Writing 70: Introduction to Critical Reading and Writing
Examining Assumptions about Race and Sports
Section 01: M-F, 9:30 - 10:45 am, Soc Sci 109
Professor: Marcia Rego; mrego@duke.edu
Workshop Instructor: Benjamin Gatling; benjamin.gatling@duke.edu
Section 02: M-F, 9:30 - 10:45 am, Soc Sci 107
Professor: Denise Comer; comerd@duke.edu
Workshop Instructor: Jay Summach; jason.summach@duke.edu
Section 03: M-F, 11:00 am - 12:15 pm, Soc Sci 107
Professor: Lindsey Smith; lindsey.w.smith@duke.edu
Workshop Instructor: Lisa Andres; lisa.andres@duke.edu
Texts (available on Sakai under Resources > Readings)
Gladwell, Malcolm. “The Sports Taboo.” The New Yorker 19 May 1997. Print.
Marks, Jonathan M. “Scientific and Folk Ideas about Heredity.” The Human Genome Project and Minority
Communities. Ed. Raymond A. Zilinskas and Peter J. Balink. London: Praeger, 2001. 53-66. Print.
“Race - The Power of an Illusion.” California Newsreel. Exec. Prod. Larry Adelman. 2003. DVD.
Saulny, Susan. “Black? White? Asian? More Young Americans Choose All of the Above.” The New York
Times 29 January 2011. Print.
These texts will be supplemented by various handouts and video clips about writing.
I will also ask you to complete and hand in your scores for five grammar quizzes over Term II (specific
quizzes TBD) from the following website: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
Course Overview
This course is designed to provide you with the opportunity to develop the reading and academic writing skills
necessary to meet the rigorous intellectual demands of Writing 101 and other courses at Duke. During the next
six weeks, we will address a variety of topics, including reading comprehension; recognizing key ideas;
creating theses; conducting research; structuring arguments; eliminating errors in grammar, mechanics, and
diction; citing sources; and avoiding plagiarism.
Writing 70 Goals
Writing 70 is designed for students who seek more time and practice in reading and academic writing skills in
order to meet the rigorous intellectual demands of Writing 101. Specific goals are to:
1) Introduce Writing 70 students to the intellectual culture of Duke University;
2) Provide students with the opportunity to develop the reading and academic writing skills necessary to meet
the rigorous intellectual demands of Writing 101 and other courses at Duke;
3) Increase student autonomy, responsibility, and initiative with writing;
4) Foster more confidence in academic reading and writing as students move into courses where their peers
will be some of the most competitive students from around our country; and
5) Cultivate an appreciation for writing as a recursive process involving substantive feedback and revision.
Learning Outcomes for Writing 70
Students who have taken Writing 70 will be able to:
1) Recognize key ideas in complex scholarly texts
2) Create a thesis on a scholarly issue
3) Participate in seminar discussions and peer reviews
4) Locate librarians and bibliographical resources within Duke’s library system
5) Conduct research under faculty direction
6) Structure an academic argument
7) Use prose that has fewer errors in grammar, mechanics, and diction
8) Integrate quotes, paraphrases and summary in writing while correctly acknowledging and citing sources
Section Overview
This section of Writing 70 asks you to develop your critical reading and writing skills by entering an ongoing
academic conversation that explores the assumptions we make about race and sports. Is race genetic or
cultural? Can someone’s race dictate his or her athletic ability? What assumptions do we make about athletes
based on their races? What are these assumptions based on? The course will consist of three major projects. In
the course’s first unit, you will ponder assumptions made about race and athletic ability by writing a 2-3 page
critical review of Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Sports Taboo.” In the second unit, you will build on these critical
reading and writing skills by writing a 3-4 page essay in which you put into conversation Gladwell’s article,
Jonathan Marks’ article “Scientific and Folk Ideas about Heredity,” and the short film “Race - The Power of an
Illusion.” The third unit asks you to further extend the conversation about assumptions in sports by designing
and presenting a PowerPoint that applies the concepts from your readings to an assumption that you want to
explore in the realm of sports. Throughout the course, we will focus on classroom communication and the
writing process, which includes brainstorming, drafting, peer workshopping, revision, editing, and
proofreading. We will also have conversations about language, cohesion, citation, grammar, and document
design. To complement regular seminar-style classroom work, you will break out once a week into
personalized writing workshops led by a Workshop Instructor.
