how the world works and where it may need to change. At the same time, you’ll become a more effective craftsperson, building and shaping the written arguments that will illuminate these necessary truths. I am EXCITED to teach you these skills, because they’re supremely important. Beyond the obvious career benefits, critical reasoning and lucid writing remain vital to the social fabric. Don’t you wish there were more patient, self-reflective thinkers in America right now? Don’t you wish the national conversation was less shrill, angry, and righteous? Don’t you wish people would get over their dogma and focus on the world as it is, not on a vision of the world that’s most convenient to them? I’m willing to bet you do… If all of my students improve, and Lincoln Riley begins hauling in a huge ’23 recruiting class, I will consider it a most excellent spring semester. 7