Small-Group Workshops
Successful writers regularly discuss their ongoing projects with other writers and readers and we have arranged
the opportunity for you to do this in small-group workshops each week in lieu of our larger seminar class
(specific times to be determined). These workshops will be either one-on-one individual sessions or sessions
with groups of two students. You should prepare for each of these workshops by completing the assignment
scheduled for that day (please see the working schedule). You are responsible for attending each workshop;
failure to attend will result in penalties to your final grade.
Attendance and Participation
Our work this term depends on the exchange of ideas and the cooperative effort of each member of the class. It
is thus imperative that you attend class every day, be on time, and be ready to contribute to each class period
and workshop session. In cases of excessive absenteeism or missed deadlines, I reserve the right to lower your
grade by up to one full letter at the end of the term.
Assignments
During this term, you will work on the following different writing projects (please see project assignment
prompts for more details):
Project One: Critical Review of Gladwell’s “The Sports Taboo.” In this project, I will ask you to write a twoto three-page critical review of Gladwell’s article in which you summarize his argument about race and athletic
ability, and quote and analyze key passages from the text.
Project Two: Bringing Together Multiple Viewpoints. In your second project, I will ask you to write a threeto four-page essay that brings together the multiple, diverging, and overlapping viewpoints of Gladwell,
Marks, and “Race - The Power of an Illusion.”
Project Three: Challenging Popular Assumptions. In this project, which will include library research, I will
ask you to further extend your work by applying the ideas from our readings to a popular assumption in the
sports realm. For example, this might involve a particular sport and underlying assumptions about race,
gender, socioeconomic background, etc. You will design and present your argument in a PowerPoint.
Grading
Your grade in Writing 70 will be determined using the following percentages:
Small-Group Workshop Participation: 20%
Project One: 20%
Project Two: 25%
Project Three: 15%
Homework: 10%
Grammar Quizzes (5 total): 10%
Academic Honesty, Citing Sources, and Avoiding Plagiarism
Duke University is a community dedicated to scholarship, leadership, and service and to the principles of
honesty, fairness, respect, and accountability. Citizens of this community commit to reflect upon and uphold
these principles in all academic and non-academic endeavors, and to protect and promote a culture of integrity.
To uphold the Duke Community Standard:
• I will not lie, cheat, or steal in my academic endeavors;
• I will conduct myself honorably in all my endeavors; and
• I will act if the Standard is compromised.
For more information about the Duke Community Standard, please visit: http://www.integrity.duke.edu/
The process of academic writing often requires us to draw upon the ideas, interpretations, and words of other
writers. Done properly, with appropriate citation and recognition of an author’s work, employing others’ ideas
serves as an essential ingredient in crafting our own arguments. For specifics on citing sources, please visit
http://library.duke.edu/research/citing/index.html. When the work of others is appropriated without sufficient
acknowledgement—a practice known as plagiarism—the community of discourse in which we participate as
scholars is seriously undermined. Students found to have committed acts of plagiarism or other academic
dishonesty in conducting their work for this class will fail the course and will be referred to the appropriate
university authorities for judicial action. For more about academic honesty and plagiarism, please visit
http://library.duke.edu/research/plagiarism/index.html
Sakai
This course has a web-based component in its Sakai site, which you can access by logging into Sakai at
http://www.sakai.duke.edu using your Net ID. The site features a Resources folder, an Announcements page,
and an Assignments folder that can be accessed through the toolbar on the left of the homepage. I will be
asking you to submit various assignments electronically to the Assignments folder. If you need help accessing
or using Sakai, contact: http://oit.duke.edu/help/
Additional Thoughts
It bears repeating that much of our work this term will revolve around the collaborative practices of peer
review and class discussion, which will create the opportunity for us to learn from one another. Respect for
each other’s ideas and contributions will be a vital element in creating a classroom community in which all
class members can express themselves and grow intellectually. One of my principal roles as a professor is to
foster this process—a role I am eager to begin. I am sincerely looking forward to working with you this
semester.